Is Persian considered an underrepresented minority?

[Lilizapit89]

I have been receiving a lot of letters lately from different medical schools encouraging me to apply for next cycle for med school.

However, these letters all come from the office of diversity. I am not exactly sure why...I took the July 16th MCAT and I don't remember what I marked in the race category. I am Persian and I don't know what that categorizes as.

Is Persian a URM? Where can I verify that/does it vary per school?

Thanks.

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[CodeBlu]

I don't think so...

 

[flatearth22]

Change last name from Mazandarani to Marquez.

Apply as Hispanic.

 

[aSagacious]

From the AAMC

Underrepresented in Medicine Definition
On March 19, 2004, the AAMC Executive Committee adopted a clarification to its definition of "underrepresented in medicine" following the Supreme Court's decision in Grutter.

The AAMC definition of underrepresented in medicine is:

"Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population."

Adopted by the AAMC's Executive Council on June 26, 2003, the definition helps medical schools accomplish three important objectives:

a shift in focus from a fixed aggregation of four racial and ethnic groups to a continually evolving underlying reality. The definition accommodates including and removing underrepresented groups on the basis of changing demographics of society and the profession, a shift in focus from a national perspective to a regional or local perspective on underrepresentation, and stimulate data collection and reporting on the broad range of racial and ethnic self-descriptions.
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.

Status of the "Underrepresented in Medicine" Definition.
The revised AAMC definition accomplished three important objectives:
1. A shift in focus from a fixed aggregation of four racial and ethnic groups to a continually evolving underlying reality. The new definition accommodates including and removing underrepresented groups on the basis of changing demographics of society and the profession.
2. A shift in focus from a national perspective to regional or local perspective on underrepresentation.
3. Stimulating data collection and reporting on the broad range of racial and ethnic selfdescriptions.
Conclusion.
The AAMC definition revised in 2003 should assist medical schools in understanding and responding to their local circumstances. However, in its reference to "underrepresentation," the new definition may be viewed as encouraging "racial balancing," which is expressly prohibited. For this reason, it can no longer serve the intended purpose fashioned for it pre-Grutter, namely, as the driver of institutional admissions policies. Rather, medical schools should base thei r admissions policies on an explicit articulation of legitimate aspirations: to achieve the educational benefits of a diverse student body, including enhancing the cultural competency of all the physicians it educates and improving access to care for underserved populations.

 

[dmf2682]

Aryans came from ancient Persia, so... You're probably white.

 

[mishaS]

I have been receiving a lot of letters lately from different medical schools encouraging me to apply for next cycle for med school.

However, these letters all come from the office of diversity. I am not exactly sure why...I took the July 16th MCAT and I don't remember what I marked in the race category. I am Persian and I don't know what that categorizes as.

Is Persian a URM? Where can I verify that/does it vary per school?

Thanks.

Ha! Nice try.

 

[LifeTake2]

Aryans came from ancient Persia, so... You're probably white.

Tell me you aren't being serious??

Persians are not Caucasian...however, it is not likely to be considered URM either.

As for the letters you are getting OP, they send those to anyone that trips one of numberous flags. Diversity doesn't just mean race, it can mean background, age, education level...all of which are easily screened for.

Do remember that they don't promise you a seat, just the chance to pay them for a secondary

 

[Stumpyman]

Non URM... I have a few Iranian/Persian friends who applied with no URM advantage.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Tell me you aren't being serious??

Persians are not Caucasian...however, it is not likely to be considered URM either.

As for the letters you are getting OP, they send those to anyone that trips one of numberous flags. Diversity doesn't just mean race, it can mean background, age, education level...all of which are easily screened for.

Do remember that they don't promise you a seat, just the chance to pay them for a secondary

I think Persians are Caucasian, or a mix of Turkic groups and Caucasian. I'm not completely sure, but I know that other Middle Eastern peoples fall under the Caucasian group.

 

[docbrill]

Nope...there are many Persians in med school.

 

[sector9]

OP, for the purposes of AMCAS, here are your options:

Note: All available sub-options are visible

So... what would you pick?

 

[kduck]

One of my roommates is Persian. I hate to break it to you, but you're white.

 

[notbobtrustme]

You're "white" but the government thinks you're a scary brown person

 

[dmf2682]

Tell me you aren't being serious??

Persians are not Caucasian...however, it is not likely to be considered URM either.

As for the letters you are getting OP, they send those to anyone that trips one of numberous flags. Diversity doesn't just mean race, it can mean background, age, education level...all of which are easily screened for.

Do remember that they don't promise you a seat, just the chance to pay them for a secondary

You betcha, tom. The Caucasus mountains, the root of the word Caucasian, ends in Iran, aka Persia. The indigenous people of Persia are the Aryans. And generally, they're white. Just because someone's from Asia doesn't mean they look different from folks of European descent.

 

[torshi]

I have been receiving a lot of letters lately from different medical schools encouraging me to apply for next cycle for med school.

However, these letters all come from the office of diversity. I am not exactly sure why...I took the July 16th MCAT and I don't remember what I marked in the race category. I am Persian and I don't know what that categorizes as.

Is Persian a URM? Where can I verify that/does it vary per school?

Thanks.

No it will not count. Sorry you are considered Caucasian.

 

[LifeTake2]

I will adjust my comment to accept that it does appear many would consider Persians to be Caucasian. Looking looking at the options listed above it is clear they don't get another option.

My mistake.

 

[Flapjacks]

White Power!

 

[deleted393595]

I have been receiving a lot of letters lately from different medical schools encouraging me to apply for next cycle for med school.

However, these letters all come from the office of diversity. I am not exactly sure why...I took the July 16th MCAT and I don't remember what I marked in the race category. I am Persian and I don't know what that categorizes as.

Is Persian a URM? Where can I verify that/does it vary per school?

Thanks.

Unfortunately, Persians are Italian and thus do not count as URM.

Sorry.

(Linky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgoLjFJ0rVg)

 

[torshi]

Unfortunately, Persians are Italian and thus do not count as URM.

Sorry.

(Linky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgoLjFJ0rVg)

 

[protonate]

OP, for the purposes of AMCAS, here are your options:

Note: All available sub-options are visible

So... what would you pick?

Since Iran is technically in Asia, I would select Other Asian. This is a similar situation as people form Arab countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc...

 

[5830638603]

I have been receiving a lot of letters lately from different medical schools encouraging me to apply for next cycle for med school.

However, these letters all come from the office of diversity. I am not exactly sure why...I took the July 16th MCAT and I don't remember what I marked in the race category. I am Persian and I don't know what that categorizes as.

Is Persian a URM? Where can I verify that/does it vary per school?

Thanks.

The exact same thing happened to me, and I'm Persian as well. I don't think we count as minorities though, so I'm not sure why we are getting these letters.

Most other college aged Persians I've met are also on the pre-med track, so I think we are OVER represented in medicine

 

[Lilizapit89]

I picked Asian>Other Asian...I am always unsure but it seems like everyone here is saying Persian=White....

 

[sector9]

I picked Asian>Other Asian...I am always unsure but it seems like everyone here is saying Persian=White....

It doesn't matter either way for med school. Both whites and asians are over-represented in medicine so pick whatever you're comfortable with

 

[pkwraith]

Diversity doesn't equal URM. Yes, Offices of Diversity certainly helps with URMs, but that is not their entire duty. For instance, Asians would certainly not be considered an URM, and any of those interest groups would fall into the responsibility of an Office of Diversity.

 

[torshi]

I picked Asian>Other Asian...I am always unsure but it seems like everyone here is saying Persian=White....

lol you are white.... not asian. I'm Persian as well and I am considered white. Every Persian and middle eastern are considered white when regarding an application unless specifically stated

 

[torshi]

It doesn't matter either way for med school. Both whites and asians are over-represented in medicine so pick whatever you're comfortable with

exactly.

 

[pooghe]

Yup Persian as well and currently in the application process. Always put white on my applications.

 

[ACE Rx]

Yup Persian as well and currently in the application proces. Always put white on my applications.

I always thought people in the middle eastern countries were considered Asian as well but not oriental. Apparently, there's some wiggle room on that. If I had a choice, I'd pick white so you don't get the asian penalty when applying. (based on AAMC acceptance rates by ethnicity)

 

[silentshadow59]

I'm Persian and have also been getting these letters. So the general consensus is that these letters are being sent by mistake?

 

[Goro]

No

Is Persian a URM? Where can I verify that/does it vary per school?

 

[whatever5]

I'm Arab and I checked "white" - I contacted AMCAS about it because I wasn't sure, and they said that people from the Middle East count as Caucasian.
It might seem dumb, but they also believe that if you are from the northern or southern parts of Africa and aren't black, you do not count as African American.

 

[MedWonk]

I'm Persian and have also been getting these letters. So the general consensus is that these letters are being sent by mistake?

You're overthinking this.

 

[xTacocatx]

No real Persian person would ask this because every other persian they know is a Doc. LOL

 

[Ismet]

I'm Persian and have also been getting these letters. So the general consensus is that these letters are being sent by mistake?

See the above post from 3 years ago. "Diversity doesn't equal URM." Are you of a diverse background? Depending on the school, absolutely. Are you URM? Nope.

 

[lnvictus]

Not entirely rwlated to the topic and this doesn't apply to me but I was wondering if Asian American ethnicities with a refugee background (Viet, Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian) are considered URM?

 

[bakedbeans18]

There are a lot of Iranian/Persian physicians practicing in the US.

 

[LizzyM]

Not entirely rwlated to the topic and this doesn't apply to me but I was wondering if Asian American ethnicities with a refugee background (Viet, Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian) are considered URM?

It is up to each school to decide if those ethnic groups are URM in their catchment area.

 

[bakedbeans18]

It is up to each school to decide if those ethnic groups are URM in their catchment area.

Wouldn't this be more of a concern for public schools that aim to "generate a supply of physicians to serve the state of __________"? For a private school, it seems that they would not care what area of the country you end up practicing in.

 

[Dr Turkelton]

It is up to each school to decide if those ethnic groups are URM in their catchment area.

Bit of an off topic question but would it look strange to an adcom if I pick other and write "Arab" instead of white? I'm Egyptian.

I'm not trying to say I'm an URM or anything, I just identify as Arab not White and think it's ridiculous Amcas doesn't make that distinction.

 

[LizzyM]

Bit of an off topic question but would it look strange to an adcom if I pick other and write "Arab" instead of white? I'm Egyptian.

I'm not trying to say I'm an URM or anything, I just identify as Arab not White and think it's ridiculous Amcas doesn't make that distinction.

The US Census Bureau doesn't make the distinction but you are free to do so; I have seen some applicants make that choice and it's never been an issue.

 

[LizzyM]

Wouldn't this be more of a concern for public schools that aim to "generate a supply of physicians to serve the state of __________"? For a private school, it seems that they would not care what area of the country you end up practicing in.

So some schools may say that our catchment area is the USA... are certain groups URM in the USA? Hmmm... let's see....

 

[mmmcdowe]

Yeah, I would just say if you are from an under-represented asian group such as the Hmong, you should definitely make sure to mention that somewhere in your app, even if it is the personal statement.

 

[WingedOx]

You're SOL for getting a boost in medical school, though if you have Farsi language skills and apply to residencies with huge Farsi-speaking populations (in other words certain areas of SoCal), you have a chance to be seen as desireable. Same goes for Polish speakers in Chicago, Arabic speakers in Michigan. You're not URM, but you'd be desireable as hell to people who have to actually provide medical care.