If you are Spanish, Portuguese or Brazilian...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So a rich white kid from a wealthy white family in Argentina or Chile or Uruguay (which are among the "whitest" countries in the world, ironically), can claim to be Hispanic and gain AA benefits?

Anonymous wrote:The U.S. Census Bureau defines the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino to refer to "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race"

As it is I suspect the admissions panels are pretty good at spotting the difference between a white Hispanic and non-white Hispanic. I doubt a white applicant whose parents came to America from Spain or Argentina is going to get much of a boost, if any.

How?? I'm calling BS on this. Your name is say, Lopez. .Who's to say you're not Hispanic"? Please answer seriously. How could they get "pretty good at spotting the differences?

[Anonymous]

Unless there is an in person interview, the schools won't know you before the admission decision.

[Anonymous]

My mother in law is from Spain so my children are Hispanic and white.
I can confirm that it does help with college admissions and scholarships.
S went on several diversity programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless there is an in person interview, the schools won't know you before the admission decision.

A lot of schools are getting savvy and compare your declared ethnicity with your student activities and social media. A person who says they are Latina, belonged to the Hispanic Student Alliance, interned at CASA de Maryland, and has at least some SM posts about being Latina is more credible than the one who claims a Mexican grandmother, but has no prior connections to the Hispanic community. When I taught HS, we saw some white families attempt to suddenly claim Native American ancestry so we counter-balanced by creating after school clubs and documentable community connections for our Native, AA, and Latinx students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother in law is from Spain so my children are Hispanic and white.
I can confirm that it does help with college admissions and scholarships.
S went on several diversity programs.

There is a certain hypocrisy and irony in someone using a white Spanish grandmother for AA purposes when Spain was by far the biggest and most brutal colonial power in the New World, whose legacy resulted in heavily racially stratified societies.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother in law is from Spain so my children are Hispanic and white.
I can confirm that it does help with college admissions and scholarships.
S went on several diversity programs.

There is a certain hypocrisy and irony in someone using a white Spanish grandmother for AA purposes when Spain was by far the biggest and most brutal colonial power in the New World, whose legacy resulted in heavily racially stratified societies.....

Yep.

[Anonymous]

My MIL is from Spain and my child identified as white. A classmate who was 1/16th Spanish identified as Hispanic. The difference is that my child has no connection to the culture and the classmate's entire identity and future area of research was fully invested in that tenuous lineage. It's not just about ethnicity but also heritage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother in law is from Spain so my children are Hispanic and white.
I can confirm that it does help with college admissions and scholarships.
S went on several diversity programs.

There is a certain hypocrisy and irony in someone using a white Spanish grandmother for AA purposes when Spain was by far the biggest and most brutal colonial power in the New World, whose legacy resulted in heavily racially stratified societies.....

Maybe so, but you would absolutely do the same thing if you thought it would help your kids! There are tons of advantages and special programs out there for teens and kids with Hispanic associations/heritage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless there is an in person interview, the schools won't know you before the admission decision.

A lot of schools are getting savvy and compare your declared ethnicity with your student activities and social media. A person who says they are Latina, belonged to the Hispanic Student Alliance, interned at CASA de Maryland, and has at least some SM posts about being Latina is more credible than the one who claims a Mexican grandmother, but has no prior connections to the Hispanic community. When I taught HS, we saw some white families attempt to suddenly claim Native American ancestry so we counter-balanced by creating after school clubs and documentable community connections for our Native, AA, and Latinx students.

Sorry, but no. My kid, who is 100% Latina, raised by two Colombians (aka my husband and I, who immigrated here as young adults) should not have to join certain clubs or post about being Colombia/Latina on Facebook (WTF would that even entail?!) just to "prove" she is, in fact, Latina to some admissions committees. That's just absurd.

[Anonymous]

What are some of the Hispanic/ diversity programs for students? My son is half Hispanic but I'm white (his dad is Hispanic).

[Anonymous]

A tangent I know but I ponder this for my DS who is 1/4 black but looks really white. I'm 1/2 black and checked both black and white if I could check multiple boxes or just black if I could only check one. I don't look white and have felt some degree of racism in my life so I felt okay doing that. I guess it's up to my son but I hope he checks white or maybe other. I would feel disappointed if he checked black for an admissions boost. One drop rule and all that notwithstanding, AA is not meant for him.

[Anonymous]

This is not a problem owned by the student. It's owned by the college.

A binary variable: Hispanic or not.

We have contacted admissions offices, and we have been assured that having a grandparent from Central America is sufficient to check the Hispanic box.

We are perfectly willing to supply any further info the school needs to consider in their decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not a problem owned by the student. It's owned by the college.

A binary variable: Hispanic or not.

We have contacted admissions offices, and we have been assured that having a grandparent from Central America is sufficient to check the Hispanic box.

We are perfectly willing to supply any further info the school needs to consider in their decision.

But a grandparent from Spain? That just seems silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless there is an in person interview, the schools won't know you before the admission decision.

A lot of schools are getting savvy and compare your declared ethnicity with your student activities and social media. A person who says they are Latina, belonged to the Hispanic Student Alliance, interned at CASA de Maryland, and has at least some SM posts about being Latina is more credible than the one who claims a Mexican grandmother, but has no prior connections to the Hispanic community. When I taught HS, we saw some white families attempt to suddenly claim Native American ancestry so we counter-balanced by creating after school clubs and documentable community connections for our Native, AA, and Latinx students.

Sorry, but no. My kid, who is 100% Latina, raised by two Colombians (aka my husband and I, who immigrated here as young adults) should not have to join certain clubs or post about being Colombia/Latina on Facebook (WTF would that even entail?!) just to "prove" she is, in fact, Latina to some admissions committees. That's just absurd.

Don't blame the admissions committees. They are just responding to fraud. Do you prefer that the pot of money be divvied up to include financially well-heeled students with absolutely no Latino identification? That's taking money that you daughter could have received.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not a problem owned by the student. It's owned by the college.

A binary variable: Hispanic or not.

We have contacted admissions offices, and we have been assured that having a grandparent from Central America is sufficient to check the Hispanic box.

We are perfectly willing to supply any further info the school needs to consider in their decision.

Ugh. Colleges just want to boost their numbers. Kinda cynical at the end of the day.