What classifies as URM?

What is an under-represented minority exactly? I assume the main ones would be black and hispanics. What about students that are from a small country in Asia? For example, people from places like Bangladesh or Bhutan. Technically they are Asian but I wouldn’t consider them in the same light as Koreans or Chinese.

when applying for colleges they don’t know about what part of Asia you’re from, they just know that you are Asian. Asia is pretty over represented in most schools, although, not as much as white. You could tie in being from Bangladesh or Bhutan into your college essays though, this might help you but by a VERY slim margin. Just know this wouldn’t make you be considered as a URM.

It also depends on the school. Asians of all types are URMs at a lot of LACs. Males get a tip in admissions to many LACs. Girls do at some STEM schools.

URM is all races beside beside non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian.

@3idek3 What if you are born in one of those countries? Then they would know and can determine if they count as URM right?

@intparent Is there a way to know which schools consider this situation?

@GMTplus7 So you are saying all types Asians are considered not URM?

As I said Asians aren’t considered URMs, but talking about being born within that country could help you in college admissions.

@3idek3 Bummer. I kind of already guessed this but just wanted to make sure. Thanks for the comments.

Nope because they are not under represented in colleges in the US compared to those that live in the US (not in Asian countries. Asians are over represented in schools and in the world.

OP, look at US News rankings for liberal arts colleges. Google the Common Data Set for each college. Not to far down the list, you will start seeing Asian percentages lower than the general population percentage. Those are schools for sure to look at. Even the top ranked LACs get a lot fewer Asian applicants than top universities – your acceptance is likely to be easier at the LACs.

It can help at all schools if you are from an Asian group that has small numbers applying to colleges. For example, Hmong students I know seem to do well in admissions because there are very few Hmong applying to top schools. Include in your essay or additional info section if you are from a lesser represented area of Asia.

@intparent thanks, will do.

@lostaccount True, but I don’t see how this is fair to students considered Asian but account for less than 0.0001% of the U.S. population.

Um… you need to learn to research if you want to go to college. Asians are around 5.6% of the US population (2010 census).

@intparent I was talking about specific groups within asians. Most of the 5.6% are Chinese, Indian or any other big Asian country.

Ah, I see. Well, mention it in your app someplace.

If you come from an underrepresented country, it’ll probably help you, because it helps colleges boast that they have students from x number of countries.

In general, if a school gives a diversity preference to an ethnic group, it’s because of a desire to level the playing field ofr historically under-represented ethnic minorities in the context of US history. Bhutanese heritage is not in that conversation – the common app asks you some basic info about where your parents were born, I believe.

That only helps if you are a int’l applicant or presently a resident of that foreign country. If you’re a US citizen living in the US, then that exotic nationality diversity hook doesn’t apply to you.

I remember a white poster a few weeks ago who was trying to rationalize that she added diversity because she has a grandparent from Iceland <<eyeroll…>></eyeroll…>

I’m not so sure about that.

First of all, there is no blanket national definition of what an underrepresented minority is. They are pretty much what they sound like: A minority group that is underrepresented at the school in question. That almost always includes African Americans and Latinos. At elite schools, it typically doesn’t include “Asian” in the broad sense - but I’m not sure it’s true that all Asians are viewed in one general group. I think it would depend on the college and whether they have a mechanism to ask what nationality you are or whether you specify it on your own.

Typically, East and South Asians tend to be overrepresented at elite colleges but many Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders are not. Moreover, a lot of Southeast Asians and other minority Asian groups (like Cambodians or Laotians or or Hmong or the Karen or Tongans or Samoans) have faced systemic issues that are likely keeping them from reaching full representation at elite colleges. It doesn’t help to group all Asians together under one umbrella…that kind of sucks.

I don’t think it’s the size so much as it is the country of origin and representation levels. South Korea is quite a bit smaller than Cambodia or Thailand, but Koreans tend to be overrepresented on elite campuses.

However, then the question is 1) does the college even differentiate between Asian groups when they ask; 2) do they give preference to students from underrepresented minorities; 3) is that preference weighted equally across all groups. The answers vary from college to college.

I think you are conflating “underrepresented” with “underrepresented minority”. URM is generally speaking native american, hispanic and african american. It is typically applied to American citizens. There are all SORTS of underrepresented people at colleges. People from Alaska. People who grew up in rural areas. Men at some LACs. Women at some technical schools. People from various countries around the world. Any of these last set may also be advantaged at some schools and not at others. But URM has a rather specific meaning.