<p>^ I second that. Egyptians consider themselves to be arabs. Trust me, I have plenty egyptian friends and they don’t look black. Maybe in some parts of Egypt–like in the southern region there’s probably actual “black” people there.</p>
<p>^^ In southern Egypt, as you get around Aswan, the Egyptians do become darker skinned because there has been some mixing with the Sudanese. Still, they consider themselves Egyptians - or Arabs, not Africans.</p>
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<p>Yes. Some people actually look up the definitions before they answer, but many people don’t. I see your original thread was merged with the main FAQ thread, which is designed to answer questions like yours. Read the first few posts of this FAQ thread, and follow the links. The short answer is that the federal classifications in the United States define most people in Egypt as “white,” although there are certainly people in Egypt who would be classified as “black” (which is the meaning of the category “African-American,” by definition). If no one has ever called you “black,” you would have no basis for choosing “African-American” as a race category. You are permitted to mark no category at all. You are also permitted to describe your actual personal background in as much detail as you desire in your application. </p>
<p>Good luck in your college applications.</p>
<p>Is being biracial considered a minority in colleges? For example, I’m half Taiwanese (Asian) and half caucasian. Does this give me minority status if i check this in on my college apps?</p>
<p>Yep. I’m half Hispanic and half white. I’ve been checking the “Hispanic” box on everything since I was little.</p>
<p>as long as you’re greater than like 1/32 i think it’s safe to say you’re a minority. any less than that and people will be skeptical haha. Still, Taiwanese isn’t a URM, although it’s still a minority. Won’t be nearly as nice as hispanic or black, and it might even hurt you.</p>
<p>No, it does not.
Why? Because you’re Asian. :)</p>
<p>Kevin,
Your being half white, half Asian makes you a minority, just not an underrepresented minority (URM), so is unlikely to be a tip factor for college.</p>
<p>A general rule is 14 to 1/8th minority counts - meaning from grandparents to great-grandparents - but as noted that only applies to those groups favored for admissions. Note the federal government looks at 1/8th for things as basic as whether you are native American.</p>
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<p>Alas, most of the answers to this question above are uninformed. Read the first few posts of this FAQ thread (into which your question thread was merged) for official information. Follow the links for detailed definitions and descriptions of current law. Whatever else one can say about students with one Western (European-American) parent and one Taiwanese parent, they are surely not “underrepresented” on most United States college campuses. Rather the contrary, I suspect. </p>
<p>You have the choice of not marking any “race” category at all. If you choose to mark race categories on a college application form during the 2009-2010 application year, the form should say, “Choose one or more” (by federal regulation), which leaves you the choice of how many categories to mark. There is NOT a single category of “biracial,” nor is there is a standard category of “other” or “declines to answer.” You decline to answer by not answering the questions, which is your legal right as an applicant, even though colleges are required by law to ask, and are required to report to the federal government what students tell. </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>
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<p>Uhh, the Ivies justify having such a high % of black immigrant students from Africa and the Caribbean (black immigrant students make up 40% of the black student pop.) by using “diversity” (meaning culture, religion, etc. and not just race) as the rationale.</p>
<p>Jewish students make up close to 25% of the student body at the Ivies (and as high as 30% at schools like Penn) despite comprising only 1.5% of the college-age pop.</p>
<p>Jews make up a bigger portion of the student body at the Ivies than Asians who are a much more diverse group ethnically, religiously, culturally, etc., despite being about 1/3 of the pop. of college-age Asians in the US.</p>
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<p>Stanford and Cal both admitted to and apologized for having policies which limited Asian enrollment - I highly doubt that the top schools on the East Coast are/were any different.</p>
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<p>The disadvantage is greater when you look at the admit rates for Asian applicants vs. Jewish applicants.</p>
<p>The Ivy school which has the lowest disparity in admit rates is Princeton - which reportedly has the most “holistic” admissions out of all the Ivies.</p>
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Really? You really want to say that? Judaism is a religion; being Asian is an ethnicity and/or nationality. I would say many Asians share more in common than Jews.</p>
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<p>??? Asia is a continent. There are over 40 distinct countries and nationalities in Asia. Judaism is one religion, how are Jews more diverse? You make no sense.</p>
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You want to pull continents? Jews are on every continent of the globe.</p>
<p>Judaism is a religion (one tiny element of one’s life). Asians tend to have their culture as a large part of their identity, and it does have a material impact on how someone acts.</p>
<p>I eagerly await for the day when race doesn’t affect your chances at getting into a college. Perhaps it will take another Martin Luther King.</p>
<p>Jews usually refers to descendants of the Tribe of Judah. They may or may not practice one of the variety of the forms of Judaism. Comparing them to all asians seems inappropriate though. Some racial asian groups do better than others. Some racial asian groups do better from one country than others. The racial groups that colleges use are a gross aggregation trying to serve a nebulous purpose.</p>
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<p>So are Asians.</p>
<p>The point being is that Jews are basically one ethnicity/culture (yeah, I know there are a no. of sub-Jewish groups) while Asians make up a good no. of ethnicities/cultures, much less religions.</p>
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<p>Being a Jew is much more than religion - there are many Jews who don’t practice their religion or are agnostic/atheist.</p>
<p>And if you don’t think Jewish culture doesn’t play a big part in the lives of many Jews, than you are sadly mistaken (just as there are many Asian-Americans who are “whitewashed” and thus culturally no different from the typical white applicant).</p>
<p>And why is having a culture as a large part of one’s identity a bad thing - isn’t that what the Ivies want - cultural diversity? (After all, that’s the rationale they use for accepting such a high % of black immigrant students from Africa instead of more African-Am students).</p>
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<p>Right (tho, I would use the term Asian ethnic groups).</p>
<p>Why don’t the Ivies recruit more Hmong, Laotian, Burmese, Viet, etc. students - who overall don’t do that well on standardized tests?</p>
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My family is Jewish, but I am not a practicing Jew. My family’s Judaism has had very little effect upon my life, so why should my chances be influenced by it?</p>
<p>You can change your religion; you can’t change your ethnicity. You will always be Asian and will always be influenced by that.</p>
<p>The black population in Egypt is discriminated against so the the images of Egyptians in the media, in positions of power, and attending schools in the US are usually fair-skinned and ‘middle eastern’ looking. That does not mean that Egyptians are ‘white’ irrespective of what the US govt classification says. Schools seeking diversity want to know with what culture(s) you identify-not just the US govt.</p>
<p>Also, to be considered African-American, it is not necessary to have ancestors who arrived on a slave ship. There are many prominent African-Americans (including our president) who can’t claim that heritage but are still African-American because that is how they identify.</p>
<p>kameronsmith - I know some Jewish people who would consider you a Jew, irrespective of whether YOU identify as such.</p>
<p>“Effect” of a trait upon one’s life is irrelevant when it comes to college admissions. Someone who is 1/8 Hispanic but looks white is not treated any differently in society.</p>