<p>he's still black.... how many blacks score high enough to attend top schools? i recently read an article saying that only 1.5% of blacks reach a 1300 (outta 1600).... where do you think these kids are goin? if they weren't given a little umph, HYPS______ would be highly homogenous.... (or di/bi, lol, gotta add the asians)... </p>
<p>w/e... point is... no, ur not URM... you're not even an M.... you're a descendant of white europeans... that's it, just cause it's one that happened to have a HUGE empire in the americas, causing miscegnation, poverty, etc, doesn't mean anything... it's still a european nation...</p>
<p>if you want to help poor people get into college that is one thing. </p>
<p>what about a white person who is poor? Not only do they not get the benefits of a good school, but they are also discriminated against during the admissions process because of their skin color.</p>
<p>Ok. Is there any way to verify that the OP is even 1/8 Spanish? 1/8 Spanish is probably indistinguishable from most of the other caucasians in America (most whites in America are generally a mix of various european ethinicites). I bet when I trace down the family tree, I probably have some URM blood a couple dozen generations back. Why can't I say I am URM?</p>
<p>Also why can't Chinese count as an underrepresented minority? There are not so many pure Han Chinese in America. Most are from Taiwan or Hong Kong since immigration from China started in around 1977 and there are still severe limitations on immigration from China. Well, they have been getting pretty lax the last 10 years though.</p>
<p>you know, i have a friend who is 1/4 hispanic (as in her grandparents are from spain). she is one of the most wealthy people i know, yet her sister wrote down "spanish" on her college application forms and was accepted into a special urm program and given scholarships because of this. that situation bothers me as much as what you're trying to do does.</p>
<p>urm should be given priority if they grew up being discriminated against and don't even need to know their exact heritage to feel that discrimination and to be disadvantaged. it can be tough when you're white, because you may feel that you deserve an extra up for some reason, but in general, urm deserve it more... and.. unfortunately, i think 1/8 might be legal, but unless you completely identify with the urm culture you claim to be a part of, i believe that it's just flat out lying and cheating. it's like asking for pity for hardships that you never went through.</p>
<p>sai2004, people from HK and Taiwan are (vast majority) Han Chinese, essentially indistinguishable from Han Chinese of the PRC. Don't try to start that separatist garbage that HK and Taiwanese are separate races. Chinese as a race are NOT underrepresented in colleges. There is no racial difference between people from PRC, HK, and Taiwan (OK there are some native Taiwanese but their contribution to the equation is very negligible).</p>
<p>part of the problem here is political correctness- for those of us who know its real definition. As I understand it, pc is using a word or phrase that may or may not really be accurate in order to avoid hurting someone's feelings. </p>
<p>Black, white, refer to race. Greek, Af-American, German, Italian-american, all refer to nationality.
A couple native to Nigeria might be living legally in Poland. If they then gave birth to a child, that child could be called Polish. Clearly, the child would not have a "european look" . Not a perfect example, but it demonstrates the difference between race and nationality. One might consider themself Irish-American if they were born in Ireland, but are a naturalized citizen here. If they've always been here, a better phrase would be "American of Irish decent", or something similar. </p>
<p>Lately, in our era here, the distinction has been blurred by what some call "hyphenated Americans" and some Americans of African ancestry that prefer not to be referred to as "black". Right/wrong/good/bad about that are all opinions, but there is a difference between race and nationality. </p>
<p>I think thats why many apps do use the phrase about who you most identify with........... and remember- anything you fill out on an app might require verification.</p>
<p>bluetissues: " it can be tough when you're white, because you may feel that you deserve an extra up for some reason, but in general, urm deserve it more..."</p>
<p>im saying if you are poor and white, you deserve it as much as anyone else who is poor. urm deserve it more, says who?</p>
<p>well if you are poor and white you are disadvantaged, and that should be taken into consideration, but unfortunately in need blind schools it may not also be. however, a lot of times, a person who is a urm has faced discrimination throughout their life that has nothing to do with anything other than the color of their skin. my best friend is half haitian and half fillipino and is the most polite, moralistic and respectable girl i know, yet she tells me that everytime she walks into a store, people watch her, and not any white people she goes in with. little things like this happen to urm all the time, from what i've been told by friends who are urm.</p>
<p>of course there are always exceptions.. so my statement has to be taken as general. but i think the reason AA was FIRST put into place was for the more moral reasoning of giving people an extra lift who faced these sorts of prejudices and discriminations their whole lives. now.. these days.. a lot of colleges only use it to have better diversity numbers.</p>
<p>so if you want to be "moral," then only put yourself down as an urm if you feel like you have faced as many obstacles as the average urm. it depends on what kind of person you are. my personal belief is that if you were too put yourself down as hispanic, expecting urm status and a possible boost in the admission process, it would be wrong. but in the end it's up to you, not me.</p>
<p>That is pretty common. When I was driving up to Canada once, I had to make some stops in small towns and backwater places to refuel and whenever I went in a store, I got many leers and heard whispering behind my back.</p>
<p>Economic status is taken into consideration for all students who apply to college. So, if a poor white person was being admitted to an institution, they would get money based on their economic circumstances. I think it erroneous to think that because a Black person is wealthy they hadn't been or aren't discriminated against. ALL blacks were discriminated against - rich and poor. That's why affirmative action programs came into being. For two centuries, Blacks were barred from attending many of the very colleges that people are now competing to get into. It's unfortunate that all of you people who are so concerned about equity weren't around during segregation to fight for the rights of the people who were excluded for centuries to get a fair shake.</p>
<p>it's not just tragedies 50 years ago! things still happen today, extreme and less dramatic as well. current discriminations still affect the lives of urm a LOT. we're not talking slavery, we're not talking being shot in the civil rights movement, we're talking getting stared down in every store you go to, getting dirty looks in AP classes from white students, being held down by family life.. etc... (YES all of this does happen!)</p>