<p>Here is the answer to your question : <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/927219-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-8-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/927219-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-8-a.html</a> .
When you say Indian American do you mean Native American? If you do, then you come from two underrepresented minority groups.
“People from India (or Pakistan) are Asian. That’s the current federal definition. I can remember the time when people from that part of the world were officially deemed “white.” The definitions are arbitrary.”
Even though Asians are an underrepresented minority, they are overrepresented at many colleges, so they do not count as an underrepresented minority in most admissions offices. Since you may come from both an overrepresented and underrepresented minority group, I am not sure whether you will be considered and underrepresented minority.
However, you should not worry. You will have the opportunity to explain your background on the common application. While it is true that the standards have been lowered for underrepresented minorities, it would be foolish to claim that every URM with an 1800 can get into the school of their choice. Stiff competition among URMs have raised the standards since the inception of affirmative action. You can see that on the African American forum that most of the people admitted to the top institutions have stats comparable and even better than the stats of the average admitted students. Your college selection should not be skewed in the hope that URM status guarantees admission. I hope that I have answered and/or provided you the information that you seek.</p>