Race and Apps

[Haga]

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Like many applications, the Dental App, has "which best describes you?" Then you can put down your race.

My question is this, by law, how much of a certain race do you have to be before you can claim to be that race? Full, 1/2, 1/4??? My great grandfather was a full blooded Cherokee, and he was also Chief of a Tribe. Could I put down Native American? Not that I would anyways, its just a question in general.

What about people who have parents from 2 different backgrounds?

 

[xylashellx]

you are cherokee. put it down. you will probably get in just based on that. it sad to think about but now in most schools your race is just as important as your scores. i thought everyone wanted to be equal and not have race be an issue?

 

[martinelli]

sorry, double post

 

[martinelli]

Like many applications, the Dental App, has "which best describes you?" Then you can put down your race.

My question is this, by law, how much of a certain race do you have to be before you can claim to be that race? Full, 1/2, 1/4??? My great grandfather was a full blooded Cherokee, and he was also Chief of a Tribe. Could I put down Native American? Not that I would anyways, its just a question in general.

What about people who have parents from 2 different backgrounds?

My best guess is to ask yourself a few questions before marking this on your application. First, do you identify with your Cherokee heritage? That is, do you practice any customs/cultural traditions that would help you identify with another person of the same background? The reason why these are vital questions is that when you go for interviews and you are a candidate with a unique background, the interviewers will always have some questions regarding your background-so be prepared to answer them if you decide to mark NA on your app.
I think one of the main reasons why adcom looks for a diverse student body is that they count on minority groups to contribute back to their own community and I guess if you say that you are Native American but haven't gotten a clue as to the customs and cultural traditions of NA groups then that might look pretty bad on your behalf.
I hope I didn't open a can of worms with my response 😉 ! As for the law against marking a certain ethnicity when you're mixed; I don't believe there is one in place. It would be pretty outrageous if there was one Good luck in making your decision.

 

[amartins02]

Well, what about if you're white but are of a certain nationality. For example I am Portuguese and speak it. i have heard that legally I can put spanish because I speak a latin language. But I have never done that. I always check caucasion. So am I missing out on something here because that would be f@#$% up.

 

[Haga]

I appreciate the responses, I was just speaking in General. I always mark Caucasian. My great grandfather may have been Cherokee, but I have blonde hair and blue eyes,(German Background) which would leave many of the ADCOMs sayin, what the &#*%??

 

[golfmontpoker]

I appreciate the responses, I was just speaking in General. I always mark Caucasian. My great grandfather may have been Cherokee, but I have blonde hair and blue eyes,(German Background) which would leave many of the ADCOMs sayin, what the &#*%??

Im the same way, i have some Navajo and spanish decent from wayyyy back in the day... But im blonde hair and blue eyes as well. I put caucasion... I know nothing of these cultures, so i see myself as white as you get 😉 Put down your true self as you see it, thats my only advice i can give u

 

[xylashellx]

yah "white" encompasses like a million different cultures including all the european-american backgrounds. i had a friend who was american indian (only a quarter like you) and he still received money from the tribe (his last name was sunrise so he got alot of chicks hahaha). crazy! good luck

 

[mph2pharm]

I appreciate the responses, I was just speaking in General. I always mark Caucasian. My great grandfather may have been Cherokee, but I have blonde hair and blue eyes,(German Background) which would leave many of the ADCOMs sayin, what the &#*%??

Since you have said that you "always mark Caucasian" then why change this now? Obviously up until now you have identified the most with the Caucasian side of your heritage (I assume because this is what you have always put down as your race/ethnicity). I would hope that you wouldn't change the way you identify yourself solely for the purpose of "possibly" getting a leg up as far as admissions is concerned. As martinelli so eloquently stated, identifying yourself as something that hasn't necessarily been a part of your past customs, beliefs and practices may come back to haunt you.

I do wish you the best!

 

[Haga]

Since you have said that you "always mark Caucasian" then why change this now? Obviously up until now you have identified the most with the Caucasian side of your heritage (I assume because this is what you have always put down as your race/ethnicity). I would hope that you wouldn't change the way you identify yourself solely for the purpose of "possibly" getting a leg up as far as admissions is concerned. As martinelli so eloquently stated, identifying yourself as something that hasn't necessarily been a part of your past customs, beliefs and practices may come back to haunt you.

I do wish you the best!

I will say this once more 😀 ....I do not plan on changing my ethicity on my app. This is just a "General Question". I want to know "legal" part of putting down a race. I plan to always mark Caucasian, because thats what I mostly am.

Thats why I also ask the question, if you were mixed, (ie Black and Asian) what would you put?

Let Grades and DATs speak instead of Color/Heritage.