First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe Forum

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Theopliske8711

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First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by Theopliske8711 » Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:28 pm

I was wondering how, if in anyway, can I work that into an advantage when applying for grad schools. I have a 3.83 GPA and am aiming for around a 171 for NYU or Berkeley. I was born in Albania and have been living in the US since the age of 9. I know that I would be considered solidly Caucasian by almost all American standards, but has anyone been able to make use of it? I know sappy "Communism tortured us" stories may play into my application...

rebexness

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by rebexness » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:15 pm

Last edited by rebexness on Mon Feb 09, 2015 5:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Tom Joad

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by Tom Joad » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:18 pm

Not sure if NYU or Berkeley would take kindly to a PS critical of Communism (I joke...kind of).

Theopliske8711

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by Theopliske8711 » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:22 pm

Also, to add, I have been living for much of my youth to teenage years in largely underprivileged areas in NYU (until family struck it "middle class").

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by jgconte » Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:06 am

English being a secondary language could add some fuel to your fire, just a thought.

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Theopliske8711

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by Theopliske8711 » Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:33 am

Unfortunately, English has not been a secondary language for me since I was about 10. I learned English within about 3-4 months of arriving in America and had become pretty fluent by the end of my first year in the US. I guess I can use that, perhaps?

milanproda

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by milanproda » Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:50 am

hey neighbor, I am from Serbia similar number as you. Sucks growing up with all the disadvantages that a urm faces yet not getting any boost for it. Write that diversity statement.

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by jgconte » Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:30 pm

Im not too familiar with your personal situation, but I think the best way to make a compelling argument is to be honest and tell your story. You came to America as an immigrant from a war torn region of the world at a young age, you had to learn a new language. You had to adapt to a new culture and ended up excelling in college. Id talk about something an experience perhaps which makes you want to pursue law and all of these factors in your Personal Statement

Theopliske8711

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by Theopliske8711 » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:33 pm

jgconte wrote:Im not too familiar with your personal situation, but I think the best way to make a compelling argument is to be honest and tell your story. You came to America as an immigrant from a war torn region of the world at a young age, you had to learn a new language. You had to adapt to a new culture and ended up excelling in college. Id talk about something an experience perhaps which makes you want to pursue law and all of these factors in your Personal Statement
Yea, thanks. I guess it will just make good personal statement material. 20 years since the fall of communism, the spark of that thing might have died out since, so it will not be as strong as it might have been considered back then. I was listening to a podcast with a Russian who fled the Soviet Union, ended up in the Czech Republic and then managed to get to Harvard Law through a letter he sent Harvard that explained his circumstances very well.

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Theopliske8711

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by Theopliske8711 » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:38 pm

milanproda wrote:hey neighbor, I am from Serbia similar number as you. Sucks growing up with all the disadvantages that a urm faces yet not getting any boost for it. Write that diversity statement.
Yea, it does of put first generation people in a sort of bind, at least not in the same bind that an Asian would be in, since they get the receiving end of it. Still, going through numerous crappy urban public schools should count for something, but I can't say I didn't benefit from looking like your "average Joe".

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by WalkingPlato » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:15 am

milanproda wrote:hey neighbor, I am from Serbia similar number as you. Sucks growing up with all the disadvantages that a urm faces yet not getting any boost for it. Write that diversity statement.
Weren't Serbs on the attacking end of the war, until Clinton dropped a few bombs to make them stop? I see how moving here and starting a new life would be difficult but I doubt you could pull off a I'm-from-a-worn-torn-country part.

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by milanproda » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:35 am

Plato, ex-yugoslavia was a war torn country. I lost a lot in that war, And this is not the correct place to debate my history, especially on a sensative topic between someone such as myself and the OP.

But please do some hw before posting remarks such as the one you just posted.

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dresden doll

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by dresden doll » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:42 am

WalkingPlato wrote:
milanproda wrote:hey neighbor, I am from Serbia similar number as you. Sucks growing up with all the disadvantages that a urm faces yet not getting any boost for it. Write that diversity statement.
Weren't Serbs on the attacking end of the war, until Clinton dropped a few bombs to make them stop? I see how moving here and starting a new life would be difficult but I doubt you could pull off a I'm-from-a-worn-torn-country part.
Just because Serbian government was the aggressor doesn't mean many Serbian civilians didn't get the brunt of that whole nightmare.

I'd call it a war torn country for sure.

With that said, OP is super unlikely to get a boost. I'm a first generation EE, too, and I grew up in the war (by which I mean my hometown/house was bombed), and my cycle was purely numbers-driven.

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milanproda

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by milanproda » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:01 pm

dresden,

with all due respect, according to your application you have an amazing gpa/lsat combo. How do you know that being EE did not help you? With those numbers you are a contender at any school.

also, without getting into any sort of argument, many things happened during the war that we in the US never had a chance to see or hear from our news outlets because of policy and poltical reasons.

Many people in the US do not appreciate the country we live in, because as Americans were are shielded and protected. Despite all of America's flaws, it is still one of the few countries in the world where if you come as an immigrant from a war torn country, you can sitll work hard and become successful.

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dresden doll

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by dresden doll » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:47 pm

milanproda wrote: also, without getting into any sort of argument, many things happened during the war that we in the US never had a chance to see or hear from our news outlets because of policy and poltical reasons.
I lived through the war in my native country. I'm not part of 'we in the US' for purposes of this particular discussion.

Also, I know it didn't make any difference because I wound up where I would've wound up anyway. I was at the 75th percentile for both numbers at the lawl school I wound enrolling in.

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by WalkingPlato » Sat Oct 13, 2012 1:06 pm

milanproda wrote:Plato, ex-yugoslavia was a war torn country. I lost a lot in that war, And this is not the correct place to debate my history, especially on a sensative topic between someone such as myself and the OP.

But please do some hw before posting remarks such as the one you just posted.
I'm from Europe, too. I have many friends from ex-Yugoslavia. It is well recorded that the Serbs were the ones who surrounded Bosnian villages and cities and leveled them to the ground, killing women and childred. Look up the Srebrenica genocide and you'll see it as one example. Bosnians would even trap UN soldiers in their towns because, though Serbs were willing to attack Bosnians and Croats, they weren't willing to go after UN troops. So, trapping the UN troups in their towns and cities would prevent the enemies who surrounded them with tanks from basically leveling their place to the ground and killing them. According to the research conducted by Vladimir Zerjavic - Croatian economist and a United Nations expert - there were 220,000 victims in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Bosnian war, of which 160,000 were Bosniaks, 30,000 Croats and 25,000 Serbs. CIA, military, and nearly every other study done on this issue shows the same or similar results.

I'm not saying Serbs didn't experience some hardships. But, saying that Serbia was the war-torn country is like saying that the US is a war torn country in the fight against terror. Sure, we got attacked but the majority of fighting happened and is still happening in the middle east.

And it is a touchy subject when you try to spin history for a personal statement. Again, not sayin that Serbs didn't experience hardships. Perhaps you experience more hardships than anyone in the world. But, saying generally that Serbia was the war-torn country is inaccurate.

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dresden doll

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by dresden doll » Sat Oct 13, 2012 1:11 pm

Saying that parts of Serbia were ravaged by the war isn't negating that Bosnia, as a whole, was the greatest sufferer.

Also, I kind of hate how all of the post-war analysis forgets that parts of Croatia suffered a lot of damage as well. People make it sound as if the war was between Serbia and Bosnia alone, and that's just not true at all.

Sorry for off topic posts, everyone. I'll bow out now.

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WalkingPlato

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by WalkingPlato » Sat Oct 13, 2012 1:15 pm

Theopliske8711 wrote:I was wondering how, if in anyway, can I work that into an advantage when applying for grad schools. I have a 3.83 GPA and am aiming for around a 171 for NYU or Berkeley. I was born in Albania and have been living in the US since the age of 9. I know that I would be considered solidly Caucasian by almost all American standards, but has anyone been able to make use of it? I know sappy "Communism tortured us" stories may play into my application...
Your personal statement will give you an edge. Remember, they're looking primarily for diversity statistics. So admitting blacks, hispanics, native americans, and so on for statistics is the first step. Moving on, they then want the rest to be diverse in their background, and coming from your background will certainly give you a small boost, though not as much as a UMR.

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by WalkingPlato » Sat Oct 13, 2012 1:19 pm

dresden doll wrote:Saying that parts of Serbia were ravaged by the war isn't negating that Bosnia, as a whole, was the greatest sufferer.

Also, I kind of hate how all of the post-war analysis forgets that parts of Croatia suffered a lot of damage as well. People make it sound as if the war was between Serbia and Bosnia alone, and that's just not true at all.

Sorry for off topic posts, everyone. I'll bow out now.
I understand that. I'm not saying that parts of Serbia wasn't ravaged, too. After all, Clinton dropped bombs on them. And I'm not saying that this ravaging is somehow in conflict with the Bosnian suffering. I'm just trying to provide context. You're right, Croatia suffered, too. That's why I included them in the statistics. But, generally speaking, it was the declaration of independence by Croatia and Bosnia that led Serbia to attack and the statistics and recordings show that out of the three, the amount of deaths and ravaging was highest in Bosnia, followed by Croatia, and then Serbia. Sure, this is only a comparison, meaning that all 3 could've ended up war-torn, just some being more war-torn than others. But, Serbia, for the large part, wasn't. It was a bad situation overall. But it's important to stay in the context.

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KevinP

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by KevinP » Sat Oct 13, 2012 1:25 pm

I'm from a similar background. For what it's worth, it didn't seem to matter at all in my cycle. My numbers pretty much determined where I got in.
WalkingPlato wrote: I'm not saying Serbs didn't experience some hardships. But, saying that Serbia was the war-torn country is like saying that the US is a war torn country in the fight against terror. Sure, we got attacked but the majority of fighting happened and is still happening in the middle east.
No its not. This analogy is bad.
WalkingPlato wrote: Your personal statement will give you an edge. Remember, they're looking primarily for diversity statistics. So admitting blacks, hispanics, native americans, and so on for statistics is the first step. Moving on, they then want the rest to be diverse in their background, and coming from your background will certainly give you a small boost, though not as much as a UMR.
Lol. This guy obviously doesn't know how admissions works.

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by milanproda » Sat Oct 13, 2012 1:37 pm

To give you guys some context, Serbs do not just live in Serbia, they live all over the ex-Yu. Operation Storm in Croatia ethnically cleansed over 200,000 Serbs from Croatia. Serbia has the highest amount of Refugees in all over Europe according to the UN. These numbers inidcate that there are two sides to the story.

I have family from Bosnia, bad things happened on both sides. The people who were in involved with Srebernica should be prosecuted, no doubt. But so should Naser Oric, who began killing Serbs throughout the villages in and around Srebernica.

As I said, there are two sides to every story, and the Serbian side has never been recognized in the United States and in the West. The refugee statistics alone are indicative of this.

My hometown of Novi Sad is filled with refugees from Operation Storm and from Bosnia, and I have heard all of the stories of what happened, both to Serbs, Muslims, and Croats.

Again, without attacking anyone, I think it is important to realize that all were guilty, including Serbs, Croats, Muslims, etc. They lived together in perfect harmony under Tito and allowed politicans such as Tudman, Milosevic and Izetbegovic to manipulate them. This is why we need smart honest lawyers and politicans will help protect innocent people.

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milanproda

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by milanproda » Sat Oct 13, 2012 1:39 pm

Walking Plato, your analogy is not valid, as Serbs live all throughout the ex-yu. This is common misconception that Serbs only live in Serbia that is false. I have family that lived in croatia and bosnia for centuries.

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by afitouri » Sat Oct 13, 2012 6:46 pm

Theopliske8711 wrote:I was wondering how, if in anyway, can I work that into an advantage when applying for grad schools. I have a 3.83 GPA and am aiming for around a 171 for NYU or Berkeley. I was born in Albania and have been living in the US since the age of 9. I know that I would be considered solidly Caucasian by almost all American standards, but has anyone been able to make use of it? I know sappy "Communism tortured us" stories may play into my application...

Change the word "Communism" to dictatorship. Marxist professors definitely exist, but everyone hates dictatorship.

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by Miracle » Sat Oct 13, 2012 8:02 pm

milanproda wrote:Walking Plato, your analogy is not valid, as Serbs live all throughout the ex-yu. This is common misconception that Serbs only live in Serbia that is false. I have family that lived in croatia and bosnia for centuries.
No, he is correct in what he is stating. Its Bosnia, then Croatia that suffered. Serbians were the ones that attacked. Just because you loose the fight once you attack does not allow you to claim the title of "victim".

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Re: First-generation immigrant from Eastern Europe

Post by somewhatwayward » Sat Oct 13, 2012 8:11 pm

Theopliske8711 wrote:Also, to add, I have been living for much of my youth to teenage years in largely underprivileged areas in NYU (until family struck it "middle class").
LOL

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