I recently came across a dilemma while filling out my college applications. I knew from articles and what seemed like common knowledge that putting down Asian, my legal ethnicity, might be a disadvantage. It’s a fact that most colleges have enough Asians. And while the idea of leaving the ethnicity box blank seemed tempting, I felt as if I would lose a part of me if I did.

I poured my heart into my essays, and it seemed as if my applications would be incomplete if I left out something as basic and unalterable as my ethnicity. If a college did not want me, or chose someone else over me because of my ethnicity, then that is not the kind of college I wanted to attend.

I know that I am not the only college applicant who has wondered if hiding parts of them is worth making it into that dream school. Applying for college should not make students question themselves. It should a process in which seniors pour out all the knowledge and maturity they have gained in high school and relate it to their future and goals.

At one point the ethnicity boxes may have served a purpose, but the time has come when colleges should consider socioeconomic status in place of race for selective admission. It is true that colleges need race for statistics about the student body, but those specifics can be asked when students actually enroll. Even colleges that do not consider race in admittance require applicants to answer the ‘race question.’

It is time that we truly embrace racial equality, especially with something as delicate as college admissions. After all, a checked box should not determine a future.