SAMS accepts students from only 'underrepresented communities"

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

Hi All!
The Summer Academy for Math and Science ( SAMS) gives preference to students from “underrepresented communities”. I am an Asian American student, not the first to go to college or anything like that. What do they really mean by “underrepresented communities”?

2

We strongly encourage students from the following backgrounds to apply:

  • Underrepresented in science and engineering, defined as being African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native American
  • Low socioeconomic status, which may be indicated by eligibility for public assistance programs or free/reduced lunch
  • Raised in home where English was a second language
  • First generation college students (neither parent completed a bachelor’s degree)
  • Currently attending a high school with historically low rates of admittance to top-tier institutions

Then there’s " All applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will be considered… Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate…on the basis of…* some of the items they just listed.