For the record, the universities are getting large numbers of students who claim to be hispanic (as per a friend of mine who is an adcom).
As a person who doesn’t have a “hispanic-sounding” last name, and whose high school transcript and counseling stat sheet won’t show a “hispanic” history (you know those federal survey forms the schools fill out?), claiming to be latina now, will not give you any real advantage in admissions unless you apply to a school that needs diversity (in the middle of nowhere).
How you feel comfortable doing this, really, is sad, and tells me that even you know that you are not capable of getting into a school on your own record. So when you see some latino kid, working at a laborious minimum wage job, as a rich, white kid can you honestly feel equal?
My kids are Mexican-American and Native-American and we don’t have a “chicano” last name, but MY professional last name is very "bilingual’, and it has been on all of their apps; plus my kids do “look” somewhat latino-brown. They intentionally applied to schools that didn’t use affirmative action because they all told me that they wanted to get in because of their work, “not some excuse”.
Mark your hispanic check box; duérmete bien.
Karma