<p>I'm Egyptian-American and I look very Mediterranean/Middle Eastern (most people think I'm Jewish). What race box should I fill out when I apply for colleges? Caucasian? Other? African-American? Do Middle Easterners/North Africans get their own box? </p>
<p>Would it be abusive/inappropriate/illegal for me to apply as an African-American to schools that prefer minorities? If so, is there any way the schools would know that I'm not really black?</p>
<p>Middle Easterners are, for all intents and purposes, caucasian. Sorry, no cookies for you. :(</p>
<p>just put "Muslim" or "Arab". </p>
<p>LOL!</p>
<p>unfortunately, they don't have "Muslim" or "Arab" boxes 90% of the time...also, they wouldn't fall into the same category as Arab is an ethnicity, while Islam is a religion.</p>
<p>I've been checking "African-American" lately, when there's no Arab box...because it says African-American/African..I am North African, therefore I am African.</p>
<p>How are Middle Easterns considered white? Just wondering...</p>
<p>"How are Middle Easterns considered white? Just wondering..."</p>
<p>Not only Middle Easterns are considered white, but also the Indians and the Hispanics in the Latin/South America are considered white.</p>
<p>AMAZING RIGHT???</p>
<p>anyway, to answer your question, Middle Easterns are considered white cuz they are Aryans.</p>
<p>really? i didn't know that...</p>
<p>you learn something new everyday :).</p>
<p>
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Middle Easterners are, for all intents and purposes, caucasian. Sorry, no cookies for you.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's really stupid. I think it's so people can complain about the canon of so-called "Western literature" having only dead white European? males.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm not Muslim, I'm Christian, and many, if not most, Egyptian-Americans are Christian. </p>
<p>Does anybody think I can get away with putting AFrican-American and getting all the minority prefs? Would putting "Other" and "Egyptian" get me any racial preferences? Would Caucasian in any way benefit me?</p>
<p>Just another reason why AA fails at life.</p>
<p>if you consider yourself African American, then put African American. Nobody has the right to tell you what you are. But don't put it only so you can gain whatever benefits it might have.</p>
<p>Check the "other" box and then fill in however you identify yourself.</p>
<p>dhl3, in no way are Latin American Indians considered to be "white." Mestizo is another story. As for Arabs, Persians and Turks, the general idea is that they are caucasian. Confusing? Yes, but that's our tortured history of race and ethnicity in the U.S.</p>
<p>As for the original poster, in the U.S. geographical charterizations paired with race and ethnicity are typically not applied literally. Yes, Egypt is situated in Africa. But like a Afrikanner in Johannesburg, you would not be considered as "African-American" by in our neck of the woods, nor by the U.S. government or most colleges.</p>
<p>
[quote]
n no way are Latin American Indians considered to be "white."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>When i said Indians, I was talking about people who live in COUNTRY India right next to Pakistan, not the Native Americans -_-</p>
<p>You are American with Egyptian heritage. It looks like everyone here knows that Egypt is North African, and thus Arab. However, it is North African. Are you lying if you say African-American? No!</p>
<p>West Point takes care of this very well. They explicitly state that if you're Middle Eastern, then you're white. If your applications don't make such distinctions, African-American.</p>
<p>Colleges will take a dim view of your attempts to claim that you are African American. Egyptians, Arabs, and Muslims are not considered underrepresented minorities. You're not "lying" if you check the African American box, just don't expect to get any help from it. They'll know either by looking at your name, your picture, your interview, or your HS records.</p>
<p>TURKS ARE WHITE?? Oh my God, that's so bizar. I mean, I'm Turkish/Kurdish and I would never, not ever consider myself to be white. The difference between a Turkish(or Muslim/Middle-Eastern)person and a WASP is huge and I don't see how you could fit them all into one racial box. Doesn't make sense at all.</p>
<p>Put African-American. Why? Because last time I check Egypt was in Africa.</p>
<p>Just looking at the common app wich does not deviate much from other applications when it comes to this question it states:</p>
<p>that apply:
_ African American, African, Black
_ Native American, Alaska Native (date enrolled ________________________
Tribal affiliation_________________________________________<strong><em>)
_Asian American (countries of family’s origin _</em></strong>____________<strong><em>)
_Asian, incl. Indian Subcontinent (countries _</em></strong>_____________<strong><em>)
_Hispanic, Latino (countries _</em></strong>_________________________<strong><em>)
_Mexican American, Chicano
_Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander
_Puerto Rican
_White or Caucasian
_Other (specify _</em></strong>______________________________ _____________)</p>
<p>Unless you meet this definition of African American:</p>
<p>Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am., or Negro," or provide written entries such as African American, Afro American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian.</p>
<p>the college is not going to consider you a URM</p>
<p>Ugh, that why I said the social concept of race can be wholly without rationality in the U.S. But it's not all our fault.</p>
<p>It wasn't that long ago in the U.S. that if your heritage did not include people from the very north of Europe, according to the standards of prevailing U.S. culture, you were not white. That's right, I have heard accounts from second generation immigrants from Italy and from Greece about how their fathers were often hassled and often under suspicion because they were "not white."</p>
<p>The American concept of whiteness is (or was) unique and only historically recently began to include caucasians from all over Europe. One more thing, the Middle East (or, as U.S. Army maps describe it, southwest Asia) has been ethnic stew pot for ages.</p>
<p>wrathofachilles, what if you are 50% puerto rican, but your name sounds completely middle eastern (because you are also 50% middle eastern). Can you check Puerto Rican and that's it, will they consider me otherwise?</p>