what do you put as your race if you are middle eastern?

White, Caucasian is the box that fits best.

Aye same! Shout out to my Pali's out there <3 I'm Palestinian-American too! I usually put white, I've done this with all the colleges I have applied too. I wish they had a box that said "Middle Eastern", would make things a lot much easier on both ends.

I'm Armenian American and it's always really irritated me that I don't have the choice to indicate I'm Middle Eastern. With choices such as White, Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native Hawaiian I don't really fit into any of them. I'm not white because I'm just not white, I'm Middle Eastern. Being an Armenian, technically I am West Asian, but that's not right either.

If there is a spot to write in my ethnicity I write in Armenian. If not I put in Other. Sometimes (very very rarely) the ethnicity question actually includes Middle Eastern, and I use that.

So the specific policy is going to depend from college to college, but generally speaking most colleges will either treat a Middle Eastern student as Asian or White for the purposes of admissions. To some extent this is driven by the student’s self reporting as well - if a Middle Eastern student self identifies as white, they are more likely to have their profile reviewed with that context.

When colleges report data and statistics to the government, they count students with a Middle Eastern or North African background as white (see quoted text from the census website below) per government definitions.

“White – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.”

Some edge cases:

Students with Israeli heritage are usually treated as white. Some colleges will review an application from North African students who self identify as Black with that context.

At the end of the day you should select whichever one you identify more as or, I guess, whatever context you would like colleges to consider your profile in. Whatever you plan on selecting for the Common App is probably what you should select for CollegeVine. Alternatively you could select "prefer not to say" if you're worried about the impact it might have on your chances.

You could either write down Semitic (Middle Eastern) or White, both works!

Hi! I am also middle eastern (Iranian) and we are not white. We are Asian, to be specific west Asian, since we are from the western part of Asia. Therefore, you should put your race as Asian. We will never ever be seen as white by society either nor will we be treated as white people. Some middle easterners I’m pretty sure even want a race called MENA that includes west Asia and North Africa. That’s why you should put your race as Asian and not white!

Technically on official documents, you’re supposed to put white if you’re of European, Middle Eastern, or African Descent. I’m not Middle Eastern but I am Slavic and don’t identify as white but I don’t mind.

Honestly I’m also really confused with my race, I’m marrocan, and some people just classify me as African ( North African) or Arabic, I just feel like that as a marrocan that I classify as an Arabic person more then a North African person, I’m also confused, and I’ve seen a lot of comments saying we are being categorized as white, wich I don’t really understand why, cause if anything we fit more into arab or African ways then white, I feel like ueropean ( depending the country) or Americans should be only classified as white, because honestly we don’t have any white privileges or anything like that, nor do we have super white skin or white features, nor do we live in America or uerope, I would say that we should just classify ourselves as Arabic, most people forget that there’s another race, ( Arabic) so I would say as someone from marroco ( half berbers and half marrocan) that I classify as either Arabic, or North African, and I would say the Middle East should also classify as Arab, not white. Idk white feels wierd cause we have so many mixed cultures, and our skin isn’t white either 🤷🏻‍♀️ Anyways byeee❤️

I think you should check off white/caucasian and other as your race!

As a Latino person, I do understand how it’s really challenging to find your racial identity from the corrupt governmental society we live in today. It’s annoying that we are referred to as white even though we have different racial experiences from them.

If I were you, I would circle ‘Asian’ or ‘Other’, since Middle-Eastern is known to more so be located in Western Asia. Middle-Eastern people have totally different cultures and physical appearances from the whites, so do not consider yourself as white sich technically you’re definitely not.

I hope this can help other people too!

"White" refers to people of European origin. "Caucasian" can include "White" and non-White people, because Caucasian is a regional descriptor (the Caucasus Region is an actual geographic region in Southwest Asia). All of Armenia is directly inside the Caucasus Region, so by definition, Armenians are Caucasian. You can be Caucasian and have darker skin. This is true for me. But if the only option on the form is "White", then I suggest you use "Asian" because that's a more-accurate descriptor. If one of your parents is White, there's nothing wrong with choosing "White" or "mixed-race" (if that's an option).

What I find fascinating is that it's Arab Americans or Armenian Americans who spend so much time caring, arguing and fussing over these things. We Arabs (actual immigrants, I'm from Iraq, born and raised) mostly don't care. If you're Italian-American, that doesn't make you Italian. You're American with Italian ancestors. You have no connection to Italy, you likely don't speak the language, and likely know very little about Italian culture outside of food and some basic traditions. The same is true for most 2nd generation immigrants (children of immigrants). You're "Palestinian American" but you're more American than you are Palestinian because you grew up here, you speak English, your world and identity and formation are shaped by American society and American culture.

As to the person who claimed that "Arabs are classified white because of White Supremacy because they want to claim Jesus is White" -- this is utter nonsense. Jesus was a Hebrew, not an Arab. If you want to actually learn the reason why Arabs were classified as White in the US, then try learning the actual history instead of just making random and historically false statements like that. Take a look at "Dow v. United States", a court case from 1915. You'll learn how and why Arabs came to be classified as White back then.

Its also so hard for me that i'm Moroccan and Mexican I am very white but I'm Mexican and Moroccan whenever I go somewhere people always look at while i talk to my mom in Spanish they always think I'm a gringa and when I go to morocco with my father people stare at me because I don't wear a hijab and don't wear my father culture and I am also forced to religion my mother wants me to be chaotic and my dad wants me to be Muslim please help me and comment please and thank you have a great day :)

Well, you're caucasian I don't know if that's a choice, it should be. Racially speaking Arabs are Indo-European caucasian so yeah I guess if there's a caucasian choice you should put that. If there's a "white" choice then it's clearly dumb

i honestly think it depends where you are from, example, i come from the asian side of Turkey, so (i think) then i could put asian(?)

You should put Asian, that is what most of the world considers Arabs. If that is not option choose black. Definitely just straight lie or wishful thinking if you put white/caucasian.

White is not a race it is a skin color. People are making too much of it. Most people are mixed. My dad was very dark and my mother was light, very light. I have a background according to my DNA that includes most of the world. If you look like your wife, if you look Asian you have to be from an Asian country. If you’re black you’re black. All about skin color. There is quite a number of a white skin colors that all qualify for White.