<p>Yeah, the whole definition thing is throwing me off too, so I am just saying “no” in order to avoid being rejected by the school for “lying”.</p>
<p>You can always mark “other” for ethnicity in general, and indicate that you are Brazilian.</p>
<p>My co-worker’s wife is Brazilian…daughter of Indian parents who emigrated to Brazil in the '70s. She’s lived her entire life in Brazil and is Brazilian. Her ethnic heritage is Indian. Happens in America all the time!</p>
<p>The form for 2010 makes no such provision:</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx</a></p>
<p>You say Brazilian, but I am assuming you are a US Citizen of Brazilian heritage? It is up to you what you claim as your ethnic heritage, insofar as some schools have limits on how they determine Native Americn status and other group status. usually if you can substantiate, it isn’t a problem.</p>
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<p>That’s because Brazil is not included in the list of places of origin that fit the current federal definition of “Hispanic.” See the links from the first few posts in this FAQ thread (into which your question thread was merged) for official definitions. The college forms have changed this year because of a new federal regulation, and all the definitions have been the same for years.</p>
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<p>That may have been true the last time your child looked at an application form, but it is not true this year. There isn’t any “other” category on any college application form that follows the current federal regulations. See the first few posts in this thread for links to the regulation on college data gathering and other links to definitions of ethnicity and race categories.</p>
<p>But Brazil is a Latin American country…</p>
<p>Doesn’t Latin America == Latino?</p>
<p>I’m a dual-citizen, so that could help me out. Also, I noticed that the “Other” button does exist and it lets you type in the ethnicity if you select it. So I’ll just do that.</p>
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<p>Not by the current federal definitions, which you can look up from the links way back at the beginning of this thread. (The main text of the definition of “Latino” is quoted in one of the first few FAQ posts.)</p>
<p>i checked black and asian because i am both</p>
<p>Does this mean i’m considered white in admissions?</p>
<p>i’m confused. don’t black and asian cancel each other out</p>
<p>I know it’s not this simple, but it seems ironic that the descendants of the richer country, Spain, are deemed help-worthy, but those of the poorer country, Portugal, are not. But then Brazil is to Portugal as the U.S. is to the U.K. ;)</p>
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<p>No, it means you are considered both black and Asian. As for what that means about your admission chances, no one seems very sure about that, because colleges are much less than clear about how they use student ethnicity information in the admission process. Some may not regard ethnicity at all as an admission factor, but most colleges do, and no college that I am aware of makes clear just how much weight is put on that factor. </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>
<p>We have been wrestling with the Brazilian question on the Hispanic subforum as well. It is particularly difficult because the National Hispanic Recognition Program clearly includes Brazilians in their definition of Hispanic:</p>
<p>[National</a> Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP)](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Scholarships and Recognition with PSAT/NMSQT - SAT Suite)</p>
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<p>The NHRP is analogous to Nat Ach for AA students; though the program itself doesn’t offer any scholarships, many schools have merit awards for NHRP scholars. </p>
<p>I recently saw an interesting article by the Pew Hispanic Center which discusses the question of Brazilians as Hispanics:</p>
<p>[Who’s</a> Hispanic? - Pew Hispanic Center](<a href=“http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=111]Who’s”>http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=111)</p>
<p>The article states that the OMB definition does not consider Brazilians as Hispanic:</p>
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<p>But that the US Census uses a different definition that does if they self-identify:</p>
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<p>If this weren’t difficult enough, there’s also the question of marking “American Indian or Alaska Native (including all Original Peoples of the Americas)” for students from countries like Mexico and Peru, with large mestizo populations.</p>
<p>My father is Afro-Cuban/ Jamaican. He looks black, as well as I do. My mother is white, blonde hair blue eyes and part native American (no proof).</p>
<p>My dilemma is my teacher urges me to put down black and native american, but I feel isn’t that somewhat lying if I’m in reality cuban? Do I mark yes to hispanic and then yes to black? I am in essence both.</p>
<p>Or can I mark no to hispanic and just yes to black or even leave the hispanic box blank?</p>
<p>What I’m trying to say is I want to be see a black woman on my applications, but I don’t know if that is lying and how I should go about marking it.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>You’re hispanic. Many hispanic people are also black. I suppose you could mark both, but I wouldn’t mark Native. I’m 1/4th native (or something) but my family member who was part native was illegit. (And thus we can’t prove it…)</p>
<p>That one’s pushing it, imho.</p>
<p>If your father is both Cuban and Jamaican, you can, and should, check Hispanic and Black(Carib). Rules regarding NA are strict - - if neither you nor your mom have tribal enrollment, you shouldn’t identify as NA (b/c you’ll look dishonest when the college asks for enrollment info that you cannot produce).</p>
<p>Ethnicity (Hispanic or Not) and race are two separate things, and there should be two checklists on the form. You should also be able to check multiple boxes in the race category, or sometimes there is an option for “mixed” or “other”. Basically, you get to decide for yourself what you are, and check the box(s) that feel(s) right for you. If you are up for a scholarship for Native American students, it is most likely that you will have to produce documentation of a specific tribal affiliation. I don’t think there is any reason to stop you from checking it as part of your personal heritage even when you don’t have that formal affiliation.</p>
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<p>Your question has been merged into the FAQ thread, where you can use the links in the first few posts to check for detailed federal regulations and definitions. In the situation you describe, it would be okay (and typical) to check “yes” for the Hispanic ethnicity question, and “black” as one of the race choices in the race question on a college application. Hispanic people can be of any race. You may also check other race choices that you think fit your situation. In some cases, colleges will ask follow-up questions to verify some choices of “race,” especially “American Indian,” but the federal definitions allow you to check according to your own community attachment to American Indian people, if you have any such community attachment.</p>
<p>does one help more than the other</p>
<p>I have a parent born in africa (as well as her parents, etc)</p>
<p>but, she’s not african american</p>
<p>am i still considered a urm?</p>
<p>I think the general consensus is the URM status is meant to “right” the wrongs done to people groups living within what is now the US, which would be Native Americans and African Americans.</p>
<p>Hispanics and Africans would also be considered as URMs, not just Native Americans and black Americans.</p>