Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM?? Forum

[83947368]

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[Jenny17]

It's difficult to decide when one ethnicity stops and another begins - let's face it: if everyone went far back enough, they would discover some other ethnicity present. For example, when I was researching my genealogy, I discovered that some of my ancestors in the 14th century Spain were Sephardic Jews. However, I am not claiming Jewish ancestry. It would be silly.

I think the rule of thumb is that if you are half, then claim it.

If you are a quarter, then claim it if you only feel compelled to do so (e.g. you feel a deep connection to your heritage).

Anything less than a quarter, I would not claim it - rather claim your majority ethnic group, whatever that may be.

[jhspaybar]

I am 25% puerto rican(my Mom's mom is 100%), 25% finnish(my mom's dad is 100%) and 50% english/euro mix from my adopted dad as best we could deduce. I turned out looking essentially white and would not appear puerto rican to anyone who has a traditional view of a puerto rican person in their mind so it has often felt awkward when for colleges, and potentially for law schools I check the puerto rican box. Part of it is that I had an odd family dynamic, my dad being 100% white european would at times make disparaging remarks about people who check boxes and the benefits they get...but that I should do it! My mom would say it is my heritage, that my grandmother came to hawaii when she was about 12, and that I shouldn't forget the stories of her childhood. My mom would go out of the way to take me with my grandmother to our puerto rican family events, we would cook pasteles, and I almost seemed to live a split life in that regard. My dad the police officer might say that he arrested my mom's cousins in a joking manner making me feel like I should be ashamed for some reason of the puerto rican acestry. I don't speak spanish more than at a very basic level, but I feel most comfortable in a family setting with the puerto rican side of my family when we're cooking and talking about what my grandmother has experienced.

Yes, a lengthy write-up, but my question is am I a URM for most law schools? If my diversity statement is about the split of my father disparaging my puerto rican roots while feeling more comfortable living amongst that part of my family will it be considered, or will I just come off as a white guy trying to check a box?

[Jenny17]

I think only you can answer this, jhspaybar. However, below are some questions to ask yourself:
Do you feel Puerto Rican?
If someone where to ask your ethnicity (and you could only give one answer) what would you give?
Have you spent the majority of your time around Puerto Ricans in school, work, or family environments?
Have you consulted family members about how you should self-identify on census, applications, etc.?
Do you usually put "Puerto Rican" as your ethnicity, or are you only doing it to "get an edge for law school applications"?

[digitalcntrl]

I am 25% puerto rican(my Mom's mom is 100%), 25% finnish(my mom's dad is 100%) and 50% english/euro mix from my adopted dad as best we could deduce. I turned out looking essentially white and would not appear puerto rican to anyone who has a traditional view of a puerto rican person in their mind so it has often felt awkward when for colleges, and potentially for law schools I check the puerto rican box. Part of it is that I had an odd family dynamic, my dad being 100% white european would at times make disparaging remarks about people who check boxes and the benefits they get...but that I should do it! My mom would say it is my heritage, that my grandmother came to hawaii when she was about 12, and that I shouldn't forget the stories of her childhood. My mom would go out of the way to take me with my grandmother to our puerto rican family events, we would cook pasteles, and I almost seemed to live a split life in that regard. My dad the police officer might say that he arrested my mom's cousins in a joking manner making me feel like I should be ashamed for some reason of the puerto rican acestry. I don't speak spanish more than at a very basic level, but I feel most comfortable in a family setting with the puerto rican side of my family when we're cooking and talking about what my grandmother has experienced.

Yes, a lengthy write-up, but my question is am I a URM for most law schools? If my diversity statement is about the split of my father disparaging my puerto rican roots while feeling more comfortable living amongst that part of my family will it be considered, or will I just come off as a white guy trying to check a box?

You should be fine. Check the box, instead of mentioning your dad maybe solely focus on your experiences with the PR side of the family.

[sophia.olive]

Hi there.

I'm proud to be a quarter Mexican and always have been. I've always noted that I consider myself part Mexican and part white on applications and official documents. That being said, I look very white although my middle name--which is my mother's maiden name and I like all my siblings go by--is definitely hispanic.

Now the totally irrelevant shit:
I have many cousins and aunts in Mexico and we visit/converse regularly.

I don't speak Spanish fluently.

About everyone in my mother's generation speaks Spanish fluently.

My Mexican grandfather was a UCLA graduated MD.

Point at issue: I plan on checking both Mexican and White when I can. Most application's I've perused don't ask to specifically ID as URM.

1. Should I feel guilty for checking Mexican given the weight that is ascribed to it?
2. Should I expect anything at all for doing so?
3. Should I not do it?

Thanks for considering this silly and trivial post.

I'm going to assume you're serious, and simply not aware of the search function on your computer.

Yes check box
No don't feel guilty! You ARE Hispanic! why would you feel guilty for telling people you are just because they will value your contribution more than if you didn't?
Good luck to you. Check your boxes. Let your conscience rest. HONESTLY. no one will tell you differently, and if someone does, they're just trying to mess with you.

oooooOOOOOOOO you got burned

[haines8]

I was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina (South-Eastern Europe) and all my ancestors are from there. Also, I am not a US citizen. Am I a URM?

[s0ph1e2007]

I was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina (South-Eastern Europe) and all my ancestors are from there. Also, I am not a US citizen. Am I a URM?

No.
you can write a DS though.

[carboy67]

Im a Hispanic non-URM (south American). I am also Middle Eastern and was wondering if it would take whatever (little) boost away I get from being Hispanic to check both boxes.

[merichard87]

I am 25% puerto rican(my Mom's mom is 100%), 25% finnish(my mom's dad is 100%) and 50% english/euro mix from my adopted dad as best we could deduce. I turned out looking essentially white and would not appear puerto rican to anyone who has a traditional view of a puerto rican person in their mind so it has often felt awkward when for colleges, and potentially for law schools I check the puerto rican box. Part of it is that I had an odd family dynamic, my dad being 100% white european would at times make disparaging remarks about people who check boxes and the benefits they get...but that I should do it! My mom would say it is my heritage, that my grandmother came to hawaii when she was about 12, and that I shouldn't forget the stories of her childhood. My mom would go out of the way to take me with my grandmother to our puerto rican family events, we would cook pasteles, and I almost seemed to live a split life in that regard. My dad the police officer might say that he arrested my mom's cousins in a joking manner making me feel like I should be ashamed for some reason of the puerto rican acestry. I don't speak spanish more than at a very basic level, but I feel most comfortable in a family setting with the puerto rican side of my family when we're cooking and talking about what my grandmother has experienced.

Yes, a lengthy write-up, but my question is am I a URM for most law schools? If my diversity statement is about the split of my father disparaging my puerto rican roots while feeling more comfortable living amongst that part of my family will it be considered, or will I just come off as a white guy trying to check a box?

If he's your adopted dad how do you gain ethnicity from him?

[digitalcntrl]

Im a Hispanic non-URM (south American). I am also Middle Eastern and was wondering if it would take whatever (little) boost away I get from being Hispanic to check both boxes.

I thought Hispanic (non-Mexican, Puerto Rican) do get a small boost. Am I wrong?

[masterthearts]

Im a Hispanic non-URM (south American). I am also Middle Eastern and was wondering if it would take whatever (little) boost away I get from being Hispanic to check both boxes.

I thought Hispanic (non-Mexican, Puerto Rican) do get a small boost. Am I wrong?

Based on my own personal experience, my opinion is that any type of hispanic gets a boost if they can demonstrate a connection to their heritage/language and things of that sort

[elm84dr]

Some of this stuff is disgusting.

If you haven't identified as a minority before applying to law school, I am sorry, but you are not a minority.

I really don't want to go to law school with a bunch of white kids who would actually dig deep into their past to prove they are 1/8th Native and decide embrace a cultural (for the moment they check a box) just for the benefits that come along with it, while neither experiencing nor living with the actual realities of being a minority. If you just want to reap the benefits off of the back of people who might actually need them then you have some serious soul searching to do.

Maybe your great-great grandparents were an URM, but they are not applying to Law School. YOU ARE. If you question if you are a minority, then you are most likely not...

I agree with this statement +1000000000. It is one thing to say, does this ethnicity count...it is another to say my great grandmother was Mexican and I ate a taco before---does that count? Come on. If you look white, do not participate on a familial or communal level, in the community you are asking about claiming---then no, you are white. You have reaped the benefit of being white. You have been bestowed white privilege. Inside, you do not feel the African drum, the Native American chant or the Puerto Rican salsa. It is not you. If it was not before law school, it should not be for the applications.

[superw]

1/8 Cherokee, no real affiliation with other Native Americans outside my immediate family. From an area with a lot of Cherokee though

Am I a urm?

[BackToTheOldHouse]

1/8 Cherokee, no real affiliation with other Native Americans outside my immediate family. From an area with a lot of Cherokee though

Am I a urm?

Much better phrasing.

[s0ph1e2007]

1/8 Cherokee, no real affiliation with other Native Americans outside my immediate family. From an area with a lot of Cherokee though

Am I a urm?

Much better phrasing.

[serdog]

1/8 Cherokee, no real affiliation with other Native Americans outside my immediate family. From an area with a lot of Cherokee though

Am I a urm?

Personal I think 1/8 is fine IF you have community connection,which you seem not to have. Also what you have truly identified yourselves as you whole life. As for the whole issues of people think you are a flame(if your not) it likely because the group is Cherokee, sadly many many "Fake Native America" make the Cherokee claim

[s.thizzy]

Question: I hail from Sri Lanka, does this make me a URM since I am an under-represented ethnicity?

[bk1]

Question: I hail from Sri Lanka, does this make me a URM since I am an under-represented ethnicity?

You are not a URM.

Under represented generally means in proportion to the general US population. Since there are very few Sri Lankans within the general US pop it doesn't take many to have equal representation within the legal field. I wouldn't even be sure whether Sri Lankans are under represented within the field.

[nikkilaw]

im Jamaican....am i a URM? i know this sounds silly and may be obvious , but i figured I was bc I am a black jamaican...but this thread is making me reconsider..? URM status refers to race, not ethnicity right? if thats the case.. i am a URM..right? any help would be appreciated..thanks!

[bk1]

im Jamaican....am i a URM? i know this sounds silly and may be obvious , but i figured I was bc I am a black jamaican...but this thread is making me reconsider..? URM status refers to race, not ethnicity right? if thats the case.. i am a URM..right? any help would be appreciated..thanks!

The line between race and ethnicity is a blurry one that is becoming less and less definitive.

You will be a URM because the apps usually have 1 box that corresponds to "Black or African American" so I don't think there is a differentiation between blacks who are American and those who are not.

[jkaur86]

Hi,

I wanted to find out whether I would be eligible to apply as a URM. The thing is, I am 3/4 Indian (South Asian not Native American) and 1/4 Mexican (my grandmother from my father's side is Mexican.) The reason I ask is because I have always identified myself as Indian, whether it be on the SAT, Census or any other document with some importance. It's not because I am ashamed of my bi-ethnic background, but more because I was raised under a strong indian influence and rarely spent time with my Mexican grandmother as she lives in India with my grandpa. Should I even bother to check that box? I don't want it to bite me in the ass 3 years down the line when C&F sees that I've always identified myself as Indian yet when it came to law school I checked the Mexican box as well. My father also identified as indian in his census so the only proof I have is if they were to call my grandma from india and obtain her documents or do a DNA test which I doubt ABA would do. I would like to get the boost but not if it will raise questions and cause problems down the line...I do plan on writing a DS if I do check that box, and will emphasize the fact that I didn't have much exposure to my mexican culture as my grandmother and I did not spend a lot of time together growing up...(I lived in the states and she lived in India for most of her life.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks...

[chalhou1]

just curious what are the reasons that arabs are not considered URM?

[r6_philly]

im Jamaican....am i a URM? i know this sounds silly and may be obvious , but i figured I was bc I am a black jamaican...but this thread is making me reconsider..? URM status refers to race, not ethnicity right? if thats the case.. i am a URM..right? any help would be appreciated..thanks!

The line between race and ethnicity is a blurry one that is becoming less and less definitive.

You will be a URM because the apps usually have 1 box that corresponds to "Black or African American" so I don't think there is a differentiation between blacks who are American and those who are not.

Actually some applications now ask to sub divide "black". I saw "Caribbean" as one of the choices on several apps (as well as African, African-American, Hispanic, other). I don't know if all blacks are treated as URM or just the AA blacks. I also don't know what's the difference between African black and AA black, unless first-generation (immigrant) Africans would identify as African blacks while their children identify as AA blacks.

[bk1]

Hi,

I wanted to find out whether I would be eligible to apply as a URM. The thing is, I am 3/4 Indian (South Asian not Native American) and 1/4 Mexican (my grandmother from my father's side is Mexican.) The reason I ask is because I have always identified myself as Indian, whether it be on the SAT, Census or any other document with some importance. It's not because I am ashamed of my bi-ethnic background, but more because I was raised under a strong indian influence and rarely spent time with my Mexican grandmother as she lives in India with my grandpa. Should I even bother to check that box? I don't want it to bite me in the ass 3 years down the line when C&F sees that I've always identified myself as Indian yet when it came to law school I checked the Mexican box as well. My father also identified as indian in his census so the only proof I have is if they were to call my grandma from india and obtain her documents or do a DNA test which I doubt ABA would do. I would like to get the boost but not if it will raise questions and cause problems down the line...I do plan on writing a DS if I do check that box, and will emphasize the fact that I didn't have much exposure to my mexican culture as my grandmother and I did not spend a lot of time together growing up...(I lived in the states and she lived in India for most of her life.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks...

Check what you feel comfortable with, there will be no problem if you have never checked Mexican as long as you actually are Mexican. I doubt they are going to background check you are something like that.

Personally I don't like changing what one checks without a significant change in the person, but I believe it is a personal choice what one checks (assuming they are checking things that they actually are).