<p>I always see chances threads where people say things like, "Well, unless you are a URM you have no shot."</p>
<p>Does it really help this much? For some small colleges, I noticed the number in hispanics was about 100 out of 2,000 in the entering freshman class. Does this mean that not many hispanics apply, and that if they do, they have a greater chance of getting in?</p>
<p>URMs definitey have a greater chance of being accpeted.</p>
<p>While URM status does help, people here at CC overestimate its effects at top colleges.</p>
<p>"Does this mean that not many hispanics apply, and that if they do, they have a greater chance of getting in?"</p>
<p>It could be that not many hispanics apply, or that not many are accepted, or both.</p>
<p>it really doesn't help that much.</p>
<p>If you don't call getting into Stanford with a 1900 SAT helping much... mann... I don't know what you think would help then! </p>
<p>My opinion is that being a URM is a HUGE boost. The majority of the people at my school who get into HYP are URM's... they're NOT exceptional at all and yet, they gain acceptance to the most prestigious institutions. If those people from my HS were NOT URM's, they'd be stuck at a state university, instead of the Ivies. Huge difference between the admissions standards for URM's and for other races...</p>
<p>^^ yeah, I'm sure that person who got in had only that, a 1900 SAT score.</p>
<p>Come on, there are many other reasons to be admitted (ECs, awards/honors, essays, etc.).</p>
<p>It helps a ton...especially at some schools.</p>
<p>Schools that significantly lower their standards for URM's:
MIT, Columbia, Brown, Yale</p>
<p>Schools that Don't: Duke, Caltech</p>
<p>it helps becuz it acts as your hook. You generally just need to be a very strong student thats strong all around, but you don't need a hook like some other students might because urm is your hook.</p>
<p>So it's not a matter of lowering standards, it's just that being a urm can be what pushes you over the hump. (but i agree, people on CC tend to be very bitter and because college admissions is there LIFE, they tend to overstate how much it benefits)</p>
<p>But yeah, basically being a URM pushes you that last 1% to admissions. (and to the stanford guy, stanford even states that SAT scores are the LAST thing they look at.)</p>
<p>Unless a school is recruiting URMs, probably not. And I would argue that Brown, Yale, and Columbia do not lower their standards. Do they try to admit more URMs? Yes. Does Columbia have programs for underprivileged kids? Yes. Does a lot of the money given to them by Kluge have to go to financing programs for URMs? Yes. Does that mean it's easier? No.</p>
<p>I think there is a skewed perception of URM applicants on CC, driven in part by the population (middle class caucasians) who fear that their 'averageness' will hinder them in admissions. Just being black doesn't automatically give you a boost of 100 or 200 points. Can it keep you in a yes pile or get you off a waitlist? Maybe.</p>
<p>But if you look at the average black student admitted to most of the schools that s snack mentioned, their scores are just as good. Their schools just as rigorous? Why? Because they go to the same prep schools their white counterparts when to.</p>
<p>I've seen this conversation in at least 3 different forms in the past 24 hours. </p>
<p>Stop being naive and get over it.</p>
<p>SES: Don't get mad. You cann't negate the fact that being URM does help at top schools.</p>
<p>To what extent is any body guess. But it does. I've put is before but this is what I think will be the advantage.</p>
<p>3.95 uw GPA ORM with > 2300 SAT
3.9 uw GPA White with 2300 > SAT > 2200
3.85 uw GPA Legacy with 2200 > SAT > 2100
3.8 uw URM with 2100 > SAT</p>
<p>Now if you look at URM stats of 3.8 uw GPA and 2100 or so SAT then you will say it is as rigorous then you are not wrong too.</p>
<p>I'd have to agree by saying that I think the whole URM thing, while helpful, is blown out of proportion on CC. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your input, by the way.</p>
<p>POIH,</p>
<p>Your guesses are not facts. And, as we've all seen from your numerous and misinformed posts, you don't have enough experience or expertise to make such assumptions.</p>
<p>SES: I state that it is my guess and I still base my guess on the information I get from the schools but you seems to make statement that are baseless.</p>
<p>A study done in 2005 by two Princeton professors found that at the top universities minorities were given a significant advantage in admissions. On the old SAT scale out of 1600, blacks were basically given 230 extra points, hispanics 185, and asians negative 50. In comparision, recruited athletes were given 200 extra and legacies 160. Also, overall acceptance rates at elite colleges tend to be much greater for URMs than they are for white or asian students. In 2005 Harvard's acceptance rate was 10% overall and 16.7% for blacks, MIT was 15.9 and 31.6, Brown was 16.6 and 26.3, Penn was 21.2 and 30.1, and Georgetown was 22.0 and 30.7.</p>
<p>
[quote]
SES: I state that it is my guess and I still base my guess on the information I get from the schools but you seems to make statement that are baseless.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sigh not this again.</p>
<p>Everyone knows that URM's are weighted differently among schools. Everyone also knows that while they get an advantage, I believe that the advantage is not as great as it is said on CC. </p>
<p>With this being said, there are a few of your posts that are really baseless, and inductively, previous similar encounters tend to give similar future encounters. </p>
<p>In any case, back on topic... I personally believe that URM's are given some weight, but not really as much as everyone thinks. Like, you still need at least very close to the average stats of the school to get in, and given situations that are not described only by stats... everyone is different. </p>
<p>So by pure stats, you know how there are the "exceptions" to the general rule? I think URMs are closer to those than to actual facts.</p>
<p>a lot of people misinterpret that study. Just because they had on average lower SAT scores, doesn't mean they were given an SAT score "boost". It just follows that colleges don't care THAT much about test scores and the some groups score better than others.</p>
<p>Many who quote the percentges, don't quote the raw numbers. If you were to quote the numbers of minority enrollment at many, heck most of the selective public and private universities and the selective LAC's, you would see that they are relatively small. This is even with holistic admissions, perceived preferential considerations, and actively recruiting URM's. While the acceptances, and yields may be higher among these groups percentage wise, the applications, and acceptances in real numbers are well below the representative numbers for each URM group. Hence, U R M. In the larger scheme of things, the raw numbers are quite small. </p>
<p>Some of you should be ashamed.
Griping over what could be characterized as the "crumbs" relative to the number of admission spots available.</p>
<p>Being enrolled Native American living on a reservation would boost you the most. Not only does the culture on most reservations keep students from leaving home, but the Federal government pays their college costs and gives them a stipend, so the university won't have to give any of their own money. Despite this, they probably are the least represented minority.</p>
<p>In fact, here on the Blackfeet Reservation, one high school, to get it's graduates to go to college, awarded a $20K scholarship to every graduate. Still, very, very few are going on with their education.</p>
<p>I think for a true URM boost the candidate needs to be not only a URM, but also low income and a first generation college student. These are the students colleges are really seeking.</p>
<p>No, Under Represented Minority status is the combination of tangibles (economic status) and intangibles (cultural attitude toward mentality).</p>
<p>Consider an Asian student from a strict household. That student has probably not been exposed to a lax cultural attitude toward education, and probably understands the high educational bar upheld by many Asian students. Regardless of their economic status, they will statistically perform on a better level than blacks and Hispanics and native Americans of equal status.</p>
<p>I find it tiresome when people cling to tangibles and refuse to acknowledge the need to compensate for intangibles.</p>