Application: about the demographic question

[JamieP]

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Thanks for helping me everyone.

 

[Digitalangel]

i was under the impression "white" is a race and "Hispanic" is an ethnicity, i speak spanish and my family comes from a spanish country and we consider ourselves hispanic, but we are also white..lol i guess the question to ask would be if you feel you have any hispanic culture in your family? i think its ridiculous when people start saying theyre 1/8 german, 1/8 polish, 7.3% italian. did you grow up speaking spanish or around people who do? do you personally consider yourself to have hispanic in you? if not then i wouldnt do it. since you were born in asia, do you feel more inclined to check "other asian"? i think that may be the best bet.

 

[JamieP]

Thanks for helping me everyone.

 

[Baba Yaga]

Being born in Asia doesn't preclude one from being Hispanic, as evidenced by Filipinos, who are from southeast Asia, that can claim this identity as well.

Actually, AADSAS lists Filipino under Asian if you look at the ADEA AADSAS General Instructions for the 2013 Entering Class.

 

[JamieP]

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[Pepper13]

You should email and ask AADSAS.

 

[atabaki92]

Next thing you know, Tunisians are "African-Americans"

 

[JamieP]

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[SicEm]

Just giving my opinion and not saying my approach is better than yours: I have Native American ancestry but did not list that because I no longer have any connection and I think my percentage is the bare minimum of what they use as the cut off. So legally, I could have done it. But, I wouldn't have had anything to say if somebody asked me about my heritage, not that I don't think it's cool, but I don't identify with it and would feel kind of like a poser (promise I'm not calling you that!) I feel like if you are questioning if you're Hispanic "enough," then you probably aren't. But that's interesting that you were born in a different country as a minority and you should def find a way to bring that up in your app.

 

[Ferneezy]

Just giving my opinion and not saying my approach is better than yours: I have Native American ancestry but did not list that because I no longer have any connection and I think my percentage is the bare minimum of what they use as the cut off. So legally, I could have done it. But, I wouldn't have had anything to say if somebody asked me about my heritage, not that I don't think it's cool, but I don't identify with it and would feel kind of like a poser (promise I'm not calling you that!) I feel like if you are questioning if you're Hispanic "enough," then you probably aren't. But that's interesting that you were born in a different country as a minority and you should def find a way to bring that up in your app.

you're conflating race (american indian) with ethnicity (hispanic). race isn't something you need to identify with. you're it...or you're not.

 

[RaeRae0903]

I can't help you with this one but man oh man...I see personal statement written all over this! Lol If you haven't already written it then a journey to finding your "true identity" would be an interesting read...how you eventually came to realize that none of that mattered but instead how you identify yourself now as a hard working, motivated, yada yada future dentist! 😉 Just a thought...

 

[JamieP]

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[JamieP]

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[SicEm]

you're conflating race (american indian) with ethnicity (hispanic). race isn't something you need to identify with. you're it...or you're not.

Race is biological, ethnicity is cultural...I know the difference. You can consider Native Americans both, so I guess you can say I'm conflating them. However, I was talking about Native Americans with respect to cultural identity which speaks more to the question the OP is asking, since "Hispanic" is an ethnicity.

The knowing your heritage part isn't important. Though I am a huge fan of history and can rattle off fact after fact about many of the major (and some minor) European countries, including Spain. And I actually do know my heritage (from my family telling me and through my readings of history) of how and why Spaniards ended up in the region that they did with Russians and Middle-Easterners to later produce me, my family and many others who were part of the same tiny minority group back in the Asian country of my birth. As a multi-racial I identify with parts of each group.

Just because I said I wouldn't really have any personal reflections about my heritage doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. Like you, I took plenty of history classes, and I even know a couple of interesting facts regarding this particular aspect of my history. I just think that I'm too far removed from it where I don't feel comfortable claiming it as my primary race, cultural identity, what have you. However, it sounds like you have made up your mind, and since you know your personal situation better than anybody on this forum possibly could, just go ahead and put it. It's not going to make or break your application and it isn't worth worrying and defending yourself over.

 

[jeffity]

I wanted to know if I count as Hispanic. According to the Pew Research Hispanic Center the law says “Americans of Spanish origin or descent.” are considered Hispanic. It goes on to say one doesn't have to be from a Spanish speaking country in north/central/south America to identify as one, that people from Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Philippines can be counted as Hispanic if the individual decides to identify as one.

Questionsthat ask me identify what I am always confuse me. Because I have Spaniard, Middle Eastern, and Russian ancestry. And I was born in a country in Asia where I was part of a tiny minority and didn't share any ancestry with the majority population.

I'm tempted to check the "white," "other Asian," and "Hispanic" boxes on the application. Though, I'm not even sure I can say I'm white because of my middle eastern ancestry. (If anyone says you can't be white and hispanic then you should know according to link 54% Hispanics in US identify as white also.)

Can someone help me here?

While studying at the library today, I spotted a book called 'How to Be Black' on the shelf. Chapter 2: When Did You First Realize You Were Black?

Anyway, what have you considered yourself your whole life? Certainly at this age you've come across a similar prompt. Is it really worded so poorly and that confusing that it's throwing off all past experiences of identifying yourself?

 

[JamieP]

Thanks for helping me everyone..

 

[Aal]

I'm not even sure I can say I'm white because of my middle eastern ancestry.

I'm from Iraq, and I considered my self as a Middle Eastern (Arab); however this is considered white. I called AADSAS and they told me all Mid Easterners are considered white according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This was later confirmed when I took my anthropology class

My skin is light, so I think I count as white. But I have middle eastern ancestry which can count as "other Asian" but does that preclude me from being considered white as well? Because I don't think those with mid-east ancestry can count as white because they aren't European.

Sorry but this statement is rather ignorant. Persians, Kurds, and Turks are all Aryans(whitest of white), in Addition to that most Arabs actually have light skin especially those in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq.

In the end, put whatever you want, pretty sure most schools won't care about your race (except Howard)

 

[JamieP]

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[JamieP]

Hispanic or Latino
A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=907795

"...Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race."

origin
/ˈôrəjən/
Noun
1) The beginning of something's existence.
2) A person's social background or ancestry.

I think I got the answer to my question. I'll wait for them to respond to my email before I do anything.

Thank you everyone for your replies. Have a good night.

 

[SicEm]

Thanks for helping me everyone..

I saw what you wrote in this post before you edited it out, and even if nobody can see it anymore I think you should be absolutely ASHAMED of yourself. Well, I guess you are, since you got rid of it, but deep down I hope that you can someday get to a place where your motives and actions are for the right reasons, rather than grasping at straws to make up for some mistakes you made in the first two years of college.

EDIT: I just saw that you pretty much changed every post to read "Thanks for helping me everyone" but the post that I'm referring to is #16

 

[Ferneezy]

so...OP was a scrub?

 

[jeffity]

I saw what you wrote in this post before you edited it out, and even if nobody can see it anymore I think you should be absolutely ASHAMED of yourself. Well, I guess you are, since you got rid of it, but deep down I hope that you can someday get to a place where your motives and actions are for the right reasons, rather than grasping at straws to make up for some mistakes you made in the first two years of college.

EDIT: I just saw that you pretty much changed every post to read "Thanks for helping me everyone" but the post that I'm referring to is #16

The one about the application process being so competitive these days that you want to make sure you take advantage of any opportunity that might improve your chances? I saw that last night.

It's clear by the title of the thread that's what's going on. You don't conveniently question your demographic claiming you've never really known and you've always left that question blank. And if you've always left it blank, why not now? It hasn't been a required field in the past.