Anonymous wrote:When you fill out college applications, what do you put? 75% Caucasian? Don’t mention it? Does it matter? Is there a percentage to claim “minority status”? What are the guidelines?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No joke.... my DH's friend's DD is going to Duke (in a medical graduate program) on a full scholarship b/c her grandmother is from Paraguay. She (student) has a German last name and has lived in the US or Canada her whole life. The only reason she got the scholarship is b/c she claimed "hispanic."

DH's nephews both attended a large, well-known state university for FREE b/c their father is of mexican heritage (although he lived in the US his whole life). Their mother (my SIL) is blonde and blue eyed northern european/midwestern decent. The only reason they "speak Spanish" is b/c they took Spanish in college and did the semester in Spain. F-R-E-E four years tuition. Their father (the one of mexican descent) has a PhD in physical therapy and drives a Lexus. They have never wanted for anything.

So, I guess you can claim it. If the universities are too stupid to check it out or define it better, then you might as well take it.

I've seen scholarships that take into account the highest education level of parents and family income if they are trying to target the money towards minority and first generation to go to college.

I'm not clear why you think DH's nephews are gaming the system unless by mexican heritage you mean 2-3 generations ago someone was from Mexico AND every generation married someone white. Having a PhD or money doesn't make anyone less black or Hispanic. Having a spouse of a different ethnicity also doesn't make you not black or not hispanic when you are black or hispanic. The kids not speaking Spanish could be due to many things. Especially if only one parent speaks the language it is hard to raise a bi-lingual child unless you are sending him/her to language school every weekend. Also sometimes people are focused on their kids learning English/fitting in rather than keeping the other languages going and there could be a back story as to why the parents feel that way.

My children are bi-racial and we live in an affluent area. I do worry that it will be like that article from a pp, "We aren't friends, we just grew up together". As you watch everything unfolding with the BLM movement, my children are impacted. You look at the craziness in 2016 from the Old Navy ad featuring a family that frankly looks like ours and I worry about my kids being on social media where outsiders can post. When we look at schools, yes we take diversity into account. I would not want my children to apply for a scholarship intended to help an economically disadvantaged family ....similar to the types of scholarships that allowed me to attend private school and later attend a top college. But, my children aren't white and will have to deal with issues that white children may not have to deal with ...why would I say they are white on a college application? People that have money to pay full cost aren't turning down full-tuition scholarships for their kids no matter what race and they aren't lamenting about all the advantages their kid may have gotten over the child in a terrible school system so why would you hold your BIL to a different standard?

My nephews have had every opportunity that my white children have had... in fact, they probably had more. It seems wrong for them to have free rides to college just b/c their grandparents immigrated from Mexico. If the scholarship had been for the first gen. (i.e. my BIL who is the son of the mexican grandparents), I would have no problem with that. My husband's sister#2 is the one married to the BIL. When sister#1 found out about this, it caused a riff. Sister#1 has no kids, but she felt it was very unethical. Sister#1 and Sister#2 were truly close throughout their lives.... until this. I'm not sure if they have begun speaking to each other again or not. I can see why someone would take it if it was an option (i.e. universities are too dumb to really target their outreach). It is kind of annoying that we will have to shell out serious money for our kids' college and our nephews have gotten free tuition. It doesn't seem right. But, we move on. Life isn't fair. They essentially won the college lottery.

Well, since you aren't the one funding the scholarship, it's really none of your business, is it? Surely the scholarship organization can give money to whomever they want. If they wanted to give money only to first gen students, they certainly could do that.

Are you claiming that your nephews lied on their scholarship application?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No joke.... my DH's friend's DD is going to Duke (in a medical graduate program) on a full scholarship b/c her grandmother is from Paraguay. She (student) has a German last name and has lived in the US or Canada her whole life. The only reason she got the scholarship is b/c she claimed "hispanic."

DH's nephews both attended a large, well-known state university for FREE b/c their father is of mexican heritage (although he lived in the US his whole life). Their mother (my SIL) is blonde and blue eyed northern european/midwestern decent. The only reason they "speak Spanish" is b/c they took Spanish in college and did the semester in Spain. F-R-E-E four years tuition. Their father (the one of mexican descent) has a PhD in physical therapy and drives a Lexus. They have never wanted for anything.

So, I guess you can claim it. If the universities are too stupid to check it out or define it better, then you might as well take it.

I've seen scholarships that take into account the highest education level of parents and family income if they are trying to target the money towards minority and first generation to go to college.

I'm not clear why you think DH's nephews are gaming the system unless by mexican heritage you mean 2-3 generations ago someone was from Mexico AND every generation married someone white. Having a PhD or money doesn't make anyone less black or Hispanic. Having a spouse of a different ethnicity also doesn't make you not black or not hispanic when you are black or hispanic. The kids not speaking Spanish could be due to many things. Especially if only one parent speaks the language it is hard to raise a bi-lingual child unless you are sending him/her to language school every weekend. Also sometimes people are focused on their kids learning English/fitting in rather than keeping the other languages going and there could be a back story as to why the parents feel that way.

My children are bi-racial and we live in an affluent area. I do worry that it will be like that article from a pp, "We aren't friends, we just grew up together". As you watch everything unfolding with the BLM movement, my children are impacted. You look at the craziness in 2016 from the Old Navy ad featuring a family that frankly looks like ours and I worry about my kids being on social media where outsiders can post. When we look at schools, yes we take diversity into account. I would not want my children to apply for a scholarship intended to help an economically disadvantaged family ....similar to the types of scholarships that allowed me to attend private school and later attend a top college. But, my children aren't white and will have to deal with issues that white children may not have to deal with ...why would I say they are white on a college application? People that have money to pay full cost aren't turning down full-tuition scholarships for their kids no matter what race and they aren't lamenting about all the advantages their kid may have gotten over the child in a terrible school system so why would you hold your BIL to a different standard?

My nephews have had every opportunity that my white children have had... in fact, they probably had more. It seems wrong for them to have free rides to college just b/c their grandparents immigrated from Mexico. If the scholarship had been for the first gen. (i.e. my BIL who is the son of the mexican grandparents), I would have no problem with that. My husband's sister#2 is the one married to the BIL. When sister#1 found out about this, it caused a riff. Sister#1 has no kids, but she felt it was very unethical. Sister#1 and Sister#2 were truly close throughout their lives.... until this. I'm not sure if they have begun speaking to each other again or not. I can see why someone would take it if it was an option (i.e. universities are too dumb to really target their outreach). It is kind of annoying that we will have to shell out serious money for our kids' college and our nephews have gotten free tuition. It doesn't seem right. But, we move on. Life isn't fair. They essentially won the college lottery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a black woman, and upon looking at me, most would see a black woman. However, my ancestry is 1/3 European. Will I be treated as such? I think the OP knows the answer to her question.

yes. Which is why President Obama, who absolutely knows he is biracial (despite the snarky comment above), calls himself black. That's what the world sees when they look at him, and in the US it certainly informs the way people have treated him his entire life.

It is disgusting when people who "don't see race" start yammering on about whether Obama legitimately gets to call himself black, and whether doing so means he is "anti-white." Disgusting.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a black woman, and upon looking at me, most would see a black woman. However, my ancestry is 1/3 European. Will I be treated as such? I think the OP knows the answer to her question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Latina I find this whole thread offensive. If you have to ask the question, the answer is no. I have worked admissions, and we noted when people pulled crap like this. Also, you check the box with a German last name, you know every says "oh, Nazi.". I wish I were kidding!

I don't think you're being fair yourself. DH's father is Hispanic -- he immigrated here when he was a teen. DH grew up feeling culturally connected to his father's family and heritage, speaks Spanish and considers himself multi-ethnic. He also grew up comfortably middle-class with college-educated parents. His last name would not raise eyebrows among your colleagues, but that's just coincidence -- if he had his mother's last name his ethnicity wouldn't be obvious.

So, is it somehow "unfair" or "crap" for him to check the "Hispanic" box on forms? I personally think that college preferences/aid should be mainly based on SES rather than race. But the system we have is the system we have. Does it mean that he has to deny half his heritage in order to meet some self-imposed standard of fairness?