Ethnicity on applications?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean by “Latino”? White descendant of mostly Spanish colonizers?

Honestly I think it’s up to the kid.

Yes. Multiples generations in Latin America, but most likely fully European ancestry.

Your kid is super white. Is that a category?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a true POC, this is so darn frustrating. Y'all white people want to have all the things. Your kid is white. If he's not being hassled by cops for his hoodie or looking suspect at TSA, your kid is white.

You are ghetto, not POC.

We are POC, and polite and well-dressed too, and TSA bothers us, yes, the same as they bother everyone else. Same with cops.

Drop the BS attitude, it doesn't work outside SE DC.

I love you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean by “Latino”? White descendant of mostly Spanish colonizers?

Honestly I think it’s up to the kid.

Yes. Multiples generations in Latin America, but most likely fully European ancestry.

Your kid is super white. Is that a category?

Hey clueless anglo, you can be white and Hispanic at the same time.

As a matter of fact that's what most Hispanics are and you should have noticed by now.

[Anonymous]

My kid is 1/4 Hispanic (Cuban) on my mom's side. That being said, we did not identify as such when we applied to independent schools, mainly because he is only 1/4. However, I would strongly recommend you put Hispanic on your application if he identifies as such because this will only help when he applies to colleges and identifies as Hispanic. Although DS did not identify as Hispanic on independent school application, he DID on college common app. Hoping this hook will help him get into his dream school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is 1/4 Hispanic (Cuban) on my mom's side. That being said, we did not identify as such when we applied to independent schools, mainly because he is only 1/4. However, I would strongly recommend you put Hispanic on your application if he identifies as such because this will only help when he applies to colleges and identifies as Hispanic. Although DS did not identify as Hispanic on independent school application, he DID on college common app. Hoping this hook will help him get into his dream school.

You can't be 1/4 Hispanic -- you either are or you arent. It's not a race or genetic thing, it's a culture and ethnicity.

If that Cuban influence is still alive and kicking (language, cuisine, values, music, history...) then your kid is Hispanic.

If not, you're just playing the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean by “Latino”? White descendant of mostly Spanish colonizers?

Honestly I think it’s up to the kid.

Yes. Multiples generations in Latin America, but most likely fully European ancestry.

Your kid is super white. Is that a category?

Maybe so, but not as white as the pp

[Anonymous]

my kids are dual citizens but very Caucasian looking - DD dropped the fact into her response to one of the questions/essays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't you just check the "other" box and move on?

That's the answer right there. The "other" box was created for people who find the question too complicated to answer with a single check mark.

[Anonymous]

The reason why is that the OP is trying to figure a way get get URM status

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is like a 21st-century take on the "No True Scotsman" fallacy.

Gatekeepers say ethnicity is defined by culture, as if there's a right or wrong way to be Hispanic/Latino.

Others saying it doesn't matter what you identify with, if you don't look like it enough to get hassled by the cops you don't qualify.

The whole thing is a joke and your kid should shamelessly check whatever box they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason why is that the OP is trying to figure a way get get URM status

This is the OP here. Actually, neither I nor my spouse wanted to list the underrepresented minorities on the application. It was our child who did, because our child identifies with them. Ultimately, we decided not to, precisely for the reasons that many identified. We were definitely not going for a leg up or a hook, but we did want to be true to our child and his identity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is 1/4 Hispanic (Cuban) on my mom's side. That being said, we did not identify as such when we applied to independent schools, mainly because he is only 1/4. However, I would strongly recommend you put Hispanic on your application if he identifies as such because this will only help when he applies to colleges and identifies as Hispanic. Although DS did not identify as Hispanic on independent school application, he DID on college common app. Hoping this hook will help him get into his dream school.

You can't be 1/4 Hispanic -- you either are or you arent. It's not a race or genetic thing, it's a culture and ethnicity.

If that Cuban influence is still alive and kicking (language, cuisine, values, music, history...) then your kid is Hispanic.

If not, you're just playing the system.

I completely disagree with this. Of course you can be 1/4 Hispanic. Even the College Board defines someone who is eligible to claim Hispanic ethnicity must have 25% Hispanic background. Perhaps you are jealous because you have no hook.

[Anonymous]

With respect to the experience of children in particular, it doesn't matter what culture/race one "identifies with" but rather how they are treated by their peers and the outside world. Take the example of a Korean adopted by a white American family. For all intents and purposes, they are culturally white/American. But, they most definitely will not have the same experiences as a white child growing up in the same household.

Similarly, with half (insert ethnicity here) children, I would argue that the experience they have culturally in their household matters less than the expectations and perception of the outside world. Personally, I am half asian, but was raised with exactly zero contact with any asian relatives and asian culture. But that fact did not matter at all, as to everyone else, I was simply "asian".

The situation with admissions is definitely more complicated and nuanced, as schools attempt to build a diverse class of both experience and racial composition. Personally, I think it's unethical for a person who is physically and culturally white passing to claim 'credit' for an ethnicity or cultural group that they aren't socially 'punished' for belonging to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With respect to the experience of children in particular, it doesn't matter what culture/race one "identifies with" but rather how they are treated by their peers and the outside world. Take the example of a Korean adopted by a white American family. For all intents and purposes, they are culturally white/American. But, they most definitely will not have the same experiences as a white child growing up in the same household.

Similarly, with half (insert ethnicity here) children, I would argue that the experience they have culturally in their household matters less than the expectations and perception of the outside world. Personally, I am half asian, but was raised with exactly zero contact with any asian relatives and asian culture. But that fact did not matter at all, as to everyone else, I was simply "asian".

The situation with admissions is definitely more complicated and nuanced, as schools attempt to build a diverse class of both experience and racial composition. Personally, I think it's unethical for a person who is physically and culturally white passing to claim 'credit' for an ethnicity or cultural group that they aren't socially 'punished' for belonging to.

Sorry, wrong again! Nothing wrong at all! Until they change the rules, we will play by the rules, and nothing wrong with claim an ethnicity that is truly yours. Yes, we are white and rich, but my mother's birth certificate says Cuba. The question asks for ethnicity. Now "how" ethnic you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With respect to the experience of children in particular, it doesn't matter what culture/race one "identifies with" but rather how they are treated by their peers and the outside world. Take the example of a Korean adopted by a white American family. For all intents and purposes, they are culturally white/American. But, they most definitely will not have the same experiences as a white child growing up in the same household.

Similarly, with half (insert ethnicity here) children, I would argue that the experience they have culturally in their household matters less than the expectations and perception of the outside world. Personally, I am half asian, but was raised with exactly zero contact with any asian relatives and asian culture. But that fact did not matter at all, as to everyone else, I was simply "asian".

The situation with admissions is definitely more complicated and nuanced, as schools attempt to build a diverse class of both experience and racial composition. Personally, I think it's unethical for a person who is physically and culturally white passing to claim 'credit' for an ethnicity or cultural group that they aren't socially 'punished' for belonging to.

Sorry, wrong again! Nothing wrong at all! Until they change the rules, we will play by the rules, and nothing wrong with claim an ethnicity that is truly yours. Yes, we are white and rich, but my mother's birth certificate says Cuba. The question asks for ethnicity. *Now "how" ethnic you are.

*Not