Do Medical School Acceptance Rates Reflect Preferences for Preferred Minority Groups?

Dumb question, I know........

Milton Wolf
Verbatim Post

1. For those students applying to medical school with average GPAs (3.40 to 3.59) and average MCAT scores (27-29), black applicants were almost three times more likely to be admitted than their Asian counterparts (85.9% vs. 30%), and 2.4 times more likely than their white counterparts (85.9% vs. 35.9%). Likewise, Hispanic students with average GPAs and average MCAT scores were about twice as likely to be accepted as white applicants (68.7% vs. 35.9%), and more than twice as likely as Asian applicants (68.7% vs. 30%).

2. For students applying to medical school with slightly below average GPAs of 3.20-3.39 and slightly below average MCAT scores of 24-26 (first column in the table), black applicants were more than 8 times as likely to be admitted as Asians (67.3% vs. 7.7%), and more than 5 times as likely as whites.

At my medical school, it was not just common, it was codified. If a minority student was not admitted, they could apply again through a post-baccalaureate program where they were virtually guaranteed acceptance the following year. They took courses on the college campus that exempted them from the toughest first-year med school classes the next year (anatomy and physiology) thereby giving them a significant advantage over their classmates who took the full, customary course load. Their acceptance was guaranteed if they could score at the 50th percentile on the MCAT ... for their ethnic group. On top of that, they were actually paid a stipend for the year.

Sadly, like liberalism often does, the supposed beneficiaries often become victims. I'm not aware of statistical measures and I doubt the numbers are high but I saw some of these medical students simply drop out due to the clinical demands in the 3rd and 4th years, once the didactic affirmative action favoritism could no longer protect them from real-world demands. Some could not find residencies. And some were fired from residency. They were left with enormous, usually six-figure, debts and no means to repay them.

Other victims included the better-qualified but still rejected med school applicants, black med students who earned their positions by merit alone but were viewed with suspicion by a system that had seen too many who hadn't, and -- worst of all -- patients who deserve the best medical care no matter who provides it.