Another URM thread

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LearningToWok

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Hello,

I’m only posting this because I found google useless and don’t know where else to turn too. Recently, my good friend was admitted to an MD school. His background: from Siberia(town population: 900k), came here at the age of 12, his mother was Mongolian and father Ukrainian, highschool, military, college, meschool, fluent in English/Russian. My background: from Siberia(town population: ~50k), moved here at 15, mother Tatar and father Mongolian, highschool, military, college, applying to medschool this upcoming cycle, fluent in English/Russian/Ukranian/3 Tatar dialects.

I recently found out that he applied as URM. I was personally shocked, because I always considered him Caucasian, and definitely not URM. That being said, he still claimed URM and got several acceptances. He looks completely White. You wouldn’t ever know he’s from Siberia/Russia unless you personally asked him where he was from, and even then, being from Siberia shouldn’t qualify you as URM in my opinion.

Well, now that my cycle is coming up, I’m wondering if playing the URM card is something that I should consider as well. I was born into a Tatar family and was raised in a Tatar home, followed Tatar traditions, etc. We lived in North Siberia near the Arctic Ocean. I look slightly Asian, I guess, so I don’t think it would be as questionable as his URM claim. I never considered myself URM, but now that I know that he made the claim and *maybe* it gave his application a slight edge, I’m really considering applying URM as well.

Looking for some real feedback. I’m honestly leaning more towards the non URM claim and just letting my stats/research/volunteering/extra-curriculars get me into med school. It is tempting though. So SDN URM or NOT?

Thank you!
 
Per AAMC:


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.
 
Hello,

I’m only posting this because I found google useless and don’t know where else to turn too. Recently, my good friend was admitted to an MD school. His background: from Siberia(town population: 900k), came here at the age of 12, his mother was Mongolian and father Ukrainian, highschool, military, college, meschool, fluent in English/Russian. My background: from Siberia(town population: ~50k), moved here at 15, mother Tatar and father Mongolian, highschool, military, college, applying to medschool this upcoming cycle, fluent in English/Russian/Ukranian/3 Tatar dialects.

I recently found out that he applied as URM. I was personally shocked, because I always considered him Caucasian, and definitely not URM. That being said, he still claimed URM and got several acceptances. He looks completely White. You wouldn’t ever know he’s from Siberia/Russia unless you personally asked him where he was from, and even then, being from Siberia shouldn’t qualify you as URM in my opinion.

Well, now that my cycle is coming up, I’m wondering if playing the URM card is something that I should consider as well. I was born into a Tatar family and was raised in a Tatar home, followed Tatar traditions, etc. We lived in North Siberia near the Arctic Ocean. I look slightly Asian, I guess, so I don’t think it would be as questionable as his URM claim. I never considered myself URM, but now that I know that he made the claim and *maybe* it gave his application a slight edge, I’m really considering applying URM as well.

Looking for some real feedback. I’m honestly leaning more towards the non URM claim and just letting my stats/research/volunteering/extra-curriculars get me into med school. It is tempting though. So SDN URM or NOT?

Thank you!


Please do it. And then I hope you get caught and rejected that cycle and every following cycle because of your obviously malicious intent.
 
siberia? you mean asia? and if you do mean asia, that would mean you're asian (further solidified by your self anointed asian appearance). but if you're not asian then you must be white.

Asians nor whites are underrepresented minorities.
 
It's been over a year since I've seen the AMCAS, but I'm almost certain there's no box to check that says you're URM. You simply check the boxes in the race/ethnicity section that apply to you, and schools will determine if you meet URM status. If your friend completely lied and said they were black or hispanic when they clearly aren't, then that's a different story, and that will come through in interviews.
 
Im tired of seeing these URM threads.. In the last hour I've seen 3. URM= underrepresented minorities (in medicine). Now please read my prev. post.
 
It's been over a year since I've seen the AMCAS, but I'm almost certain there's no box to check that says you're URM. You simply check the boxes in the race/ethnicity section that apply to you, and schools will determine if you meet URM status. If your friend completely lied and said they were black or hispanic when they clearly aren't, then that's a different story, and that will come through in interviews.

👍

I'm certain you're not a URM OP, but if you have a hint of doubt then just put the regular ethnicity you identify yourself as and let the schools decide.
 
Go ahead and do it. I'm sure you'll get in.
 
It's been over a year since I've seen the AMCAS, but I'm almost certain there's no box to check that says you're URM. You simply check the boxes in the race/ethnicity section that apply to you, and schools will determine if you meet URM status.

Seriously, this cannot be said enough right now.
 
It's been over a year since I've seen the AMCAS, but I'm almost certain there's no box to check that says you're URM. You simply check the boxes in the race/ethnicity section that apply to you, and schools will determine if you meet URM status. If your friend completely lied and said they were black or hispanic when they clearly aren't, then that's a different story, and that will come through in interviews.

Yeah I think people are not clear on what URM even means or how it works. Which is fine, just fill in the bubbles like you normally would and move on. Never saw all these existential identity crises until med school apps all the sudden.
 
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