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Hey, well my friend and I starting our application process when we realized that what she put down for race would change her possibility acceptance because her father is Indian and her mother is African American so her last name is Patel which is very Indian. She asked me what she should do I told her to mark African American or other and explain. If she marked African American do you think that they would think she was lying because her last name is so Indian?

By L_Wonder (L_Wonder) on Sunday, June 01, 2003 - 10:18 pm: Edit

If she is both Indian and African American, than she is free to mark which ever box she wants. Black people have all kinds of names, and I don't think that just because hers may not "sound" black people will think she is lying. Tell her not to worry about it.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 02:30 pm: Edit

Is there a box for multi-racial or bi-racial? Maybe check that and specify she is half-half. But if she wants to boost her possibility of acceptance by marking African-American, that's another story. I guess she can do that because she can classify herself as African-American, but maybe colleges may think half Indian and half African-American is more unique and less represented? Just my opinion.

By Ificantnoonecan (Ificantnoonecan) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 04:21 pm: Edit

thanks u guys have been great!! i will tell her

By Ificantnoonecan (Ificantnoonecan) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 04:36 pm: Edit

Thank you for again your input, she really appreciated it. She one of those people who can't stop worrying so now she is worrying about how they would be able to confirm her race. We attend a big school and the counselor has never spent much time around her let alone meet her parents. Would The College call her counselor? Or would they call home?

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 05:19 pm: Edit

You're welcome.

Actually, I have no idea if the college will call the counselor or call home. But colleges are very well informed that some schools just have really large senior classes and not enough college counselors to serve, so that the counselors do not really get to spend a lot of time with students. Remember that even in small public schools, there still may be less counselors available so the counselor:student ratio can still be as high as 1:600, which is way too much. In other words, my point is that the counselor:student ratio is more important than how large the enrollment is in a school. If there are 1,000 students and 10 counselors, the ratio is 10 counselors for every 100 students, which is reasonable. In contrary, if there are 600 students and only 1 counslor, the ratio is 1 counselor for 600 students, which is a lot.

If colleges do ask your friend's college counselor about her race, the counselor might in turn contact your friend or her parents to verify. But I don't think they will question your friend, since they will not simply assume that every person with last names not matched to their specified race is lying. There just isn't enough proof to tell if that person is lying. Also, your friend is telling the truth, so she need not fear anything. Tell her not to worry.

By Andromeda65 (Andromeda65) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 10:35 am: Edit

if she had to enter her social security number ANYWHERE on the application, they'll be able to figure out her race pretty quickly.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 11:05 am: Edit

Is there any reason why she can't check two boxes and put a note in the little space that they provide for "Other?" Just a thought! Good luck to you both.

By Ificantnoonecan (Ificantnoonecan) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 04:39 pm: Edit

hey andromeda, what do u mean? she did have to put her ss number. if they check will it state that her mom is black and father is indian. thank u for ur responds

By Shitakirimusume (Shitakirimusume) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 11:43 pm: Edit

She has every right to mark AA/or Asian.

When somebody half white and half black and
he/she looks black they mark as AA, right?