<p>^ You really should start from the begining of this thread.</p>
<p>I have a question about being native american. I have strong native american ancestry although not with any particular organized tribe (both because i have ancestry from more than 1 tribe and because the tribes arent the primary organized tribes). Would I ever be forced to “prove” somehow that i was of Native American heritage? Also, do i have to be active in the native american community and engage in activities with other native american groups to be considered “native american?” Thanks.</p>
<p>^Are you sure that none of your tribes have offices or anything? I’m from a pretty small tribe but it still has a little office where you can get yourself into their registry and get a nifty little card printed out.</p>
<p>As an African American and a top 1% scorer on the SAT, I fully get the argument from both sides. Both are strong and preferences based policies are always contentious. My only caution is to never trust the statistics used by those who oppose affirmative action. For example someone may argue that 50% of African Americans get into school X while only 10% of White students get into school X inferring that these numbers unequivocally prove that affirmative action is inherently unfair. What missing is the fact that there may only be 6 African American Applicants and 60 white applicants; so in reality the effect size is negligible. Beware of red herrings in your arguments.</p>
<p>@Honesto: I’m part Yuchi, part Catawba, and I have ancestry with another tribe (I don’t remember but I could find out) that’s relatively unknown. I have yet to hear of an office for these tribes in my area. Also, the problem is that I don’t know if my blood from just one tribe is enough to get a card for that tribe; the combination of the three tribes, though, is a substantial part of my heritage. However, I don’t feel that this should stop me from identifying as Native American because I do have the blood and my Native American ancestry is the part of my heritage that I feel the strongest sense of pride and belonging toward. What do you think?</p>
<p>[Catawba</a> Indian Nation](<a href=“HugeDomains.com”>HugeDomains.com)</p>
<p>I think if you contact them you can get a card.</p>
<p>But I don’t know if it’s necessary for you to have a card. What’s important is that you’ve always identified as Native American (you obviously have, which is bueno).</p>
<p>Wow thanks! I’ve never found that before (I’ve been looking). Unfortunately, I have the smallest percentage of Catawba blood and I doubt that I would qualify for a card. I definitely identify as Native American and have my whole life. I don’t look traditionally Native American though. Do you think that if someone (i.e. a person from a college adcom) questioned my ethnicity my explanation of my heritage, beliefs and self-identification would be sufficient for them if I am unable to attain a card? I’m just thinking in worst-case scenarios as I always do.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thank you. Yes, the FAQ posts that make up the beginning of each new iteration of this thread are intended to answer recurrent questions. I am happy to hear suggestions about how to improve those posts from anyone. </p>
<p>On the point that an African-American student (the example given above) may not necessarily get into his or her first-choice college, I certainly know of examples of that. EVERY college applicant without exception needs first of all to think about a suitable [safety</a> college](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-dont-forget-apply-safety-college.html]safety”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-dont-forget-apply-safety-college.html) where the applicant can find a good, affordable program. Some applicants don’t get into their top-choice colleges. That need not be a disaster if the other colleges on the application list are good choices too.</p>
<p>A link that may be of relevance to this thread: </p>
<p>[Unfair</a> Treatment?](<a href=“http://www.hepg.org/her/abstract/769]Unfair”>http://www.hepg.org/her/abstract/769) </p>
<p>Hat tip to Jay Mathews of the Washington Post for the link.</p>
<p>Guys, another question - I put down my race on the PSAT, so will my race be already known to colleges I apply to?</p>
<p>^no, colleges don’t see your psat scores</p>
<p>I’ve always wondered, what do people from Madagascar fill out? African-American? I ask because my friend was filled out as Asian on her standardized test (it was a tag that the state prints out with census data) :P.</p>
<p>I think it kind of depends. There are LOADS of Austronesians in Madagascar ([Malagasy</a> people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malagasy_people]Malagasy”>Malagasy peoples - Wikipedia) , they chill up in the mountainous regions) so I think they would be considered Pacific Islanders, but then there are also LOADS of the descendants of East Africans who migrated to Madagascar approximately a millennium after the Malagasy and they chill around the beaches and coastline and such and they would be considered African. And then there are also a whole lot of mutts of the two that are considered Malagasy as well, I think. </p>
<p>Madagascar is trippyyyy</p>
<p>Man, Arabs are a minority. I always put “Other” on applications for things when I can even though I know I should put “White,” because I think of people of European descent as “White.” Could that possibly be a problem when I’m applying for college?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is technically inaccurate to select “Other.” You may either select “White” or omit the question.</p>
<p>But if you select other that wouldn’t really give you an advantage in college admissions, as opposed to white, would it?</p>
<p>I’m kind of confused here, as I see the term “Asian pool” when it comes to chancing.</p>
<p>In the application process, do they have quota for race or citizenship?</p>
<p>Answering two questions above: </p>
<p>1) Current college application forms that follow the current federal regulations (see first post in this thread) will not have a choice of “other,” but will allow students to omit answering the question among the choices shown. </p>
<p>2)
</p>
<p>If they have a quota for race, they are breaking the law. That is strictly illegal under the Bakke decision for all colleges in the United States, public and private. But colleges are allowed to distinguish between United State citizens and permanent residents (one group) and international students with no particular ties to the United States (another group) and many do.</p>
<p>many schools require interviews if there are alumni in your area. Are interviewers known to report ethnicity to admissions?</p>
<p>Some colleges that are known to interview almost all applicants nonetheless [report</a> many enrolled students as “race/ethnicity unknown”](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064853385-post4.html]report”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064853385-post4.html) as all colleges are permitted to do under federal law. I have seen sight identification fail miserably in the case of my own children, and I don’t expect most colleges to have a procedure in which they ask interviewers to report student race or ethnicity based on interviewer impressions. (If a college has such a procedure, an applicant might ask the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education </p>
<p>[Office</a> for Civil Rights](<a href=“http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html]Office”>Office for Civil Rights | U.S. Department of Education) </p>
<p>whether or not that procedure is consistent with current federal regulations.)</p>