Any Persian pre-meds out there?

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Gavanshir

Gavanshir

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This is inspired by that other thread. SO, how many are you?
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holler. count me in.
-mota
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Most of our fellow Persians have gone into dentistry or pharmacy. I was starting to wonder if there were any old school Persian doctors up and coming. Count me in, Persian and pre-med, hopefully it'll be med in a few months.

HOLLLLLLAAAAA!!!

Any Persian female pre-meds?
 
born in LA, go to berkeley. very male.
-mota
 
i'm a female persian pre-med.
i think there is another thread from last year.... but i guess there is a whole new batch of us this year.
 
DaMota said:
holler. count me in.
-mota
Click to expand...

hmm didn't know you were persian mota :)

same goes for s-postbac... it's funny you see a couple posters regularly on the forum but never imagine anything about them, and then poof a thread like this comes along
 
I am one of the rare species of pre-med persians living in colorado. I know of only two more of my kind.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
man meekham beram medical eschool!!!!

persian from los angeles (UCLA)...holllaaa
 
Actually, I'd think there would be a lot more Persians applying to med school than there are. I have only run into 1 or 2 on the interview trail. I even interviewed in Southern Cali and didn't meet and Persian applicants OR students that day.

My sister interviewed at the same school for dental school, and she said almost 30% of the people there seemed to be persian.

maybe i've just missed everyone...
 
Count one in for an Afghan. Even more rare than persians around here so I'm invading this thread.
 
SeattlePostBach said:
Actually, I'd think there would be a lot more Persians applying to med school than there are. I have only run into 1 or 2 on the interview trail. I even interviewed in Southern Cali and didn't meet and Persian applicants OR students that day.

My sister interviewed at the same school for dental school, and she said almost 30% of the people there seemed to be persian.

maybe i've just missed everyone...
Click to expand...

I think we almost crossed paths at Pritzker. My interviewer was getting my info mixed up with that of two other Persian kids he'd met/was reviewing that week. (Are both of your parents Persian, or just one?) We're both math majors and post-bacs, so I guess it wouldn't be too hard to mix us up!
 
Interesting. I was at Pritzker last week. You? Both my parents are 75%-Persian...

It just seems like there is a lot more representation of other ethnic groups. I guess countries like India and China are a heck of a lot bigger than Iran though.
 
My first name is of persian origin and my ancestors probably came from there, does that count? :D
 
Turkeyman said:
My first name is of persian origin and my ancestors probably came from there, does that count? :D
Click to expand...

i thought turkey was a turkish name.
-mota
 
DaMota said:
i thought turkey was a turkish name.
-mota
Click to expand...

Gobble!

Actually, some people see the name Turkeyman and think I'm Turkish...when I'm actually Pakistani. Just wanted to clear that one up :thumbup:.
 
i'm 1/2 turkish :)
 
Hey guys, for those of you who were born and raised in Iran, when people ask "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" do you reply "From Iran" or "I AM PERSIAN"? I have noticed that many of my friends have developed a phobia when it comes to saying the word "Iran"! as if it would automatically mean the "T-word" (you know what I mean.) Others justify this by saying that the word 'Persian' is much more exotic than 'Iranian' and that's why they prefer to use it. Anyhow, I was wondering if this has been an issue with you guys also.

Question#2 Why the heck do Pakistanis get to have their own ethnic category on the AMCAS but Persians do not? I am really sick of putting OTHER as my race all the time. My friends usually put down a range of races from ASIAN (exact quote: "Iran IS in ASIA!!!") and WHITE (exact quote: "we are whiter than central Asians!") It is funny how Southern Cali DMV lets you take the written test in Farsi, but we are yet to be recognized as a major racial minority in the US (at least when it comes to AMCAS)

Oh, btw if you are still wondering, I am PERSIAN! (how exotic is that?)
 
rhystheprince said:
Question#2 Why the heck do Pakistanis get to have their own ethnic category on the AMCAS but Persians do not? I am really sick of putting OTHER as my race all the time. My friends usually put down a range of races from ASIAN (exact quote: "Iran IS in ASIA!!!") and WHITE (exact quote: "we are whiter than central Asians!") It is funny how Southern Cali DMV lets you take the written test in Farsi, but we are yet to be recognized as a major racial minority in the US (at least when it comes to AMCAS)

Oh, btw if you are still wondering, I am PERSIAN! (how exotic is that?)
Click to expand...

Sorry to bust your bubble, but Iranians are Caucasian.
 
SeattlePostBach said:
Interesting. I was at Pritzker last week. You? Both my parents are 75%-Persian...

It just seems like there is a lot more representation of other ethnic groups. I guess countries like India and China are a heck of a lot bigger than Iran though.
Click to expand...

It probably wasn't you then. I was there 3 weeks ago. My parents are both Persian, and he was asking me if I was half.

I guess country size/population has a lot to do with it, but it sounds like we still have a much higher representation in other fields like law/pharm/dentistry? There may be a difference in culture and lifestyle priorities...I dunno about you guys, but my parents never pressured me to go the med route. They're more concerned about quality of life.
 
Persia was very largely "white"
 
Any Atl premed persian girls out there?
btw, every persian i know is in pharmacy or already doctors..I guess the good old days of every persian becoming a doctor are fading fast
 
crazy_cavalier said:
Sorry to bust your bubble, but Iranians are Caucasian.
Click to expand...

Yup! The name Iran itself comes from the word Aryan.

As for Iranian vs Persian, I always say I'm Iranian, although most people I know would say Persian so they don't have to deal with the stereotypes.
 
crazy_cav: are u persian?
 
crazy_cavalier said:
Sorry to bust your bubble, but Iranians are Caucasian.
Click to expand...

ya, how did you not know this? i'm disappointed. i've never thought twice about marking caucasian for everything.

and about the Persian/Iranian thing, I call myself Iranian for the simple fact that it is linguistically correct. Persian is an outdated term because Iran is no longer Persia. It is Iran, and your parents immigrated here from IRAN. You dont hear Iraqi's calling themselves Babylonians or Greeks calling themselves Macedonian. Its just outdated and not accurate. And besides, it fosters the ignorance that people have towards the middle east. I used to say I'm Persian until people would ask me "where is Persia." I mean this didn't change when I told people I was Iranian, but thats just because people are ignorant and don't know anything outside of their little bubbles. A girl once asked me if Islam was a country. that is no joke. and this girl goes to UC BERKELEY! iS ISLAM A COUNTRY?!!?! are you kidding me? how sad. but back to the point. Persia is not a country, so no you are not Persian, you are Iranian. And don't use the case about Palestinians not being able to use the name Palestinian since they dont have a country because the status of their country is in limbo and they only lost their country about 60 years ago. so ya. i'm done rambling. hope you enjoyed. if anyone wants to argue the persian/iranian thing, be my guest. but you're wrong. have a nice day!
-mota
 
female Persian pre-med here, although I'm only half :)

It would be nice if they added "middle eastern" as a formal racial category although I guess that people may be wary of identifying themselves for fear of racial profiling? Sorry damota, I too am guilty of referring to myself as persian ;( although I think that most of us do it not because we are ignorant of Iran being the birthplace of our parents or afraid of stereotyping, but because I think its reinforced by how the culture itself is chosen to be represented in the U.S.--perhaps its a backlash from the bad publicity of the revolution and reminiscing about the days of high culture and glory? Although, is there no other group that refers to themselves in a similar way? Hehe, although if we are pointing fingers about where we got this term from, I blame my father :p
 
coral said:
female Persian pre-med here, although I'm only half :)

It would be nice if they added "middle eastern" as a formal racial category although I guess that people may be wary of identifying themselves for fear of racial profiling? I always refer to myself as Persian, although I will always clarify that it is Iranian if people give me a strange look.
Click to expand...

half-persians = hot. i would hit on you but we're online, and i dont know if you're cool or not. but i hope you get into med school. good luck
-mota
 
Haha, thanks for the offer. I am persian/latina....still looking for a good term for that mix, so if anyone thinks of one, let me know...preferably no use of the word 'beans' or 'kabob' though please :)
I'm applying next cycle but with similar stats to yours from UCSD. Good luck!!
 
I'm Afghan...I believe Afghans are Aryans and of Iranic Folk from back in the day...we speak a dialect of Farsi called Dari.
 
persians/iranians are not actually middle eastern (according to everything my father ever taught me). Yes, we are "Caucasian"... but I would prefer a separate category. These are just all random labels after all. Why can't we get our own?
And in elementary school when I would mark "white" on those bubble sheets (because my dad told that's what i was), the teacher would always tell me I was wrong. i guess there's no point to that comment other than I'm still bitter?

And I think I use persian, because some idiots think iran=iraq and that's just annoying. plus i was in elementary school while the whole Iran Hostage was blowing over and Iran Contra Affair was in the news every day... and when i said i was iranian little kids would ask me if my dad was a terrorist. and that gets old.
 
has anyone heard that country song where the guy says:

"I watch CNN but I'm not sure i can tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran"

haha. hilarious. note: i do not listen to country music but my friends and i left the song on cuz it sounded so bad and then he says that and i bust up laughing. i downloaded the song immediately when i got home.

-mota
 
I say Iranian, but I always mark caucasian. According to my dad, "Der vas a case that vent all the vay to dey supreme court vith an armenian. After dat case all of dey iranians, armenians, turkish people, etc. vere known as caucasian in america." His accent is almost non-existant, but I think accents are fun. :)

He also told me that Iran contains the Caucus mountains, so all the caucasians descended from those mountains. Then he told me about how Iranians invented all sorts of things like backgammon and ice cream. When I saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding I was on the floor laughing when the dad was talking about the greeks inventing everything.

Put some windex on it!
 
thefafo said:
I say Iranian, but I always mark caucasian. According to my dad, "Der vas a case that vent all the vay to dey supreme court vith an armenian. After dat case all of dey iranians, armenians, turkish people, etc. vere known as caucasian in america." His accent is almost non-existant, but I think accents are fun. :)

He also told me that Iran contains the Caucus mountains, so all the caucasians descended from those mountains. Then he told me about how Iranians invented all sorts of things like backgammon and ice cream. When I saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding I was on the floor laughing when the dad was talking about the greeks inventing everything.

Put some windex on it!
Click to expand...

:laugh:

hahaha my favorite line from that movie was the Greek dad muttering to the British guy "my people were inventing philosophy while yours were still swinging from trees"
 
All the people I know say they're persian. Persian is the culture and it's our heritage. Iran is the government (yes I know, and the country), but some people don't like to be associated with that government and don't consider themselves to be a part of it. Hence, why some of us consider ourselves more persian than iranian.
and seriously...no atlanta persians posting here?
 
thefafo said:
I am one of the rare species of pre-med persians living in colorado. I know of only two more of my kind.
Click to expand...

I'm not persian, but out of curiosity, why is this?? Several other posters have mentioned this similar phenomenon. What's up?
 
Sorry seattlepostbach, I guess I was generalizing too much with the middle eastern category-- my father also likes to point out that middle eastern is usually equated with being of Arab origin, which Iranians are not, and that Farsi is unrelated to Arabic. Unfortunately I guess we can't all have our own separate category ;(

I can totally relate to My Big Fat Greek Wedding--the wave of relatives that sweep over you, hugging and kissing you on both cheeks, the overprotecting family, and my dad telling stories about Omar Khayyam inventing mathematics. The coolest part about listening to all the stories as a kid though was actually getting to see the ruins of Persepolis and some of the world's oldest cities in person and really cementing my interest in archaeology (although we don't mention alexander the great in my house unless we're looking for a lecture and/or a fight, hehe).

I was curious if there is anyone that studied and/or completed their degree in Iran and are applying to med school now?
 
cfdavid said:
I'm not persian, but out of curiosity, why is this?? Several other posters have mentioned this similar phenomenon. What's up?
Click to expand...

I would think that the coasts tend to be the region that most Iranian immigrants choose to settle mainly for the same reason that most other immigrants do--larger cities with a more ethnically diverse population and perhaps an established supportive Iranian community. I know here in so. cali, Irvine and LA each have a huge Iranian population, San Diego to a lesser degree.
 
Here's some background info on the "persia/iran naming controversy".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran/Persia_naming_controversy

Are you serious about us being caucasian????? Thats kind of ridiculous. I mean it might be technically true, but would we actually mark ourselves down as caucasian on government apps?? So I wouldn't be considered a minority applicant then? :(

Damn.. caucasian..that's just a bad look these days.
 
coral said:
female Persian pre-med here, although I'm only half :)

It would be nice if they added "middle eastern" as a formal racial category although I guess that people may be wary of identifying themselves for fear of racial profiling? Sorry damota, I too am guilty of referring to myself as persian ;( although I think that most of us do it not because we are ignorant of Iran being the birthplace of our parents or afraid of stereotyping, but because I think its reinforced by how the culture itself is chosen to be represented in the U.S.--perhaps its a backlash from the bad publicity of the revolution and reminiscing about the days of high culture and glory? Although, is there no other group that refers to themselves in a similar way? Hehe, although if we are pointing fingers about where we got this term from, I blame my father :p
Click to expand...

Common guys... i dont mean to sound like an ass but you guys are so ignorant about this... Why would you feel awkward about calling yourself persian? Persian is an ethnicity, it is not just an "exotic name" that you can use instead of Iranian. If you look at any government factbook on Iran it will clearly show the primary ethnicity in Iran is PERSIAN and second AZERI.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ir.html
So when you are calling yourself persian there is a very good chance you really are persian...I hate when pseudo intelectual persians try to pull this off and call themselves Iranian just becuase they think they are keeping their identity or something. Also, our language is offically called Persian (yes even the IRI accepts this), so if you were an Azeri for example, and called yourself Persian, that would not be an incorrect use of the word. Thirdly, while there were several ethnic groups in ancient Persia (Persian, Medeans, etc...) they were all united under the common Persian cultural identity and thats why even today a minority in Iran can call him/herself Persian to identify with this. My point? Dont be ashamed to call yourself Persian (you can call yourself Iranian, but calling yourself Persian is just as correct), dont think you have an identity crisis if you call yourself Persian..... be proud to be Persian. thats all
 
you can call yourself oompa loompa for all i care. i personally was just speaking from a linguistic standpoint. i, as an iranian, find it pretentious, if not just straight up snobbish, to call myself Persian. why do i expect other people to know that all these terms are interchangeable? yes, the state of Iran right now is pretty dismal, but our culture hasn't vanished. it's still right there. so if you're truly proud of your culture, you will stick with being an Iranian, rather than being a fairweather 'Persian'. i hope somebody out there feels me on this.
-mota
 
I wasn't expressing embarassment or awkwardness in referring to myself as Persian, I was just replying to the above posts asking if we prefer to use the term Iranian or Persian, which I feel have their own connotations. No need to refer to our ignorance, but thanks for the breakdown and the link, its actually fairly interesting :)
 
DaMota said:
you can call yourself oompa loompa for all i care. i personally was just speaking from a linguistic standpoint. i, as an iranian, find it pretentious, if not just straight up snobbish, to call myself Persian. why do i expect other people to know that all these terms are interchangeable? yes, the state of Iran right now is pretty dismal, but our culture hasn't vanished. it's still right there. so if you're truly proud of your culture, you will stick with being an Iranian, rather than being a fairweather 'Persian'. i hope somebody out there feels me on this.
-mota
Click to expand...

Haha...gotta love the oompa loompa reference. But in all seriousness, I agree. Last summer after recovering from gallstones I read this awesome book by a former princess of Iran that was the first female Iranian to attend USC, later worked for the U.N., established a university of sociology in Iran, saw the overthrow of her father's regime, and was almost executed during the revolution after being turned in by some of her own students. Anyways, your mention of being a fairweather Persian made me remember her calling Iran as having only one party--''the party of the wind," in reference to its history of conquests and occupations, but it also serves to remind people to be mindful of where they've been, and to be proud of their culture. Although I'm probably not the best spokesperson, every year I go to a 7th grade class and do a little cultural presentation on Iran, answer some awkward current events questions...and yes, I dance :oops:
I just think it's important for kids to see what's going on beyond the news and appreciate the differences in people's lives.
 
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