Ethnicity and the Common App

paveyourpath
Sat, 22 Oct 2016 19:36:58 +0000

@hsgraduate2017 How did you identify yourself on the SAT or ACT? Or did you leave those optional questions blank? You do not want to create a discrepancy.

I have to say that it seems odd that you are struggling with answering a simple question. You state that “my grandfather has some hispanic ancestry going way back” . College board, for purposes of National Hispanic Scholar requires a student to be one-quarter hispanic. It sounds like your grandfather is not 100% hispanic so you are not, under the college board guidelines hispanic. Would you feel comfortable and able to speak to your hispanic heritage if you were asked to? Keep in mind that if you check that box, once you submit your application to a school they will forward your contact information to the team that handles diversity recruitment efforts. Be sure you are on solid ground before you check a box.

Also, speaking spanish very well (learned in school) and embracing the culture do not make it your ethnicity. My son speaks Chinese and Japanese and embraces the east asian cultures. Doesn’t make him Chinese or Japanese though.