"new" URM Status ? Forum

[troar21]

I’ve searched online, read the TLS URM FAQ, and gone through numerous threads but haven’t been able to find a situation that parallels my own. I am hoping the experience of TLS members can help me out:
Can I / should I inform my school of my “new” URM status?

Basic story: my mother was adopted when she was very young and never knew her biological father’s ethnicity. For health reasons she recently decided to try and find out who her biological father was and how he died. Turns out that my mother is Mexican American. As I understand it, I fit the criteria of URM. Before knowing I could check the URM box on my application, I applied and was accepted ED to a T14 .

Ethically speaking, is checking the box designating myself as a URM right? I do not want to be disingenuous.

However, if being an URM could potentially help me negotiate with my T14 ( if I can even do such a thing having been accepted ED ) or apply for URM scholarships it is certainly tempting to begin identifying myself as such. That said, I am unsure if contacting my future law school to inform them of my URM status is appropriate or even worth it.

Thoughts / comments are greatly appreciated.

[09042014]

I doubt you'll get very far saying, "HEY, I'm Mexican now, give me monnnnnney."

But you could definitely get in touch with admissions and ask about mexican student outreach and student groups.

[Broseidon]

Surprise mexican? Well that's a new one.

[EvilClinton]

I don't think this will help you in negotiating at all.

Also, if you do go down this route I would provide documented proof up front because this sounds really shady.

[Ludo!]

[PickMe!]

I don't think this will help you in negotiating at all.

Also, if you do go down this route I would provide documented proof up front because this sounds really shady.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think this kind of thing happens all the time with adoptions - a lot of people find out they're an ethnicity they didn't realize they were. That said, I think it would be weird and awkward to contact schools you've already applied to and say, "Guess what I found out!" I mean, I still think you "count," but if the URM boost is to make up for life experiences due to being URM, and you never knew you were URM... I don't know, it's just awkward.

[John_rizzy_rawls]

[troar21]

Gracias for all the comments ... I know my post sounds ridiculous but I thought I would ask anyway. I guess the "surprise" mexican heritage can at least help my siblings that are still in high school with UG $$.

[sideoffries]

Reapply next year only to the T14 schools you haven't already applied to and list yourself as a URM?

[MKC]

You're a URM. Use it. Write LOCI's explaining that you would like information on Mexican-American student groups because you have recently discovered you have been deprived of your cultural heritage, and would like to rectify the situation. The school is just looking to boost its minority statistics, and you now fit in that group. Congratulations on your 6 bonus LSAT points.

http://www.mylsn.info/quant_boost.php

ETA: You'd be an idiot not to take advantage of this.

[suitsftw]

$50 says this comes back to bite the OP in the you know what years later.

Why? If the OP has the documentation then he/she should be fine.

[PRgradBYU]

You'd better exploit this newfound heritage. It can only help you.

[John_rizzy_rawls]

Everything I would like to say is already being said.

Much love Worm.

[troar21]

Interesting first post. I dont see any legal ramifications per se, but someone somewhere down the line is going to go, "So you decided to identify with your MA heritage at precisely the time that it would benefit you" no one will ever be able to say that from this point on you dont self identify as MA, but plenty will have their doubts.

Is it allowed, yeah, but lets be honest, there's a bit of system gaming going on at the same time.

Trust me I understand it looks bad - but if I was truly trying to "game" the system I failed. Marking down URM would have been more beneficial had I found out and marked it before being accepted ED. Either way it is what is. I just am unsure of what to do with the information that I am an URM. $51 says that if I didn't at least ask for advice I would be kicking myself in the you know what years later.

For those of you who think I should contact my school - how? Email them about student groups or emailing them and explaining that I am a URM?

Edit: I appreciate the suggestion wormfather .. but if I decide on that type of approach I have to say I like Desert Fox 's more succinct version .

[John_rizzy_rawls]

If you're actually considering taking advantage of this then TCR is to withdraw all applications and apply next cycle while checking the "correct" box.

If not and you just want to get in touch with your heritage at your current law school, contact affiliated organizations and look around, I'm sure you'll find a bunch of groups to help you get in touch with your newfound roots.

[MKC]

$50 says this comes back to bite the OP in the you know what years later.

If Elizabeth Warren can get away with it without actually being NA, then OP can sure as fuck get away with it. Any potential downside years from now is outweighed by the URM boost now. Besides Worm, OP will be a role model for future MAs, which is part of the point of AA, right? So, everybody wins.

[John_rizzy_rawls]

$50 says this comes back to bite the OP in the you know what years later.

If Elizabeth Warren can get away with it without actually being NA, then OP can sure as fuck get away with it. Any potential downside years from now is outweighed by the URM boost now. Besides Worm, OP will be a role model for future MAs, which is part of the point of AA, right? So, everybody wins.

Stop. You (unfortunately) know the thread for that.

[suitsftw]

Haha - long time reader and this seemed like an interesting thread to jump in on. Without doubt, TLS is a great community.
Granted this is expected on an online message board but your post may be a little cynical of the OP's situation. System gaming? Please...the OP is not writing a diversity statement claiming to be negatively impacted by his/her experiences (though his/her family may have been negatively impacted by the surrounding circumstances). Moreover, such statements aside, should we really be defining how "MA" the OP is? Personally, I have qualms stereotyping/defining a MA.
Quite frankly, one could probably use this example as why affirmative action should be based on socio-economic factors (that is another discussion entirely).
That said, I didn't mean to start a debate so soon Re the OP, go for it. The $$ could be worth it

[Broseidon]

Fuck it

[MKC]

$50 says this comes back to bite the OP in the you know what years later.

If Elizabeth Warren can get away with it without actually being NA, then OP can sure as fuck get away with it. Any potential downside years from now is outweighed by the URM boost now. Besides Worm, OP will be a role model for future MAs, which is part of the point of AA, right? So, everybody wins.

Stop. You (unfortunately) know the thread for that.

1) They locked that thread

2) I was responding to the assertion that OP would be gaming the system. If OP is Mexican-American, then telling a school about it isn't gaming the system, it's using the system in exactly the way that was intended. The system is DESIGNED to benefit URMs, and OP is a URM.

[John_rizzy_rawls]

Fuck it

Your restraint is remarkable bro. Seriously.

[bk1]

I was responding to the assertion that OP would be gaming the system.

Come the fuck on. You said:

which is part of the point of AA, right?

I think you have enough intelligence that "point" and "merits" are synonymous. Enjoy your time off.

For everyone else: no debating the merits of AA. Period. Full stop.
Full warning: I'm also going to tempban anybody who goes off topic in this thread. Respond to the topic at hand or don't respond at all.

[wbrother]

Everything I would like to say is already being said.

Much love Worm.