Say from a private high school, applying to a prestigious top 20 college. Will it make up if you are a deficient in extra curriculars, or a little low on test scores and grades? Does the benefit apply if you are of high socio-economic standing is part of what i’m getting at. What if you are a legacy AND hispanic? That’s a lot of questions, but you’d be surprised, I know a lot of rich hispanic kids that this is relevant to, and I’m just curious.
What type of Hispanic are you? Only Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are officially considered “underrepresented minorities” as they are protected classes in the US. That can provide a boost to admissions, pushing you over someone of equivalent merit that isn’t URM. Stats show the percentage of the accepted class that is URM is typically higher than the percentage of applicants that are URM, so it helps in some ways. But it won’t get you into a college you are not otherwise qualified for.
Just so I understand correctly, are you saying that only these two types of Hispanics are considered URM for the purpose of college admissions? And if you believe this to be correct, can you tell us who told you (as you are a high school student)? This is the first time I’ve seen this suggested; e.g., NHRP is broader.
Colleges that consider URM (or legacy) generally do not say publicly how much of an effect it has on admission decisions.
The definition of URM that is most commonly used (it certainty differs from college to college) comes from the Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003). The court held that a race-conscious admissions process that may favor “underrepresented minority groups”, but that also took into account many other factors evaluated on an individual basis for every applicant, did not amount to a quota system. Under the law, in order to use race as a factor in admission legally, the individual must fall into a “protected class”. This the court defined as “African-American, Mexican-American, Native American, and Puerto Rican.” For legal purposes, this has been the standard for URM that most colleges follow, though there have been changes in recent years. Recently there have been attempts to change the definition, such as a motion by the AAMC to assess the “continued viability of AAMC’s then-current definition of “underrepresented minority” (or “URM”) as including only African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans, and mainland Puerto Ricans.”
Essentially the way the reason they divided the Hispanic category is that it is a measure of representation. Hispanics from Spain or from South America typically aren’t considered unrrepresentated or discriminated against to the extent of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. That is why colleges ask for what type of Hispanic you identify as.
The NHRP is a scholarship opportunity, not admissions. Scholarships can be tailored in any way they want. Admission to colleges can’t use race unless the individual is a protected class, at least if they want to avoid a lawsuit. Some colleges may do anyways. The story of being Hispanic or an immigrant also works well as an essay, and that is considered.
Colleges, however, may define URM however they want.
Grutter does not say this.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Aside from having been asked many times previously, the definitive answer has been given by @ucbalumnus
who also gave the definitive answer for what constituters URM to a college:
Having said that, I am closing the thread as having answered the OP’s question. Parsing Supreme Court decisions is beyond the scope of this thread.