What ethnicity do I apply as?

[pcn33]

Hi All,

I am wondering what I can mark in the self-identification portion of AMCAS. I am half-Peruvian. My mother was born and raised in Peru, and while I was born here, from the ages of 2-3 I was raised in Peru as well. My father is Czech and British, but I personally don't identify strongly with those cultures. I visit Peru and my family there at least once a year and fell i embody that culture. On the application can I only mark hispanic, or do I need to mark white as well?

Thanks for any advice!

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[gyngyn]

Whatever you identify as will be fine.
Peruanos are Hispanic but they are not considered under-represented in medicine.
Language skills will be appreciated and you will still bring cultural diversity.

 

[Dares Dareson]

I would check white and hispanic because you are white and hispanic.

 

[unstructured]

Call one of the medical schools you are applying to and ask them the same question.

 

[LizzyM]

Hispanic is considered an ethnicity, not a race. and Hispanics can be of any race. So, you need to identify with a race (White? Black? Asian? Native American?) and you can check Hispanic as an ethnicity. As mentioned previously, Peruvian is not considered URM.

 

[RedPhys]

I personally dont identify with any race (in Colombia, we dont really think about race, plus I'm just brown), so I just checked Hispanic and ended it at that.

Put whatever you really identify as.

 

[LizzyM]

I personally dont identify with any race (in Colombia, we dont really think about race, plus I'm just brown), so I just checked Hispanic and ended it at that.

Put whatever you really identify as.

Right... you can always check "other" or "prefer not to answer".

 

[GummyBeh]

Right... you can always check "other" or "prefer not to answer".

Fair to assume most users of 'prefer not to answer' would be White/ORMs who don't want to identified?

 

[The Buff OP]

You can just say Asians

Strong first post.

 

[Mr Interesting]

Strong first post.

His username though.... sad.

 

[pcn33]

Thank you everyone who gave helpful comments! I will stick with marking hispanic as ethnicity and white as race then.

 

[RedPhys]

Right... you can always check "other" or "prefer not to answer".

I feel when someone puts this, they are either hiding something (e.g. Asian) or have some personal racial issue (e.g. that one guy that felt that even though he was black, be didnt deserve a URM boost)

Just be honest with yourself, and prepare to possibly defend your choice

 

[Sterling Archer]

I feel when someone puts this, they are either hiding something (e.g. Asian) or have some personal racial issue (e.g. that one guy that felt that even though he was black, be didnt deserve a URM boost)

Just be honest with yourself, and prepare to possibly defend your choice

Even though you can hide your race, people may be able to extrapolate your ethnicity based on your name. If you came across and app that had Name: Zhexhi Wang, Race: Prefer Not to Answer, you could probably guess he is Asian.

 

[unstructured]

Whatever you feel.

 

[The Buff OP]

His username though.... sad.

I had to search that one, I didn't know if it was the N word. Apparently it was.