Sorry if this is a silly question but I’m wondering what someone like me would identify as on the Common App. I am Hispanic, from the Dominican Republic. I don’t really identify singularly as black or white, because I have very mixed ancestry: like (30%) many parts of Africa and Western Asian/North African, 7% Native American, and 54% mostly Spanish ancestry.
I am not white passing at all, but not sure what I should put on there. Should I select all 3 categories? And will selecting “white” affect my URM status.
Looks like you can check multiple race categories (e.g. Black, Asian*, Native American, White) as well as saying that you are of a Hispanic ethnicity.
*Depends on whether “Western Asian” means a group considered “White” or not.
1 Like
There is no right or wrong answer to this question, as the instruction is to check one or more boxes indicating how you identify yourself. My son is of mixed ancestry. He checked both the Asian and Pacific Islander boxes and, as I recall, there was a further drop-down under Asian that allowed him to provide more detailed info. You don’t have to answer the question at all if you don’t want to, but in addition to giving the colleges you are applying to some information about you as an applicant, it also provides them with information about their applicant pool as a whole that may be useful in furthering their diversity initiatives. It’s probably worth doing, but it is a very frustrating exercise for many people - my son ended up writing his Common App essay about all the different ways he could legitimately check the boxes and how people might have completely different expectations based on which boxes he chose.
1 Like
Thank you @tkoparent that’s very insightful. My situation is that I’ve never resonated with any of those groups individually because the ancestry is from long ago. My parents are mixed, so are their parents, etc. I feel more just hispanic/latino and not like, say, an American kid whose mom is white and dad is black
Based on this self-description I would suggest Hispanic ethnicity and then consider whatever ‘Two or more races’ type option is available under race. Sounds like the closest match to how you view your background.
1 Like
I always get confused when people ask this important question. I ask… What do you indemnify as /with and you just answered that. Put that down… So many people do all these tests to check their ancestry but forget that 18 years of identifying as X is hard to replace… Good Luck.
A. Wrong word
B. The challenge with the Common App (or the census) is that the questions don’t align with how people identify. Those born here of Dominican ancestry often resist phenotype-racialization of Black vs white vs mixed. They identify as Dominican or from DR. When they really want to be all-encompassing, they say the are Hispanic/Latinx.
But for the OP, I personally would check the 2 or more races box, but that’s your personal choice
First off,thats my autocheck… Should of caught that but thanks for the insight. I just see so many people that all their life’s on here identify as one thing… This is who they truly are, then do some testing and think maybe I can take advantage of that in some way. Not saying the poster is doing that here. Not at all. But have seen this in the past.
Wouldn’t that be the reporting catch-all for all who check two or more boxes, rather than a specific two or more box?
My kids are three races and they put all three, including Caucasian. I don’t know if they received URM status (maybe one of their three ethnicities could be considered that) but they felt it was important to include a full representation of themselves. For what it is worth, when you look at college census info, “two or more races” is often one of the smallest populations.
If I recall correctly, after you select your race, you will receive another question that will allow you to select a country to better define your selection. For example, if one chooses Asian, it will give them options of Korea, Japan, China, Philippines, etc.
From the Common App website:
Why do you ask about ethnicity?
Though questions about ethnicity are not required, they tell college admission officers more about your background and give them a greater perspective about your unique experience.
The ethnicity question on the Common Application has been updated to meet the Department of Education reporting requirements. Answers to the ethnicity question are not required for submission. If you choose to answer this question, you may provide whatever answer you feel best applies to you or any groups of which you feel you are a part. If you wish to answer the ethnicity question but feel that the established categories do not fully capture how you identify yourself, you may provide more detail in the Additional Information section of the application.
1 Like
They did, assuming the colleges cared. Mixed race where one is URM is still URM.
1 Like
Hispanic is categorized separately because by definition people are from mixed backgrounds. So pick Hispanic and then choose the races that reflect your background. In this case I would choose black and white. Your essays can speak more personally to how you identify if you choose to write about that, this is more for data collection purposes.
Why is this not the correct answer?
Yeah sorry, I probably worded that incorrectly. It was more about whether one of their three ethnicities is considered URM anywhere.
I am also West Asian (middle eastern). We have to put “white” on the common app for that part of our identity, even though we look like South Asians (at least in my family), who have to put themselves as Asian.
Just remember that race is a social construct and that the government does an incredibly bad job at seeing nuances other than “white” and “black” in this country.
1 Like
Really true. Also think there are cultural/ethnic differences that affect how someone identifies beyond just race
1 Like
Exactly. Being nonspecific sounded closest to how he described his view of himself above.