<p>So I wasn't too sure where to post this, but here it goes.
Some months ago I read that being from the underrepresented minority can boost your admission to colleges in the states. Is it like that in all colleges?
And what nationality are those URMs? My main question is - do Bulgarian applicants count?</p>
<p>Generally not for international applicants, and not for Bulgarian ethnicity. (And the effect varies, with many schools giving none at all.)</p>
<p>Intl. applicants are not considered URMs.</p>
<p>The only ethnicity of interest for college admissions is Hispanic (note: I did not say race, but rather ethnicity).</p>
<p>While being of Bulgarian descent (whether an Intl. or US applicant) may add some degree of uniqueness to your application, you will not be considered a URM anywhere.</p>
<p>URM =/= minority. </p>
<p>URM = underrepresented minority in college compared to in the population as a whole. So while Bulgarians may be a minority of the population in the US, their representation in college is relatively equal to their representation in the general population. For groups considered URMs for college admissions, the proportion attending college is well below their proportion in the general population, this is what makes them underrepresented.</p>
<p>“For groups considered URMs for college admissions, the proportion attending college is well below their proportion in the general population, this is what makes them underrepresented.”</p>
<p>The portion attending college in general or the portion attending at that specific college is well below their proportion in general population?</p>
<p>Because would asian at let’s just say SUNY Oneonta be considered a minority since 84% is white while it’s only 1% asian but the asian population in the US is more than 1%…?</p>
<p>First, the URM advantage varies by college, being the greatest at the most elite. Meanwhile, some state schools, such as the UCs don’t consider race at all. </p>
<p>Benefit gained varies by ethnicity, with the following in decreasing order of advantage gained.</p>
<p>Registered Native American
Black
Hispanic
White
Asian</p>
<p>Int’l students are in an entire class of its own, with some schools like the UCs giving them a significant boost and some such as Harvard providing no advantage at all. </p>
<p>Accordingly, an Int’l student will find UCLA leaps and bounds easier to be accepted to (32% acceptance rate in 2012) than Harvard, while a certified Native American might be more easily accepted by Harvard.</p>
<p>For the elite Universities, the only big URM is American Indian. There are too many good black and hispanic students that can match the other applicants step for step. For the second and third tiered colleges, being a URM might be worth a little something.</p>
<p>This is a nice discussion (although not particularly accurate: again, there is a difference between race and ethnicity, the two terms are not interchangeable), but has nothing to do with the OP.</p>
<p>Further discussion should continue on the Race FAQ sticky thread.</p>