Is my dad right...??

[Swiss Medical]

I have a triple nationality. I am American-Swiss-Nigerian. Just sayin'

My dad and I were talking about medical schools (which I was very surprised on how much he knew...) and we started discussing quotas for schools. He even went further to discuss the quotaa for different schools...including minority quotas. Now, does that mean if I apply to a school where everyone is caucasian....like South Dakota for example, will have a a very excellent chance for admission, given that I have competitive stats....? Sorry for grammar. I was in a hurry.

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[PinkIvy08]

No, I think you're oversimplifying things. How does your dad know quotas exist? How does he know the quota for each school? Even if they do, they'd be rather low just to ensure some type of diversity in each class AND you'd be competing with a group of very qualified AA applicants with diverse experiences, some with family connections, some from prestigious universities, whatever. You might have a slightly elevated chance of getting in, but there are probably others AA applicants out there thinking the same thing.

Here's a personal example I want to throw out: I go to a school where there were 3 incoming AA students. We clearly have no quota. I know plenty of my friends who were qualified AAs that applied that were immediately rejected. Why? Who knows. You need to be qualified and standout. Simply having some part African as your heritage isn't going to truly make you stand out. Doing something significant prior to med school will. (I guess if you buy into this quota theory it'd be like saying that we have a quota of 3, so you have to be the top 10 or so AA applicants out of a pool of thousands of applicants...which sounds ridic, imo)

Also, say you were to apply to a school like S. Dakota. AdComms at a school like that are more likely looking for a decent AA applicant who shows some signs of staying in S. Dakota to practice, rather than just an AA application with high numbers. (ps - numbers aren't everything...you'll be competing with applicants with lower numbers but much more significant contributions outside of the classroom...diff schools weigh the value of each differently)

Also, you're in TX - ridiculously low in-state tuition, and with strong stats, you're likely to get a scholarship that'll basically pay for med school.

sidenote: what exactly constitutes an "American" nationality? I feel like that's a term usually used by internationals but not really acknowledged by Americans... Ethnicity, race - yes. Nationality? Not so much.

 

[ozzi22]

excellent post ^

 

[Swiss Medical]

No, I think you're oversimplifying things. How does your dad know quotas exist? How does he know the quota for each school? Even if they do, they'd be rather low just to ensure some type of diversity in each class AND you'd be competing with a group of very qualified AA applicants with diverse experiences, some with family connections, some from prestigious universities, whatever. You might have a slightly elevated chance of getting in, but there are probably others AA applicants out there thinking the same thing.

Here's a personal example I want to throw out: I go to a school where there were 3 incoming AA students. We clearly have no quota. I know plenty of my friends who were qualified AAs that applied that were immediately rejected. Why? Who knows. You need to be qualified and standout. Simply having some part African as your heritage isn't going to truly make you stand out. Doing something significant prior to med school will. (I guess if you buy into this quota theory it'd be like saying that we have a quota of 3, so you have to be the top 10 or so AA applicants out of a pool of thousands of applicants...which sounds ridic, imo)

Also, say you were to apply to a school like S. Dakota. AdComms at a school like that are more likely looking for a decent AA applicant who shows some signs of staying in S. Dakota to practice, rather than just an AA application with high numbers. (ps - numbers aren't everything...you'll be competing with applicants with lower numbers but much more significant contributions outside of the classroom...diff schools weigh the value of each differently)

Also, you're in TX - ridiculously low in-state tuition, and with strong stats, you're likely to get a scholarship that'll basically pay for med school.

sidenote: what exactly constitutes an "American" nationality? I feel like that's a term usually used by internationals but not really acknowledged by Americans... Ethnicity, race - yes. Nationality? Not so much.

Thank you for the excellent advice!

 

[KickStart]

No, I think you're oversimplifying things. How does your dad know quotas exist? How does he know the quota for each school? Even if they do, they'd be rather low just to ensure some type of diversity in each class AND you'd be competing with a group of very qualified AA applicants with diverse experiences, some with family connections, some from prestigious universities, whatever. You might have a slightly elevated chance of getting in, but there are probably others AA applicants out there thinking the same thing.

Here's a personal example I want to throw out: I go to a school where there were 3 incoming AA students. We clearly have no quota. I know plenty of my friends who were qualified AAs that applied that were immediately rejected. Why? Who knows. You need to be qualified and standout. Simply having some part African as your heritage isn't going to truly make you stand out. Doing something significant prior to med school will. (I guess if you buy into this quota theory it'd be like saying that we have a quota of 3, so you have to be the top 10 or so AA applicants out of a pool of thousands of applicants...which sounds ridic, imo)

Also, say you were to apply to a school like S. Dakota. AdComms at a school like that are more likely looking for a decent AA applicant who shows some signs of staying in S. Dakota to practice, rather than just an AA application with high numbers. (ps - numbers aren't everything...you'll be competing with applicants with lower numbers but much more significant contributions outside of the classroom...diff schools weigh the value of each differently)

Also, you're in TX - ridiculously low in-state tuition, and with strong stats, you're likely to get a scholarship that'll basically pay for med school.

sidenote: what exactly constitutes an "American" nationality? I feel like that's a term usually used by internationals but not really acknowledged by Americans... Ethnicity, race - yes. Nationality? Not so much.

Glad to see you finally update the blog!