Race Question

Student Lounge Hispanic Students
1

<p>If an individual is 1/8 Mexican and 7/8 White, but was raised celebrating their Mexican heritage and Mexican culture, are they allowed to mark Hispanic on their college application? I am sure that similar threads to this exist, but I had trouble finding any of them! Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Since race is self-identified on most forms including the US census and the common application you can put down hispanic if you want. For scholarships or awards it might be more stringent. </p>

<p>For example, to qualify for the National Hispanic Recognition Program “you must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnic category, not a racial category; you may be of any race. For purposes of the NHRP, you must be from a family whose ancestors came from at least one of these countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay or Venezuela.” If and how they check that you qualify is beyond me.</p>

<p>I don’t see how they could argue you being a different race or ethnicity than the one you identify with and I highly doubt they would. Although it holds weight, race isn’t a particularly significant factor in college admissions.</p>

<p>There are several good, incredibly in depth articles on the topic and it’s relation to college.
For Hispanic specifically:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/641650-hispanic-latino-defined-aka-am-i-hispanic.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/641650-hispanic-latino-defined-aka-am-i-hispanic.html&lt;/a&gt;
For race in general (Much more in depth):
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1366406-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-10-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1366406-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-10-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Ok, thank you very much! But is it still ok to mark Hispanic if my parents have never identified themselves as Hispanic for things like the census?</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>The sticky Am I Hispanic? thread at the top of this forum answers the question in multiple various iterations. If you use the Search function for ‘race’ (a misnomer), you will find many previous threads asking this question.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Hispanic is an ethnicity, Hispanics can be of any race(s). That’s why the CA asks first if you’re Hispanic and then what race(s) you are.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>If you read the OP of the sticky thread, you will see that for college admissions purposes self-identification is the standard of proof. Only you know if you identify as Hispanic, so only you can answer that question. This identity does not have to be exclusive, many people identify with multiple ethnic and racial backgrounds.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Colleges don’t check census data, however they do see how you identify on standardized tests and on your transcript. Just because you didn’t indicate that you were Hispanic on these documents doesn’t mean you don’t qualify, as many people have misunderstandings on the definition of Hispanic and in the past many forms made you choose between Hispanic and racial categories. But, if you didn’t indicate that you were Hispanic previously because you didn’t identify as Hispanic, then you need to do some soul searching.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Blanket statements like this assume that adcoms simply look at a check in the box. That doesn’t hold true for other admissions factors and it doesn’t hold true for race/ethnicity either. Adcoms have been evaluating candidates for years, and use many more factors from your application than simply the indication that you’re Hispanic. See this thread and the thread I link to in it:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/1229462-does-being-hispanic-have-any-impact-all.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/1229462-does-being-hispanic-have-any-impact-all.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also, the assessment of URMs varies with the college. Some colleges get large numbers of highly qualified URM candidates, others have a more difficult time recruiting and retaining URM students.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Other than the OPs that describe how race/ethnicity are viewed for college admissions, the Race FAQ thread contains as much misinformation as accurate information and should be avoided IMO.</p>

5

<p>Definately self-identified. Is it wrong tho’ that I find it a little odd that a parent would raise their kids to celebrate a heritage that they themselves don’t identify themselves with on formal documentation?</p>

6

<p>^The purpose of this forum is to provide accurate information about the college admissions process, not to try to determine the intent/motivation of members.</p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone for your helpful input! @JoBenny, the reason why they don’t identify themselves as that is because they are mostly white and a very not as much Mexican, so they just identify themselves as white as their predominant race.</p>

8

<p>Bumpppppppppp</p>

9

<p>Bumpppppppp</p>

10

<p>^Your thread is already at the top of the queue, so no need to keep bumping ;).</p>