Does my ethnic background play a role in whether or not I get accepted?

Hi, Josie. Yours is a thoughtful question and a difficult one to answer. Whether schools may consider race—which is linked to ethnicity, but not the same thing—in admissions decisions is being debated in the courts right now, and has been for some time. I am going to give your answer a go based both on my admissions experience and my personal experience with exactly the same question.

The short answer is “maybe.” Many schools do consider race as part of a holistic review of the candidate. Unfortunately, some schools will use that factor as a way of gaming their diversity statistics. Ethical schools consider it because they are truly trying to create an environment where students can share experiences and opinions based on a diverse range of perspectives. Those schools want you to be able to learn from each other in many ways. However, in any competitive school, race alone will not get you in. There are many factors in play.

So do you claim it? I think the answer boils down to that difference between race and ethnicity. While you can have only one race (even if that race is “mixed”), you can have multiple ethnicities, which speak more to your culture. I, too, have Cherokee in my lineage, but it plays into my life more as family history than a part of my personal identity. When I ask myself, “Can I speak to the experience of being Native American in the U.S.?” the answer to that is “no.” For that reason, I do not claim it as part of my ethnicity. I believe that I can be proud of that part of myself and still acknowledge that it did not factor into making me the person that I am.

Honestly, no school is likely to ask you to document your ethnicity (although if you identify as Native American, you may be asked for your tribal affiliation and enrollment number). The proof is in your experiences. Ultimately, you must ask yourself how authentic it would be for you to claim that part of your bloodline as an influencing factor in who you are.