Selecting All Applicable Racial/Ethnic Identities
on a University Application
A wild university application appears! Oh no! The application uses "select your racial/ethnic identity!" But you're *gasp* mixed!
Don't hurt yourself in your confusion. You can actually use your mutiracial and/or multiethnic identity to your advantage on a university application! In the first of a three part series, I'll explain some of the pros and cons of your best options for tackling the race/ethnicity reporting form.
In this section, we're going to look at some of the possible results of selecting all racial and ethnic identities that apply to you.
Benefits of Selecting All Applicable Identities
Affirmative actions policies are the most beneficial when filling out a university application as a mixed applicant.
What's affirmative action? It's when univeristy admissions consider the fact that racial and ethnic minorities are less privileged when looking at an applicant's academic and extracurricular success. Less privilege includes lower income, less "connections," familial situation, etc.
Privilege, or the lack thereof, is a major issue for mixed folks who often identify partially or entirely with racial/ethnic minority identities. We'll discuss privilege in depth later.
Selecting all of your racial and ethnic identities could give you a better chance for acceptance as a result of affirmative action.
You could also benefit from scholarships available to specific racial and/or ethnic identities.
According to author Tim Wise, "scholarships pegged to high-achieving people of color can ensur[e] higher education access for those who are just as meritous as white, but whose on-paper credentials may have suffered through no fault of their own" (Wise).
Unfortunately the majority of scholarship recepients are NOT people of color. Do unequal privileges play a part in this situation? Oh yes, yes they do.
But for the sake of trying, I personally think you have more to gain by selecting all applicable identities. What are your thoughts? Experiences?
Issues with Selecting All Applicable Identities
Confusion, or even disbelief, of the admission officers reviewing all of a mixed applicant's racial and/or ethnic identities could be an issue.
According to Susan Saulny of The New York Times, the American 2010 census showed that only 2.9% of the population identifies with more than one race (Saulny). While that percentage continually increases with time, it's still a really small fraction of folks who live in the US.
I've had folks not believe me when I tell them all of my racial/ethnic identities. Here's a great example: one of my teachers in high school thought I was acting out for attention when said I needed help with a race and ethnicity reporting form for the AP tests. I explained that more than just one of the options listed applied to me. What should I write? Everyone laughed at my question, but I really needed some advice. She gave me a very cold look and dismissed my question. Ouch.
Could a general lack of familiarity with claiming more than one racial and/or ethnic identity harm your application? I sincerely hope not, but it's worth mentioning. As with that one high school teacher, it's clearly happened before.
Another possible issue with selecting all applicable identities is that the form says something along the lines of "select only one." Most university applications are done online. If the electronic form doesn't allow you to select more than one option, and there's no write-in box, selecting all your identities just may not be possible.
Conclusion
I think that the pros of selecting all applicable racial and ethnic identities outweigh the cons. When I was applying to universities as a teen, my guidance counselor recommended that I "select all." I can say that I'm happily attending the university of my choice with a diverse student body. I CANNOT say that selecting all my racial/ethnic identities guaranteed my acceptance.
Look at this way: if your racial/ethnic diversity is for some (silly) reason why you end up not picked for ANYTHING (academically, socially, what have you), odds are you wouldn't have been in a good environment anyway.
Next Time
In the next post, we'll look at the pros and cons of selecting "Other" and writing in "multiracial" and/or "multiethnic" on a university application.
Let me know your thoughts and experiences about race/ethnicity reporting and university applications. Anything you have to add to the discussion of mixed issues is always appreciated.
Live your life!
<3 Elise "The Mixed Blogging Chick"
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