What do I do as a MENA applicant?

I don’t want to fill in that I’m white because I don’t believe it’s a fair representation of who I am (lebanese, moroccan jewish, a bit of subsaharan african and italian), but at the same time I don’t know if it looks worse to leave the option blank on the Common App. Do i continue leaving the box blank or do I just put that I’m white from now on?

I would be tempted to put black myself. But maybe just select both white and black.

if they question me putting black, would me saying i’m part moroccan jewish and subsaharan be enough to answer their questions? my subsaharan comes from past slavery in the ottoman empire, so it’s definitely not incredibly significant. however, these two populations combined makes me about 15-20% african but of course mainly from northern africa.

So, of course, the issue is whether or not you are claiming “URM” (under-represented minority) status. Depending on the school, this could be a substantial “tip” that might increase your chance of acceptance. Since Northern African is considered white according to the classification rules, I think most of the regulars here would tell you just to mark “white”, but I say call yourself black (or part black) if there is any justification at all for the designation. It’s your decision.

MENA is white under all US applications (terrible) both my kids complained that it’s incorrect … some will have in brackets Middle East (Rutgers I think)