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

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dvlthndr

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by dvlthndr » Thu May 07, 2020 8:49 pm

thedragon5678 wrote:Does the LGBT community get an admissions advantage at Harvard, Columbia, or NYU? Do other hispanics (not Mexican or Puerto Rican)?
Those do not make you URM. But they are still "soft" factors that will marginally increase your odds of getting in. They merit writing a diversity statement to submit with the rest of your application materials.

nchrpmn

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by nchrpmn » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:02 am

Besides Grutter v. Bollinger, is there any evidence for the idea that only those 4 groups -- AAs, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans -- are considered URMS, and not other Hispanic groups? When a law school publishes diversity statistics, they don't differentiate between any of the Hispanic groups, it just says "Hispanic." Why would a law school be less inclined to take a Colombian than a Mexican applicant if it has no bearing on their diversity statistics?

The Lsat Airbender

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:55 pm

nchrpmn wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:02 am
Besides Grutter v. Bollinger, is there any evidence for the idea that only those 4 groups -- AAs, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans -- are considered URMS, and not other Hispanic groups? When a law school publishes diversity statistics, they don't differentiate between any of the Hispanic groups, it just says "Hispanic." Why would a law school be less inclined to take a Colombian than a Mexican applicant if it has no bearing on their diversity statistics?
Because 1) African-Americans, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans and Mexican-Americans are woefully underrepresented in U.S. legal practice compared to their U.S. population and 2) those same groups underperform on the LSAT and get fewer bachelor's degrees than other groups because of inequities in our education system and elsewhere. Those are "hard," mathematical problems that need to be overcome by policy in order to admit reasonably-diverse classes. Law schools need to compromise on GPA and LSAT here.

Hispanic heritage, in a vacuum, is a "soft" factor, like speaking fluent Arabic or having a PhD. To be a bit cynical, law schools don't need to dip in terms of LSAT to get more people whose last name is Alvarez if they want to pad their diversity numbers for marketing purposes.

ETA: I don't mean to suggest that other Hispanic people don't face adversity in the USA. But they aren't as underrepresented in elite law schools because a lot of top students from LatAm universities apply.

treeleaf102

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by treeleaf102 » Mon Jul 27, 2020 2:53 pm

I think that counting oneself as a "URM" feels kind of odd when one is multiracial.

My grandparents are Chilean ( grandma is indigenous Chilean, was part of a tribe) and my mom is Korean/ Hawaiian ( her birth dad, whom she has never met, is Hawaiian). My parents have unusual stories: my mother and her mom fled South Korea ( where my birth grandpa was stationed- for the Korean war) and my dad was adopted by White parents in the US. Honestly I always feel uncomfortable disclosing race on my applications when I have a White European last name ( I took my dad's last name) and I don't have close ties to my Indigenous side even though my dad is close with his birth mom:(.

Necho2

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by Necho2 » Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:21 pm

I'd just mark whatever categories you've generally ID'd as honestly (don't bend stuff and claim an ethnicity you didn't on other standardized forms for college, HS, etc.) and write a DS explaining your background and even feelings of discomfort- it sounds like a really really interesting story- if I understand you're 1/4 indigenous, 1/4 non-indigenous Chilean, 1/4 korean, and 1/4 hawaiian? Regardless of what URM boost you're gonna get from that, it's certainly a very atypical background.

crazywafflez

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by crazywafflez » Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:38 pm

I'm multi ethnic with a northwest european name, I think it is totally fine to mark whatever list they have and then write a diversity statement. I'm also not positive but I think since you are indigenous and hawaiian you can probs mark URM. Either way you can mark mixed ethnicity/other and write the DS. I can't remember exactly what I wrote- I think I marked White and Hispanic for mine and other? I didn't mark URM, but I think that marking that for you is honestly fine, as long as you feel comfortable. And I don't lightly tell people it is cool to mark it, lol.

nixy

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by nixy » Mon Jul 27, 2020 5:11 pm

Just because this comes up a lot - there is no place on LSAC or apps to “mark URM.” You just indicate your ethnicity and schools decide what to make of you. It’s looking at acceptances and people’s stats that shows who gets a URM boost, but you’re never asked to self-identify that way. (The closest is writing a diversity statement, although you can write a DS in good faith without being actually a member of an underrepresented race/ethnicity.)

Necho2

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by Necho2 » Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:26 pm

nixy wrote:
Mon Jul 27, 2020 5:11 pm
Just because this comes up a lot - there is no place on LSAC or apps to “mark URM.” You just indicate your ethnicity and schools decide what to make of you. It’s looking at acceptances and people’s stats that shows who gets a URM boost, but you’re never asked to self-identify that way. (The closest is writing a diversity statement, although you can write a DS in good faith without being actually a member of an underrepresented race/ethnicity.)
Yeah I should have been clearer about this when I "mark whatever categories you ID as." The real question is just whether different marks get the URM boost, so do what you'd do anyway and if you have complicated feelings about your multiracial heritage, air them out in a DS.

slaythedragon5678

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by slaythedragon5678 » Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:34 pm

I am Argentinian and consider myself Hispanic but also white. How does this affect my URM status if I put down white (the LSAC website calls it "European") and hispanic? Am I considered a URM hispanic if I am not Mexican or Puerto Rican?

crazywafflez

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by crazywafflez » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:52 pm

May be a slight bump; most likely won't help you in places with large hispanic communities that are involved in the legal community- (i.e. probs won't move the needle at ASU, UT, or USC- more effective at WashU or Midwest etc.). The big bump is for Mexican/PR folks. Best of luck.

treeleaf102

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by treeleaf102 » Sun Aug 16, 2020 5:42 pm

crazywafflez-
It's interesting because I didn't discuss my background in my undergrad college apps. I thought ( and still think) that its more important to rely on merit- decent gpa, high SAT scores, and letters of recomendation.

Even though I'm roughly 1/4 Native, 1/4 Chilean (my paternal grandpa is mixed- he's European but was never forthcoming about his native heritage) and my mother is Korean/ Hawaiian - I don't identify as one specific race- I tend to view myself as American, as I grew up in the U.S. and was distanced from my relatives.

People always assume that I'm Native ( I guess I look that way appearance-wise), but neither my grandparents or parents like to discuss their native background ( they experienced severe racism and discrimination).

The racism I experienced at a young age would definitely something that would be difficult to me to write about, because it only impacted me as a child growing up in a White community. As I now go to a predominantly white institution, it would be hard to write about - I don't love to think, let alone write, about certain racist experiences that I've had.

treeleaf102

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by treeleaf102 » Sun Aug 16, 2020 5:49 pm

Another thing: I've been seeing that you have to have at least a 3.5 to get into programs. I'm not personally seeking specific schools but I also work 30 hours a week ( I end up working more that I don't get paid for) and that was definitely hard on my gpa first semester of this year.

I was on the Dean's List( 3.7 and above) my entire freshman year ( when I was only working 10 hours a week) and unfortunately I needed to supplement my tuition sophomore year ( the past year) which time-wise had an unfortunate impact on my grades. Financially I didn't really have any other option this year, but I'm trying to bring it up over a 3.5 but I feel like it might be unrealistic because I have to keep the same hours at work.

ccb7ng

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by ccb7ng » Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:33 pm

If my mom is Puerto Rican, but I didn't grow up there myself, can I claim myself as a URM? I have other hispanic heritage as well, but my PR heritage is the only thing that'd grant me a boost.

crazywafflez

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by crazywafflez » Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:11 pm

ccb7ng , you are a PR- you're good to go. Maybe write a diversity statement too just talking about all your backgrounds or w/e but not even sure you need to do that. You are of PR heritage and it is fine to state it.

nixy

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by nixy » Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:30 pm

ccb7ng wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:33 pm
If my mom is Puerto Rican, but I didn't grow up there myself, can I claim myself as a URM? I have other hispanic heritage as well, but my PR heritage is the only thing that'd grant me a boost.
You don’t claim yourself as a URM. There isn’t any question on any application asking if you’re URM. You get asked to check off the different ways you identify, which will include Hispanic and possibly break down into the different kinds of Hispanic (can’t remember exactly what LSAC’s questions look like). Schools then decide if you’re underrepresented. If you identify as PR, then check Hispanic/PR. You don’t have to have grown up there (like African Americans have heritage in the Black peoples of Africa, they don’t have to have lived in Africa). If you’ve never considered yourself PR before this, it’s probably pretty crappy to check the PR box, but it doesn’t sound like that’s really the case for you so you should be good.

The Lsat Airbender

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Wed Sep 02, 2020 1:30 pm

nixy wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:30 pm
You get asked to check off the different ways you identify, which will include Hispanic and possibly break down into the different kinds of Hispanic (can’t remember exactly what LSAC’s questions look like).
It varies by school, partly because of differences in state law.

wheres_my_corndog

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by wheres_my_corndog » Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:29 pm

Mom was born in Argentina
Dad was born in Mexico
--
I was born in USA
Am I a URM?

The Lsat Airbender

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:33 am

wheres_my_corndog wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:29 pm
Mom was born in Argentina
Dad was born in Mexico
--
I was born in USA
Am I a URM?
If you intend to check the Mexican/Chicano box, yeah. If you self-identify as a white Latino/a, probably not, although I'd still write a diversity statement. This is a personal question.

juann

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Re: Am I a URM???/Is___ race/circumstance considered URM??

Post by juann » Thu Dec 16, 2021 1:54 pm

Would they even check if I'm a specific type of Hispanic when I put in the boxes?

I'm from South America

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