Question about Cuban as a URM

[IBelieveInEli]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I've been confused about this and I just would like a clear answer. I've used the search function, but I've found mixed answers.

I was born in Cuba, came here as a child. Up until last year that I met some white friends, I didn't know I lived in the "ghetto." My dad finally got his license a couple years back, but before that, times were bad (I would miss school to teach him English as a child). I'm not looking to be a sob story, I just wanted to know if I "qualify" for the URM advantage. I have a really generic Spanish name and I look pretty Cuban. Thanks guys!!

 

[gyngyn]

Cubans are not generally considered under-represented in medicine. Each school may decide independently if there is unmet need in their community for each ethnic group.

Your language skills will still give you a boost, though.

 

[quechua]

Yes, you are a URM. Your name and the way you look don't have anything to do with it. Latinos, Native Americans, those of African descent, and a few other groups are underrepresented in medicine.

Now, with regard to your upbringing... That determines if you are a disadvantaged applicant. Look at the AAMC's guidelines for determining if you are disadvantaged. It is your decision to be considered disadvantaged or not.

 

[IBelieveInEli]

I wouldn't consider myself disadvantaged. I couldn't do kid stuff like join the Boy Scouts or sports, but I always had three meals a day and a bed to sleep it. I wouldn't ever imagine abusing of that since there are actual disadvantaged students out there. I'm just curious if I would be considered a URM if I applied to white states.

 

[quechua]

I wouldn't consider myself disadvantaged. I couldn't do kid stuff like join the Boy Scouts or sports, but I always had three meals a day and a bed to sleep it. I wouldn't ever imagine abusing of that since there are actual disadvantaged students out there. I'm just curious if I would be considered a URM if I applied to white states.

"Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population." -AAMC

If you look at demographics in America... Every state is a "white" state except Hawaii. Sixty-three percent of the country is white and not of Hispanic origin according to the US Census Bureau. Buy an AAMC MSAR for $20 and look at the demographics of the schools you are most interested in. Northeast schools tend to be pretty diverse. Midwest states like Nebraska and Iowa... not so much lol.

I only mentioned the disadvantaged applicant thing because your original post discussed your economic upbringing. I wanted to make sure you knew that URM status doesn't have anything to do with where you grew up or how much your parents made.

 

[gyngyn]

Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population." -AAMC


Cubans have the good fortune to be over-represented as a subset of Latinos...

 

[whatbout2morrow]

Cubans are not generally considered under-represented in medicine. Each school may decide independently if there is unmet need in their community for each ethnic group.

Your language skills will still give you a boost, though.

👍

https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/urm/

Though the definition had been updated, the term URM still tends to revolve around the populations specified in the old definition, ie Blacks, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans and mainland Puerto Ricans.

 

[quechua]

Cubans are not generally considered under-represented in medicine. Each school may decide independently if there is unmet need in their community for each ethnic group.

Your language skills will still give you a boost, though.

This is a good point - It is about the community that the schools serve 🙂 Miami vs. Des Moines for example.

 

[gyngyn]

This is a good point - It is about the community that the schools serve 🙂 Miami vs. Des Moines for example.

In Miami, there is a disproportionately large percentage of Cuban physicians given their numbers in the community. Because of their unique migration situation there was an exodus from the educated class from Cuba in contrast to much of the the rest of Latin America.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

This might help you more than random opinions:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23165265

 

[cookiemonsters]

I wouldn't consider myself disadvantaged. I couldn't do kid stuff like join the Boy Scouts or sports, but I always had three meals a day and a bed to sleep it. I wouldn't ever imagine abusing of that since there are actual disadvantaged students out there. I'm just curious if I would be considered a URM if I applied to white states.

People in MUCH MUCH better situations than what it sounds like you grew up in use the disadvantaged essay. My opinion: if you can find ANY advantage in this process, use it. Med school admissions is cut-throat, and your fellow applicants will likely not have the same humility that you have. Apply disadvantaged, apply URM (Latino?), and play up that you are Jose from the hood. Good luck.

 

[mcloaf]

People in MUCH MUCH better situations than what it sounds like you grew up in use the disadvantaged essay. My opinion: if you can find ANY advantage in this process, use it. Med school admissions is cut-throat, and your fellow applicants will likely not have the same humbleness that you have. Apply disadvantaged, apply URM, and play up that you are Jose from the hood. Good luck.

Yeah. Missing school to teach your father English is pretty legit (assuming you're not actually super rich and your dad just hadn't learned the language yet, which it sounds like is not at all the case 🙂 ), so don't think you have any reason to feel manipulative if you choose to check that box on your apps.

 

[Lafakads]

I've been confused about this and I just would like a clear answer. I've used the search function, but I've found mixed answers.

I was born in Cuba, came here as a child. Up until last year that I met some white friends, I didn't know I lived in the "ghetto." My dad finally got his license a couple years back, but before that, times were bad (I would miss school to teach him English as a child). I'm not looking to be a sob story, I just wanted to know if I "qualify" for the URM advantage. I have a really generic Spanish name and I look pretty Cuban. Thanks guys!!

Do you live in FL btw? I feel like FL is saturated with Cuban applicants but if you apply OOS you will do much better. Still tho your MCAT and GPA mean the most, but up north I feel being cuban will help.

 

[gyngyn]

This might help you more than random opinions:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23165265

Exactly.

 

[Ismet]

People in MUCH MUCH better situations than what it sounds like you grew up in use the disadvantaged essay. My opinion: if you can find ANY advantage in this process, use it. Med school admissions is cut-throat, and your fellow applicants will likely not have the same humility that you have. Apply disadvantaged, apply URM (Latino?), and play up that you are Jose from the hood. Good luck.

You cannot "apply URM." You indicate your race/ethnicity (and there is a box to check for Cuban) and schools can determine from that whether or not they consider you URM for their region or in general. Some schools greatly lack Latinos in general and would probably consider any Latino subset as URM.

Admissions is not as cut-throat as SDN makes it seem. If OP says he was not disadvantaged, he really shouldn't lie about it.

 

[Belle Melodie]

People in MUCH MUCH better situations than what it sounds like you grew up in use the disadvantaged essay. My opinion: if you can find ANY advantage in this process, use it. Med school admissions is cut-throat, and your fellow applicants will likely not have the same humility that you have. Apply disadvantaged, apply URM (Latino?), and play up that you are Jose from the hood. Good luck.

Horrible advice.👎

 

[quechua]

you cannot "apply urm." you indicate your race/ethnicity (and there is a box to check for cuban) and schools can determine from that whether or not they consider you urm for their region or in general. Some schools greatly lack latinos in general and would probably consider any latino subset as urm.

Admissions is not as cut-throat as sdn makes it seem. If op says he was not disadvantaged, he really shouldn't lie about it.

+1