<p>An interesting question…at what point in time does one ‘become’ Hispanic? Race (blood) is not the issue, as Hispanic is an ethnic category and Hispanics can be of any race. How about Alberto Fujimori, past president of Peru? </p>
<p>If “the kid” is 17ish now and spent 14 years in a Hispanic country before immigrating to the US, were they born in that country or somewhere else? Do they associate with their Hispanic culture? </p>
<p>In a sense all of these questions are immaterial, as the truth of the matter is that college admissions follow the guidelines of the US Census, which is if someone self-identifies as Hispanic, then that is what they will be considered. That said, if you do not really identify as being Hispanic, I wouldn’t recommend doing so for college admissions, because it could boomerang on you if adcoms think that you are lying to game the system. But if you do consider yourself Hispanic, I wouldn’t hesitate to check that box, adcoms do understand that Hispanics cover a very wide range of experiences and races. If you’re going to mark Hispanic, you might consider including other examples of your ethnic identity beyond checking the box, via ECs, essays, etc.</p>
<p>Please read post #1 of the sticky thread on this forum, it answers your question:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/641650-hispanic-latino-defined-aka-am-i-hispanic.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/641650-hispanic-latino-defined-aka-am-i-hispanic.html</a></p>