<p>what is an “URM”??</p>
<p>urm= under represented minority (native american, african american, hispanic)</p>
<p>At many schools asians are also considered URMs.</p>
<p>Do all these groups get same boost, or do one of them get the most boost?</p>
<p>Who will get the most boost: athletic URM, legacy URM, disabled URM, or poor URM?</p>
<p>There isi also, geographic URM.</p>
<p>Recruited athletes, legacies and developmental admits whether or not they are URMs are in a category all their own in the admissions process.</p>
<p>I don't understand- what are you trying to say? sorry, I am really confused about this issue about URM.</p>
<p>Colleges want to create freshman classes that mirror society as a whole. In order to do this, they try to select a certain percentage of people from different unofficial categories. The most common unofficial categories are URM's, legacies, athletes, international students, development cases, and VIP's. In addition, they try to get geographic diversity (people from different states) and to identify a mix of academic majors. There may also be special hidden considerations such as needing an oboe player for the college orchestra.</p>
<p>Applicants compete for the open slots within their own unofficial category. Largely for socioeconomic reasons, URM have statistically lower SAT scores and are more likely to have come from a non-prestigious public high school. For this reason, the competition for the open slots for URM's is less than the competition for the non-URM slots. In other words, when compared to a non-URM, a URM doesn't have to have as high a SAT score, doesn't have to have taken as many AP courses, and doesn't have to have the same level of EC's.</p>
<p>Some adcoms may have separate rounds for URM's, legacies, and international students where they go thru all of the people in those categories separately. Other adcoms may go thru everybody at the same time, but give special consideration to the special groups as they look at those individuals.</p>
<p>This system is not fair because it is based on skin color. There are always going to be people who say that any system is not fair that does not reward the best scorers irregardless. However, a person with a SAT of 1350 from a high school where the average SAT is 780 is probably more impressive than a person with a SAT of 1520 from a high school where the average SAT is 1450. If it was based on socioeconomic status, that would be more fair, but the process is driven by politics and not logic. The politicians don't care how many poor people were helped. They want a head count by race.</p>
<p>In terms of applying to college, look at the college's 50% SAT ranges to determine if it is a safety, match or reach. The 50% SAT ranges are statistically lowered by applicants who are URM's, legacies, athletes, and ED applicants. If you are not in any of those categories, you need to be near the top of the range to apply RD. If the 50% range is 1300-1500, then you need a 1450 to be a strong non-URM, non-legacy candidate during RD. Then it would be a match school. You can still apply with a lower score, but it is probably a reach. For URM's, it is harder to tell where you have to be in the range, but you are definitely okay at the middle and somewhat lower.</p>
<p>What is a developmental case?</p>
<p>I say that all the time and nobody ever asks. A development case is someone from a family with a lot of money who might buy the college a new building. Typically, these people are handled by the development office who provides input to the adcoms in much the same way that coaches provide input about athletes that they want.</p>
<p>There probably aren't that many of them, but 1.4 million people graduate from high school each year, about 15000 apply to Harvard, and they only accept about 1500. If there are only a few of them, its affecting the odds.</p>
<p>My question is still not answered-Who will get the most boost: athletic URM, legacy URM, disabled URM, geographic URM, wealthy URM, or poor URM?</p>