<p>How does race and ethnicity tie in with the admissions process? Can it be the deciding factor? If people prefer not to disclose their backgrounds, isn’t it usually obvious what they are? Hypothetically, if I put my legal name as Mao Zedong…well, I bet you can guess what I am.</p>
<p>Just wondering.</p>
<p>To keep the answers short. Admissions want a diverse student body, so they would like to select students of different races. Race can be used as a deciding factor in admissions, see affirmative action. It’s not always obvious what your race is. I know a girl named Jessica Carter and she is Hispanic.</p>
<p>I’m Asian and I have an Arabic sounding name.
Well…not necessarily Arabic sounding.
But *definitely *not Asian sounding.</p>