Mistaken for URM

[weirdo700]

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I have been to a couple of interviews where I have been mistaken for being a URM. And thus I have had the opportunity to see some pretty interesting things at interviews. One disappointing thing was that other interviewers were condescending. It was somewhat insulting because when I would talk to people about interviews, these condescending applicants would always bring up token comments suggesting why I was interviewed...such as oh that school has a very racially diverse class...or such as I heard that school really doesn't care about numbers. Its disheartening to see interviewing applicants that feel like they deserve something more than the next person, and I always try to contain my frustration at these people. Anyone else get mistaken for being a URM?

 

[pathdr2b]

Originally posted by weirdo700
I have been to a couple of interviews where I have been mistaken for being a URM. And thus I have had the opportunity to see some pretty interesting things at interviews. One disappointing thing was that other interviewers were condescending. It was somewhat insulting because when I would talk to people about interviews, these condescending applicants would always bring up token comments suggesting why I was interviewed...such as oh that school has a very racially diverse class...or such as I heard that school really doesn't care about numbers. Its disheartening to see interviewing applicants that feel like they deserve something more than the next person, and I always try to contain my frustration at these people. Anyone else get mistaken for being a URM?

I'm not suprised at all by your expereince. I've dealth with things like this all my life and while I don't like it, I don't get nearly as angry as I used to. It's just the way things are.

However, it's experiences like these (and the fact that NO ONE posted a respone to your topic) that remind me of how for a lot of us "educated URM's", things haven't changed all that much in terms of race relations. I've found too frequently on SDN, most people think somehow that today's URM "has it made in the shade", AA is our savior, we can ride on the front of the bus, and buy a home is most neighborhoods. Unfortunately as you found out, there's still a lot of "attitude adjustment" that needs to take place.

Good luck with gaining admissions to medical school. May your future classmates treat you with dignity and respect!

 

[LoveDoc]

I'll never forget the day I got out of my red Ford Explorer (no longer mine) and was gathering my things for work in the parking lot. A woman came up to me and said, "are you security?" I looked puzzled, chucked, and said No.

I wanted to throw a rock at the back of her head after she walked away but kept my composure. I later noticed I was standing next to a pole that had an emergency phone labelled security.

I still wonder if I fit her profile of what a security guard should be or was it the pole. Guess I'll never know.

 

[MacGyver]

Originally posted by LoveDoc
I'll never forget the day I got out of my red Ford Explorer (no longer mine) and was gathering my things for work in the parking lot. A woman came up to me and said, "are you security?" I looked puzzled, chucked, and said No.

I wanted to throw a rock at the back of her head after she walked away but kept my composure. I later noticed I was standing next to a pole that had an emergency phone labelled security.

I still wonder if I fit her profile of what a security guard should be or was it the pole. Guess I'll never know.

Oh yes, I sense a story coming on about how this incident destroyed your life forever and that you cant possibly get a fair shake in life..... 🙄

 

[lotanna]

Originally posted by MacGyver
Oh yes, I sense a story coming on about how this incident destroyed your life forever and that you cant possibly get a fair shake in life..... 🙄

🙄 🙄 Since you seem to love stories I can tell u about how someone called the cops onnce when we were transferring our stuff to rental car at Enterprise car rental. They "thought" our black male friends who were helping us transfer stuff from our car to the rental, were actually trying to steal it. It took 30mins of the cops integorrating our friends and 10mins of talking to us, to clear it up. 😕

Did it destroy my life? No, it just showed me how stupid people can be.

Do I believe my race affects some people's opinion about me? Most definitely. Does it affect me? Yes, but in a positive light, it just makes me more aware of the need to do even better to try to prove others wrong. 🙂

Want more stories? 🙄 Don't get me started as to how my aunt, a doctor at St Jude's was assumed by one of the nurses, to be the janitor 🙄

 

[elin]

Originally posted by Gleevec
AA wouldnt have to exist if it "wasn't your savior," which I assume you mean an arbitrary advantage given to URMs. If it wasnt needed to "be your savior" it wouldnt exist. Unfortunately, many intelligent URMs lose their individuality in the process, as the entire race is being treated as a monolithic group by admissions. Not a good situation unfortunately.

Actually Gleevec, I don't think this is true. I am sure many URM's will tell you that they are treated differently on many occasions, even when those situations have nothing to do with arbitrary advantage. Secondly, it is not the responsibility of URM's to respond to or carry the ignorance of others. Generally people who think URM's get places olny because of AA are ignorant and will never understand how people like lotanna's aunt can be doctors at prestigious hospitasl. The problem does not lie with URMs, it lies with ignorant, prejudiced people. Thirdly, you seem to make many generalizations about how URM's react/are treated in the admissions process. You are mistaken when you say that many intelligent URM's lose their individuality in the admissions process. These same URM's have probably been dealing with situations like these from day 1, know what to expect and move on. Since you obviously have little knowledge of what it feels like to be a URM, maybe you should refrain from talking about 'what URM's face in the admissions process. Thank you.

 

[UCSBMed1]

Amen, elin, amen. 😀

You'd think Gleevec would understand about prejudice being an Asian male himself... 🙄

I guess just because he's not considered a URM he thinks that his people are so much better off than others. Asians face their fare share of discrimination, too.

 

[UCLAMAN]

When I was at Vandy last year the director of admissions started telling me about the diversity of the class. I came a day early and spent it snooping around campus by myself to check the place out. I stopped by the office to get an idea of what the interview day would be like. She started telling me about their great minority admissions counselor. I was told that I should speak to her when she got back to lunch.

After her whole schpiel , looking puzzled I said..."Thats great but am I considered an under represented minority?"

She asked "what is your ethnicity?"

"I am Filipino."

"Oh. I'm sorry....nevermind."

Talk about awkward moment. Hehe. I sorta look like Tiger woods(especially when I cut my hair really short) and some people think I'm part african american. Not sure how my story fits in with other people's experiences....just wrong for her to assume I was black I guess.

I posted earlier about whther or not Filipino's are URMs because at several interviews I've had other students tell me that ehy were. I guess they were thinking that as a "Pacific Islander" we fit in more with hawaiians and samoans or something. I dunno. But those students never seemed to treat me differently or harshly despite their personal definitions of URMs. I do wonder what my interviewers think when they meet me. Since I am often times mistaken for being part black do they think I am black? I remember my Dartmouth interviewers telling me about how the area wasn't culturally diverse(as LA was for example) but that my ethnicity would be welcomed at the school. In my applications I wrote about hwo I have spent time in hospitals in the Philippines caring for my comatose grandmother and visiting my aunt's obgyn clinic. So I highly doubt they think I am some tiger woods. They probably just brought that up because there aren't many Filipinos in Hanover. 😀

 

[SolidGold]

Originally posted by UCSBPre-Med1
Amen, elin, amen. 😀

You'd think Gleevec would understand about prejudice being an Asian male himself... 🙄

I guess just because he's not considered a URM he thinks that his people are so much better off than others. Asians face their fare share of discrimination, too.

Your right about discrimination against Asians, but it kind of works the other way around. I'm Asian and it seems like I'm expected to have a 3.9 GPA with a 35 MCAT in order to be deemed a competitive med school applicant compared to other Asians. I do not have anywhere near these stats and some of my interviewers tend react to it, not verbally but through body language. Since Asians are the second most represented racial group in medical school, I can understand why more scrutiny might be placed on me, but I'm no different as a person compared to anyone else applying to medical school because I do have a rather well rounded background and application.

 

[pathdr2b]

What is so funny to me about this whole race thing in america is the fact that if you did a chromosome check of the average white person in American, you would probably find that while phenotypically they "look" white, the genes say something entirely different. I can't count the numer of relatives I have that are somewhere in america "passing" for white. So to Gleevec and MacGyver, you might want to "check yourselves". One of your parents or grandparents could be my great aunt or uncle which would qualify you for some welfare cheese and lower stats for admission to medical school"

 

[Mistress S]

Just an observation: URM's are not the only ones who face these types of occurences, and in some situations it is difficult to know if they are racially motivated or not. For example, I have been accused of shoplifting twice without reason in the past few years; once I was told if I didn't give my bag to the cashier to be held while I shopped I would need to leave the store, while every other shopper strolled along unchecked with backpacks, diaper bags, etc. (I subsequently left the store on my own, figuring I'd rather take my dollars elsewhere). I have no idea why I have been stopped in this way- my age, my clothing, maybe I just look sticky-fingered (for the record, I haven't shoplifted anything since I got caught doing so at age 12 🙂 ). My skin is as lily white as my christian soul 😉, so it's obviously not racial, but if I was a URM I might assume it was. This is not to belittle the complaints of URM's or say that these events aren't racially motivated in some instances, sometimes unmistakably so, only that it is not always a fair assumption that you know this for a fact when you don't. The story someone told about being asked if they were a security guard is a good example- if you're standing next to phone marked "security" and someone asks if you are security, that doesn't seem like something you should take offense to. It's not like being a security guard is such a lowly job that it would be insulting to have someone even think that's what you do for a living anyway. I've made mistakes like that on numerous occasions, thinking someone was an employee somewhere when they weren't, and it's never had anything to do with race. It's not like I'm tossing the keys to my car at the nearest dark-skinned person and warning them not to scratch it, it's more like you see someone standing around at a store and need help and ask "Hey, do you work here?" I've had people do that to me before and it's not generally insulting, nor should it be taken that way. Before anyone jumps down my throat for pointing this out, let me reiterate that I am not denying the existence of racism or its sometimes obvious effects, only pointing out that people (myself included) are occasionally *****s and make both mistakes and unfair assumptions about the people around them, of all colors, and you shouldn't get personally offended by it unless there is a clear reason to, and even then you shouldn't really assume it's racial unless you have a good reason to believe that.

 

[lotanna]

Originally posted by pathdr2b
What is so funny to me about this whole race thing in america is the fact that if you did a chromosome check of the average white person in American, you would probably find that while phenotypically they "look" white, the genes say something entirely different. I can't count the numer of relatives I have that are somewhere in america "passing" for white. So to Gleevec and MacGyver, you might want to "check yourselves". One of your parents or grandparents could be my great aunt or uncle which would qualify you for some welfare cheese and lower stats for admission to medical school"

So true😛

 

[tatabox80]

Originally posted by UCLAMAN
When I was at Vandy last year the director of admissions started telling me about the diversity of the class. I came a day early and spent it snooping around campus by myself to check the place out. I stopped by the office to get an idea of what the interview day would be like. She started telling me about their great minority admissions counselor. I was told that I should speak to her when she got back to lunch.

After her whole schpiel , looking puzzled I said..."Thats great but am I considered an under represented minority?"

She asked "what is your ethnicity?"

"I am Filipino."

"Oh. I'm sorry....nevermind."

Talk about awkward moment. Hehe. I sorta look like Tiger woods(especially when I cut my hair really short) and some people think I'm part african american. Not sure how my story fits in with other people's experiences....just wrong for her to assume I was black I guess.

I posted earlier about whther or not Filipino's are URMs because at several interviews I've had other students tell me that ehy were. I guess they were thinking that as a "Pacific Islander" we fit in more with hawaiians and samoans or something. I dunno. But those students never seemed to treat me differently or harshly despite their personal definitions of URMs. I do wonder what my interviewers think when they meet me. Since I am often times mistaken for being part black do they think I am black? I remember my Dartmouth interviewers telling me about how the area wasn't culturally diverse(as LA was for example) but that my ethnicity would be welcomed at the school. In my applications I wrote about hwo I have spent time in hospitals in the Philippines caring for my comatose grandmother and visiting my aunt's obgyn clinic. So I highly doubt they think I am some tiger woods. They probably just brought that up because there aren't many Filipinos in Hanover. 😀

Yea! for the Filipinos!!! I'm half filipina actually, my mom is filipina and my dad is white. I'm often mistaken for a hispanic person, my mom even tells me to put it down on my applications for medical school, because she's heard it can help me....but then I inform her that medicine is considered an ethical profession and that is an unethical thing to do! Oh parents...

 

[LoveDoc]

Originally posted by MacGyver
Oh yes, I sense a story coming on about how this incident destroyed your life forever and that you cant possibly get a fair shake in life..... 🙄

may you spend eternity w/ Hitler

 

[care bear]

tata that's so interesting. . .

i know some filipina people do consider themselves hispanic, right? and some definitely don't. . it seems like such an interesting country in terms of the mix of cultures. . ..

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by care bear
tata that's so interesting. . .

i know some filipina people do consider themselves hispanic, right? and some definitely don't. . it seems like such an interesting country in terms of the mix of cultures. . ..

Umm...wow...I'd like to meet those filipinas....i've never heard of a filipino person referring to themselves as hispanic(unless they really were half hispanic or something.)

Maybe this occurs in connecticut?

seriously though. if you know of a filipino person who refers to themselves as a hispanic that'll be the first time i'll have heard of that in my 22 years of existence as a kare-kare eating filipino.

damn tatabox....mestizas are foine. (i guess a mestiza can be considered a hispanic reference.)
😀

 

[owen_osh]

Originally posted by pathdr2b
What is so funny to me about this whole race thing in america is the fact that if you did a chromosome check of the average white person in American, you would probably find that while phenotypically they "look" white, the genes say something entirely different...

I disagree. Do you have any empirical evidence to back this up?

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.vdare.com/sailer/pondering_patterson_5.htm

And a quote from it:
Recent genetic data, however, suggests that African Americans and whites - overall - really do form two quite distinctly different groups, just the way everybody who isn't an intellectual has always figured. Indeed, the government's categories of "white" and "black" appear to be, well, good enough for government work. Although early estimates claimed that Africans Americans were 1/4th or even 3/10th white, a major study using sophisticated genetic tools found that those who identify themselves as African American appear to be only about 1/6th white. People who call themselves white seem to average under 1% black.

 

[Bob Dole]

Originally posted by owen_osh
I disagree. Do you have any empirical evidence to back this up?

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.vdare.com/sailer/pondering_patterson_5.htm

And a quote from it:
Recent genetic data, however, suggests that African Americans and whites - overall - really do form two quite distinctly different groups, just the way everybody who isn't an intellectual has always figured. Indeed, the government's categories of "white" and "black" appear to be, well, good enough for government work. Although early estimates claimed that Africans Americans were 1/4th or even 3/10th white, a major study using sophisticated genetic tools found that those who identify themselves as African American appear to be only about 1/6th white. People who call themselves white seem to average under 1% black.

What are you talking about?!

The concept of race is completely a human-created category of classification. There's no such thing as a set of "white" genes or "black" genes (unless you're talking about skin color. But that has nothing to do with intellect). And if you are referring to "white" genes as genes that make your skin color white, then of course people who are white are under 1% black, why else would their skin be white?! DUH.

 

[wolferman]

Originally posted by Bob Dole
What are you talking about?!

The concept of race is completely a human-created category of classification. There's no such thing as a set of "white" genes or "black" genes (unless you're talking about skin color. But that has nothing to do with intellect). And if you are referring to "white" genes as genes that make your skin color white, then of course people who are white are under 1% black, why else would their skin be white?! DUH.

They probably used SNP, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, that were specific to "blacks" and not "whites" to determine the percentages. Although there are no known genes like you say, these polymorphisms would tend to be found in the same relative concentrations as your racial makeup.

 

[ScreamingTreesRule]

What isn't a human-created category?

You could say that "gender" is a human-created category. We could choose to ignore it altogether, but that's not going to happen. Just because we can pinpoint XY versus XX, or just because we don't understand everything there is to know about other aspects of genetics doesn't mean that there aren't similarities among people of the same race.

People categorize and it shouldn't matter what color anyone's skin is, but unfortunately, we are all "put into a box" everyday by our race and by our gender and by other categories. And there's nothing inherently wrong with making comparisons among different groups of people (or plants or animals...), as long as you don't do it ignorantly.

I think of race as being part of an extended family. We are genetically more related to our siblings than to non-siblings. Further than that, we are more related to our parents, than our Aunts & Uncles. We are more related to the people from the country where our ancestors hailed, than from other countries.

You could ignore that humans who evolved in different parts of the world have similar features, if you want to, but don't be surprised if not everyone else does.

Originally posted by Bob Dole
What are you talking about?!

The concept of race is completely a human-created category of classification. There's no such thing as a set of "white" genes or "black" genes (unless you're talking about skin color. But that has nothing to do with intellect). And if you are referring to "white" genes as genes that make your skin color white, then of course people who are white are under 1% black, why else would their skin be white?! DUH.

 

[tatabox80]

Maybe this occurs in connecticut?

seriously though. if you know of a filipino person who refers to themselves as a hispanic that'll be the first time i'll have heard of that in my 22 years of existence as a kare-kare eating filipino.

damn tatabox....mestizas are foine. (i guess a mestiza can be considered a hispanic reference.)
😀 [/B][/QUOTE]

I know that a lot of filipinos have some spanish background, but there is a difference between having ancestors that come from Spain and those coming from Central/South Amercia. Maybe I should have listened to my mom and put down that I was hispanic! That extra boost probably would have helped me a bit!!🙂

 

[doctor girl]

there's nothing inherently wrong with making comparisons among different groups of people (or plants or animals...), as long as you don't do it ignorantly.

I think that's the key. 🙂


[bold face added to quote]

 

[LoveDoc]

Originally posted by Gleevec
uhhhhh...

Maybe it is because I get out a fair deal, and have gone to my share of malls, but did you ever put together:

1. Yes you were standing next to an emergency phone

2. Most security people do in fact drive SUVs on patrol

3. Red might have associated you with an emergency vehicle/security vehicle?

Geeze, she made an honest mistake based on a set of coincidences. But since affirmative action and URM status is based on self-pity, who am I to burst the bubble?

PS. Its not very nice to want to give people blindside concussions for mistakes. Are you sure you can control your anger enough to handle the stress of being a physician?

I stated I would never know the true reason of why she did this but just as your responses may be valid (in your state). It may also be valid that she associated a low paying, entry level job with a black woman in the parking lot.

 

[BushBaby]

Alright Alright.....nothing to see here folks move it along.

I come to tell all peeps to back off LoveDoc right here, right now.
Don't think you can mess with the ex-president of BUSHBABY International and get away with it. If you have nothing nice to say, then please go say it to your momma so she can backslap you.

LoveDoc- If you must know, you are still covered under the "protect thee from message board attacks" insurance policy.

Once again, I say Back the F*ck up....ya heard?

Good


As you were....(expect for the attacking lovedoc part)

 

[LoveDoc]

im covered by the (bushbaby) blood!!!

 

[JM.]

I know things have happened in my life that have caused an undeniable bubble of anger to rise up in my chest - and the thought probably crossed my mind that I would like to throw a rock at someone's head at some occasion as well. Does that make me a bad person, inhuman, unthinkably perverse, ect? No. I would challenge any of you to say you haven't wanted to do something really nasty at one point or another for some hideously undeserving reason, some stupid comment of theirs - you swallow it and go on. This is getting a shade long winded, (and maybe i ought to have quoted) but the point I am getting to is this - it seems like the biggest insult on SDN (from my short time of reading posts ) is "you wont make a good doctor" or the kicker "someone who holds that opinion couldnt possibly be a good doctor" or "someone who thinks like that doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell to be admitted to med school", and that insult is liberally applied to someone that says something mildly contraversial - like we're trying to keep everyone in line by passing a standard that says - you must act and think in this manner to be acceptable. Like the keys to doctordom are held in their clenched fists. Bunk. I am sick of it. We all have a place. Some people dont write elegantly, say everything we mean to, miss things, and our words may be misconstrued. There is to much bad in the best of us and good in the worst of us that it behooves none of us to speak ill of the other. Frankly, I can't judge what lovedoc said about her experience because I haven't lived her life. We come to realize that there are things that simply exist beyond our realm of comprehension - and living, really living, every day - with subtle (and not so subtle) racial stereotypes are one of them. off topic analogy - but similar -- I for one don't like to be hollered at in the street by men who for some reason or another think I enjoy it or by having the audacity to walk by them at lunch hour think that i have gotten what is coming to me.

Sorry for being so long winded, i guess this one - all jokes aside - sort of bothered me. good luck love doc

 

[BushBaby]

Originally posted by jmwalker
I know things have happened in my life that have caused an undeniable bubble of anger to rise up in my chest - and the thought probably crossed my mind that I would like to throw a rock at someone's head at some occasion as well. Does that make me a bad person, inhuman, unthinkably perverse, ect? No. I would challenge any of you to say you haven't wanted to do something really nasty at one point or another for some hideously undeserving reason, some stupid comment of theirs - you swallow it and go on. This is getting a shade long winded, (and maybe i ought to have quoted) but the point I am getting to is this - it seems like the biggest insult on SDN (from my short time of reading posts ) is "you wont make a good doctor" or the kicker "someone who holds that opinion couldnt possibly be a good doctor" or "someone who thinks like that doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell to be admitted to med school", and that insult is liberally applied to someone that says something mildly contraversial - like we're trying to keep everyone in line by passing a standard that says - you must act and think in this manner to be acceptable. Like the keys to doctordom are held in their clenched fists. Bunk. I am sick of it. We all have a place. Some people dont write elegantly, say everything we mean to, miss things, and our words may be misconstrued. There is to much bad in the best of us and good in the worst of us that it behooves none of us to speak ill of the other. Frankly, I can't judge what lovedoc said about her experience because I haven't lived her life. We come to realize that there are things that simply exist beyond our realm of comprehension - and living, really living, every day - with subtle (and not so subtle) racial stereotypes are one of them. off topic analogy - but similar -- I for one don't like to be hollered at in the street by men who for some reason or another think I enjoy it or by having the audacity to walk by them at lunch hour think that i have gotten what is coming to me.

Sorry for being so long winded, i guess this one - all jokes aside - sort of bothered me. good luck love doc

I agree....that's why I believe a LOT of people here on SDN appear to be sitting on some high horse and they think they know everything so they come here spitting pure bullshyt.

I come on here and I would never think of saying "you are never going to be a good doctor" or those stupid " and you want to be doctor?" stupidness. Give me a break.