<p>I'm sort of confused on this... See, I'm an Indian American (both parents are Indian and immigrated to the U.S.), so not mainland "Asian." It may just be a common myth, but more and more people I've come across have been saying NOT to apply to colleges as an Asian American for obvious reasons... Now I won't be completely lying about my nationality, as I do have a bit of South African lineage from my grandfather who grew up there. Should I apply under "Asian American," or under "Other?"</p>
<p>Are you a US citizen? Then that is your nationality.</p>
<p>Are you a foreign citizen who is not a legal permanent resident, and who has dual or multiple nationalities? Then you can choose the one that you think is most likely to interest the International Admissions Officer, or the one that you think is less likely to cause you trouble when applying for your student visa.</p>
<p>If you are a US citizen or legal permanent resident, on that line on the application that asks for your ethnicity, and on that line that asks for your race, you can check any box you feel like. You can check more than one. You can even leave it blank if you feel like it. Yes, the colleges and universities like to collect the data because they need to report certain statistics to the Department of Education, but to be perfectly honest this is no one’s business but your own. You can be just one more “ethnicity/race not reported” in the paperwork that the college/university has to file.</p>
<p>Your grandfather’s time in S Africa has nothing to do with your racial classification. Leave it blank if it causes you such concern. The bias against Asian Americans (including S Asians) is largely a myth IMHO. Be an interesting applicant. That’s what matters. The problem is many fellow Asians are simply clones of one another it seems.</p>
<p>If you’re asking if you can apply as an african american because your granddad grew up in south africa, then the answer is no, you can’t. If you are Indian, you apply as asian (if I remember correctly in the parenthetical it says including india, pakistan) or you could just leave it blank! My being middle eastern, I had to apply as caucasian (and a rich one to boot) and that didn’t hinder any of my admissions; it’s only a ridiculous notion that many proud rejectees like to cite as why they didn’t get in.</p>
<p>Don’t confuse nationality with ethnic or racial identity. Under Demographics, it first asks for your “citizenship status.” If you have non-US citizenship or dual US and other, you list it all. On the other side of that section, it asks how you identify yourself. Look at the CA. </p>
<p>AfAm is originating in the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. “South African American” is different and not a boost. Asian is not a liability. I don’t agree with the clone notion. All high performing kids have similar patterns. You either stand out in the full app package or not.</p>