Is this a real thing?
im white, but my mom is from an extremely underrepresented minority ethnic group, even though she is also “white”.
does this give me an edge? not that i want it to, because I believe that people should be accepted based on their achievements, but I’m just curious.
If she’s white, it’s unlikely. The forms specify ethnicity and for whites, it’s usually just that. However, if your mother really is from an “extremely underrepresented minority ethnic group” and this group has had an interesting impact on your life and values --that in itself could make for a good essay. And a good essay can impact an application in schools that are holistic in their admissions.
Look at the Common App options in the demographic section to figure out what is appropriate for you. For example, a student who is Hispanic might check Hispanic for ethnicity and White for race.
At some colleges, it does not matter.
At other colleges, it may matter, but how and how much it matters is not something that they will tell people outside the admissions office.
I know selective colleges tend to look towards race when it comes to admission.
@jameshomies.: The California UC’s are selective colleges and they cannot use race in their admissions decisions.
If you do not have the academic credentials for the majority of the colleges that consider race in their admission decisions, then being a URM will only get you so far.
Use it if you can. It will give you a bump. It helps elite schools on their reporting.
The impact of being an URM will vary greatly between public universities (particularly UC system) and private universities. It also depends on which under represented minority. Native American students, for example, have a distinct advantage when applying to elite schools. The healthiest way to think of this though is “all other things being equal” being an URM may be the tipping point that gets you in. Lower socio-economic background can have a similar impact as it is assumed (correctly in most cases) that families with lower incomes do not have access to private SAT tutors or humanitarian trips to developing countries
I disagree with a notion that going to private SAT tutor helps a student improve SAT score: what really helps the student to raise the SAT score is the desire and effort to raise the score. You can study on your own and raise the score by just as much, if not more. I am speaking from the experience, so I am very comfortable in saying I absolutely disagree with the notion of “needing” to go to some SAT prep academy to raise your SAT score. Actually, going to a SAT prep academy is an inefficient method because you waste transportation time, and rarely do kids have one-on-one private tutor coming to your house (unless you are super rich) to tutor you in SAT.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: There is only one thread for race in admissions on the site, so I am closing this one.