<p>well as i read through the posts, i keep finding the term urm.i saw that it means under represented minority. but what does that mean actually?? i am a greek student and i know that my country sends up to 3 to princeton every year.does that make me an urm??and if i am an urm will that give me better chances getting in?? thank you for all your time.</p>
<p>I think URM is generally used to refer to African-American, Hispanic and Native American students.
an ORM (over-represented minority) is usually someone who's Asian (like me).</p>
<p>you mention that you're a greek student and your country sends 3 to princeton every year...are you a greek student in the states, or a greek student abroad? if you're here in the states, then you probably get tossed in with the Caucasian category. if you're abroad, then you're regarded as an international.</p>
<p>a lot of people argue that if you're a urm, then you may have better chances of getting in. if you're a URM, then your ethnicity can be used as a tiebreaker (i.e. if a URM has the same profile as a white student, then the URM may get in over the white student). but a lot of people will tell you a lot of different things about affirmative action/URM status.</p>
<p>As a European international student, you do not qualify as an underrepresented minority.</p>
<p>"if you're a URM, then your ethnicity can be used as a tiebreaker (i.e. if a URM has the same profile as a white student, then the URM may get in over the white student). but a lot of people will tell you a lot of different things about affirmative action/URM status."</p>
<p>Although most colleges will probably not admit anything more than this, I think you are understating the benefit of URMs. It's not just tiebreakers - you'll see plenty of URMs with LESS impressive stats and ECs get accepted than those rejected in an ORM or regular category.</p>
<p>padfoot--i was trying to be diplomatic about it. but i totally agree with you...especially b/c i'm an orm and the kind of person who gets jacked in the process, lol.</p>
<p>but i wouldn't want this thread to turn into an affirmative action debate : ) knowing cc, it could go on for hours...</p>
<p>Oh I agree terrapin! (Asian international myself) but it would go more than hours!!!</p>
<p>Aww please let's continue this thread and expound on the gross inequality that is affirmative action. Let's talk about how EXTREMELY underqualified URM's take the spot of qualified Asians and whites, thereby not allowing these individuals the opportunity of being educated at top universities. </p>
<p>I actually believe there's a freshmen at Princeton who sued Harvard, Columbia, and Penn for discrimination (he's Asian I think). It's great that someone has the balls to stand up for what America is actually based on: equality and hard work leading to social mobility.</p>
<p>It's also note worthy to mention how this does a disservice to qualified URM's. One of my best friends in high school was black, but even without this aid in the admissions process, would have been a shoo-in for any school in the country. He ended up at one of HYP. I imagine some other students, before listening to him speak, approach him with suspicion, as if he didn't actually deserve to be there.</p>
<p>urm doesn't help that much, 2220 sat, 1 in class, other stuff, and waitlisted, very sad, it was my dream school</p>
<p>URM bias? 2360 SAT, 36 ACT, 800/780/760 SATIIs, IB, 11 APs (four 5's, one 4 so far), NMF. Waitlisted.
With 20k+ applications they could have the pick of the litter, and they did.</p>
<p>
[quote]
a lot of people argue that if you're a urm, then you may have better chances of getting in. if you're a URM, then your ethnicity can be used as a tiebreaker (i.e. if a URM has the same profile as a white student, then the URM may get in over the white student). but a lot of people will tell you a lot of different things about affirmative action/URM status.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Affirmative Action hurts and helps both ORM and URM students. Unfortunately, it can give ORM students the stigma of a "pity admission" and it can give URM students the ego of an "earned admission." However, it does give URM students-students who may not have considered applying or are unfamiliar with the application process-a chance to compete on par with ORM students. In closing, I should state that I agree with terrapin7's first remarks that ORM/URM status is most likely used as a tie-breaker, not as a weeder. Like Legacy status or other statuses, no one of these shall determine whether your application gets another glance.</p>
<p>There is no way ANY school is going to pick a "bad" student over a "deserved" student. No one is going to convince me of that (unless they are on the admissions committee). You have to be qualified enough at least to be in the school.</p>
<p>"Unqualified" students getting in over "qualified" students transcend race lines (as I'm sure many on this thread know). Plus, let us not mention that WHITE women are the ones that benefit the most from affirmative action.</p>
<p>I think what happens more is that the school is interested in being DIVERSE and so they search keeping in mind that they want at least some people of color.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree drbigboyjoe9505. Although, I question your assertion that white women benefit the most from AA. This fact is from where? I of course am not seeking to attack your argument, merely curious.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, mercruz, I do not know for sure if it's really like that. I have heard from scholarly sources that white women benefit the most from AA (from the book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" and from Dr. West I believe too, who teaches at Princeton). I have tried looking it up online to make sure it is true but I haven't found it anywhere. While I wouldn't doubt that my assertion is incorrect, I do think that it is correct.</p>
<p>Interesting, very interesting. I've never heard that viewpoint before this thread. I'll have to search for information-so far, I've only found a small diatribe [url=<a href="http://www.iupui.edu/%7Eaao/myths.html%5Dhere%5B/url">http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/myths.html]here[/url</a>]</p>
<p>White women don't benefit the most from affirmative action in college admissions, where they are represented in very high numbers. They benefit the most in the job market and business world, where they are still underrepresented as compared to men. Some companies receive incentives for having female management, for example. But in college admissions, there are more qualified white girls applying than schools know what to do with.</p>
<p>^ That indeed makes sense.</p>