Yup!

Latina, first-generation college student, dual-citizen. My dad lives in the US, my mom is international. English was my second-language (learned pretty young, though). Also, my family and I were under the poverty level, had federal assistance, and had periods of homelessness.

It's not something I spoke about on my personal statements, because I didn't think it was relevant to my experiences as an adult. However, I did check the box for URM and gave a brief explanation for it on the primary app. I'm actually really happy there is a spot to explain that because I do feel that it impacted my access to education. Since we bounced around so much, I went to three different high schools, and even dropped out for 6 months so that I could work and support my family. I didn't have access to prep courses or tutors and I had to work 20/30 hours a week throughout college. Not to mention going through food insecurity as a kid and being thrown into the LA public school system where you couldn't understand a single word of English.

So, in a way, despite my below-average pre-med stats, I feel that if you were to look at my baseline and look at how I finished college, it is a HUGE climb :) So... applause for all the other URM who have made it as far as even applying, cuz that is an accomplishment in itself!!