URM Status Question

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Scilencer

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Couple of things first:

1. I don't want to start a flame war of any sorts
2. This is a true story, and I am only looking for opinions


Anyways, A friend and I are applying this cycle. My friend however, marked the URM box on the primary although he is not, but could pass for it.

He says that the adcoms legally cannot ask about race since it technically should not play a deciding factor in admissions (Because you would be judged by race instead of individual qualifications)

I, on the other hand think that it gives him a significant advantage in the admissions process.

So the bottom line is he thinks that I overstate the importance of the URM designation, while I think he underestimates the advantages it could provide in admissions.

What do you guys think??
 
Scilencer said:
Couple of things first:

1. I don't want to start a flame war of any sorts
2. This is a true story, and I am only looking for opinions


Anyways, A friend and I are applying this cycle. My friend however, marked the URM box on the primary although he is not, but could pass for it.

He says that the adcoms legally cannot ask about race since it technically should not play a deciding factor in admissions (Because you would be judged by race instead of individual qualifications)

I, on the other hand think that it gives him a significant advantage in the admissions process.

So the bottom line is he thinks that I overstate the importance of the URM designation, while I think he underestimates the advantages it could provide in admissions.

What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
this is how i know this story is false.
 
Scilencer said:
Couple of things first:

1. I don't want to start a flame war of any sorts
2. This is a true story, and I am only looking for opinions


Anyways, A friend and I are applying this cycle. My friend however, marked the URM box on the primary although he is not, but could pass for it.

He says that the adcoms legally cannot ask about race since it technically should not play a deciding factor in admissions (Because you would be judged by race instead of individual qualifications)

I, on the other hand think that it gives him a significant advantage in the admissions process.

So the bottom line is he thinks that I overstate the importance of the URM designation, while I think he underestimates the advantages it could provide in admissions.

What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
117416_76837_Unsuccessful.jpg
 
Guys,


I'm not trying to troll...My account history should speak for itself.

Let me be more specific:

My friend marked himself as Hispanic on the primary (It's on the first or second page of the printable version of your application).

He also marked URM status when he took the MCAT (He said there was an option there too).

I actually haven't really cared about URM stuff until this issue came up between us, and after reading all the posts here I just ended up assuming that the URM desgination is literally a box you can check (Obviously I am not URM).

I really would like some opinions on this matter. I think it's dishonest, but my friend also has a point that his merit should be judged and not his ethnicity.

We are both applying this cycle and so far he has recived multiple interviews while I have not, and we have very similar stats and backgrounds. I guess both my and his question is How much does the URM status really help?

Again, I am not looking for race wars or any trolling, I am just a major lurker that sometimes posts, and I posted this question because I am genuinely curious about this specific situation.
 
Scilencer said:
Couple of things first:

1. I don't want to start a flame war of any sorts
2. This is a true story, and I am only looking for opinions


Anyways, A friend and I are applying this cycle. My friend however, marked the URM box on the primary although he is not, but could pass for it.

He says that the adcoms legally cannot ask about race since it technically should not play a deciding factor in admissions (Because you would be judged by race instead of individual qualifications)

I, on the other hand think that it gives him a significant advantage in the admissions process.

So the bottom line is he thinks that I overstate the importance of the URM designation, while I think he underestimates the advantages it could provide in admissions.

What do you guys think??
Click to expand...

OMG URMz!
 
Sigh...

I just wanted your opinions on someone who is not URM marking himself down as URM for med school admissions.

But it looks like we as a community cannot handle this type of conversation without resorting to meaningless banter.

Perhaps someone knowledgeable of the admissions process could answer these questions:

What happens if my friend goes to med school and people find out he is not URM even though he said he was?

What could happen if the truth came out after he graduates with a MD?

Although technically interviewers cannot ask specifically about race and religion etc. do you think they would be able to sneak questions about it into the discussion? Do they even care?

This will probably be my last post defending this thread, if it gets out of hand/locked/flamed, so be it. At least I tried.
 
Scilencer said:
Sigh...

I just wanted your opinions on someone who is not URM marking himself down as URM for med school admissions.

But it looks like we as a community cannot handle this type of conversation without resorting to meaningless banter.

Perhaps someone knowledgeable of the admissions process could answer these questions:

What happens if my friend goes to med school and people find out he is not URM even though he said he was?

What could happen if the truth came out after he graduates with a MD?

Although technically interviewers cannot ask specifically about race and religion etc. do you think they would be able to sneak questions about it into the discussion? Do they even care?

This will probably be my last post defending this thread, if it gets out of hand/locked/flamed, so be it. At least I tried.
Click to expand...

i think you lied on your application and you are now paranoid about what is going to happen if they find out
 
Mbeas said:
i think you lied on your application and you are now paranoid about what is going to happen if they find out
Click to expand...

LOL ok then why don't you go on ahead and keep on thinking....

Maybe it will come true!!

This is getting ridiculous...It seems that I may have overestimated the pre-med forums. 🙁
 
When it comes to this whole 'URM' thing, any random person would probably have the easiest time passing as Latino than they would any other ethnicity since we are multi-racial and cannot be as easily categorized by specific traits (i.e. brown vs white vs black skin).

That being said, I personally have a HUGE issue with people that identify as URM only when it's time to apply for something. I have been checking the URM box for everything since I can remember. Whether that action would grant me an "advantage" or not was irrelevant; I was not interested in the "advantage," but rather in the accurate representation of who I am.

To put it more simply, if someone has to think for more than 1 second about whether or not she should check an URM box, then she most likely should NOT be checking it.

To address your second point:
Does it confer an advantage? Yes and no. Ad.Coms. are clearly interested in increasing the # of minority matriculants, no one can argue that. They might take an extra 10 seconds looking at your application "in context," but does that get you in? No. If your application, GPA, MCAT, etc. are horrible, ad.coms. are not going to let you in only because you're URM. Trust me, if med schools were admitting students on a quota system, then the make-up of the student body would look a lot different. Clearly, that's not what they're doing.

So, to your friend, even though he seems deceptive, I wish him the best in this app process. No one here is looking for handouts. We've all worked hard in our own way to get to this point, so now it's time to make ourselves stand out as individuals. :luck: everyone!
 
DancingThruLife said:
When it comes to this whole 'URM' thing, any random person would probably have the easiest time passing as Latino than they would any other ethnicity since we are multi-racial and cannot be as easily categorized by specific traits (i.e. brown vs white vs black skin).

That being said, I personally have a HUGE issue with people that identify as URM only when it's time to apply for something. I have been checking the URM box for everything since I can remember. Whether that action would grant me an "advantage" or not was irrelevant; I was not interested in the "advantage," but rather in the accurate representation of who I am.

To put it more simply, if someone has to think for more than 1 second about whether or not she should check an URM box, then she most likely should NOT be checking it.

To address your second point:
Does it confer an advantage? Yes and no. Ad.Coms. are clearly interested in increasing the # of minority matriculants, no one can argue that. They might take an extra 10 seconds looking at your application "in context," but does that get you in? No. If your application, GPA, MCAT, etc. are horrible, ad.coms. are not going to let you in only because you're URM. Trust me, if med schools were admitting students on a quota system, then the make-up of the student body would look a lot different. Clearly, that's not what they're doing.

So, to your friend, even though he seems deceptive, I wish him the best in this app process. No one here is looking for handouts. We've all worked hard in our own way to get to this point, so now it's time to make ourselves stand out as individuals. :luck: everyone!
Click to expand...

What is this magical URM box??? Many have already mentioned in multiple threads that a "URM box" doesn't exist, only your race/ethnicity.
 
DancingThruLife said:
When it comes to this whole 'URM' thing, any random person would probably have the easiest time passing as Latino than they would any other ethnicity since we are multi-racial and cannot be as easily categorized by specific traits (i.e. brown vs white vs black skin).

That being said, I personally have a HUGE issue with people that identify as URM only when it's time to apply for something. I have been checking the URM box for everything since I can remember. Whether that action would grant me an "advantage" or not was irrelevant; I was not interested in the "advantage," but rather in the accurate representation of who I am.

To put it more simply, if someone has to think for more than 1 second about whether or not she should check an URM box, then she most likely should NOT be checking it.

To address your second point:
Does it confer an advantage? Yes and no. Ad.Coms. are clearly interested in increasing the # of minority matriculants, no one can argue that. They might take an extra 10 seconds looking at your application "in context," but does that get you in? No. If your application, GPA, MCAT, etc. are horrible, ad.coms. are not going to let you in only because you're URM. Trust me, if med schools were admitting students on a quota system, then the make-up of the student body would look a lot different. Clearly, that's not what they're doing.

So, to your friend, even though he seems deceptive, I wish him the best in this app process. No one here is looking for handouts. We've all worked hard in our own way to get to this point, so now it's time to make ourselves stand out as individuals. :luck: everyone!
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking my questions seriously! Best of :luck: to you too this cycle~
 
please oh please oh please let this turn into "OMG URMz 2.0". Best thread ever. The lock was so disappointing. 😡
 
kitkat8 said:
What is this magical URM box??? Many have already mentioned in multiple threads that a "URM box" doesn't exist, only your race/ethnicity.
Click to expand...

Correct. No URM box. More like, ethnicity boxes for those who are URM.
 
Pons Asinorum said:
The first rule of URM is that if you are not URM, you do not talk about URM.

The second rule of URM is that if you are not URM, you DO NOT talk about URM.
Click to expand...

And the last and final rule of URM, if this is your first night as a URM, you have to ....


$h[T! I don't know.
 
Scilencer said:
Sigh...

I just wanted your opinions on someone who is not URM marking himself down as URM for med school admissions.

But it looks like we as a community cannot handle this type of conversation without resorting to meaningless banter.

Perhaps someone knowledgeable of the admissions process could answer these questions:

What happens if my friend goes to med school and people find out he is not URM even though he said he was?

What could happen if the truth came out after he graduates with a MD?

Although technically interviewers cannot ask specifically about race and religion etc. do you think they would be able to sneak questions about it into the discussion? Do they even care?

This will probably be my last post defending this thread, if it gets out of hand/locked/flamed, so be it. At least I tried.
Click to expand...

As others have mentioned, this probably isn't something for you to be worried about. An admissions committee will make their decisions based on all of the data available. If you can be sure of one thing, however, it is that if he deliberately falsified his AMCAS application in order to gain advantage when applying, he should hope nobody finds out about it. That is grounds for dismissal from most (all?) U.S. medical schools if I remember correctly.
 
Here's how we look at someone who checks the "hispanic" box:

Does the applicant speak Spanish?

Has the applicant volunteered or been employed in a setting with a substantial Latino population?

Does the applicant live in an area that has a large Latino population?

Is the applicant otherwise engaged in the Latino community?

How will Latino patients relate to this applicant/physician?

Believe me when I tell you that we make an effort to figure out if an applicant has what we are looking for and not everyone makes the cut.
 
Honestly, who cares?

If you had a 4.0 and a 45 MCAT right now, would you be feeling insecure about URM status? I highly doubt it. Ask yourself that question. Then consider the implications of your original question.

The fact of the matter is, people who get accepted to medical schools are the most deserving of it-URM status might seem like a trump card-but only to those people who are passive (or insecure) observers.

Lets give this topic a rest, people.
 
an adcom i know has told me he mentally rejects any applicant that designates himself hispanic, but either can't speak spanish or articulate in the interview how he has been involved with the hispanic community
 
bleargh said:
an adcom i know has told me he mentally rejects any applicant that designates himself hispanic, but either can't speak spanish or articulate in the interview how he has been involved with the hispanic community
Click to expand...

community? you mean like your family?
 
Thanks LizzyM didn't think about URM too much, but that makes sense.

With URM OP, I'm sure it helps a lot, but at the same time I don't think it'll make up for a really crappy app for the most part. But hey I think it does help, but I don't really care, I'm just doing my own thing.
 
LizzyM: Thanks for your input, I have always been a fan of your advice and guidance!

Based on some of the answers in the thread, it looks like marking your ethnicity as Hispanic (or other URM) does come with some type of "burden of proof"

I'm kinda curious about if stats are viewed differently for URMs (like GPA and MCAT etc.) If anyone has any insight into that I would like to hear it.

Otherwise I pretty much got the answers I was looking for...Thanks to all who contributed! 🙂
 
Scilencer said:
LizzyM: Thanks for your input, I have always been a fan of your advice and guidance!

Based on some of the answers in the thread, it looks like marking your ethnicity as Hispanic (or other URM) does come with some type of "burden of proof"

I'm kinda curious about if stats are viewed differently for URMs (like GPA and MCAT etc.) If anyone has any insight into that I would like to hear it.

Otherwise I pretty much got the answers I was looking for...Thanks to all who contributed! 🙂
Click to expand...

well Scilencer, I believe URMs can have lower gpa, mcat and end up getting equal or more interviews than someone w/ the same stats or even higher. that's i've seen, but eh whatevs.
 
Scilencer said:
LOL ok then why don't you go on ahead and keep on thinking....

Maybe it will come true!!

This is getting ridiculous...It seems that I may have overestimated the pre-med forums. 🙁
Click to expand...

You did. I think this seems like a possible story. I think it probably helps to an extent, not too much though. It's more of like if there's a choice between equally qualified students and one is an URM student, then the URM will be chosen, maybe I don't know...
 
Bleargh, i think ur hilarious urm pic is called for AGAIN!!!

OMG URMz snatchin up ssseatzz...:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
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