<p>Mammalian-</p>
<p>Well, if you want to put Hispanic you technically could and that would help you the “most.” I will not go on one of my affirmative action rants here; however, just know that freaking out about race is just stupid…focus on your merits and don’t worry about putting down a race that is not as “represented/successful” as others.</p>
<p>Dude, be Hispanic. If the college you’re applying to has a “multiracial” box, check it and then explain that you identify yourself most with the Hispanic culture. Most applications I’ve seen that offer “multiracial” then ask which culture you most identify with. So be Hispanic. If they don’t, check the “other” box and do the same thing. If they don’t offer either boxes, check Hispanic. Being Asian or white ain’t going to help you, and being part Hispanic can’t hurt, so why not?</p>
<p>Old College Try-</p>
<p>Ya, he could do that if he wanted to throw ethics out the door. Do not lie to colleges cuz it will come back to bite you. If you really live a “hispanic life” then fine tell them that. However, if you affiliate yourself with White or Asian lifestyles then tell colleges that. Again, AA makes me sick (its racism in reverse), but please b honest.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=Rtgrove123]
…affiliate yourself with White or Asian lifestyles
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hm. I would find it very hard to just pick one of my races. I feel like my ‘lifestyle’ is a combination of the cultural characteristics of both my parents, not just one. Perhaps the OP feels this way too, and if so, telling him/her to state just Asian or White throws ethics out the door just as much as solely stating Hispanic.</p>
<p>That’s my 2 cents anyway.</p>
<p>cdover-</p>
<p>Well, I do not think my advice was immoral. I was just telling the OP to tell the admission officers which cultures she affliates herself with. I mean if she really feels all her races affect her life, then fine tell the college that, but just don’t lie. I mean I have a friend who is 75 percent Europeans and 25 percent Mexican. He lives a life that completely ignores his Mexican hertiage (he is almost ashamed he is not completely white…its sad) and openly mocks the country. However, when he is filling out his college app to Penn, I bet you can guess what race he affiliated himself with. Another friend of mine is currently trying to find out if being 1/16 native american is enough to say you are an Indian on your app. So, bottom line don’t let blind admission for college acceptance letters influence your usage of “the race card” in college admissions. Of course if you life a Hispanic life, then you definately should put that down though!</p>
<p>Telling colleges you identify with one of your ethnic make-ups to get an advantage in the college application process will become unethical the moment colleges stop giving preference based on ethnic make-ups. They created the game; they enforce its rules; it is up to us to play it as cleverly as possible.</p>
<p>@Rtgrove123</p>
<p>Sorry, I had skimmed through your first post, missing the gist of what you were saying. I definitely agree with you now.</p>
<p>Cdover-</p>
<p>Lol np…I do that all the time = D.</p>
<p>Old College Try-</p>
<p>Umm no…lying on your app is lying. Lying=unethical</p>
<p>Mammalian:
-which do you have more often: Peruvian food, burgers, or chinese food?
-which is a bigger celebration for your family: 4th of July, Chinese new year, or Fiestas patrias?
-where would you rather go: Hong Kong, Washington DC, or Peru?
-do you speak: chinese or spanish, aymara, or quechua?</p>
<p>Rtgrove123: You are confused. If I have a dollar in my pocket and tell you otherwise, then I am lying. Whether I have a dollar is my pocket is either true or false. What ethnicity I relate to is a sliding scale that is almost unanswerable. I am also multiracial (white/NA). How am I supposed to tell what ethnicity I relate most to? Please tell me how white people feel, and then tell me how Native Americans feel. As soon as you can precisely define these two feelings, I can tell you which side I most relate to, at least for that moment. But keep in mind that the way I feel today is not the way I will feel tomorrow. In fact, most of the time I am not even sure what it means to relate to a specific ethnicity. I just feel how I feel. I’ve never known anything else. If you ask me which ethnicity I most relate to, anything is the truth. </p>
<p>If colleges want to play nonsensical ethnic games in deciding who to admit, let them. I’ll play along.t</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>When a person is multi-racial/cultural/ethnic, is is not necessarily a matter of “which one the most?”, but rather “which ones?”</p>
<p>You would qualify for the National Hispanic Recognition Program as they include anyone with at least 1/4 Hispanic background (see the Hispanic Students subforum).</p>
<p>For the CA, you would mark yes for Hispanic ethnicity, then whichever racial categories are accurate (eg. white, Asian, and possibly NA depending on your grandmother’s background in Peru).</p>
<p>As far as how much of an admissions boost for being 1/4 Hispanic, that will depend on many factors, including (but not limited to): which college, how much you identify with your Hispanic ethnicity, SES, HS you attend (eg. private vs. underserved inner city), obstacles overcome.</p>
<p>Only recently did I find out that being a quarter Peruvian is substantial enough to be considered Hispanic. I admit that so far it has been a largely ignored part of my life. But I’m ready to make it important. Being Peruvian, I think I’m entitled to embrace my ancestry at any moment as long as I am genuine in doing so. Right?</p>
<p>I came to you guys inquiring about how much of a boost I’ll get in admissions, and I know that makes me look obnoxious, but I really am interested in learning about Peru and its traditions. That I can apply for Hispanic scholarships and the like has instilled a legitimacy to my Peruvian heritage that I never granted myself; I always thought I looked too Chinese or too white. But despite my appearance I realize now that I am Hispanic and no one can really say otherwise. So if I were to go to Peru this winter (I’m already applying for a volunteer mission) and become passionate about its culture, do you think it’d be okay if I identified myself (culturally) as Hispanic? Because right now I’m kind of a blank slate. Being German hasn’t influenced me at all. Being Chinese definitely has, but if I became just as enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Peruvian culture as I am about Chinese culture, can I be blamed for identifying with the more “advantageous” ethnicity?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies!</p>
<p>^^^One’s identification with one’s ethnicity is a personal decision, not something that needs verification from others. You need to be true to yourself, that’s what’s important. Start now and don’t look back!</p>
<p>p.s. post on the Hispanic Students subforum, you will find lots of information and support there.</p>
<p>I’ve been wondering this for a while, if the affirmative action was based solely on race and not the country from which the person came. For example, we know that Asians suffer quite a lot from the AA. But do they all suffer equally just because they’re Asian? Or are there differences between those from the more prosperous East Asian nations (Japanese, Korean) and the poorer Southeast Asian nations, like Cambodia and Laos? Do the colleges take into account their countries, or solely their skin color?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Contrary to a mistaken statement above, Arab persons and persons from the Middle East in general are classified as “white” in the United States federal ethnic classifications. Read the FAQ posts in the beginning of this thread and follow the links to the official federal documents for more information. </p>
<p>Colleges may be interested to have more students of Arab ethnicity, or may not, depending on what kinds of students have applied in the past. I suspect the University of Michigan gets plenty of Arab-American applicants (because there are many Arabs in southeastern Michigan) but perhaps at some other colleges having an affiliation with Arab ethnicity would be a positive diversity factor. Always mention personal characteristics you have if you think they would be of interest to a college. On the other hand, any college applicant is welcome to omit mentioning ethnicity at all–questions about that are OPTIONAL, not mandatory, for the student to answer. </p>
<p>Good luck to everyone applying in the next admission season.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The federal regulation that goes into effect with this new admission season suggests to applicants to “select one or more” from the list of racial categories. It’s up to colleges to decide how to use the information for admission selection if applicants indicate more than one “race.” The colleges have instructions from the federal government about how to report statistics about such persons. </p>
<p>Lots of people identify with more than one “race.” I spent much of the last weekend, while I was out of town at a conference, with a great variety of “multiracial” persons.</p>
<p><a href=“tokenadult%20:”>quote</a></p>
<p>“Race” in College Admissions FAQ & Discussion 3
…if applicants indicate more than one “race.”
Lots of people identify with more than one “race.”
a great variety of “multiracial” persons.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Have you not been following the human genome studies? Individuals’ genomes display an objective clustering into groups, according to standard statistical criteria. Those groups match up closely with the socially constructed grouping by race and ethnicity. The display of the two main (statistically determined) directions of variation looks amazingly similar to a world map – the “genetic coordinates”, derived purely from genome data, approximately reconstruct the geographic coordinates where the ancestor populations lived.</p>
<p><a href=“%5Burl=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062784340-post957.html]#957[/url]”>quote</a> Have you not been following the human genome studies? Individuals’ genomes display an objective clustering into groups, according to standard statistical criteria…
[/quote]
</p>
<p>[Human</a> Genome Project Information](<a href=“Human Genome Project | Human Genome Project”>Human Genome Project | Human Genome Project):</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Duke</a> Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy: Symposium Spotlights Genome Impact on Race and Diversity:](<a href=“Duke Center for Genomic and Computational Biology | Duke Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics”>Duke Center for Genomic and Computational Biology | Duke Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>More:
[ul][li][TED</a> Presentation: Spencer Wells builds a family tree for humanity](<a href=“http://www.ted.com/talks/spencer_wells_is_building_a_family_tree_for_all_humanity.html]TED”>http://www.ted.com/talks/spencer_wells_is_building_a_family_tree_for_all_humanity.html)[/li][li] [American</a> Anthropological Association Statement on “Race”](<a href=“http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm]American”>http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm):</p>[/li]
<p>
[/ul]</p>
<p>Thanks to StitchInTime for posting up-to-date references about genetic studies of human populations. I also attended lectures on this topic at last year’s Nobel Conference </p>
<p>[2008</a> Presenters | Nobel Conference - Gustavus Adolphus College](<a href=“http://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2008/presenters.php]2008”>2008 Presenters | Nobel Conference - 2008) </p>
<p>and try to keep up with a lot of the back-and-forth on this issue among scientists.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Related</a> Articles | Nobel Conference - Gustavus Adolphus College](<a href=“http://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2008/related.php]Related”>Related Articles | Nobel Conference - 2008)</p>