Hello,
For my common app I have been having trouble deciding what I should check off for race. I am of Hispanic descent, but since this is an ethnicity, it is not an available box in the race section. It gives five other options and I am stuck about whether or not I should choose them or ignore the question as a whole.
Both of my parents are Colombian, and this is a country that is heavily diverse, so most of the people are of mixes races. For example, my grandmother is mostly American Indian, as she descends from the indigenous people who occupied the lands before the Spanish arrived. I have known this ever since I was little, and I have felt attached to this culture most of my life.
My dad is from a “mullato family”. My great grandfather is a descendant of slaves, and this is where I get most of my skin complexion from (I am dark).
I can also be considered white. Most of my family members, unlike me, have a lighter complexion. This is because some of my ancestors were directly from Spain.
Overall, I can check off American Indian, African American, and White. I am not sure whether I should check them off or leave them blank. I read online that a lot of colleges do not like when applicants check of too many boxes, as it is unlikely that they identify with all of them in their daily lives. I on the other hand, do not feel comfortable simply checking off one of them. All three of these races make up who I am. What do you guys recommend? Should I leave it blank, or check off all three?
Sorry for all of the spelling errors. I typed this really quickly.
My son who is applying to colleges this year had a similar question. I am hispanic and my wife is white. He didn’t know if he should just select hispanic or both hispanic and white. Ultimately he selected both. Go with the selection that you identify with.
I am also Colombian! I selected Hispanic and white. From the info you’ve given, I would select American Indian if you just had to choose one under the race category. I don’t think colleges are going to penalize you for choosing all three though.
DEFINITELY put Native American (along with your other races)! It’s a huge plus because it shows that you are minority and you could get many perks with that!
I do not have a tribal ID, but I do have tribal affiliation. The tribe is from South America so I am not sure if an ID even exists. By the way, I chose to keep the race section blank. This is what my gut told me to do.
Interesting. I’ve always wondered why collegesdon’t look at Native South and Latin Americans the same as Native Americans, but I am pretty sure they do not. So you would not be Native American.
With the increase in mixed race children and minorities in general I think the whole check off box thing is outdated.
So here is what my d could have checked off-
white
Filipino
Hispanic (Filipino father has a lot of Spanish & looks Hispanic rather than Asian); also has Hispanic last name.
American Indian- Grandfather was 1/4 American Indian (verifiable through some records, but don’t know the tribe as it was one of the first disbanded since it was out of New York; looks very, very American Indian)
People who meet her have no idea what her ethnicity is- but it is kind of fun to see them keep trying to unobtrusively guess while maintaining political correctness.
The Common App uses the federal government’s format for these questions. The format, wording, and choices are not being dictated by the colleges at all.
You would be Native American, it’s just Native Central American and you won’t have a tribal registry number. Put Hispanic - Colombian if you can specify, African, and native. Caucasian usually says (not of Hispanic descent) so I don’t have my kids put that as they are of Hispanic descent.
I think in this case you are simply Hispanic. Do they break it down further?
The boxes you are offered are based on politics more than genetics. In order to be considered African-American you need to be of a race from the sub Sahara region of Africa. Being from Africa does not cut it. You must be from a specific region. So for example, an individual from Egypt would not qualify.
