AMCAS says Im disadvantaged but dont know if I should mark that I am

[buckoh24]

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So I am a re-applicant and grew up in a rural area. I saw in my old application that my hometown was marked as underserved by AMCAS and therefore can be seen as disadvantaged (where you mark yes and fill out the essay and everything). I did not fill this out last time because I assumed that it was based only on SES and in that respect, I didnt fall into the category. Im confused if I should actually fill out the essay or not because I did not face the hardships that those from low SES in my community faced. Really the only thing was that our school system had major budget cuts and I felt like that impacted me when applying to colleges, in sports, etc. We didnt have any urgent care or hospitals in our town but had one ~20ish minutes away. Overall, I feel like my situation wasnt the most ideal but it def wasnt as bad as it could have been. I had some hardships with being LGBT in an area that wasnt accepting but never experienced problems with food security, homlessness, etc. So to AMCAS standards, I apply as disadvantaged but I dont know if I should do it or not because of my situation. Has anybody else had a dilemma like this that would like to chime in?

 

[gyngyn]

Living in an under-served area does not necessarily make one disadvantaged.
It does add to your life experience.