Ethnicity: Sorta-Kinda Indian...

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
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<p>Back in October, when I was filling out the Common App to apply to UNC Chapel Hill, Northwestern, and American, someone mentioned that since there was no real way to verify ethnicity, I could claim to be Hispanic or Native American on my application. I considered claiming to be Puerto Rican, but decided against it. I did, however, decide to put Native American, and I specified that I was Cherokee and Other (Seminole), but not enrolled as either. I also said that I was White (European).</p>

<p>Let me explain: I wasn’t lying, exactly. I know for a fact that my maternal great-grandfather was either half- or full-blooded Seminole. My father’s family has been living in an area of the Appalachian mountains very close to what is now the Cherokee reservation since approximately the late 1700’s. I can never get a straight answer from my grandmother about whether or not we have any Cherokee ancestry, but I don’t see how the family can have been here for centuries without any at all.</p>

<p>I found out a few weeks ago that I had been accepted at Chapel Hill, and I’d forgotten about my “ethnicity” until last night I got a letter from the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, just a generic invitation to a specialized admitted students reception. My father pointed out that it might have been my claiming to be Cherokee/Seminole that got me accepted. I got a 2130 on the SAT, I have an unweighted 3.5 GPA, 4s on the two AP exams I’ve taken, I’m Yearbook Editor, and all 3 teachers who reviewed my admissions essay seemed impressed. I think I could have gotten in to Chapel Hill on that alone, but Northwestern and American I’m not so sure about.</p>

<p>This was incredibly stupid, and I’m regretting it, but what’s done is done. All I can do now is ask:

  1. Will schools consider my ethnicity a lie/half lie even though I really am technically Native?
  2. If yes, how much trouble am I in?
  3. If my ethnicity makes the difference to get me in at Northwestern or American and they find that I’m not quite as Indian as they thought, will they rescind my admission?
  4. Is this not that big a deal? Am I freaking myself out for no reason? I do that sometimes.</p>
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<p>If you know for a fact your great grand father was full blooded Seminole go get his enrollment number. You say fact but then you say he as either 1/2 or fullblooded. The fact that you feel cheesy showing up at a reception for Native Americans means you know you were fudging your application. Frankly, living on an Indian reservation, and knowing that my kids who are enrolled tribal members have to compete with the likes of people like you for spots makes me sick. Here is the difference, my kids could attend that reception and not feel unsure about their status and people would notice they are Native American beyond just their braids.</p>

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<p>He/she is ready to own up to is and already feels horrible. OP go find your grandparents and try to get a straight answer. Did you indicate how much native american you are?</p>

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