Disadvantaged status?

[JohnQ189]

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A few months ago I received a letter from a medical school's office of diversity saying as a disadvantaged student they encourage me to apply to their school. My family is originally from Afghanistan but before I was born in the mid 90's they left for Pakistan as refugees and applied for asylum status to the United States where we've lived since I was about 6 months old. However I've lived a middle class life for as long as I can remember and am considered Caucasian so I'm technically an ORM. Would my background be considered "disadvantaged"? Would it hurt to contact a school's office of diversity outreach to see what they say?

 

[LizzyM]

Did your parents attend college? If you are AMCAS EO1 you could be classified by some schools as a "disadvantaged" student.
Maybe students are in some way labeled as refugees or born in countries known to be war zones in the 90s would be labeled by some schools as "disadvantaged".

If the school interests you, they want to be sure that you don't feel discouraged from applying. They are saying that they would like to see your applicatoin.

 

[JohnQ189]

Did your parents attend college? If you are AMCAS EO1 you could be classified by some schools as a "disadvantaged" student.
Maybe students are in some way labeled as refugees or born in countries known to be war zones in the 90s would be labeled by some schools as "disadvantaged".

If the school interests you, they want to be sure that you don't feel discouraged from applying. They are staying that they would like to see your applicatoin.

Thank you for the reply. My father received a master's degree in the United States and my mother did not attend school of any kind. The letter was from Harvard and my stats are a bit below their median so my initial reaction was that they were just trying to get the application fee money from me. And I think the "disadvantaged status" was something I self selected on some form. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to just reach out to them?

 

[LizzyM]

If it didn't come with an offer to waive the secondary fee (some schools do), then it might be a money grab, as if Harvard doesn't have enough people who apply just for the sake of being able to hang the rejection letter on the wall.

Wouldn't hurt to follow-up with the office of diversity and ask how you were selected given that you didn't self-identify as "disadvantaged" on your application.

 

[Neuronom]

Thank you for the reply. My father received a master's degree in the United States and my mother did not attend school of any kind. The letter was from Harvard and my stats are a bit below their median so my initial reaction was that they were just trying to get the application fee money from me. And I think the "disadvantaged status" was something I self selected on some form. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to just reach out to them?

Did your family circumstances make you feel at a disadvantage? You can claim this status on your app, but it'll be up to the adcoms to take whatever examples you articulated in the disadv-essay/PS/etc into account when viewing your achievements.

 

[bloopah]

If your parents didn't attend college and you are a first-generation college student, would this count as being disadvantaged?

 

[Neuronom]

If your parents didn't attend college and you are a first-generation college student, would this count as being disadvantaged?

Idk. Did your parents strike oil, become millionaires, and let their only bloopah opt out of the family business to accrue student loan debt?

Were you at a disadvantage? Unless you're dishonest, it'll be up to the "pre-dental" adcoms to decide. For better or worse.

 

[JohnQ189]

Did your family circumstances make you feel at a disadvantage? You can claim this status on your app, but it'll be up to the adcoms to take whatever examples you articulated in the disadv-essay/PS/etc into account when viewing your achievements.

Thank you for the response. I had already indicated on the primary that I was not disadvantaged as I have been able to attend good schools throughout my life and my family hasn't struggled with paying the bills so I was thinking strictly through a SES sense. However now that I thought about it more growing up during the US invasion of Afghanistan/navigating US culture on my own seems like some unique challenges so I just want to explore any possibility to give me an advantage. I think it'll be a good idea to ask: either they agree and it gives me a boost or they don't which would just keep me in the same situation.