What box should I (have) check(ed)?

[drrenrey]

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My mother, her parents, grand parents, great grandparents, (don't know how far back) were born and raised in Guatemala. My father is 3rd generation American of Eastern European descent. I was born and raised in the US. What would you call me? Do I qualify as a hispanic?

I've always struggled with this question... I don't want to be given any preferential treatment I haven't earned, but I have to check the box one way or another. In previous threads on the topic, I've read that adcoms are quite peeved by applicants who call themselves underrepresented minorities but are not. They say they can easily tell if someone is lying and it hurts you in the end. What do they base this "lie" on?? What you look like? Whether your name "sounds" ethnic? If Jennifer Lopez married a Smith and became Jen Smith, would admissions committees think she was trying to pass as something she's not? What if I check "hispanic" but don't look "hispanic" enough and they get mad that I was trying to pass for something I look like I'm not?

any thoughts?

I think my stats are good enough to get in without affirmative action (GPA 3.7, DAT 22), but I wonder how adcoms consider me differently based on what I check in one little box.

 

[OSUDDS]

I'd say youre definitely hispanic. My gf is mexican/white and is applying to law school as a hispanic.

 

[dr.rex]

i would say do the right thing and dont rely on stuff like that to get you in....either you deserve it or you dont.....do the right thing

this is not directed at you but all who are in that spot

 

[Mackerel]

Imagine the financial aid office telling you you're qualified for 50% of the hispanic scholarship😀

 

[dddsmack]

Take the minority role, it helps.

 

[drrenrey]

i would say do the right thing and dont rely on stuff like that to get you in....either you deserve it or you dont.....do the right thing

this is not directed at you but all who are in that spot

What is "the right thing"?!?! Are you saying "Other" the only honest answer?

The last thing I want is to have my peers thinking that the only reason I'm in dental school is because I'm half hispanic, when in fact I've worked my ass off and paid my own way through school to get where I am.

 

[tinman831]

What is "the right thing"?!?! Are you saying "Other" the only honest answer?

The last thing I want is to have my peers thinking that the only reason I'm in dental school is because I'm half hispanic, when in fact I've worked my ass off and paid my own way through school to get where I am.

Are you going to go around to all your classmates telling them the same thing you've told us in your original post? Probably not. I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you get accepted, then fine. No one ever went around asking me what ethnicity I am and what I put on my application when I applied. There are more important things to worry about. Good luck on those apps!.

 

[OSUDDS]

i dont see how you would not be legitimately be hispanic. who is to say? if i was half black i bet most people would perceive me as black...

 

[nate28]

You're hispanic/latino, and don't you think for one moment that you can't say that. I have a friend that is either 1/16 or 1/32 Native American, and he claimed it as his background. YOU'RE HALF!!!

 

[dentstd]

you're legally hispanic. nothing the schools can do to interfere. sit back and enjoy the preferential treatment.

 

[Nomar]

I too had that dilemma. I am 1/4 spanish, 1/4 portugese and then some french, english, scottish. I put hispanic, I definately look the part.

 

[lemoncurry]

if you're half white (i.e. european descent) and half of some other race which is generally considered by the US gov't to be minority, then you technically are considered to be the minority race.

 

[CSI Dentist]

I could run a DNA test for u to legally prove that u are of Hispanic origin, therefore, i hate u , bc u are lucky! 😛 So enjoy it! And don't feel guilty about it. Welcome to dental school.

 

[dr.rex]

my point is that no one should be given preference because of where their parents are from... if worked your ass off and paid for school then that should be something that is rewarded and you express those things in your personal statement....but checking a box saying my dad is hispanic should not give someone a spot over anyone else...just my opinion

 

[lemoncurry]

interesting, i didn't know there was a way to determine race using DNA. how is that done? what genes do they look for?

 

[dentstd]

interesting, i didn't know there was a way to determine race using DNA. how is that done? what genes do they look for?

probably probe for the lat and his genes. Other people have the wht, blk, or asn genes.

 

[lemoncurry]

lol

 

[KOM]

my point is that no one should be given preference because of where their parents are from... if worked your ass off and paid for school then that should be something that is rewarded and you express those things in your personal statement....but checking a box saying my dad is hispanic should not give someone a spot over anyone else...just my opinion

Opinion noted. Entering the real world though now...

To the OP...mark your hispanic because it will be to your advantage.

 

[Dentisting]

I am from the middle east, and I speak arabic, but I am not allowed to recieve any kind of special treatment, because I am forced to put down *White* as my ethnic background...

I dont think its fair that hispanics get special treatment, while people such as myself are considered like everyone else.

Either give the special treatment to everyone, or no one.

This whole system is messed up.

 

[dddsmack]

interesting, i didn't know there was a way to determine race using DNA. how is that done? what genes do they look for?

I think they check to see if they are really his genes. JK

 

[KOM]

I am from the middle east, and I speak arabic, but I am not allowed to recieve any kind of special treatment, because I am forced to put down *White* as my ethnic background...

I dont think its fair that hispanics get special treatment, while people such as myself are considered like everyone else.

Either give the special treatment to everyone, or no one.

This whole system is messed up.

What if you're from Africa and you're white. Could you put down you're African American?

 

[daylily1985]

To the OP...
Surely this isn't the first time you've had to "check the box"....what have you identified as your racial identity?

For the record...I work in Labor and Delivery and part of my responsibility as labor nurse is to call the time of birth 🙂 and RACE of the newborn...it is always the race of mom....because unfortunately sometimes we cannot identify paternity. On admission, if I am unsure what her racial id is I ask her. Statistically, then, when the legal document (your birth certificate) is drawn up, the race of the child is always mom's race. This is for state statistical purposes, not for the record on your b.c., so don't rush home and look on there, it is not there. Also, while in the hospital, the baby's last name is mom's for identification purposes. On the bc mom can name the baby anything she wants....but if the couple is not married the father of the baby has to sign paternity papers to have his name on the bc...mom cannot just put his name on it.

So....technically, whatever your mother's racial ID is...that is yours. But, since, at least to my knowledge, there is no law as to proving racial ID, other than having a Native American Tribal ID #, we can pick whatever we want for racial id.

 

[Dentisting]

What if you're from Africa and you're white. Could you put down you're African American?

Egypt to be exact, and it is definitely in Africa.... So I guess you could say that I am african american, however, for some reason it just wouldnt seem like I would be telling the truth.

Its too late now, considering that I have already applied... I probably should have called a dental school or two to see what their thoughts on it would be.

Also, with my skin color, you wouldnt say that im white... You could possibly say that im hispanic, or even half black, and if it happens to cross your mind, you could say that im middle eastern.

 

[PChemGrad]

What if you're from Africa and you're white. Could you put down you're African American?

I have a friend who is white, and born in South Africa, and he always puts down that he is African. He says he is more African than his black friends.

 

[KOM]

I have a friend who is white, and born in South Africa, and he always puts down that he is African. He says he is more African than his black friends.

Does he ever show up to an interview and get the response "What? You're not black!" ???

 

[lifeisgood]

You're hispanic/latino, and don't you think for one moment that you can't say that. I have a friend that is either 1/16 or 1/32 Native American, and he claimed it as his background. YOU'RE HALF!!!

That is cheap of your friend. 👎 I am 1/16 Cherokee and I would never even dream of playing that card.

 

[fancymylotus]

Dude...my kids are putting down "Eskimo". End of story.

 

[Gordon9721]

my point is that no one should be given preference because of where their parents are from... if worked your ass off and paid for school then that should be something that is rewarded and you express those things in your personal statement....but checking a box saying my dad is hispanic should not give someone a spot over anyone else...just my opinion

man this is great. i agree totally. i know people can debate and argue all day and pull up statistics, but i'm glad michigan got rid of affirmative action. it seems totally unfair that you get credit for something you can't control. kudos.

 

[Toothfairy86]

i think to be able to put down Native American, you HAVE to be at least 1/8...