Will college admissions look at me as “Asian” or Afghani? I’ve heard mixed opinions on this. Some say I’ll be at a disadvantage because they will group me with intelligent people from China, India, ect. Others say it’s an advantage because of the fewer number of applicants with an Afghan ethnicity
I’m sure each school has a different set of criteria depending on its admissions goals for the year. In addition, they may look at how to categorize you differently depending on their task at hand. At one time for one task you might be lumped with other “Asians”. At other times, by the same school doing a different task, they may place you in the “Afghan” catebory. For example, in reporting demographics for something like the common data set or similar things, they may not be able to be as granular in dividing up different ethnicities and cultures and will prob lump groups together. On the other hand, if they’re trying to formulate an entering class, they probably do want to get more granular and pull students that represent a variety of countries and ethnic groups.
When you fill out the common app and click “Asian”, a list will drop down and ask you to specify the country.