> I'm a high school senior of punjabi/white descent, and I fully intend to mark my race as Hispanic.
Go ahead - it will definitely backfire. I actually could mark that when I applied (I consider myself white, they would consider me hispanic) and I chose not to, kinda gross that you would lie on your application to get ahead of your peers - why not make up an extra-curricular while you're at it?
And wouldn't it make you feel worse to know that you are at a school because you cheated to get ahead?
In college admissions check any race you want, but don't pick the one that deducts points. And for your last name put CONTROLGROUP. Done.
This applies if your family is White or Asian (my family is both).