Am I considered Disadvantaged?

[halethsonofhama]

I am filling out my secondaries at the moment, and a few of them ask me if I want to have any 'special consideration'

I want to say yes because I have been completely self sufficient since senior year of highschool. I have been living on my own (even homeless at times), working nearly full time and always a full time student. I recieve no help from my parents.

The reason why I am hesitent is because I am not the "traidional disadvantaged student."

I am a white guy from an upper middle class family. However, a divorce when I was in highschool has since affected my fathers financial situation. According to FAFSA, my father has the means to pay for my education, but they don't take into account that he is supporting 8 people in his household, plus two other households of family that have lost their jobs. As a result, he doesn't have the means to pay for any of my education.

Note: I did not mark "URM" on AMCAS because I am not a minority

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[njbmd]

Disadvantaged does not mean under represented minority! If you marked "disadvantaged" on your AMCAS, then you need to continue that designation in your secondaries.AMCAS does ask you to explain why you believe you are disadvantaged. My opinion is that growing up in an "upper middle class" family does not make you particularly disadvantaged. If you want to spin your family/personal situation to include your personal financial problems, then make sure that you are very clear about what happened and let the decision-makers come to their own conclusion about your financial status. Being disadvantaged has nothing to do with race/ethnicity. FWIW, disadvantaged isn't going to get you much in terms of medical school admission. You might get a break on your application fees but that's about all.

 

[web2linc]

Disadvantaged is not synonymous with underrepresented. Not all minorities are poor... smh.

This is what medical schools want to know if you claim you are disadvantaged:

1) Have you or members of your immediate family ever used federal or state assistance programs?

2) What was the income level of your family during the majority of your life from birth to age eighteen?

3) Did you have paid employment prior to age eighteen?

4) Were you required to contribute to the overall family income (as opposed to working primarily for your own discretionary spending money)?

5) How many people lived in your primary household during the majority of your life from birth to age eighteen?

6) How have you paid or did you pay for your post-secondary education? For each of the applicable options below, indicate the average percentage contribution towards your post-secondary education. The percentages entered should equal 100%.

7) Explain below why you believe you should be considered a disadvantaged applicant by your designated medical schools. The space available for your explanation is 1325 characters, or approximately ¼ page.


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The following definitions/questions may help you answer the questions regarding "disadvantaged":

Underserved: Do you believe, based on your own experiences or the experiences of family and friends, that the area in which you grew up was adequately served by the available health care professionals? Were there enough physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other health care service providers?

Immediate Family: The Federal Government broadly defines "immediate family" as "spouse, parent, child, sibling, mother or father-in-law, son or daughter-in-law, or sister or brother-in-law, including step and adoptive relationships."

State and Federal Assistance Programs: These programs are specifically defined as "Means-Tested Programs" under which the individual, family, or household income and assets must be below specified thresholds. The sponsoring agencies then provide cash and non-cash assistance to eligible individuals, families, or households. Such programs include welfare benefit programs (federal, state, and local) Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC or ADC); unemployment compensation; General Assistance (GA); food stamps; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Medicaid; housing assistance; or other federal, state, or local financial assistance programs.

 

[calichick1368]

I am in a similar boat. I am a white female who grew up in middle/upper middle areas, but was ALWAYS the token poor kid. It was always a single parent home. Dad was out of the picture since 2 and died on the streets of LA my freshman year in college due to drug overdose. My mom and brother have never been able to get their lives on track and have persistently slowed my progress toward my dream of med school.

This has all affected my undergrad grades (GPA only 2.88) and may have influenced my MCAT score (24). Its been 3 years since I graduated with my BA and I am losing momentum.

I hope that the frustration I feel I have gone through qualifies. I am going to try applying to post-bacc programs through the UC and see how that goes.

 

[Class of 2016]

Does this story count,

I moved to the United States, from Kurdistan Iraq at the age of 8 years old. My family was essential kicked out of the country by Saddam's military. I have been working (some times multiple jobs) since the age of 15 to help the family make ends meet. We receive governmental support to buy food and pay for clinic visits. Since my parents don't speak English, I've been the main translator my whole life. So I've missed many days of school (middle/high school and college). On top of that, I've recently moved into my in-laws (got married several years ago) house to help pay some bills, due to my father-in-law passing away a few months ago. So my whole life I've been taking care of family members left to right and working full-time to survive, not truly focusing on school.

What you guys think?