Do I qualify as URM (even if I don't "look" like it, sound like it, have a last name typical of the race, etc)?
Basically, from what I've gathered, your race is
essentially up to you. For example, if you identify as a Hispanic, even if you've lived in America your life, you can say that you're Hispanic. Here are some responses from others on this topic, even though I realize it can have lots of variations.
@
cbhck:
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf
"Definition of Hispanic or Latino Origin Used in the 2010 Census:
Hispanic or Latino” refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race."
"Hispanic origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States."
"People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be any race."
@
MAdental: And looks like ADA also recognizes that to be true !
http://www.hdassoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/HDA-White-Paper-FINAL.pdf 
@
ramborhino: Race = whatever you see yourself as. With race as touchy of a subject it is, no body is going to challenge you about your race. The only exception would be claiming to be an American Indian, of which you'd need a tribal ID/Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood to get certain priority/scholarships, etc. You can honestly call yourself whatever you want...but keep in mind the philosophy behind recruiting URM's into healthcare professions is that someone of race X is much more likely to go into communities made up of race X and serve them...so be honest with your motivations with it all.
@
Blake1e: A hispanic is usually someone who is at least somewhat ethnically Spanish/Amerindian, OR is from a spanish-speaking country or Spanish culture (Latin America, Spain, and parts of SE Asia). Brazilians can consider themselves hispanic if they want to, 1/6 of Brazilian immigrants do. Nowadays anyone who wants to can say theyre hispanic. This is from a good authority on the subject:
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2009/05/28/whos-hispanic/
That said, White people can of course also be considered Hispanic. I know a bright blue-eyed natural blonde who is ethnically German/Polish and was born in Latin America and came to the US at age 4; she always puts herself down as hispanic and no one has ever given her any problems.
If anyone has additional responses to this topic (especially concerning other races, since I think we've covered this one pretty well), please comment and I will add them!
