What exactly constitutes a URM? Besides race and ethnicity, what might this include?
Besides race and ethnicity? Nothing.
Note that each college is free, unless prohibited by state law, to define URM as it sees fit and to assess how much of a bump, if any, it will play in the admissions process.
The usual definition of URM includes African Americans, Native Americans (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic/Latin@. But again, each college’s definition may vary.
So not even a religious minority, or from an under-represented part of the country or world, or something like that? I’m curious and want to know more.
URM’s in this context only apply to domestic applicants to US colleges/universities.
No. And not LGBTQ.
Having a “foreign-sounding” name does not make you an underrepresented minority as noted in your previous posts.
The URM label is a part of an application. The label is not that big of an advantage anymore, and even then, the cultural activities would have to strongly reflect the URM label over years of activities. The adcoms are experienced and know when you try to game the system. You are giving the URM label way too much credit.
You are spending too much time focusing on how to game the system. If your stats are subpar for the schools you are applying to, and you can’t get in on your own merit, don’t you think the four years of academics would be even more difficult?
To be clear, there is not a box on the Common App that says “Check here if you are URM.” You answer the questions on race/ethnicity (or not since it’s optional) and the college will do with it what it will.
However, even for colleges that consider URM, AO’s are experienced enough to know that all URM’s are not the same. A URM applicant that lives in Beverly Hills with 2 parents as physicians is not in the same bucket as a URM growing up with a single mother working 3 jobs and living in affordable housing in Bed-Sty.
I know that at times they will give geographical preference to different applicants (ei: The hawiian vs the california bay area). But that’s a bit more of a tip rather than a hook.