This may seem a little ridiculous but I took a DNA test and found out that am 10% Sub-Saharan African even though I look like a walking manila folder. Would it be acceptable or deemed deceptive to check off African on the app?
If you hadn’t taken the DNA test, would you have marked African?
They (colleges) usually mean black, African-American who has lived his/her life as an African-American. Don’t game play.
Colleges would not look at that favorably. Don’t try to claim a race for a boost in admissions when you have not had the lived experience of having others view you as that race.
If the app has a separate place for race and ethnicity, then yeah, why not put it. I am white and acknowledged as such on all my applications, but I do mark my half Mexican ethnicity on forms. But then again, my heritage and culture has had an influence on my childhood, upbringing, and worldviews, where as yours might not necessarily have that same effect. If you think you’ll feel guilty about it, don’t do it.
No, don’t do it. Listen to your conscience.
As @nothnxplz so deftly placed the issue, heritage, culture and influence on one’s worldviews should be what moves the needle on your compass.
EDIT: (I processed Manila ‘envelope’, then re-read your words to find you’d said ‘folder’.)