Do I count?

[haoran]

My mother was born and raised in Peru. My father was born and raised in the US. I look much more like my dad, and I grew up speaking English.

I typically identify as Hispanic on forms, but now I'm questioning it. One of my friends says that I don't "qualify" as Hispanic, and if that's true then I don't want to see too opportunistic on my med school apps.

Do I count as underrepresented in healthcare?

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[ChemEngMD]

My mother was born and raised in Peru. My father was born and raised in the US. I look much more like my dad, and I grew up speaking English.

I typically identify as Hispanic on forms, but now I'm questioning it. One of my friends says that I don't "qualify" as Hispanic, and if that's true then I don't want to see too opportunistic on my med school apps.

Do I count as underrepresented in healthcare?

What up man.

First of all, if you have typically identified as Hispanic on forms then there is no reason to stop now. Second, they ask what TYPE of Hispanic, so you'll have a chance to put Other South American (or whatever the option is now) and this may lead you to be URM at some schools and not at others. From my experience, some schools that lack diversity count all Latinos as URM, while others tend to stick to PR and Mexican.

Finally, just putting Hispanic on your application isn't going to do that much for you if it isn't worked into the "story" of your application, so don't sweat that. Your friend should let you live and identify how you identify.

If you don't feel comfortable then don't put it, but really this is a personal thing and you shouldn't be letting a friend influence that decision.

Also, being brown and speaking Spanish isn't a requirement for being Latino in the US

 

[TactFR44]

My mother was born and raised in Peru. My father was born and raised in the US. I look much more like my dad, and I grew up speaking English.

I typically identify as Hispanic on forms, but now I'm questioning it. One of my friends says that I don't "qualify" as Hispanic, and if that's true then I don't want to see too opportunistic on my med school apps.

Do I count as underrepresented in healthcare?

Just put what you are. I am hispanic and I have always labeled myself as hispanic. If my category of hispanic "counts" as URM then so be it and if it doesn't who cares. You have to earn your spot just like everyone else and don't count on demographics to give you a one up.

 

[victoryXfailure]

I am going to randomly hijack someone else's thread since I see there are just too many around asking do I count and I have the same question.

I know Asian overall isn't considered to be URM in medicine. However, I have heard this is more Chinese and Indians. Vietnamese however are consider to be, or so my pre-health adviser told me. I am not sure if she is right though.

See, I am half Vietnamese and half white. Though I identify more as Vietnamese since I grew up with my single immigrant mother in a low-income family (growing up the family income was less than $21,000 a year). I speak the language fluently. I know nothing of my "white" side because my dad didn't keep in touch with his family so before and after he died (when I was two) never had contact with anyone from that side of the family. Which might explain why I never considered myself anything but Vietnamese growing up. First one generation in college on my mom's side.

 

[miamiheatfan]

I am going to randomly hijack someone else's thread since I see there are just too many around asking do I count and I have the same question.

I know Asian overall isn't considered to be URM in medicine. However, I have heard this is more Chinese and Indians. Vietnamese however are consider to be, or so my pre-health adviser told me. I am not sure if she is right though.

See, I am half Vietnamese and half white. Though I identify more as Vietnamese since I grew up with my single immigrant mother in a low-income family (growing up the family income was less than $21,000 a year). I speak the language fluently. I know nothing of my "white" side because my dad didn't keep in touch with his family so before and after he died (when I was two) never had contact with anyone from that side of the family. Which might explain why I never considered myself anything but Vietnamese growing up. First one generation in college on my mom's side.

I don't think you'd be considered URM. You'll have a place on the app to put down "economically disadvantaged" and definitely mention growing up in a single parent home and being first gen. in your personal statement.

 

[Jennyfishy]

I am going to randomly hijack someone else's thread since I see there are just too many around asking do I count and I have the same question.

I know Asian overall isn't considered to be URM in medicine. However, I have heard this is more Chinese and Indians. Vietnamese however are consider to be, or so my pre-health adviser told me. I am not sure if she is right though.

See, I am half Vietnamese and half white. Though I identify more as Vietnamese since I grew up with my single immigrant mother in a low-income family (growing up the family income was less than $21,000 a year). I speak the language fluently. I know nothing of my "white" side because my dad didn't keep in touch with his family so before and after he died (when I was two) never had contact with anyone from that side of the family. Which might explain why I never considered myself anything but Vietnamese growing up. First one generation in college on my mom's side.

Vietnamese (and Southeast Asians) are only considered URM at a small subset of schools, and they generally explicitly state that they are recognized as such. The majority of schools, especially states with large Vietnamese populations (e.g. California) will lump you with all Asians, which includes East/South Asians. University of Colorado and University of Wisconsin are two example schools that consider Vietnamese people from disadvantaged backgrounds as URM.

I am also 1st generation/full Vietnamese from a low income family and my parents were refugees of the Vietnam War + from California, so I learned about the horrible ways of applying and this horribly limiting "Asian" category last year