White... but not white

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drshark said:
ok so for my app I had to put white, there is no option for us of middle eastern background. My PS mentions my background (also being 1st generation) and i'm wondering if it will give me a unique edge, or will I still be looked at as white? Wish they had a separate box for us, but they don't and I feel like I should be considered a minority? but i'm not 😳
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There's an "other" box. Also you could just not check any of the boxes.
 
drshark said:
ok so for my app I had to put white, there is no option for us of middle eastern background. My PS mentions my background (also being 1st generation) and i'm wondering if it will give me a unique edge, or will I still be looked at as white? Wish they had a separate box for us, but they don't and I feel like I should be considered a minority? but i'm not 😳
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Some people mix up middle eastern and south asian, so you could just put that. Although, the last thing the medical community needs are more south asians. Sorry medical community, I'm coming whether you like it or not.

Anyway, if there's no middle eastern one you can just put "other". It's not really going to give you an edge.
 
drshark said:
but any time it says white, middle easter is in parentheses next to it, I just figure they like to have a diverse class, so by them knowing that i'm not just another "white" applicant, it might be of some benefit?
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Haha... realistically, it won't make any difference. You can email AACOMAS to ask if middle eastern falls under White or Other, but as far as your chances of getting an interview go, it won't make any difference.
 
What kind of middle eastern are you?
 
ok thanks, I was just really curious to see if it would. o well, guess i'll charm em some other way ;D
 
drshark said:
a rare kind lol seriously, doubt anyone has heard of it...
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Qatar, Yemen, Kuwait, Syria, Cyprus, Gaza...?

That's about the extent of my not-as-common middle eastern regions.
 
Some people classify middle eastern people as asian.
 
drshark said:
no to bahrain.. idk I don't look asian lol where I'm from the girls have the long dark kim kardashian hair and big eyes, tan skin. pretty much opposite of asian lol
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Why don't you just tell us; sounds like armenia or azerbaijan. But you could just tell us so we could google and then get on the same wavelength as you...
 
Afghanistan
 
drshark said:
Im trying to remain as anonymous as possible lol it's a sub division of the assyrian people, but we are not from syria. They originated in babylon and are Catholic, making us an even larger minority of people.

... but back to my original Q... this will not in any way gain me a few more looks than if i were just "white" ?
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Probably not.
 
thanks for the honest responses guys... and no lol not Turkije idk know what that is lol
 
Chaldean I'm guessing? But no, you probably won't get any brownie points for being middle eastern.

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TriagePreMed said:
Chaldean I'm guessing? But no, you probably won't get any brownie points for being middle eastern.
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That's what I guess too! I would put down middle eastern if I was... just as you did it. Or, email AACOMAS and see what they recommend you do.
 
drshark said:
Im trying to remain as anonymous as possible lol it's a sub division of the assyrian people, but we are not from syria. They originated in babylon and are Catholic, making us an even larger minority of people.

... but back to my original Q... this will not in any way gain me a few more looks than if i were just "white" ?
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As someone who is 'just white'...I would use the heck out of the other button and put down ANY ethnicity I could rightfully claim! It can't hurt and can make you sound exotic.

You could also try writing in the piece about the big eyes and kardashian hair and hope for a male adcom 😉
 
No. And if you get asked about it and the truth comes out that you misrepresented yourself, expect a rejection letter
 
tenndoc said:
No. And if you get asked about it and the truth comes out that you misrepresented yourself, expect a rejection letter
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I don't think that the Other selection would be a misrepresentation would it? I kind of feel like, unless you are Black, Hispanic, Native American/Alaskan, then they don't really pay that ugh attention to that part of the application.

Maybe Im wrong?
 
Sorry to be brusque, but you're Caucasian, not a minority, and no, your origin doesn't give you an edge.

drshark said:
ok so for my app I had to put white, there is no option for us of middle eastern background. My PS mentions my background (also being 1st generation) and i'm wondering if it will give me a unique edge, or will I still be looked at as white? Wish they had a separate box for us, but they don't and I feel like I should be considered a minority? but i'm not 😳
Click to expand...
 
HalfListic said:
I don't think that the Other selection would be a misrepresentation would it? I kind of feel like, unless you are Black, Hispanic, Native American/Alaskan, then they don't really pay that ugh attention to that part of the application.

Maybe Im wrong?
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On mobile so I skimmed but I saw this thread and it irritated me. Urm status is one of my biggest pet peeves. I understand why it's in place and agree with it to an extent but I think it holds a disproportional amount of weight in an application. If you are black and have 3.2 and a 25, schools roll out the red carpet whereas a white or Asian could have 3.3 and 26 and get rejected. I think my biggest problem is with the kids that abuse the urm status. Nothing makes me madder than to pop on sdn and see a "hey I'm neon white but my great great great aunts brother in law came from Kenya. Am I urm?" no it makes you a liar. Sorry to rant but it just digs at me. Carry on
 
I'm Armenian.

I marked "White".

I got into a few schools and I got rejected from a few schools.

You should try to do the same.
 
For the record, Im white and I put white. Abusing the system as a premed is a slippery slope and will probably end up in rejection anyway.

But, it seems like OP has a legit question, being middle eastern. I don't think this will help her, so this may be a moot point anyway...but Id have to agree that most people feel like admittance should be merit based and not racial.

In any case, good luck OP, probably just contact AACOMAS directly if you have a question about this
 
tenndoc said:
On mobile so I skimmed but I saw this thread and it irritated me. Urm status is one of my biggest pet peeves. I understand why it's in place and agree with it to an extent but I think it holds a disproportional amount of weight in an application. If you are black and have 3.2 and a 25, schools roll out the red carpet whereas a white or Asian could have 3.3 and 26 and get rejected. I think my biggest problem is with the kids that abuse the urm status. Nothing makes me madder than to pop on sdn and see a "hey I'm neon white but my great great great aunts brother in law came from Kenya. Am I urm?" no it makes you a liar. Sorry to rant but it just digs at me. Carry on
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Agree it is time for this URM classification to go away. The way things are the "white" group will soon be the minority in the US anyway. Will it give them the edge then? Doubt it. Judge on the overall application not the color of the skin.
 
drshark said:
I don't care for the title of URM in the sense that a low gpa will still be acceptable.. I'm just saying that as a 1st generation middle easterner, I don't feel like white is the appropriate title. Having a different background in the sense that I can relate to people from the middle east and also speak Arabic... I guess that's not unique to the ADCOMS? idk Nothing wrong with being white, but getting into med school is like a game, and I'm just trying to see if I have a tiny advantage due to my background. I'm not gonna lie to them and mis-represent myself, I made it clear I my PS where I'm from.
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LOL I don't buy it. You seemed to be subtly probing at the idea of getting an edge for being middle eastern. Just list yourself under "other." That's what the option is for. If any ADCOM cares, they will care. Simple as that.
 
drshark said:
I don't care for the title of URM in the sense that a low gpa will still be acceptable.. I'm just saying that as a 1st generation middle easterner, I don't feel like white is the appropriate title. Having a different background in the sense that I can relate to people from the middle east and also speak Arabic... I guess that's not unique to the ADCOMS? idk Nothing wrong with being white, but getting into med school is like a game, and I'm just trying to see if I have a tiny advantage due to my background. I'm not gonna lie to them and mis-represent myself, I made it clear I my PS where I'm from.
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You don't care for the title of URM, but you would like the advantage of being a URM. Double Standard?

URM students are not accepted to med school because diversity is a nice concept. URM students are recruited so that they will return to their URM communities and serve other URMs. Do you "represent" thousands of your ethnic minority currently receiving sub-par medical care in the USA? If not, then applying URM helps nobody but yourself.
 
rachelg said:
You don't care for the title of URM, but you would like the advantage of being a URM. Double Standard?

URM students are not accepted to med school because diversity is a nice concept. URM students are recruited so that they will return to their URM communities and serve other URMs. Do you "represent" thousands of your ethnic minority currently receiving sub-par medical care in the USA? If not, then applying URM helps nobody but yourself.
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Oh snap... but yeah, this is truth.

Shark, the best way to avoid people thinking you're wanting URM status (assuming you don't) is to just end the discussion. You've gotten your answer.
 
I am Syrian and a 1st generation American as well. I listed my self as "white" because it clearly includes (middle eastern) in the parentheses for that selection. As far as capturing the adcom's attention to your uniqueness, I would write about it in the PS. For me, I moved to the US in eight grade so I talked about the difficult transition with the language and all the unique experiences I faced when I lived there. I wrote about how fortunate I am to be here and not under depriving inhumane conditions my extended family lives under now, and how that makes me want to give back. I think the adcom is more interested in your unique experiences and not your skin color.

Everyone please keep my family in Syria in your prayers.
 
Schools generally defer to the Census Bureau's definitions, and anyone of Middle Eastern extraction/descent is considered white. We could get into why this is, and how it's not particularly fair, but it's better that we don't. At least, not in the thread.

I recommend that you write a kick ass diversity statement, get some last-minute volunteer/shadowing hours, and send your apps in as a white applicant.

And, if you're Egyptian, Tunisian, Moroccan, etc., please don't try to claim African heritage. I know a girl who may not get admitted to the bar because she lied about being African when she was actually Egyptian. It's not worth having to explain when you get caught.
 
HOPINGTOBE said:
Agree it is time for this URM classification to go away. The way things are the "white" group will soon be the minority in the US anyway. Will it give them the edge then? Doubt it. Judge on the overall application not the color of the skin.
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You're one of those people. I hate your type. The term "underrepresented" refers a group's representation in and access to different institutions, not necessarily how many of a particular group there are.
 
It may give you more looks if the medical school is tired of us plain old white folks. We're boring and we don't make very good doctors, ya know.

In all seriousness, an application should be about how well you will perform at the institution, rather than your color, race, religion, gender, creed, sexual orientation, blah blah blah.
 
ElleWoodsMD said:
You're one of those people. I hate your type. The term "underrepresented" refers a group's representation in and access to different institutions, not necessarily how many of a particular group there are.
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That's an overreaction. Don't hate! 🙂
 
ElleWoodsMD said:
You're one of those people. I hate your type. The term "underrepresented" refers a group's representation in and access to different institutions, not necessarily how many of a particular group there are.
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Well said. Doesn't it make sense then... that URM status be decided more on a financial basis than on race?
 
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