Disadvantaged Student? How to clarify if I am

[Run2Med]

Hi everyone. Junior at a UC here in Cali. I'm wondering how exactly medical schools decide what deems a student to be "disadvantaged", and also how this could help/harm my application. I'll post my stats and a little bit about my background, and hopefully you guys can provide a little bit of clarity!
cGPA: 3.55
sGPA: 3.64
MCAT: Not taken yet

Neither of my parents nor anyone in my family has graduated high school, much less attended college. I grew up in a poor area of Detroit, Michigan and both of my parents have addiction problems. I failed all throughout middle and high school and dropped out my senior year. Moved out to California and attended a CC and transferred this year to my UC. I don't consider myself to be disadvantaged, however advisors have told me I am. I don't understand the importance of this designation and how it changes my application? My background directly pushed me towards pursuing medicine and I thought at most I would use that in my essay and interviews.
Any opinions or information would be greatly appreciated !

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[Run2Med]

This is a great post in terms of clarification, thank you kindly! Outside of using my background and my adversity in my personal statement, how do I actually communicate these life events and my "disadvantaged background" in my application? I was homeless for a portion of high school and have had to work with my parents on substance abuse. My wanting to become a doctor directly relates to me wanting to serve the underserved areas of society. I figure I can best get this across in my personal statement and interviews if given the chance.

 

[threesparrows]

On AMCAS, there is a place to write an essay about your disadvantaged background (yes, you qualify).

Check out this presentation from Feinberg SOM Northwestern about filling out AMCAS—there are a few slides that relate to claiming Disadvantaged Status and an example of an essay. You can Google for more advice and info about this. http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/diversity/docs/AMCAS Tips.pdf

 

[Run2Med]

On AMCAS, there is a place to write an essay about your disadvantaged background (yes, you qualify).

Check out this presentation from Feinberg SOM Northwestern about filling out AMCAS—there are a few slides that relate to claiming Disadvantaged Status and an example of an essay. You can Google for more advice and info about this. http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/diversity/docs/AMCAS Tips.pdf

Actually this was super helpful! I saved it to my desktop for future reference. Thanks for the info!

 

[ImmunoLove]

This is a great post in terms of clarification, thank you kindly! Outside of using my background and my adversity in my personal statement, how do I actually communicate these life events and my "disadvantaged background" in my application? I was homeless for a portion of high school and have had to work with my parents on substance abuse. My wanting to become a doctor directly relates to me wanting to serve the underserved areas of society. I figure I can best get this across in my personal statement and interviews if given the chance.

I went through something similar, and received excellent guidance here on SDN concerning the approach to the disadvantaged status. If you would like, we could work on yours together (PM me). Best of luck.