am I considered a URM?

deo22

I was born in Guatemala, and have lived here in the US for the majority of my life as undocumented. I am a part of an indigenous community back home. I have seen that many people consider URM as Mexican/African American... so what am I?

7SageUser-2

I would be surprised if you aren't considered an URM. I suppose the definitions could shift based on the school, but I think it's a safe bet to assume you fall under that category.

youbbyun

I do not think you are a URM in the traditional sense. URM is Mexican, Puerto Rican, and African American.

I do not believe Brazilians, Argentinians, Chileans, Guyanians,Cubans, Uruguayians, Peruvians, etc. other South Americans are considered URM. I also don’t think being part of an indigenous community back home matters for URM - just as I don’t think ethnic indigenous Uighurs in Xinjiang, China are considered URM for law school.

URM mostly focuses on the disparity between that population in the US and that population’s enrollment in law school. When compared to African Americans and Mexicans, there are not that many Guatemalan in the US to begin with to point to a big disparity— similar to how there aren’t that many Uighurs in the US to begin with.

AllSmiles4

URM usually means Hispanic, Black, Indigenous. If you're hispanic, even if you are white hispanic human, you are a URM

deo22

@username_hello said:
I do not think you are a URM in the traditional sense. URM is Mexican, Puerto Rican, and African American.

I do not believe Brazilians, Argentinians, Chileans, Guyanians,Cubans, Uruguayians, Peruvians, etc. other South Americans are considered URM. I also don’t think being part of an indigenous community back home matters for URM - just as I don’t think ethnic indigenous Uighurs in Xinjiang, China are considered URM for law school.

URM mostly focuses on the disparity between that population in the US and that population’s enrollment in law school. When compared to African Americans and Mexicans, there are not that many Guatemalan in the US to begin with to point to a big disparity— similar to how there aren’t that many Uighurs in the US to begin with.

I mean i'm central american, not south american/ there's is a huge majority of us in south florida but i guess ur right

youbbyun

@AllSmiles4 I don’t think all Hispanics are URM. I’m pretty sure Spanish people from Spain are not URM. And I don’t think there’s a lot of evidence that people like Brazilians or Argentinians see the same amount of URM boost traditionally given to Mexicans, African Americans, etc.

edgar213

You might not be a "URM" in the law school sense, but your background is certainly something that would catch an admission office's attention. Undocumented students are underrepresented and will be considered within the extent that a law school holistic admission process can offer. This does not compensate for test scores/gpa, but is still something that can contribute to the diversity of a law school, which admission offices would appreciate seeing.