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<p>In fact, checking “no” would be dishonest. I guess you could leave it blank. Colleges let people in so their teams will score a few more points, or so their development office will get a few more dollars, or so their SAT quartiles will go up. Might as well let some people in so they can say “50% of our class consists of people of color”.</p>
<p>If a student checks Hispanic/Latino, I really don’t think the adcom will ask him or her about ancestors, homeland, DNA lineage, or anything else. I don’t really know what criteria they use to determine the validity of one’s ethnic choice, or even if they use any criteria. I would guess that even looking at a last name would not be among the criteria, because of multi-ethnic families. It’s up to the applicant him/herself. I guess that is part of what is so controversial about checking these boxes, and why so many students themselves are loathe to check them in the first place. It’s definitely a tricky issue.</p>
<p>I know a kid who had significant college application advantages due to being born in Central America. His prosperous adopted family is American caucasian, as is his name. I’ve always wondered what is right and fair in this situation. Though not the greatest student, that education and time in that particular school did great things for him, and I’m so glad it came his way, whatever the situation.</p>
<p>Sometime though, self identifying can get one into trouble. There has been a lot of press about a med student at UMDNJ being expelled after self identifying himself during an exercise in class about cultural issues as “a white african American”. The student in question is of Portuguese descent but was born and raised in Africa (third generation in Africa I believe), immigrated to the US and became a naturalized American. His answer was offensive, some debate ensued and he was subsequently expelled. He has filed suit.</p>
<p> /<a href=“http://www.discriminations.us/2009/05/nj_med_student_expelled_for_ca.html[/url]”>www.discriminations.us/2009/05/nj_med_student_expelled_for_ca.html</a></p>
<p>I think the most important thing here is to tell the truth. If you identify yourself as Hispanic, but indicate that you have a parent from Spain, you’ve told the truth, and nobody can criticize you later.</p>
<p>I think it would be disingenuous for a European-American to pass themselves off as a “minority”. The only reason you would identify yourself as Hispanic would be to obtain an edge in admissions or financial aid, but that edge is intended to restore social equity to the disadvantaged. If you’re not disadvantaged, then you have no business playing this game.</p>
<p>Sorry to sound harsh, and I don’t mean to be accusatory, but think about it. If you know you don’t need or deserve the edge that comes from being a minority applicant, then do the right thing and call yourself white.</p>
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<p>This is what I was trying to say. If you’ve never in your life considered yourself Hispanic, why start now? Look, I’m all about taking advantage of the system if you can half way justify. Apparently, other posters have justified it. Okay, cool. Go ahead then. It’s just like, fifteen years from now, I’m probably not going to suddenly consider myself Native American because I’m 1/16 Native American. It’s a thing of personal preference, and the OP asked for our thoughts and the facts.</p>
<p>I completely agree with mantori in post #31.</p>
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<p>This thread from the Parents Forum was merged into the existing FAQ thread in the College Admissions Forum. A lot of the answers above are factually incorrect. Check the links given in the FAQ posts (the first few posts in this FAQ thread) for official definitions, and college reports of what categories of students they enroll. Note that many colleges admit large numbers of students who do not report any race or ethnicity. That is the law. Students can decline to answer this question, and the federal Department of Education has no problem with that. Application forms for the 2009-2010 application year are being revised to reflect a federal regulation that comes into effect now. All the forms will ask first about Hispanic ethnicity and then about “race.” Any applicant can decline to answer one or both parts of the ethnicity and race question. All applicants will have the opportunity to “choose one or more” race category if they so choose.</p>
<p>My kids had to fill out new forms for ethnic/racial identification at public school this year.
I remember the wording included people whose origins are from Spain in the list of Hispanics. So the OP would honestly identify as Hispanic according to that definition. I don’t see a problem with it. Is your kid a minority? Well, that depends where you are. My kids attended a public school where Hispanics are the majority, and that is true for a good number of schools in some parts of the US</p>
<p>H’s aunt, who is 1/4 Spanish, 1/2 German and 1/4 English identifies herself as a “Latino woman of color” LOL. She has a German name and was raised in the upper midwest. She did not speak Spanish until she spent a year or two in Colombia after college (researching “medicinal plants”) back in the 70s. Now, she passes herself off as a role model to young Hispanic women. Well, she does have brown eyes and hair.</p>
<p>A friend of mine grew up in Chile. Her parents were from Spain and they came to the US when she was in high school. She married a guy with a common English name. They are college educated professionals. I suspect their kids are classified as Hispanics and may have received some benefit because of that. They don’t speak Spanish at home, nor do the kids look particularly Hispanic. It really doesn’t bother me one way or the other–none of my business how anyone else wants to check their boxes.</p>
<p>Im white but ancestors are from South Africa. Can I put down that I am african american? Technically i’m african and american… I wanted to use this to get more scholarships + for admissions for colleges…</p>
<p>Here’s a few opinions. a search will reveal many more</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/african-american-students/719965-am-i-african-american-everyone-has-different-opinion.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/african-american-students/719965-am-i-african-american-everyone-has-different-opinion.html</a></p>
<p>I happened to "stumble upon’ this as well.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.discriminations.us/2009/05/nj_med_student_expelled_for_ca.html[/url]”>http://www.discriminations.us/2009/05/nj_med_student_expelled_for_ca.html</a></p>
<p>Hello Mandrabel:</p>
<p>Do NOT put down that you are African American where it says to check the box. Elsewhere you could explain legitimately that you are of African descent or were born in Africa.</p>
<p>I noticed in another post that you said your father pulls in 250K per year.</p>
<p>For several schools, African American background may be sometimes used as a proxy for disadvantage and other times as an indicator of racial (as well as socio-economic) diversity. They don’t just want Africans, in many cases, they specifically want blacks.</p>
<p>If you try to use this lever and the schools discover that you did, you are very likely to have your strategy backfire even where admissions is concerned.</p>
<p>You’re white.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, it seems pretty interesting. I guess i’ll just check white/caucasian (I was just wondering everyone’s viewpoint).</p>
<p>Well, you haven’t gotten “everyone’s” viewpoint and there may be posters who encourage you to check the Af-Am box. But, even though you are “technically” African and American, you know perfectly well that Af-Am is a term of art, that the college are looking for urm students and you are White, not urm. I’m sure you also konw that pretty much anytime someone says, "well, technically . . . " you know that s/he is falying fast and loose with the facts, and trying to get away with something.</p>
<p>mandrabel, I clicked Shrinkrap’s links above because I’d actually missed any prior discussion of this subject matter. It appears from those other discussions, that this has been an exhaustively debated point - the consensus being that you can’t check the box.</p>
<p>But for the record, I disagree and believe that you ought to be able to check it. While I understand the intent of the designation, nothing’s ever 100% perfect. If by choosing to use the euphemism “African-American” to describe black or negroid races, the schools open themselves up to some students who fit the letter, but not the spirit, of the term - so be it. Use better descriptors. </p>
<p>Many students of color who fit the spirit of that language don’t consider themselves either black OR African. What about the 1/2 indian, 1/2 black child born in the Caribbean? That child may check the box reluctantly believing themselves to be more Caribbean-American than anything else.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you were cornered into having to lie about your heritage. That just sucks.</p>
<p>^^if you only hav ancestors in africa but weren’t actually born there put white. if you were born in africa check the “other” box or explain in the additional info section.</p>
<p>Does the school’s failure to use the best descriptors excuse deliberate deception?</p>
<p>Yes, Af-Am is an euphorism or short-hand for black (some applications specify Black/Af-Am, Black/Carib, Black-African); if you don’t like the term Af-Am protest some other way - - but don’t pretend you don’t know that it is intended to identify and give a boost to black students. If you know the spirit of the term/law, then abide by it; to do otherwise is unethical, dishonorable and in this case, opportunistic.</p>
<p>(I agree w/ BananaSand; check other and explain - - but then OP wouldn’t get the urm boost. And this is really about getting the boost, not about identity.)</p>
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<p>The answer to this question is always the same, by the United States federal definitions. (See the FAQ posts at the beginning of this thread, into which your question was merged, for the official answer.) Here’s a simple rule of thumb: if no one in South Africa would have called you “black” or “coloured,” you have no basis in America for calling yourself “African American,” the official synonym of which is “black.” If you call yourself white, and your friends do too, it doesn’t matter where your parents were born, or what countries they lived in. </p>
<p>Again, follow the FAQ posts at the beginning of this long thread for links to official definitions.</p>