<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>Two concerns. </p>
<p>First:
I just realized that on my Common App, I listed debate as an activity and wrote “co-chair” as my title in the 10th grade, which it was. As the years progressed, the program has changed entirely and there are now no more superficial titles attached to students, so I am no longer “co-chair”. However, there was no place to specify that I was no longer a co-chair on the common app. The lack of space forced me to be less specific, but hey, no big deal. The problem, though, is that I wrote in my counselor recommendation form about an event in debate regarding team selections that got way out of hand, and I’m sure my counselor wrote about it in my recommendation (as it did reflect well on my character). These events, though, implied that I did not hold a position of power in the club, which goes against what is stated on the Common App. Is this too minute of a detail to be of importance? </p>
<p>Second:
I am a mixed-race applicant of Indian (Asian) descent and African (continental) descent. My grandmother is African, so my father also bears an Indian last name. After consulting with many, I have listed only African on my app. The problem with this, though, is my last name is Indian *not African. My concern is that the admissions office will not believe me and contact my GC (who I have not informed about my race) about this. In fact, I emailed my GC earlier this year about not indicating any race on my application, but decided to change afterwards to listing African. So if she is contacted, she may be in as much shock as others (because she doesn’t know about the entirety of my family history).
It does not seem right on the side of an admissions office to question race, but can this happen? Worse yet, would they just throw my app out on the grounds that it is suspicious? Just FYI, I have modified my race and indicated mixed race on RD apps. I am figuring out how to fix the debate problem. That said, I don’t really want to deal with RD apps because my first-choice is first by miles, and I don’t want my app to be discarded simply because I wanted to provide myself with a competitive edge.</p>
<p>Please quell my fears!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>