Should I apply as Disadvantaged?

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Yes you should. You won't get the SES disadvantage, but your upbringing certainly put you at an disadvantage for obtaining a great education.

I hate to sound prune, but it sounds like you've got daddy issues (and a financially supportive but maternally absent mother) and that affected you in a negative way.
 
There are all sorts of hardships that people might be faced with in life (that shape us, build character, or at least serve as excellent fodder for personal statements and diversity essays).

However, I think the "disadvantaged" status on AMCAS is intended to refer specifically to socioeconomic hardship, mainly households that would qualify for means-tested government assistance (for ex. current income in the low-midish 20,000s/year for a family of 4).
 
cheerful85 said:
There are all sorts of hardships that people might be faced with in life (that shape us, build character, or at least serve as excellent fodder for personal statements and diversity essays).

However, I think the "disadvantaged" status on AMCAS is intended to refer specifically to socioeconomic hardship, mainly households that would qualify for means-tested government assistance (for ex. current income in the low-midish 20,000s/year for a family of 4).
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Correct.
 
Alrighty! I'm a bit relieved, its one less essay to write and stress over. I'll write about it in diversity secondaries.
 
Mr Avante said:
disadvantage |ˌdisədˈvantij|
noun
an unfavorable circumstance or condition that reduces the chances of success or effectiveness.

The only disadvantage I see is disturbance of the mind and a lack of assimilation which, to my belief, are a clear red flag. Advice: Do not list it.

If you list it, well, it might diminish your chances of success and that will be a real disadvantage for the next application process. (Hint)


Cheers,
-M
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Ehh, my personal statement talks about my transformation as a student etc so, while there was no assimilation in my primary schooling, there was in college. But regardless, I'm not applying as disadvantaged :]
 
nabilesmail said:
Alrighty! I'm a bit relieved, its one less essay to write and stress over. I'll write about it in diversity secondaries.
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Ugh you have to write out an essay for it? I was just going to put 3 or 4 sentences
 
To be honest, your story makes me feel sad for you. this definitely counts as disadvantaged to me if it's true. I personally think the most influential aspect of growing up is how your parents raise you, not how much money your parents have. Often times, the reason socioeconomic status has a negative role on children is that low socioeconomic status often correlates with lack of parental involvement in their children's lives.You grew up without a father and a negligent mother and was partially raised by your aunt. if you can write a good story, I really don't think this will hurt you.
 
Ebrithill said:
To be honest, your story makes me feel sad for you. this definitely counts as disadvantaged to me if it's true. I personally think the most influential aspect of growing up is how your parents raise you, not how much money your parents have. Often times, the reason socioeconomic status has a negative role on children is that low socioeconomic status often correlates with lack of parental involvement in their children's lives.You grew up without a father and a negligent mother and was partially raised by your aunt. if you can write a good story, I really don't think this will hurt you.
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It will only take one committee member who makes less than his mom to call foul. It won't help much and it is likely that it could hurt.
 
gyngyn said:
It will only take one committee member who makes less than his mom to call foul. It won't help much and it is likely that it could hurt.
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SES disadvantaged and applying as a disadvantaged applicant are two entirely different things.
 
Ebrithill said:
To be honest, your story makes me feel sad for you. this definitely counts as disadvantaged to me if it's true. I personally think the most influential aspect of growing up is how your parents raise you, not how much money your parents have. Often times, the reason socioeconomic status has a negative role on children is that low socioeconomic status often correlates with lack of parental involvement in their children's lives.You grew up without a father and a negligent mother and was partially raised by your aunt. if you can write a good story, I really don't think this will hurt you.
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Haha I agree , but also read this and felt compelled to defend my mom. I don;t think she had an option, we had a lot of debt by my father, and she had to work as much as she did to provide for 3 children+ plus our cousin+ so we wouldn't lose our house. It came at the expense of absent parenting but she didn't have a choice- and she always regrets it. She still works incredibly hard today so that we don't have to work and so we can focus on college/etc.
 
nabilesmail said:
Haha I agree , but also read this and felt compelled to defend my mom. I don;t think she had an option, we had a lot of debt by my father, and she had to work as much as she did to provide for 3 children+ plus our cousin+ so we wouldn't lose our house. It came at the expense of absent parenting but she didn't have a choice- and she always regrets it. She still works incredibly hard today so that we don't have to work and so we can focus on college/etc.
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I apologize if I offended you. I think you have a good story and should include it somewhere in your application.
 
Mr Avante said:
Bold choice.
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It's not a "bold choice" by any mean.

He should not apply as disadvantaged because, as gyngyn pointed out, all the objective metrics speak against him. Regardless, it is still an event that heavily shaped his development and gave him unusual life experiences and perspectives. I think it is definitely worth talking about. Nothing taboo or childish here.
 
Ebrithill said:
I apologize if I offended you. I think you have a good story and should include it somewhere in your application.
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No need to apologize! I wrote it in a way that took away from how much my mom did for us- just wanted to clarify out of respect for my mom :]
 
You may have had a less than ideal upbringing but it is not what adcoms expect when they hear "disadvantaged" which is pretty much an indication of low socioeconomic status. (No college education, minimum wage jobs, no property ownership, etc)

Your story of parents not available for guidance, meals, etc reminds me of things I've heard about some of the most wealthy families in my community (a friend works as a teacher in a schools with students who parents are millionairs and billionaires and this is a common occurance in some of these families).
 
cookiemonsters said:
What is SES disadvantaged? I am applying disadvantaged, but my SES column is empty
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https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf

Page 84:

Appendix I: Socioeconomic Status Disadvantaged Indicator
The SES Disadvantaged Indicator is one tool that medical schools can use to identify applicants who may come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and is intended to assist them in putting your application information in context as part of a holistic review process.
This indicator is derived from information you provide about your parents' and guardians' occupation and education levels using the schema represented in the graphic below. Once your application has been processed by AMCAS, the indicator associated with your parent or guardian with the highest education and occupation level will appear on your printable application. To view this, click the Print Application button on the main menu.
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LizzyM said:
You may have had a less than ideal upbringing but it is not what adcoms expect when they hear "disadvantaged" which is pretty much an indication of low socioeconomic status. (No college education, minimum wage jobs, no property ownership, etc)

Your story of parents not available for guidance, meals, etc reminds me of things I've heard about some of the most wealthy families in my community (a friend works as a teacher in a schools with students who parents are millionairs and billionaires and this is a common occurance in some of these families).
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Pretty sure they have maids to serve food before 9pm
 
Sometimes we had a baby sitter, sometimes we didn't - depends on if we could afford them at the time!

60k isn't that much in Cali, costs add up fast mortgage+paying off deb/etc
 
LizzyM said:
You may have had a less than ideal upbringing but it is not what adcoms expect when they hear "disadvantaged" which is pretty much an indication of low socioeconomic status. (No college education, minimum wage jobs, no property ownership, etc)

Your story of parents not available for guidance, meals, etc reminds me of things I've heard about some of the most wealthy families in my community (a friend works as a teacher in a schools with students who parents are millionairs and billionaires and this is a common occurance in some of these families).
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Is this still an appropriate topic for secondary "greatest challenge" or "diversity" topics?
 
Some schools advise listing anything relevant as disadvantage and claim not to penalize anyone based on responses. The tough thing about that question is that there is always someone worse off.
 
Lol I wish my mom could write a personal statement and submit it in my stead- She escaped oppression from Tanzania during the Edie Ameen days- her village was bombed and she still has shrapnel in her chest. Came to America with my dad, his illness led to instability, and my parents divorced. She had no family or friends as everyone ostricized her (divorce=bad in my culture). She also lost both of her parents and brothers to inadequate healthcare, and her sister to a gas leak. Then she had to work 2-3 jobs at a time for the rest of her life. She'd get into medical school easy 😛
 
nabilesmail said:
Lol I wish my mom could write a personal statement and submit it in my stead- She escaped oppression from Tanzania during the Edie Ameen days- her village was bombed and she still has shrapnel in her chest. Came to America with my dad, his illness led to instability, and my parents divorced. She had no family or friends as everyone ostricized her (divorce=bad in my culture). She also lost both of her parents and brothers to inadequate healthcare, and her sister to a gas leak. Then she had to work 2-3 jobs at a time for the rest of her life. She'd get into medical school easy 😛
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You URM bro? Why even bother applying disadvantaged you got it made 👍
 
I am quoting this directly from the AMCAS application:

"""
The following definitions/questions may help you answer the questions on this page:

Underserved: Do you believe, based on your own experiences or the experiences of family and friends, that the area in which you grew up was adequately served by the available health care professionals? Were there enough physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other health care service providers?

Immediate Family: The Federal Government broadly defines "immediate family" as "spouse, parent, child, sibling, mother or father-in-law, son or daughter-in-law, or sister or brother-in-law, including step and adoptive relationships."

State and Federal Assistance Programs: These programs are specifically defined as "Means-Tested Programs" under which the individual, family, or household income and assets must be below specified thresholds. The sponsoring agencies then provide cash and non-cash assistance to eligible individuals, families, or households. Such programs include welfare benefit programs (federal, state, and local) Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC or ADC); unemployment compensation; General Assistance (GA); food stamps; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Medicaid; housing assistance; or other federal, state, or local financial assistance programs.
""""
 
Anybody willing to read my disadvantaged essay?
 
Nabiles, do you mind if I hijack your thread for a minute? I was meaning to ask this question as well.

Is the disadvantaged status a risk to declare? I left it blank last year just because I didn't feel like I wanted to burden myself with that position to defend if they were to bring it up. Let's say if I was in a 4 person household at less than 20k/year but I never really felt "disadvantaged". Never really hungry, adequate shelter and clothing, fairly safe environment. I guess the only disadvantage would be that nobody in my home spoke/speaks English. Still, it doesn't really compare to the actually disadvantaged, which in my mind is the guy growing up in the ghetto who is subjected to inadequate support for their basic needs, distant parents, and violent/drug related crime.

I think by objective measures of socioeconomic status then I would be considered "disadvantaged" but does that really give me the right to consider myself that in a meaningful way? A credible SDN faculty has advised me to do so as it will add a few figurative LizzyM points to my application but I just don't know if it's going to come back to bite me.
 
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TheShaker said:
Nabiles, do you mind if I hijack your thread for a minute? I was meaning to ask this question as well.

Is the disadvantaged status a risk to declare? I left it blank last year just because I didn't feel like I wanted to burden myself with that position to defend if they were to bring it up. Let's say if I was in a 4 person household at less than 20k/year but I never really felt "disadvantaged". Never really hungry, adequate shelter and clothing, fairly safe environment. I guess the only disadvantage would be that nobody in my home spoke/speaks English. Still, it doesn't really compare to the actually disadvantaged, which in my mind is the guy growing up in the ghetto who is subjected to inadequate support for their basic needs, distant parents, and violent/drug related crime.

I think by objective measures of socioeconomic status then I would be considered "disadvantaged" but does that really give me the right to consider myself that in a meaningful way? A credible SDN faculty has advised me to do so as it will add a few figurative LizzyM points to my application but I just don't know if it's going to come back to bite me.
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I think you should, most people that are disadvantaged don't seem to feel disadvantaged because they do not know any different. I know I didn't until I saw other peoples family dynamics at the end of high school
 
One former Dean of Admissions used to turn this into a question aimed at an applicant, "were you at a disadvantage compared with your peers" when you reached college (or age 18, if you didn't go straight to college) because you did not have opportunities commonly available to your peers?
 
LizzyM said:
One former Dean of Admissions used to turn this into a question aimed at an applicant, "were you at a disadvantage compared with your peers" when you reached college (or age 18, if you didn't go straight to college) because you did not have opportunities commonly available to your peers?
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Even this leaves it wide open. Compared to my peers who are the children of Harvard faculty or hedge fund managers? Absolutely. Compared to my neighbors? Probably not.
 
TheShaker said:
Nabiles, do you mind if I hijack your thread for a minute? I was meaning to ask this question as well.

Is the disadvantaged status a risk to declare? I left it blank last year just because I didn't feel like I wanted to burden myself with that position to defend if they were to bring it up. Let's say if I was in a 4 person household at less than 20k/year but I never really felt "disadvantaged". Never really hungry, adequate shelter and clothing, fairly safe environment. I guess the only disadvantage would be that nobody in my home spoke/speaks English. Still, it doesn't really compare to the actually disadvantaged, which in my mind is the guy growing up in the ghetto who is subjected to inadequate support for their basic needs, distant parents, and violent/drug related crime.

I think by objective measures of socioeconomic status then I would be considered "disadvantaged" but does that really give me the right to consider myself that in a meaningful way? A credible SDN faculty has advised me to do so as it will add a few figurative LizzyM points to my application but I just don't know if it's going to come back to bite me.
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I mean it really sounds like this is completely your call. Nobody would question it with 20k/yr for a family of 4- that's precisely what I think of when I hear "disadvantaged." My only concern would be that you're a reapplicant, correct? Would an admissions committee think it was odd that you did not list your disadvantaged status during your first application, but listed it during your second?
 
Couldn't also mean where you lived as well? Say you went to a low income school with overcrowded classes, teachers not capable of handling large class sizes and/or inadequate at teaching the material, not having access to all of the honors/college prep courses available at other schools in the city, etc. I would say that would definitely put you at a disadvantage amongst your peers.
 
man are you serious? i grew up with my parents earning around 20k a year and i didn't apply as disadvantaged.

being lazy in high school is not even close to the same thing as being disadvantaged
 
SilentSoldier said:
Couldn't also mean where you lived as well? Say you went to a low income school with overcrowded classes, teachers not capable of handling large class sizes and/or inadequate at teaching the material, not having access to all of the honors/college prep courses available at other schools in the city, etc. I would say that would definitely put you at a disadvantage amongst your peers.
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If you went to such a school, no doubt you were at a disadvantage when you reached college. Why did you go to such a school? It could be that you were disadvantaged in not having the financial means to live in a better school district or to attend a private school?

You just have to be careful because adcoms can be ruthless if they think that someone is doing this +pity+ .
 
LizzyM said:
If you went to such a school, no doubt you were at a disadvantage when you reached college. Why did you go to such a school? It could be that you were disadvantaged in not having the financial means to live in a better school district or to attend a private school?

You just have to be careful because adcoms can be ruthless if they think that someone is doing this +pity+ .
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I've seen this way more often than not.
 
Like others have said, I don't think you should apply as disadvantaged because statistically, you are not. However, definitely bring up your unique upbringing and experiences in secondary essays and interviews.
 
LizzyM said:
If you went to such a school, no doubt you were at a disadvantage when you reached college. Why did you go to such a school? It could be that you were disadvantaged in not having the financial means to live in a better school district or to attend a private school?

You just have to be careful because adcoms can be ruthless if they think that someone is doing this +pity+ .
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I'm not too sure what you mean by this. Do you mean if one deliberately goes to a lower funded school district just to game the system? Or that, based on the income of the family that was were one could stay and the school in the area happened to be that bad?
 
Hmmm. Having a disadvantage IS an advantage during the application process? If my family lived off of less than 25k a year, does that mean that I'd have a better chance of getting in?
 
I think that in order to be able to apply as disadvantaged, you likely should have qualified for public assistance during your childhood, as socioeconomic status is really what they are looking for here. If you meet that criteria, it is a pesonal decision.

If your situation really did put you at a disadvantage, and you think that you can support that statement in a way that sounds legitimate, and not just whiny, than I think that it is likely to your advantage. If you really never felt that you were at a disadvantage, though, and you are just putting it because you "can" this will likely come through in your interviews, so it could be a disadvantage.

I personally didn't want the label, so didn't apply that way. I did speak to some of the challenges that I faced, how that made me a unique person, and how it has lead me to where I am in my personal statement and some of my essays. I didn't want it to be the focus of my application, though, and I wanted it to be seen as an opportunity for growth that I took advantage of, rather than something that I was using for sympathy or anything of that nature (not that this is how other people use it, I was just a little worried about the possibility of that perception). I was asked about it in a couple of interviews, but it never seemed to play a primary role in the discussion, which was my hope.

Like I said - if you meet the basics for qualification, whether or not you check that box is entirely a personal decision.
 
SilentSoldier said:
I'm not too sure what you mean by this. Do you mean if one deliberately goes to a lower funded school district just to game the system? Or that, based on the income of the family that was were one could stay and the school in the area happened to be that bad?
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I highly doubt that people deliberately attend bad schools to game any system. That said, if you arrive at college despite having attended really bad k-12 schools then you might be disadvantaged going into college.

Where it gets tricky is if your family had a decent income but was stuck in an area with bad schools (maybe because your parents owned a business that couldn't be moved elsewhere) -- you might catch some backlash if you self-identify as disadvantaged because you went to a bad school -- but your parent(s) were working and was making a pretty good living (but stuck geographically because of their job).
 
LizzyM said:
I highly doubt that people deliberately attend bad schools to game any system. That said, if you arrive at college despite having attended really bad k-12 schools then you might be disadvantaged going into college.

Where it gets tricky is if your family had a decent income but was stuck in an area with bad schools (maybe because your parents owned a business that couldn't be moved elsewhere) -- you might catch some backlash if you self-identify as disadvantaged because you went to a bad school -- but your parent(s) were working and was making a pretty good living (but stuck geographically because of their job).
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My HS almost lost accreditation because of how poorly we performed on standardized exams lol. We also had riots like 5x a year- had tons of cops on campus during these times. Blacks vs Mexican riots makes it awkward for an Indian kid- I didn't know which side to choose!
 
LizzyM said:
I highly doubt that people deliberately attend bad schools to game any system. That said, if you arrive at college despite having attended really bad k-12 schools then you might be disadvantaged going into college.

Where it gets tricky is if your family had a decent income but was stuck in an area with bad schools (maybe because your parents owned a business that couldn't be moved elsewhere) -- you might catch some backlash if you self-identify as disadvantaged because you went to a bad school -- but your parent(s) were working and was making a pretty good living (but stuck geographically because of their job).
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I see, so its in our best interest to word it properly as to avoid any misconceptions. Thankfully, I've got some advisors that have helped me in that regard. Thanks for the clarification.
 
Can I write the statement for what it was, or do I have to feel like I'm whining by explaining why it impaired me so much? For example, I described the financial situation with specific figures and my situation as a result and then describe my poor quality public education upbringing the influence it had. I just really don't want to feel lame and sappy by getting into it too much. I just want to state what was and move on, while hoping these admissions committees know how to infer and understand things that should be implied by certain statements describing my situation. Is it a bad move to just objectively throw the truth in the status and leave out a lot of my own subjective interpretation?
 
nabilesmail said:
My HS almost lost accreditation because of how poorly we performed on standardized exams lol. We also had riots like 5x a year- had tons of cops on campus during these times. Blacks vs Mexican riots makes it awkward for an Indian kid- I didn't know which side to choose!
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Crazy... I had to deal with several riots as well.
 
LizzyM said:
If you went to such a school, no doubt you were at a disadvantage when you reached college. Why did you go to such a school? It could be that you were disadvantaged in not having the financial means to live in a better school district or to attend a private school?

You just have to be careful because adcoms can be ruthless if they think that someone is doing this +pity+ .
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LizzyM, would you be willing to read my disadvantaged essay if I PM it you?
 
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