<p>Hello, I have an urgent question.</p>
<p>I am North African, but my skin color is white. However, I fully identify myself as an African; I connect with other Africans whether black or not, and have aspirations to do a lot for Africa. </p>
<p>On the CommonApp, the question is asked: "Please indicate how you identify yourself". If you then read their little Help box, it says: "You may provide whatever answer you feel best applies to you or any groups of which you feel you are a part."</p>
<p>I did in all seriousness at the time feel that the box for African American was most relevant because I consider myself African, and it says in parentheses (Including Africa and Caribbean). So I checked that, then specified "North African". Just recently I found out that North Africans are considered white, not African American.</p>
<p>Now with acceptances looming, I am really starting to freak out. Do you guys think I could get expelled if they see that I am not black? If yes, I have been contemplating emailing the colleges because I haven't heard back from any yet, telling them what happened. What do you guys think I should do?</p>
<p>And by the way this is a serious question, I know there was a troll thread slightly similar to this, but this really did/is happening and I am really freaking out!!</p>
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<p>You could have your admission offer rescinded. You could also theoretically be expelled later for defying the school’s honor code. It’s not likely, however – a lot of blacks have very light skin. In the Old South, one drop of blood (1/16th or less) made you officially black, no matter how white you looked. I wouldn’t go searching for scholarships meant for AAs, for sure.</p>
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<p>That will mark you as a dishonest candidate for sure. Don’t you think dozens of applicants pull this stunt intentionally every year?</p>
<p>Oh by no means will I be searching for AA scholarships; I consider myself African. </p>
<p>As with emailing them back, I was planning on doing it very soon before I hear back from any of them. Do you think they would understand my position if I explained it to them? I never tried to pull any stunt; I thought that was the best choice and felt confident in it at the time (because the commonapp question is asked very openly, so I didn’t think it would be exact definitions). Now that I have learned that the definitions for those categories are strict by the government’s standards, I want to be able to resolve anything now and not have to worry about the specter of expulsion looming over me.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about this one. They aren’t going to pull your admission because of this. Most of this kind of demographic data isn’t even used for admissions purposes, it is just so they have numbers to file with the federal government - just like the statistics on how old the average student is, or which economic strata the students come from.</p>
<p>Wild stuff this year in North Africa. I imagine your family is all but glued to the TV. </p>
<p>Wishing you and your friends and family both here and in North Africa, all the best!</p>
<p>I had a similar situation! I’m half argentine and identify with my Hispanic side, but ive got pretty fair skin and green eyes etc… So even though I don’t look it, it’s what I identify with</p>
<p>I understand your concern. However you identify with your African heritage. You are African. I realize that the forms may be asking you to name the color of your skin, and if that is so, then the form needs to ask just that.</p>
<p>I know of a student that was born in Africa, and then moved to the US. She wrote African-American. She is also blonde hair and blue eyed. Is she wrong? The title is actually quite descriptive of her heritage. </p>
<p>Then you get into mix racial backgrounds. Slippery slope! I think if you honestly answered the question for yourself then that is good enough.</p>
<p>No email to the college required IMO.</p>
<p>Thank you happymomof1, my family is in Morocco and so far the protests there have been peaceful and less ambitious.</p>
<p>Amandarin, I know! The commonapp questions are so open… what did you end up marking?</p>