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studystudystudy wrote:Would I be considered a URM if I listed my ethnicity as: American Indian, Chicano/Mexican, European, Other Caucasian/White?

I'm 50% Romanian and my grandma was Mexican and Native American. Specifically, from the Navajo and Tarahumara tribes. I don't have a card to prove this, but do have a document that states my Grandma was Tarahumara.

Thanks in advance.

yes both mexican and native american are considered urm.....it doesnt matter if your half if you have the heritage you are urm

In terms of a underrepresented minority or diversity etc etc., how do schools, mainly T-14, view Asian Americans? Does it help with admissions?

Not URM. I think the general consensus is that Asian Americans are generally over represented in higher education compared to the rest of the country (though I could be totally wrong and someone else can jump in here and correct my idiot ass). HOWEVER, that doesn't discount your experience in any way. If your being AsianAmerican is a part of your identity that you want to express in your application, then the essays you write is definitely a space to do so. All else equal, doesn't give you the boost that maybe African Americans and Mexicans get, but maybe a tiny nudge up.

I've always heard and assumed that it hurts because of the overrepresentation. Unless you have a compelling idea for a diversity essay I would just make sure to list race as other or prefer not to say.

Moved to the lengthy thread on this topic.

texas96 wrote:

DriveLikeNashvillian wrote:

thazel wrote:Hi everyone! I'm half Zimbabwean African and half caucasian New Zealander - am I considered a URM due to my african side?

Yeah, definitely. I'm half-black/white, and for all intents and purposes look like a white dude, but I've been claiming URM on all my apps. I wrote about that in my diversity statement and focused on some of the specific circumstances that have come about in my life because of my ethnic heritage and judging by my offers, mediocre numbers, and mediocre softs, I definitely got the "urm boost."

When you say "claiming URM", what do you mean? I'm also half black, so I'm looking for advice.

Just that I checked black/African American as well as White on my applications and wrote a diversity statement about it.

I really dont think Africans should be URMs honestly. It really screws with the numbers

Asking for a former student. Thank you. I know that Hispanic is its own category, but my understanding is that AA better for the purposes of admission. There's a lot of ethnic admixture in DR and she's a mix of both, but is mostly hispanic and looks hispanic. I'm pretty sure she's okay putting down AA both Hispanic, but not 100%.

They should put down what they identify as. They can also check multiple ethnicities to fit how the see themselves.

Ok, so I'm pretty much a mutt. I'm second generation American. Mother's family is from Cuba but fled to Puerto Rico in the 60's. She was born in Puerto Rico and lived there for a few years before moving to Miami. Father's family is from Colombia but he was born in New York.

How exactly does all that weigh in when schools are considering if I'm urm. Basically, does being Cuban/Colombian negatively affect me being Puerto Rican¿ If that even makes sense.

Thanks.

Would a Nigerian be considered a URM? I mean, I'm black but I'm also international, so not sure how that would play into it.

I am a Turkish/Armenian Immigrant and I'm really trying to figure out whether that counts as URM?

No, Turkish/Armenian is not considered a URM for either undergrad or graduate/law school applications. URM is Hispanic or Native American or AA. However, you could still write a diversity statement/essay to let them know what you bring into the class that is diverse.

Would being South Asian or Muslim count as being an underrepresented group? Thinking of NYU's optional essay. They have 4% South Asian listed under the minority category on their class profile page.
Thanks!

For law school admissions purposes, minority and underrepresented are not the same thing. South Asian will count as a minority on their demographics but 4% may not be underrepresented in comparison to their percentage in the US population. You may get some benefit by contributing to the diversity of their class but you won't get the kind of URM boost people talk about here.

kmg12d wrote:Ok, so I'm pretty much a mutt. I'm second generation American. Mother's family is from Cuba but fled to Puerto Rico in the 60's. She was born in Puerto Rico and lived there for a few years before moving to Miami. Father's family is from Colombia but he was born in New York.

How exactly does all that weigh in when schools are considering if I'm urm. Basically, does being Cuban/Colombian negatively affect me being Puerto Rican¿ If that even makes sense.

Thanks.

I have a very similar family background from Cuba to Puerto Rico on one side, my other parent is just white however. On my applications I marked all three: white, cuban, puerto rican. I'm pretty sure I got the full boost, but I also had a few other things about my app that I think helped as well.

.

ThatOneAfrican wrote:Would a Nigerian be considered a URM? I mean, I'm black but I'm also international, so not sure how that would play into it.

There's more than one African on these threads?!

KENYADIGG1T wrote:

ThatOneAfrican wrote:Would a Nigerian be considered a URM? I mean, I'm black but I'm also international, so not sure how that would play into it.

There's more than one African on these threads?!

Yuup

Colombia/Brazil?

UBETutoring wrote:Colombia/Brazil?

As far as Latinos/as go, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are the only ethnicities that are considered URM's for law school admissions.

How can some apps both not list a delineation of Hispanic/Latino (e.g. Puerto Rican) and determine whether or not one is a URM for reporting purposes (absent of a diversity statement) and subsequently deliver a boost? Does LSAC report the data to the schools, which does indeed list separate delineations (I’m not sure whether this is even reportable for the schools, though)?

LesPaul1995 wrote:How can some apps both not list a delineation of Hispanic/Latino (e.g. Puerto Rican) and determine whether or not one is a URM for reporting purposes (absent of a diversity statement) and subsequently deliver a boost? Does LSAC report the data to the schools, which does indeed list separate delineations (I’m not sure whether this is even reportable for the schools, though)?

I can't claim to be an expert so there may be others with better numbers who can answer better, but: Keep in mind that this is all totally voluntary and at the school's discretion. There's nothing that says anyone of any persuasion *has* to get a boost. We know from the numbers that certain groups *do* get a boost, but different schools could use different policies to determine exactly who and how, and frankly the numbers for H/L are unclear because I don't think the numbers this site relies on (mylsn.info or law school numbers) distinguish between H/L groups. Bakke (predecessor to Grutter) specifically referenced Mexicans and Puerto Ricans (for Hispanic/Latinx; also African Americans, NAs, and Asian Americans), which is one of the things people have relied on to parse the H/L boost, but nothing in Grutter limits considerations of diversity to only those groups. So personally I'm not convinced that the URM boost for H/L is as cut and dried as saying that only Mexicans/Puerto Ricans get it, but no one else does.

As for the LSAC demographic info, the website asks if you want the material reported to schools, so it can be but doesn't have to be, but I'm afraid I don't know what schools actually get or how they use it.

I'm half Chamorro(native Guamanian) and half white, and I've also been curious about whether Pacific Islander-Americans count as URM for admissions purposes, or if it varies from school to school.

I assumed PIAs weren't part of the URM pool, but more than a few schools began sending me e-mails after I entered my race in the CRS, even though I hadn't taken my LSAT yet and the only thing they knew about me was that I was a PIA and I had a 2.22 LSAC GPA(related to recurring illness in the family, explained in an addendum).

It wasn't all the usual suspects, either. I mean, I got the expected share of e-mails from Cooley et al., but I also got a surprising amount of unsolicited interest from WUSTL, W&L, Notre Dame, Indiana-Bloomington, and a couple of others, which I found strange as someone with a 2.22 and no LSAT score to speak of. Is that normal, or are more schools starting to follow PIAs as viable URM candidates?

Also, to provide further context, I'm a non-traditional student, and that GPA is over a decade old, but I don't know if that's something admissions departments would take into account at first glance.

tominusprime wrote:I'm half Chamorro(native Guamanian) and half white, and I've also been curious about whether Pacific Islander-Americans count as URM for admissions purposes, or if it varies from school to school.

I assumed PIAs weren't part of the URM pool, but more than a few schools began sending me e-mails after I entered my race in the CRS, even though I hadn't taken my LSAT yet and the only thing they knew about me was that I was a PIA and I had a 2.22 LSAC GPA(related to recurring illness in the family, explained in an addendum).

It wasn't all the usual suspects, either. I mean, I got the expected share of e-mails from Cooley et al., but I also got a surprising amount of unsolicited interest from WUSTL, W&L, Notre Dame, Indiana-Bloomington, and a couple of others, which I found strange as someone with a 2.22 and no LSAT score to speak of. Is that normal, or are more schools starting to follow PIAs as viable URM candidates?

Also, to provide further context, I'm a non-traditional student, and that GPA is over a decade old, but I don't know if that's something admissions departments would take into account at first glance.

You may get some benefit by contributing to the diversity of a school's class, but as far as a clear URM boost (as far as the way boosts regarding AA, PR, MA applicants are discussed on this thread) is concerned, no one here will be able to really say whether it exists or doesn't.