azwethinkweiz

Hello everyone,

As the title implies, I have absolutely no idea what to put for country of Origin. My grandma is from Trinidad, but her ancestors were from South America and later moved to Trinidad. The thing is, we aren't exactly sure from which country her ancestors came from (we can't ask her and my dad has no idea)...I'm relatively sure it's Venezuela but it could just as well be Colombia or Ecuador. I honestly have no idea what to put. I don't want to accidentally "lie" on my application by putting a country that she might not be from (even though they probably won't be doing a background check), so should I just put "Trinidad" for country of origin? My grandma was definitely raised "hispanic"...not sure how to put it. But I didn't know if my putting down Trinidad would make it less...legitimate, as it IS a Latin American country and Spanish IS spoken there (but without official recognition...largely due to the many other languages spoken there as the country is such a melting pot. However, Spanish is due to become the second official language in 2020). I definitely identify with my Hispanic side (as well as the other ethnicities that make up my heritage) and honestly don't know what to do. (Is it a requirement to put down country of origin? I'd imagine so but I could be wrong...especially since the way identifying oneself on paper will change in 2010 [I think]).

Thanks so much.

entomom

The new CA asks first if you're Hispanic and then asks your race(s). For both questions they now say, "describe your background", rather than from what country, like they used to do:

https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/News.aspx#18

I think you should just put down that you are from Trinidad as that is where your family currently resides and it is know to have had Latin influence in it's culture and history. For instance, my husband was from Argentina and that is what my D put down, even though his ancestors were originally from Spain.

azwethinkweiz

Thank you so much; that answers my question perfectly. Much appreciated !

Edit: so after looking at it...I'm not supposed to go into great detail right? Just like a sentence or two? What would you suggest?

jessiehl

I'm not sure what it is that you're filling out (a college application? a scholarship application?), but these things usually want a very short answer for country of origin, no more than a few words.

entomom

^^^Agree, no more than a few words.

azwethinkweiz

yes, college application. The problem is that because I'm not sure where my grandma's ancestors are from I'm not eligible for NHRP (also, Trinidad isn't listed as one of the countries for NHRP). Because of that, I'm worried that they might not accept Trinidad as "Hispanic," even though it is classified as Latin American. Sorry for all the indecision, I just don't want to have a mess-up potentially ruin my application (even though it probably won't)

entomom

Aha, I hadn't realized that NHRP doesn't recognize Trinidad! If you think that your PSAT score would qualify you for NHRP and if you self-identified as Hispanic on the tests and at your school, you might want to give NHRP a call and explain your situation. I know they have a list of countries, but there is some ambiguity as they say "your ancestors", so it's possible they could accept you despite your uncertainty since your family was from one of the countries listed.

Are you interested in math or science? If so, have you looked at becoming a Ventures Scholar? Again, the main purpose of this honor is to get your name to colleges.

Beyond the ethnicity/country questions, there are other things that you can do to be sure that adcoms understand that you identify with your Hispanic ethnicity: Write a brief note in the Additional Information part of the CA to explain your background; write an essay that in some way reflects your Hispanic identity; have ECs that connect you with Hispanic culture.

swimcatsmom

Wouldn't your country of origin be the country you are born in? That is what I think when I hear country of origin.

entomom

scm,
As a URM, Hispanics usually put their "country of origin" as Spain or a Latin American/Caribbean country. Some may have actually been born in that country and have since become US citizens, however, most were born in the US but their ancestors came from Hispanic countries.

The OP is concerned that adcoms won't recognize their Hispanic background since Trinidad isn't always considered Hispanic/Latino (eg. NHRP).

azwethinkweiz

I'm not sure if my PSAT score qualifies in MA (202). I tried looking it up but couldn't find anything.

Also, I'm not sure if I even checked anything off...more often than not I've probably left it blank (mainly because I'm uneasy of putting down anything I'm not exactly sure of...if you can't already tell ).

And yes, that is exactly what I'm concerned about. I personally have always thought of it as a very Latin American country, especially since my grandma was born in an area that was greatly influenced by nearby Venezuela, etc. Like I said, Spanish will be recognized as its second "official" language in 2020, but that's also the problem. As of now, Spanish is known to be very spoken there (in addition to the fact that Trinidadian English is really more Creole-based; influenced by Spanish among other languages) but it isn't official. It is still a Latin American country, however.

Sorry; I just really be as certain as possible (arbitrariness aside...). Thanks for your responses thus far; they've really been a huge help

entomom

NHRP is notorious for not publishing their state score cut-off, and they change somewhat each year. 202 is pretty high as it's about regular NM commended range. A poster on another thread had a good PSAT score but hadn't marked Hispanic on his test, last week he called the NHRP and talked to his GC, he's now getting NHRP honors and is qualified for merit money at some schools. You can decide if you want to call NHRP and see check into it, there's nothing to lose.

Pizzagirl

She's only one of your four grandparents, however. What about the other 3?

entomom

Since the OP was only asking about his one GM, we all responded under the assumption that the other grandparents definitely aren't Hispanic.

If this isn't the case and other grandparents are Hispanic, then the question about Trinidad is moot.

azwethinkweiz

Ah, yes, my other grandparents are Italian, Lebanese, and Chinese. Only one grandmother is hispanic. (ps I'm a girl ! hahah :P)

I've decided to just put down Trinidad as the country of origin and explain my multicultural background (which definitely includes Latin influences) in my essay. My grandmother was actually an amateur musician when she lived there and composed some parang songs, which my family traditionally performs here in the U.S. at christmastime :]

I contacted NHRP via phone and they told me to email them; my guidance counselor did but still hasn't heard back from them so I'm still not sure what to do about that...I suppose I'll just have to wait!

Thank you so much again for all of your help!

entomom

Best of luck az!