Race on AMCAS/TMDSAS

[txpremed2020]

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Hi everyone! I have a question about what race/ethnicity to select on my application. Essentially, I'm 3/4 indian asian and 1/4 hispanic from my mom's maternal side. On forms, my parents have always put Asian since they grew up in India, but now that I'm applying to medical school I would like to include my hispanic heritage too since I have been involved in the hispanic community through several of my extracurriculars. I especially became interested in working with hispanic populations after learning about health care disparities, which inspired me to take action during my undergrad experience.

I've been involved in a mentorship organization that works to increase STEM involvement in hispanic and native american communities, I've worked in a free clinic that serves mainly minorities, and taught at a stem enrichment camp for minority girls.

My issue is that I was born in India and lived there for the first year of my life before immigrating to the United States, and I worry if I put hispanic and asian as my race on medical school applications, it will come off as though I am lying since when I took the ACT/SAT and earlier forms I used to just select "asian" since i was not really connected with the hispanic populations around me. To make matters worse, I have an indian name and so do my parents since it was just my mom's mom who was of hispanic origin. Please help!

 

[txpremed2020]

@Goro @LizzyM any input would be incredibly appreciated!

 

[DokterMom]

If you classify yourself as Hispanic and URM, that will seem disingenuous, but classifying yourself as multi-racial and including both will be both factual and not falsely claiming URM status. Your volunteering with Hispanic organizations will be demonstration of your interest. And of course, if it fits into your story, stating that mother's mother is Hispanic would make perfect sense.

 

[907914]

If you classify yourself as Hispanic and URM, that will seem disingenuous, but classifying yourself as multi-racial and including both will be both factual and not falsely claiming URM status. Your volunteering with Hispanic organizations will be demonstration of your interest. And of course, if it fits into your story, stating that mother's mother is Hispanic would make perfect sense.

Why would it be falsely claiming URM? Would someone who is one fourth black and 3/4 white but identifies with the black part not be URM?

I ask as the father of a Half native American/half white child who has absolutely none of her mother's Native American features and a completely "white" name and not really raised in a native context beyond a couple PowWows a year. So like OP, are you saying that URM is not based on their heritage but based on how they have grown up within that heritage?

 

[DokterMom]

Why would it be falsely claiming URM? Would someone who is one fourth black and 3/4 white but identifies with the black part not be URM?

I ask as the father of a Half native American/half white child who has absolutely none of her mother's Native American features and a completely "white" name and not really raised in a native context beyond a couple PowWows a year. So like OP, are you saying that URM is not based on their heritage but based on how they have grown up within that heritage?

It's based on how they view themselves. I think the OP views herself as either "mostly Indian with some Hispanic" or perhaps "mixed Indian and Hispanic" -- but the Indian part is definitely ORM, so claiming that she identifies as Hispanic despite all of the "more Indian" arguments doesn't seem authentic.

It isn't just genetics though. I have two relatives who are half Hispanic and half northern European white. One absolutely identifies with her Hispanic heritage, and the other, despite a very Hispanic name and appearance, doesn't particularly. For her, claiming URM would be completely honest and valid; for him it wouldn't be.

 

[907914]

It's based on how they view themselves. I think the OP views herself as either "mostly Indian with some Hispanic" or perhaps "mixed Indian and Hispanic" -- but the Indian part is definitely ORM, so claiming that she identifies as Hispanic despite all of the "more Indian" arguments doesn't seem authentic.

It isn't just genetics though. I have two relatives who are half Hispanic and half northern European white. One absolutely identifies with her Hispanic heritage, and the other, despite a very Hispanic name and appearance, doesn't particularly. For her, claiming URM would be completely honest and valid; for him it wouldn't be.

Gotcha. So it may seem disingenuous for someone who has not necessarily ever identified with the URM side of family/heritage etc. to 'check that box' in a sense just for the perceived benefits.

 

[DokterMom]

Gotcha. So it may seem disingenuous for someone who has not necessarily ever identified with the URM side of family/heritage etc. to 'check that box' in a sense just for the perceived benefits.

More than disingenuous -- dishonest

 

[907914]

More than disingenuous -- dishonest

Why is it dishonest? If someone is URM I would feel that they can claim URM status regardless of their previous identification in that status.

Do you remember Rachel Dolenzel from a few years ago, the African American studies professor (she was actually from my university...) and local NAACP leader who identified as Black but was really white? Idk, these sorts of things just irk me in the technicalities of it all.

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

I mean, Rachel Dolezal was literally pretending to be a different race/ethnicity... sounds kinda dishonest...

 

[907914]

I mean, Rachel Dolezal was literally pretending to be a different race/ethnicity... sounds kinda dishonest...

Yes, that is the example I keep in my head of true dishonesty. OP may be URM on a technicality...but they are still URM. I completely agree with @DokterMom on what they should do, I just don’t think it would be lying to put URM.

 

[jhamaican]

What are you thinking bro.

Ride your Hispanic heritage hard all the way to a medical school slot.

Definitely throw a heavy dose of Hispanic heritage material into your personal statement.

Those of the admissions committee like LizzyM will eat it up.

Don't hate the player, hate the game:

 

[DokterMom]

Yes, that is the example I keep in my head of true dishonesty. OP may be URM on a technicality...but they are still URM. I completely agree with @DokterMom on what they should do, I just don’t think it would be lying to put URM.

Indian is ORM and only some types of Hispanic are URM. I don't think she'd even pass the 'technicality' test.

 

[Mike Bagwell]

OP, let's be real here. You're 3/4 Indian, you have an "Indian" name, you were born in India, and you're parents grew up in India. YOU'RE INDIAN or Asian-Indian for the purpose of an application checklist. You are probably even culturally more Indian than first-generation Indian kids to be honest.

Feel free to list Hispanic under race/ethnicity if you feel a connection to the 1/4 part of you that you say is Hispanic but don't make yourself look like a fool when your application goes against someone that can actually speak Spanish who is vying for that URM slot.

 

[atomi]

Gotcha. So it may seem disingenuous for someone who has not necessarily ever identified with the URM side of family/heritage etc. to 'check that box' in a sense just for the perceived benefits.

Ask Elizabeth Warren how that worked out for her.
Well she got in, and she was what 1% Native American?

You’re 25% “URM”

Elizabeth Warren is now a major thought leader in the Democratic Party.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Not all of those with Hispanic origins are considered URM and there’s also no URM box that you can check on the app.

OP, I think you should check the box you’ve always been checking. It’s strange to me to change it up for this one application. If you must, I like another posters idea of checking mixed or other.

 

[Wahkoon]

I believe people overthink these things. I put White and AI/AN on my AMCAS like I do on all other demographic forms. I mark those because that’s how I identify, not because I’m thinking about how others may perceive it. Just put down whatever feels genuine. From there adcoms will make their determination.

Also, experiences in the community you are claiming speak a lot louder than checking a box on an application.

 

[Med Ed]

Hi everyone! I have a question about what race/ethnicity to select on my application. Essentially, I'm 3/4 indian asian and 1/4 hispanic from my mom's maternal side. On forms, my parents have always put Asian since they grew up in India, but now that I'm applying to medical school I would like to include my hispanic heritage too since I have been involved in the hispanic community through several of my extracurriculars. I especially became interested in working with hispanic populations after learning about health care disparities, which inspired me to take action during my undergrad experience.

I've been involved in a mentorship organization that works to increase STEM involvement in hispanic and native american communities, I've worked in a free clinic that serves mainly minorities, and taught at a stem enrichment camp for minority girls.

My issue is that I was born in India and lived there for the first year of my life before immigrating to the United States, and I worry if I put hispanic and asian as my race on medical school applications, it will come off as though I am lying since when I took the ACT/SAT and earlier forms I used to just select "asian" since i was not really connected with the hispanic populations around me. To make matters worse, I have an indian name and so do my parents since it was just my mom's mom who was of hispanic origin. Please help!

No one is going to come after you if you put Hispanic and Asian on AMCAS. They're just going to see that you are mixed race, don't speak Spanish, and don't claim any particular connection to the Hispanic/Latino community in the rest of your application. That's not lying, it's just saying you're 25% Hispanic by blood. Now, if you tried to oversell yourself as being Hispanic without anything to back it up, that would be disingenuous.

You could also just call yourself Asian and that would be fine, too. It's really up to you.

At most schools being 25% Hispanic will have zero impact on your chances of admission. Texas schools, in particular, is not going to roll out the red carpet for this. There are, however, some lower tier private schools, far from the US-Mexico border, that might use such tenuous self-identification as a means to inflate their diversity numbers.

 

[LizzyM]

There are a number of different ethnic groups under the Hispanic umbrella. What is your maternal grandmother's nationality/ethnicity? Growing up in India was she a big part of your life? Did your mom's family use Spanish at home or have traditions and customs handed down from your abuela?