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Who is considered URM?
From your list:
Black/African American
Hispanic/Latino
Native American
Hawaiian (native)
Not all hispanics are considered URM
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Correct. South Americans are ORM. Central Americans and Carib Latinxs other than Cubans are URM.
The MD/PhD distinctions are a little different since those programs use the NIH definition, which includes all Latinx/Hispanic people as URM(URS, UR in Science)
Do you know if this is school specific?
Each school can define under-represented in concordance with their mission.
Variations from what @Lucca described above should be found on their website.
In addition, some schools treat LGBT as ur m. I think a few schools in the New York area treat Puerto Ricans as u r m
Yes, "mainland Puerto Ricans" meaning people of Puerto Rican ancestry who now live on the mainland. Doesn't apply to applicants born, raised and still living on the island.
Wouldn’t anyone be able to claim LGB though?
Yup, and their claims will be discounted if they don't' have evidence of serve to LGBT and other marginalized populations too. It's easy to talk the talk; you gotta walk the walk.
I can’t wait to claim AA when I show off my 200+ hours to underserved African Americans! Jk, but I have something around those hours....
Don't laugh; Asians make up 10% of the classes at the HBCs. Service counts.
Those of Middle Eastern origin are very well-represented in medicine.
Some Asian groups are under-represented (Hmong and Cambodian, for example) and have health disparities.
That’s very reassuring (I’m middle Eastern btw). So next semester I plan to get another one hundred more hours of underserved volunteering, but it is a different type of underserved (prisoners-still AA majority). Do the adcoms consider serving multiple races for 100 hours or so each a bad thing (not entrirely committeed to a race)? I plan to spend 100+ hrs with as many diverse underserved communities as I can for the experience and knowledge, so I won’t be able to align myself completely with one. However, I will be able to better understand various cultures and backgrounds. Thoughts?
Side-note: I wasn’t really laughing, but I wasn’t sure that underserved work would be taken as seriously as you guys make it out to be, as many do it solely as a box checker (which bothers me). Ex: “100 hours at a food bank? That was was exhausting and boring. Onto clinical volunteering!”
We're not bean counters...we look at the entire package. Service is service. Serving a prison population is highly admirable in my eyes.
But I suspect that the HBCs would wants hundreds, if not even 1000s of hours of service to communities of color. You should inquire in the school-specific threads.
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Do you have a disability? If not, how would you know that schools aren't doing anything to recruit applicants who are not like you?
T-Lymphocyte
Full Member
Wait, mainland puerto ricans aren't considered URM?
Yes, mainland Puerto Ricans are generally considered UiM.
T-Lymphocyte
Full Member
Sorry, I wrote that wrong.
What I meant to ask was: Puerto Ricans who reside in the island (born and raised) aren't considered URM should they apply to schools in the mainland?
That is correct.
T-Lymphocyte
Full Member
Wow, that's a bit unfair.
They are very well represented in the 4 schools that are devoted to accepting them
T-Lymphocyte
Full Member
I see, but what if some of them wanted to try their chances on the mainland considering how things are going in the island?
Not even for NY schools are Puerto Rican islanders considered URM?
They will still add diversity and language skills and will be considered on (otherwise) even footing with other US candidates.
T-Lymphocyte
Full Member
Yeah, except their MCAT medians (for the schools according to the MCAT) are <505, probably due to having classes/exams in Spanish (I can't imagine taking the MCAT in a language that's not my first). So, I'm guessing it's pretty much a dream for them to be able to get into a mainland school by the looks of it.
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I'll admit, I can't recall seeing an application from the island...
T-Lymphocyte
Full Member
Trust me, I graduated from the UPR and most students there, see something in the range of 500 - 505 as an excellent score because most of them can't even reach a 500. Just look at the median scores for the 4 schools there..
My vague impression is that the NYC schools, the SUNYs and some of the FL schools treat Puerto Ricans as URM.
I know...
Still, if their medical schools can turn out someone who can match and serve, I'm thankful for them.
I'm not sure we could do that.
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