"Race" in College Admission FAQ & Discussion 8

Applying to College
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<p>Yes, all four of my grandparents were already on Taiwan before 1949.
My dad’s family speaks the Hakka dialect while my mom’s family speaks a different dialect. So basically, will I put down both Asian and Pacific Islander on the common app?</p>

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<p>[Taking</a> a look](<a href=“http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/2010form_info.pdf]Taking”>http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/2010form_info.pdf) at the Census form, I was reminded of the grassroots movement that encouraged Americans of Taiwanese extraction to check “Other Asian” and write in Taiwanese. For reference, there actually is an “Other Pacific Islander” box, but the movement did not encourage anyone to check that in addition or in lieu of the “Other Asian” box.</p>

<p>I am no admissions officer, but to my knowledge, despite obviously being Pacific Islands, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines are all “Asian.”</p>

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<p>One of my Filipino friends considers himself as a “Pacific Islander”…</p>

<p>Why can’t middle easterners have their on box? They don’t look european…</p>

<p>Will Affirmative Action still help you considerably if you will be a transfer at a university? Or does it give a bigger boost when applying as a freshman?</p>

244

<p>@fabrizio</p>

<p>but if you are of taiwanese aborigine descent, you are considered a Pacific Islander</p>

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<p>Well, since the 2000 Census defined Pacific Islander as "A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicate their race as “Native Hawaiian,” “Guamanian or Chamorro,” “Samoan,” and “Other Pacific Islander,” I guess there’s no reason why you can’t.</p>

246

<p>when pretty much anyone i know refers to asians, they’re talking about koreans, chinese, japanese…east asians only.
asians are considered to be overrepresented. does that include south asians, or only east asians?
i’m just wondering because i’m from a small country next to india and i don’t know if us south asians are ORMs as well.</p>

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<p>South Asians are ORM’s too.</p>

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<p>Are Pacific Islanders ORM’s?</p>

249

<p>Hahaha my parents are from taiwan too. I want to put Pacific Islander because Taiwan is an island in the pacific. My mom speaks Hakka too.</p>

250

<p>haha yeah, are you a rising senior?</p>

<p>I really need to figure out if I can put down Pacific Islander, but know one on CC seems to know.</p>

251

<p>Um, you guys probably aren’t Taiwanese Aborigine (at least not enough to be able to claim that you were, especially if you have no proof and clearly no ties to their culture). If you were Taiwanese aborigine, you would probably already know. Did you guys even look at the article I posted? You guys are most likely Asian, and as such you have to either check off the Asian box or decline to state your ethnicity.</p>

<p>Plus, most Taiwanese aborigines look like this, because they’re Austronesian, NOT EAST ASIAN:</p>

<p><a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Taiwanese_Aborigine_leopard_fur_by_Torii_n7550.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Taiwanese_Aborigine_leopard_fur_by_Torii_n7550.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rukai_chief.jpg[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rukai_chief.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

252

<p>

How would you even prove that you are of a specific ethnicity besides on what you look like? Also, many people have no ties to their culture but that does not mean they are not of that ethnicity.</p>

<p>

Well I’m trying to figure out if I have SOME Taiwanese aborigine in me, because I suspect that I do.</p>

253

<p>Are there any URM Asians? I’m Indonesian and I don’t want to become an ORM. :frowning: Indonesians are very underrepresented at colleges in the United States.</p>

<p>But if they still count as regular ORM Asians, could I put down Pacific Islander? Because well, Indonesia consists of many islands in the Pacific Ocean. :D</p>

<p>

I’m an aborigine Indonesian! There are many Chinese East-Asian immigrants in Indonesia but I’m fairly sure I’m 100% aborigine! :smiley: Could I check off Pacific Islander?</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Can you link to your source please?</p>

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<p>

Tell me, how many Indonesians have you seen at colleges and universities compared to Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, or Indians? Anyway, my source comes from this one blog, I forgot what it is as I read it a month or two back and never bookmarked it.</p>

<p>Could I put myself down as a Pacific Islander though? Like I’m said, I’m pretty sure I’m completely an Indonesian aborigine.</p>

256

<p>The term “URM” is horrible. It implies that there is SOMETHING WRONG when certain groups are not present in “appropriate” numbers at colleges and universities. It’s not like the colonists chanting, “no taxation without representation”. They had a point, URM doesn’t. In America, we don’t treat people as individuals, we treat them as groups.</p>

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<p>Oh, spare us, please</p>

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<p>NAM(non-Asian minority) is a much better term. It is politically neutral.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Correct. People from Taiwan (with the possible exception of Taiwan aboriginals) are Asians by the federal definitions, not Pacific Islanders. Any person of Han ethnicity from Taiwan who speaks any Sinitic language (e.g., Hakka, Taiwanese, etc.) would be considered Asian under the federal rules. In our family, the person who fits this category did indeed indicate “other Asian” and fill in “Taiwanese” on the recent federal census of population. </p>

<p>Similarly, people from the Philippines and Indonesia are Asian rather than Pacific Islanders by the applicable definitions. </p>

<p>The issue of [what</a> underrepresented means](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064853590-post14.html]what”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064853590-post14.html) is an issue I’d be glad to see discussed in more detail. Students from a particular group can be rare without being underrepresented, or commonplace without being overrepresented, by most definitions of “underrepresented.”</p>

260

<p>how can i avoid being redlined because I am asian in the admissions process then? Should I not list my ethnicity, even though one could guess from my last name?</p>