Are Rohingya/Hmong/uyghur URM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

Yeah. My oldest (post-college) has a friend who is from Venezuela and went to private school there k-12. Friend came to U.S. for college and got URM internships. Kid is as white as an be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

It's not a real designation, you know that right? It's shorthand on DCUM for kids who may be more likely to get into a school because they come from a racial or ethnic group that is underrepresented at that school. If you want to know if a given ethnic group is underrepresented, you will have to look at the statistics for that school. There is no master of URM decreeing who is in and who is out

My guess is that a Uyghur person who is a refugee and wrote about that experience would get a boost at most schools, but I don't know for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

Yeah. My oldest (post-college) has a friend who is from Venezuela and went to private school there k-12. Friend came to U.S. for college and got URM internships. Kid is as white as an be.

What are "URM internships"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

Yeah. My oldest (post-college) has a friend who is from Venezuela and went to private school there k-12. Friend came to U.S. for college and got URM internships. Kid is as white as an be.

I am not talking about the kid being born in another country. I'm talking about the parent of a kid born in another country and the parent immigrated to the US and built a life here. Does this kid have a URM advantage even though they lived in the US and had a comfortable life? So, again, is it URM + low income or URM?

I guess another question is how much does the parent's narrative/background hold weight with regard to the kid's personal narrative? Certainly someone who moved to this country (whether for political reasons or not) did face some obstacles by leaving family, friends, home country to make a better life, though very obviously not on that same scale. And the kid of that person may as well have been affected in some way by this transition - for example, not knowing their family in the home country, the parent perhaps having different values, habits, customs that made the kid a bit of an outsider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

It's not a real designation, you know that right? It's shorthand on DCUM for kids who may be more likely to get into a school because they come from a racial or ethnic group that is underrepresented at that school. If you want to know if a given ethnic group is underrepresented, you will have to look at the statistics for that school. There is no master of URM decreeing who is in and who is out

My guess is that a Uyghur person who is a refugee and wrote about that experience would get a boost at most schools, but I don't know for sure.

Yes, I can absolutely see why a refugee would be given special consideration in college admission. Or a low income student, or URM.

As to the bolded, no, I really don't know how the common app works. I thought you checked a box saying you were Asian, Hispanic, white, etc. - and was wondering if that identity alone gives a student what DCUM thinks of as a URM advantage? Or if that URM advantage is perhaps only applied if the applicant is also low income.

And also wondering if it applies to the student/applicant if one of their parents is from an underrepresented group/country while the other parent is American?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

Yeah. My oldest (post-college) has a friend who is from Venezuela and went to private school there k-12. Friend came to U.S. for college and got URM internships. Kid is as white as an be.

I am not talking about the kid being born in another country. I'm talking about the parent of a kid born in another country and the parent immigrated to the US and built a life here. Does this kid have a URM advantage even though they lived in the US and had a comfortable life? So, again, is it URM + low income or URM?

I guess another question is how much does the parent's narrative/background hold weight with regard to the kid's personal narrative? Certainly someone who moved to this country (whether for political reasons or not) did face some obstacles by leaving family, friends, home country to make a better life, though very obviously not on that same scale. And the kid of that person may as well have been affected in some way by this transition - for example, not knowing their family in the home country, the parent perhaps having different values, habits, customs that made the kid a bit of an outsider.

I think you are conflating two things.

Scholarships and internships for URMs are not just meant to give a "leg up" to kids who are disadvantaged. They are also meant to bring new perspectives to a program or an employer. So, a middle class kid who grew up in a Mexican-American community, speaking Spanish, and having those specific cultural experiences is actually going to bring something different to the classroom/job and there's value in that perspective.

[Anonymous]

University of Minnesota has a specific check box for Hmong.

[Anonymous]

So for Asians, you need to be specific as to where you come from and what you’ve overcome and where and what matters. Can’t just be any immigrant family kid.

But Black and Hispanic is just targeting race. Doesn’t matter if your background is wealthy and you’ve led a pretty cushy upper class to upper middle class life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

Yeah. My oldest (post-college) has a friend who is from Venezuela and went to private school there k-12. Friend came to U.S. for college and got URM internships. Kid is as white as an be.

I am not talking about the kid being born in another country. I'm talking about the parent of a kid born in another country and the parent immigrated to the US and built a life here. Does this kid have a URM advantage even though they lived in the US and had a comfortable life? So, again, is it URM + low income or URM?

I guess another question is how much does the parent's narrative/background hold weight with regard to the kid's personal narrative? Certainly someone who moved to this country (whether for political reasons or not) did face some obstacles by leaving family, friends, home country to make a better life, though very obviously not on that same scale. And the kid of that person may as well have been affected in some way by this transition - for example, not knowing their family in the home country, the parent perhaps having different values, habits, customs that made the kid a bit of an outsider.

I think you are conflating two things.

Scholarships and internships for URMs are not just meant to give a "leg up" to kids who are disadvantaged. They are also meant to bring new perspectives to a program or an employer. So, a middle class kid who grew up in a Mexican-American community, speaking Spanish, and having those specific cultural experiences is actually going to bring something different to the classroom/job and there's value in that perspective.

Ok, yes, I get that.

But what I'm asking, and I guess I'm not being super clear: If a kid grew up in a regular boring suburb, speaks English as their first language, but maybe they understand a little of their immigrant parent's first language (but are in no way fluent), their parents' income affords them a lifestyle rich with opportunities such as, club sports, music lessons, expensive sleepaway camps, family vacations, etc -- you know all the stuff that a typical white middle class+ suburban kid enjoys - will that kid get a leg up as URM if the only thing that distinguishes them from other regular middle class suburban kids, is that they have one parent who was born in Argentina (or wherever), has an ethnic sounding name, but has essentially integrated into typical middle class+ American culture by way of their parent's decision to move to the US 20 years ago so that they can get meaningful work and enjoy a better lifestyle than they could in their own country.

To be clear: I am in no way disparaging the attempts by colleges to include low income, URM kids, refugees, asylum seekers, and otherwise disadvantaged kids into their student bodies - in fact, I think it's not done to the extent it should be. I'm just wondering where the line is drawn between being a URM student/candidate vs. a student/candidate who is basically a typical suburban American kid, but for their last name and their parent's fairly recent immigration, motivation and success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Whether they are a URM (AAPI) would depend on the field/school.

I don't see why it would depend on field/school. Are there any fields or schools giving admissions preferences to refugees such as Rohingya/Hmong/Uyghurs? IME, Race-based admissions preferences are based on if you check one the Black/Hispanic/Native American boxes.

Here is what I mean. There are certain scholarships/programs aimed at attracting URM into their field or school.

The list of groups eligible to apply can depend upon what groups are under-represented there.

So, my AA daughter was recruited heavily by second tier SLAC's because they struggle with attaining a diverse ethnic mix. She has been eligible for URM internships in the natural sciences but not medical sciences, because the under-representation of Asians is not the same in different STEM fields. Do you understand now?

Yeah, my daughter and her friends have experienced the same thing during their search for summer research internships. Many biology and ecology programs specifically recruit URM, which they define as Black/AA, Hispanic/Latino, Native American/Pacific Islander, although Asians are pretty underrepresented in the environmental sciences. All of her friends at her Midwestern LAC received generous scholarships based on their HS academic achievement and low percentage of Asians at their college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those are subgroups of Asians (or Asian-Americans, if that applies).

Of course a child can write about how their culture/family story has impacted them.

They may also do volunteer work to help members of their community.

Whether they are a URM (AAPI) would depend on the field/school.

This is reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Minnesota has a specific check box for Hmong.

That makes sense. The Hmong community has a lot of economic disadvantages as well as facing ethnic prejudice. Not as many low income Asians in the DC suburbs. Yes, there are some, but it’s not such a huge part of the community. Vietnamese where DH is from in the Gulf Coast is another Asian American community with a lot of poverty. Some individuals and families have done well, but there are more who are working class.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that URM is a very fluid concept; not simply a checkbox. If one parent's heritage is Argentinian, or Hmong (or basically any immigrant group), whether the child receives a “URM boost” would depend essentially on two things: 1) the location of the college, i.e., a college in Minnesota or Ohio might be more likely to see that immigrant/heritage group as one that furthers its own diversity goals, more so than a college located in New York or Los Angeles; and 2) whether the child is able to weave a coherent narrative into their application essays as to why their particular heritage has “mattered” to them and, by extension, why it should matter to the college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT, but this URM designation has always puzzled me. Does the designation encompass both URM and low income? Or is URM sufficient?

For example, if a kid has a parent born in a Latin American country, who immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from a US college, didn't have refugee status or need political asylum, but instead came for education and job prospects, currently lives a solid middle class lifestyle, has STEM job and decent salary, an American spouse - does their kid have URM advantage simply by checking the box, even though their life on the whole has been more than comfortable? Are they allowed to check the box if one parent is American ?

Yeah. My oldest (post-college) has a friend who is from Venezuela and went to private school there k-12. Friend came to U.S. for college and got URM internships. Kid is as white as an be.

I am not talking about the kid being born in another country. I'm talking about the parent of a kid born in another country and the parent immigrated to the US and built a life here. Does this kid have a URM advantage even though they lived in the US and had a comfortable life? So, again, is it URM + low income or URM?

I guess another question is how much does the parent's narrative/background hold weight with regard to the kid's personal narrative? Certainly someone who moved to this country (whether for political reasons or not) did face some obstacles by leaving family, friends, home country to make a better life, though very obviously not on that same scale. And the kid of that person may as well have been affected in some way by this transition - for example, not knowing their family in the home country, the parent perhaps having different values, habits, customs that made the kid a bit of an outsider.

I think you are conflating two things.

Scholarships and internships for URMs are not just meant to give a "leg up" to kids who are disadvantaged. They are also meant to bring new perspectives to a program or an employer. So, a middle class kid who grew up in a Mexican-American community, speaking Spanish, and having those specific cultural experiences is actually going to bring something different to the classroom/job and there's value in that perspective.

Ok, yes, I get that.

But what I'm asking, and I guess I'm not being super clear: If a kid grew up in a regular boring suburb, speaks English as their first language, but maybe they understand a little of their immigrant parent's first language (but are in no way fluent), their parents' income affords them a lifestyle rich with opportunities such as, club sports, music lessons, expensive sleepaway camps, family vacations, etc -- you know all the stuff that a typical white middle class+ suburban kid enjoys - will that kid get a leg up as URM if the only thing that distinguishes them from other regular middle class suburban kids, is that they have one parent who was born in Argentina (or wherever), has an ethnic sounding name, but has essentially integrated into typical middle class+ American culture by way of their parent's decision to move to the US 20 years ago so that they can get meaningful work and enjoy a better lifestyle than they could in their own country.

To be clear: I am in no way disparaging the attempts by colleges to include low income, URM kids, refugees, asylum seekers, and otherwise disadvantaged kids into their student bodies - in fact, I think it's not done to the extent it should be. I'm just wondering where the line is drawn between being a URM student/candidate vs. a student/candidate who is basically a typical suburban American kid, but for their last name and their parent's fairly recent immigration, motivation and success.

As an earlier poster indicated, over the last 5-10 years many colleges have made a real effort to recruit and retain first generation, low-income students. Selective colleges have raised substantial scholarship funds in order to permit students with family incomes less than a certain amount to attend their school without incurring student loans. In this regard, there is a distinction (and an advantage) for FGLI students of all races which is distinct from the URM consideration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Minnesota has a specific check box for Hmong.

That makes sense. The Hmong community has a lot of economic disadvantages as well as facing ethnic prejudice. Not as many low income Asians in the DC suburbs. Yes, there are some, but it’s not such a huge part of the community. Vietnamese where DH is from in the Gulf Coast is another Asian American community with a lot of poverty. Some individuals and families have done well, but there are more who are working class.

No it actually highlights the racial discrimination even more.

If the goal is to target economically disadvantaged kids then it should be the same for every racial group.

Not just certain Asians based on SES and any Black or Hispanic kid regardless of SES.