Should my kids check the Hispanic box on their applications.

Student Lounge Hispanic Students
1

<p>My father is 100% Spanish which makes my DS 1/4 Hispanic. Spanish was my first language and I am a first generation American. My children have all been born in the states. If he checks the boxes for Hispanic and Caucasian which is honest and accurate, and then explains that he is only one quarter Hispanic due to his maternal grandfather, will that be frowned upon by adcoms? in other words will admissions committees feel he is trying to gain advantage?</p>

2

<p>I don’t think so, being 1/4 hispanic is enough to be considered hispanic</p>

3

<p>I don’t know the answer to your specific question, but recommend reading the Race thread in this same forum, here: <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;. It is quite thorough, and probably has the answer to your question and more.</p>

<p>I read up on it because my kids are half Chinese American, and we also have concerns about which box to check.</p>

4

<p>Hispanic is self-identified. If they feel it, they can check it.</p>

<p>If your kids will have PSAT scores that put them above your state’s cut-off for National Hispanic Scholar, that can open a lot of doors. So have a chat with their guidance counselors about it. The cut off is usually several points lower than for National Merit Scholar.</p>

5

<p>Thanks piemom, I read thru the entire race in college admissions thread and didn’t find the answer to how adcoms would view self identifying as Hispanic with an explanation of one quarter only. He is already an NMSF scholar so I’m not concerned with him being recognized as a hispanic scholar, just whether or not adcoms would possibly view his explanation or self identification negatively on his common application.</p>

6

<p>I have moved this to the Hispanic Students forum.</p>

<p>Your S is marking honestly, there will be no problem. NHRP uses 1/4 as their threshold and the wording of the CA, which is based on the US Census, does not have a threshold, just whether or not you identify as Hispanic.</p>

<p>As far as how much being Hispanic will affect this college admissions, see post #2 and the other thread it links to for some discussion of what adcoms look at within the Hispanic cohort:</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;