<p>It would in fact make a big difference.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that as an African American, you often just need to be a reasonably qualified candidate, while the Asian would have to be a super qualified candidate.</p>
<p>I am not in favor of this, because the Asian from a poor neighborhood might have had a harder life than the African American who grew up upper middle class, but such is our current system. </p>
<p>Given your stats, you will be a sought after candidate by almost any school.</p>
<p>If you counted as white or asian, you would just be one of thousands of candidates with similar stats----someone who is in the running for a spot, but not particularly sought after.</p>
<p>There is some downside to this, because people may presume you got in under lower standards, even if you in fact would have gotten in on your own merits. For example, my son just earned admission to a school in the UK called St Andrews. It is very hard for a UK citizen to get in, and especially a native of Scotland, because they go for free, but somewhat easier for an American to get in, because they know that Americans pay higher tuition. So people may assume if he goes there that he got in under lower standards, but in fact, he got a 2300 SAT. </p>
<p>But in life, if someone gives you a break, I would say take it.</p>