<p>I was born in Santiago, Chile.
I have Canadian permanent residency.</p>
<p>In American schools, would I be considered an 'under-represented minority' (URM) ?
What are the pros and cons of being an URM?
Would it increase my chances of getting into top American schools if I get American citizenship/permanent residency? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>No you would not. Colleges typically consider Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans as URM’s for admissions.</p>
<p>Are you Hispanic, African American, or Native American? You didn’t say. These are the three primary groups that are under-represented minorities. In general, this applies only to domestic applicants; but those coming from under-represented countries can receive a boost as well, though Canada is not under-represented.</p>
<p>I am Hispanic, I was born in Santiago, Chile, in South America.</p>
<p>last i checked Chileans are considered Hispanic</p>
<p>(nevermind, you just said that^)</p>
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<p>Merely being born in a certain country does not make one Hispanic, so I asked for clarification.</p>
<p>OP: because you are Hispanic but in a non-under-represented country, you would indeed benefit from becoming a US citizen.</p>
<p>Then I believe I am considered ‘URM’. What are the benefits to this, if any?
Does a Canadian permanent residency ‘strip’ me of my URM status?</p>
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<p>Domestic URM applicants benefit from Affirmative Action, which increases your chance of admittance to colleges.</p>
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<p>In a sense, yes.</p>
<p>@silverturtle
Chile is not considered a URM country?</p>
<p>Are there any useful links you can give me?
I’m so confused =S</p>
<p>Chile is probably somewhat under-represented. Will you be applying as a citizen of Chile?</p>
<p>^ You could be a person of say Chinese heritage with Chilean citizenship.</p>
<p>Even if your answer to post #11 is “yes,” it would be more beneficial to be a URM applicant with American citizenship.</p>
<p>@silverturtle
It depends, I don’t know which would be more beneficial in applying for college in America (chance-wise)
I am only 15, I have time to change my citizenship/permanent residency status, I just don’t know which would benefit me the most.</p>
<p>As a citizen of Chile you would likely be a Hispanic URM. </p>
<p>There are a few kinds of American schools. E.g., if you are an international applying to a need-aware selective school, your chances can go way down if you need financial aid, and way up if you don’t (as long as your academic qualifications are a match for the school).</p>
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<p>Applying as a citizen of Chile would be beneficial over applying from Canada. Applying as a domestic URM applicant would be the most beneficial, though – especially, as vossron indicated, if you need financial aid and your top choices are not need-blind for internationals.</p>
<p>@silverturtle
Thank you!</p>
<p>Being a US citizen or permanent resident would have a lot of advantages once you are actually in college. You would be eligible for need-based aid. You could apply for more scholarships and prestigious national fellowships. You could participate in NSF-funded summer programs. Employers would be less hesitant to give you an internship. (Some big companies won’t even consider international applicants for their internship programs!) And if you might want to go to graduate school or med school or law school or… in the US, you definitely don’t want to apply as an international student!!!</p>
<p>As for your admission chances, I have seen lots of statistics suggesting that international students are at a disadvantage and not a single piece of evidence to the contrary.</p>
<p>For example, international admission rates are lower than domestic admission rates across the board - at top-ranked universities as well as lower-tier ones, at universities with financial aid for international applicants and universities with no financial assistance (i.e. every applicant is full-paying). While this data has to be interpreted with caution (international applicants at lower-tier colleges might on average be weaker than the American applicants; or the overall admission rate might be skewed by a gazillion of Chinese applicants), it surely does not suggest that being an international applicant is advantageous.</p>
<p>Does anyone have evidence that being an international applicant is ever positive for one’s chances?</p>
<p>It’s not statistical evidence, but one of the admission category hooks is international status.</p>
<p>Do you mind me asking where that information is coming from? Is it verifiable (by us, I mean)?</p>