Minority Requirement--what defines a minority

[chem1]

Hello,

I was interested in the definition of a minority by MD and DO standards. In particular, is there a minimum requirement to meet as a minority (i.e. 1/4 father, 1/8 mother etc.)?

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[Aerus]

Hello,

I was interested in the definition of a minority by MD and DO standards. In particular, is there a minimum requirement to meet as a minority (i.e. 1/4 father, 1/8 mother etc.)?

If you're talking about underrepresented minorities, those would be non whites and non asians. You're mostly looking at hispanics and blacks.

I'm not entirely sure, though. Someone should correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[chem1]

Sorry I was unclear. I was asking whether you would be considered a minority if you had one parent 1/4 mexican, 1/2 mexican, etc. What is the actual definition by their standards.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Sorry I was unclear. I was asking whether you would be considered a minority if you had one parent 1/4 mexican, 1/2 mexican, etc. What is the actual definition by their standards.

There is no set definition like this. If you had a Mexican grandparent but grew up in an affluent suburban neighborhood with mostly white people, spoke no Spanish, and knew nothing of Mexican culture, you would probably not be considered URM. However, if your father was Mexican and your mom was white but you spoke Spanish and identified as a Mexican yourself, you would probably be considered URM. But there is no rule saying "if you're more than 47.24% African-American/Latino/American Indian by blood, you are a URM."

 

[Neurosis]

There is no set definition like this. If you had a Mexican grandparent but grew up in an affluent suburban neighborhood with mostly white people, spoke no Spanish, and knew nothing of Mexican culture, you would probably not be considered URM. However, if your father was Mexican and your mom was white but you spoke Spanish and identified as a Mexican yourself, you would probably be considered URM. But there is no rule saying "if you're more than 47.24% African-American/Latino/American Indian by blood, you are a URM."

. OP how you represent yourself on your application should be a reflection of what you've identified yourself as for most of your life.

 

[Aerus]

It's what you identify yourself as. Generally though, try to cut it off it you're less than 1/4th of it. I've heard rumors that some schools ask you for proof of your URM status, so you don't want to push it too much, unless you feel strongly about this.

So, if you identify yourself as that, then that's that. Don't try to pull it, like "My great great great grand father was hispanic, but the rest of my family is white and we don't share any cultural ties with our great great great grand father" and declare yourself as URM.

 

[Neurosis]

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, YOU ARE NOT A URM:

1) Are you white?

Fail.
You obviously forgot Asians.

 

[Hemorrage]

minority = anything but white

UR minority = you have to be black or hispanic

 

[Neurosis]

minority = anything but white

UR minority = you have to be black or hispanic

I realize this, but OP is on a premedical forum talking about getting into medical school, where URM is considered anything but Asian/White...so my comment still stands

 

[DanGee777]

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[LizzyM]

It isn't that simple. If you're non-Hispanic white, then your statement is true. The census has a category for Hispanic whites, however. Last year, 426 Mexican Americans matriculated, along with 359 Puerto Rican Americans, 148 Cuban Americans, and 629 Other Hispanic Americans. Surely you'd agree that Mexican Americans, Puerto Rican Americans and Cuban Americans are underrepresented in medicine. With only 629 other Hispanic Americans matriculating, compared to 11,060 non-Hispanic whites and 3,859 Asians, it's clear that these folks are underrepresented in medicine. How many Bolivian-Americans do you see in medicine? How many Brazilian-Americans, etc? How many Spanish-Americans? Not that many. And from looking at the stats, these other Hispanic Americans also get a helping hand in the admissions game.

How many Bolivian-Americans are seeking health care in the US? How many Spanish-Americans? Not that many.

As for the OP's question, I will answer with a question, what box(es) did you check on the 2010 census? Do the same on the AMCAS.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Minority: An offensive term for an Italian who works in a mine.

 

[DanGee777]

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[LizzyM]

I am non-Hispanic white, FWIW,, and I agree with your statement. But Bolivian and Spanish Americans do get a slight advantage in the admissions process, right?

If you look at the AAMC data from last year:

https://www.aamc.org/download/161696/data/table19.pdf

629 other Hispanic or Latino Americans matriculated at US MD schools. Their mean cGPA was 3.58 and their mean MCAT was 29. This is compared to 3.70/31.5 for non-Hispanic white American matriculants and 3.69/32.3 for Asian-American matriculants. It gives about the same boost as being Mexican American (3.53/29), but not as much as being Puerto-Rican American (3.53/24.2). I imagine that many of the Spanish-American applicants are maybe not identifying as Hispanic, but this group can include Bolivian-Americans, Peruvian-Americans, Colombian-Americans, etc.

What advantage? About 42% admitted. Among those who self-identify as white the proportion is 46%. If we had the data to correct for gpa/MCAT, we'd find the odds about the same.

 

[DanGee777]

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