<p>Yeah, I dont mean to be offensive or anything (Im half Mexican myself [not Hispanic haha]), but how much does applying to Harvard or a top tier school as a URM affect one's chances? A qualitative answer would be nice, although random quantitative answers are always welcome :P</p>
<p>i'm starting to thing that the only thing that helps
is being black.</p>
<p>There are less blacks than Hispanics (including Mexicans) at Harvard...</p>
<p>I didn't think it was that a big deal, but the Columbia forums thought otherwise in my case...</p>
<p>well. a lot of Harvard applicants all look the same on paper.
so if they get a white one versus a spanish one that are pretty much the same,
guess who gets accepted?</p>
<p>^ White one!</p>
<p>You need to be an academically strong student and have reasonably high standardized testing to take advantage of the color of your skin.</p>
<p>This is old data (and was a study of 13 colleges), but I'd guess things haven't changed much:
[quote]
The results for three special groups of applicants—underrepresented minority students, legacies, and recruited athletes—stand in sharp contrast. Members of each of these groups have a decidedly better chance of being admitted, at any specified SAT level, than do their fellow applicants, including those from low-SES categories. The average boost in the odds of admission is about 30 percentage points for a recruited athlete, 28 points for a member of an underrepresented minority group, and 20 points for a legacy. For example, an applicant with an admissions probability of 40 percent based on SAT scores and other variables would have an admissions probability of 70 percent if he or she were a recruited athlete, 68 percent if an underrepresented minority, and 60 percent if a legacy.
[/quote]
from A</a> Thumb on the Scale | Harvard Magazine</p>
<p>yeah, URM is a gamechanger.</p>
<p>DIVERSITY :) <3</p>
<p>From what I've seen, being a URM is a HUGE plus. I personally think that's super unfair, but not being a URM myself, my personal opinion is bound to be biased.
Basically if you're an URM, the color of your skin can make up for below average scores and mediocre EC's. Obviously you have to show some sign of dedication and talent, but whether it's fair or not, you're race can carry you a long ways in the application process.
Good luck!</p>
<p>i may be biased as an ORM, but i think being an ORM is a huge advantage. if you're at the median stats (and everything else is a-ok), then you're pretty much set..</p>
<p>URM is pretty big, from what i've seen</p>
<p>african-american, native american (especially), and hispanic are three that I think are among the most advantageous URM in terms of college admissions</p>
<p>My sister is a URM (african but also an american citizen) that grew up in Asia (Malaysia and now lives in Saudi AND she is a legacy at Harvard and she has a (1410, 760s on her sat IIs and she is a sic writer so i am sure her essay was good 4.0 gpa loads of ECAs and she did not get into Harvard ..... She is at Dartmouth though but still it just goes to show that just because you are black does not mean you do not have to achieve you have to get very high scores still within mabye 20 - 30 points of the average Harvard candidate. I am at Boarding school (Hotchkiss) so i dont really know what i am talking about but i am just saying that legacy and URM is not all it is made out to be.....</p>
<p>I don't think that all URM's are treated equally. For example, I think that amongst Hispanics, Puerto Ricans have an advantage over Hispanics from
South America such as Colombians.</p>
<p>ummmm can i just say... i LOVE that I benefit from being a URM.</p>
<p>I am IN LOVE with that fact.</p>
<p>^^with what basis do u make such generalizations DocT...that's just dumb</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't think that all URM's are treated equally. For example, I think that amongst Hispanics, Puerto Ricans have an advantage over Hispanics from
South America such as Colombians.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Agreed. From I have seen, in terms of Hispanic applicants with most "pull":</p>
<p>Mexican > Puerto Rican > Other Hispanic applicants</p>
<p>I have no idea why this may be.</p>
<p>Not at all dumb, it has been written about by Chuck Hughes who was a former Senior Admissions Officer at Harvard (read pgs 141 - 147 in his book " What It Really Takes to get into the Ivy League") The students who have the most advantage are from minority groups that have the lowest number of strong candidates. For example Puerto Ricans as opposed to Colombians.</p>
<p>Could it be sheer numbers? Mexicans are the largest Hispanic group in the US and you could say they have been here since day one. What would you expect? </p>
<p>In any case, unless you are URM with top stats your chances of going to the top schools is very low. Today there are plenty of URMs that can compete with anybody academically (and just like anybody else, not be accepted to an Ivy).</p>
<p>No, its exactly as I stated. Besides most of this is irrelevant. I've talked to my d's roomates and others, most of whom are minorities and they don't seem any less intelligent than anybody else I've talked to at Harvard. I believe that the impact of being a URM is overstated.</p>