Born and raised in Argentina, am I URM?

SDN Members don't see this ad. (About Ads)

I don't quite understand the definition of URM in https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/urm/
I was born and raised in Argentina but my passport is from the Netherlands. Am I a URM, white, or what? :S

I'm not 100% sure, but according to this thread;

http://206.82.221.135/showthread.php?p=12483303 I'm thinking NO.

"...Brazilians nor Argentinians have been identified as underrepresented in the medical profession by AMCAS."

"Before June 26, 2003, the AAMC used the term "underrepresented minority (URM)," which consisted of Blacks, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (that is, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), and mainland Puerto Ricans. The AAMC remains committed to ensuring access to medical education and medicine-related careers for individuals from these four historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups."

Are you white? If so, then no

Originally Posted by couldabeenadoc

I'm not 100% sure, but according to this thread;

http://206.82.221.135/showthread.php?p=12483303 I'm thinking NO.

"...Brazilians nor Argentinians have been identified as underrepresented in the medical profession by AMCAS."

"Before June 26, 2003, the AAMC used the term "underrepresented minority (URM)," which consisted of Blacks, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (that is, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), and mainland Puerto Ricans. The AAMC remains committed to ensuring access to medical education and medicine-related careers for individuals from these four historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups."

The 2003 definition is no longer at play (notice it says BEFORE), so you wouldn't consider only Mexican-American and mainland Puerto Ricans as URM. It's up to the schools to decide now. Many schools will consider all Hispanics to be URM, while other schools stick to Mexican-American/Puerto-Rican.

OP, do you feel Latin@? Do you identify with Latino culture and Latino people? Did you grow up in a Latino community?

Originally Posted by wolfie77

OP, do you feel Latin@? Do you identify with Latino culture and Latino people? Did you grow up in a Latino community?

This is thunderously horrid advice. OP cannot claim URM status on the basis of "feeling" like a URM, nor does growing up in a "Latino community" or "Being connected to Latinos" afford anyone the same consideration if they are in fact not one of the groups listed. Argentinians do not get URM recognition. I could eat tostadas and frijoles while listening to mariachi music everyday, but that wouldn't make me Mexican. I could say that I "feel" Native American because I danced in the backyard and prayed for rain, but it doesn't make Native American. Get it?

The only Latinos who get the boost are Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, and OP is neither, so no boost for OP. I believe that you could a diversity statement or tie your background in your SoP, but, you're not going to get minority consideration. Sorry.

Originally Posted by TriagePreMed

Unfortunately, you are wrong because you misunderstand being Latino as being a race. We are not a race. We are an ethnicity made up of many different races. I know people who are full blooded Caucasian, Asian and Black who are 100% Hispanic. If you went back on my family tree 4-5 generations ago, you'd find I have Spaniard and Italian roots, but that doesn't take away from my identity as being Hispanic.

And no, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are not the only Hispanic members to get the "boost." That's the old definition before 2003.

I didn't say that Latino was a race. I thought I was being careful in not saying or implying it since I know better, but whatever. The term "Latino" is specifically referring to people of Latin American descent (you can look this up) regardless of what race they are. I know that the Latin diaspora spans from the whitest white to the other side of midnight, just as my people (Black and Native American) also have this variety. No shade, but perhaps you need to look up the difference between race and ethnicity? Maybe you could have seen where I was coming from if you had that understanding.

Also, I fail to see how the AAMC's "shift in focus" means de facto URM status for people outside of the four groups that get it. I think you're confusing diversity statements with URM consideration/status. If they do get a "URM boost", an idea of whose validity I'm not entirely convinced of, then it is not comparable to the one actual URMs get. The change was made in response to SCOTUS' decision in the UMich affirmative action case, and it didn't fundamentally change anything, except for how a school claims to choose its matriculants. It was all semantics, which is why a UTexas UG reject is taking the issue up again.

Born and raised in Argentina, but you have a Dutch passport? Are your parents Dutch or something?

Anyway, I believe that given that you were born and raised in Argentina, if you do feel Hispanic and associate yourself with other Hispanics, speak Spanish (which you probably do, going from the fact that you're born and raised there), and feel comfortable in Argentinian culture, why shouldn't you be considered Hispanic?

I travel with an American passport (because traveling with Colombian passport is always a hassle). That doesn't make me any less Hispanic.

Originally Posted by Ansar

Born and raised in Argentina, but you have a Dutch passport? Are your parents Dutch or something?

Anyway, I believe that given that you were born and raised in Argentina, if you do feel Hispanic and associate yourself with other Hispanics, speak Spanish (which you probably do, going from the fact that you're born and raised there), and feel comfortable in Argentinian culture, why shouldn't you be considered Hispanic?

I travel with an American passport (because traveling with Colombian passport is always a hassle). That doesn't make me any less Hispanic.

That's not the issue. OP wants to know if he/she can gain a benefit from it - the same benefit URMs get. AAMC's narrative on this is deliberately ambiguous, and would indicate that any non-Mexican/PR Hispanic applicant probably wouldn't get the same consideration as the other two.