URM Southeast Asian? Based on 2016 AAMC Data

[deleted885693]

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Hello this is my first post ever on SDN!

I have been wondering about this topic for so long because I have seen multiple answers for this topic about southeast Asians.

I am a Burmese American and I was just wondering if I would be considered as “URM” based on the new data from AAMC.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

Who knows. I wanted to say no initially. Regardless this is why the system of "URM" is ridiculous.Over time people will try to find something about themselves that gives them an advantage. Shoot ur shot for an advantage when it comes to applying

 

[cantankerous]

I don't really see it being that significant, unless you're Rohingya...

 

[CatL0v3r!]

the reason for this fact is that southeast asians tend to be lower in socioeconomic status than East Asians. Many Southeast Asians arrived to the US under different circumstances (refugees w/ no options) than East Asian counterparts (immigrants).

One can look at the Bay Area: poor Asian communities in San Jose (generally Vietnamese, Cambodian, etc.) versus richer Asian communities in Palo Alto and Cupertino (generally Chinese, Korean, etc.)

Obviously there are exceptions to this, but I'm talking about whole Asian communities within California

 

[bears1992]

Being a URM is not about what percentage of applicants are your race, but if the US demographic of your race is greater than the percentage of applicants that apply from your race. Asians as a whole make up 5% of the US population so no, I doubt southeast Asians would be considered URM.

 

[CatL0v3r!]

Being a URM is not about what percentage of applicants are your race, but if the US demographic of your race is greater than the percentage of applicants that apply from your race. Asians as a whole make up 5% of the US population so no, I doubt southeast Asians would be considered URM.

Asians as a whole are not URM but some Asians (either Lao or Cambodia ...forgot which one) I know are considered URM for the California schools bc of aforementioned reasoning above

 

[AsianPersuasion]

It really depends on the state...from what I understand, each school designate what nationality are most represented in their state to ratio of physician practicing in that state for that specific nationality. For example, in CA, Cambodian and Hmong are considered URM for schools. I got interview invites from places that were way above my stat range (UCSF). My stats were decent, mediocre GPA with a high MCAT.

 

[AsianPersuasion]

Places I interviewed at that considered Cambodian and Hmong URM were MA, CA, WI, OH, MN, WA and DC.

 

[LizzyM]

The US population of Burmese-Americans is ~100,000.
Burmese Americans - Wikipedia

On average, the US has ~72 primary care physicians per 100,000 population. Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
So, if there are < 72 primary care docs in the US who are Burmese-Americans then we might say that Burmese-Americans are URM.

You might be interested in the activities of the Burmese-American Medical Association
BAMA - Burmese American Medical Association

URM is separate from "Disadvantaged" which focuses on applicants of any race who grew up in poverty or had other hardships in childhood.