Disadvantaged section AMCAS Help

[MDProspect]

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Hello all,

I was wondering what happens if you designate yourself as disadvantaged but medical schools disagree based on the reasons you list. I was misinformed last cycle about who is considered disadvantaged and didn't designate myself. I recently came across this article http://www.usnews.com/education/blo...t-it-means-to-be-a-disadvantaged-md-applicant and I can relate to some, if not all, of the definitions of "disadvantaged". If I do end up designating myself will it raise any red flags at schools that I am reapplying to?

My reasons for being disadvantaged:
Medicaid recipient. Working throughout undergrad to pay bills and tuition. High school had a 60% graduation rate and I wasn't really prepared for college to be honest. My county is considered underserved by the gov't.

 

[ready2go2]

Last cycle why did you count yourself out if you don't mind me asking?

 

[MDProspect]

Was told by a mentor that I wouldn't qualify since I am not a URM and working through college isn't a disadvantage. If it was, then most of medical school classes would be considered disadvantaged.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Was told by a mentor that I wouldn't qualify since I am not a URM and working through college isn't a disadvantage. If it was, then most of medical school classes would be considered disadvantaged.

Most applicants that designate themselves disadvantaged on med school apps are NOT URM. So, that was off advice. Yes, working through college doesn't automatically equate as disadvantaged. It's more so about the conditions before age 18.

 

[Dr. Trenb]

I was wondering what happens if you designate yourself as disadvantaged but medical schools disagree based on the reasons you list.

They won't disagree. But, They probably will ask you why do you think you are at a disadvantage, and you should be fully prepared to explain why/how it affected you.

 

[MDProspect]

Most applicants that designate themselves disadvantaged on med school apps are NOT URM. So, that was off advice. Yes, working through college doesn't automatically equate as disadvantaged. It's more so about the conditions before age 18.

I know that now. Back then I was more impressionable and took advice at face value.

 

[LizzyM]

Medicaid is for the poor and disabled. How poor depends on your state residence. Did your family also qualify for SNAP (food stamps)? Was it a struggle to find physicians who would accept Medicaid? It seems to me that you would not be perceived as incorrectly designating yourself as disadvantaged.

 

[MDProspect]

.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

I didnt designate myself as disadvantaged last time, feel this was a mistake, and will be designating myself as such this time around, thanks for asking this question, as I was wondering it myself @MDProspect

Though I still am worried school I reapply to will hold it against me/look down upon it since I didn't designate last time around.

 

[MDProspect]

.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Same here. Are your reasons similar to mine?

I mean no one has the exact same situation, but I definitely felt disadvantaged as a child based on multiple facets. I took advice from one of the notable forum members here to not designate myself, but think this was a large mistake, and feel I can articulate my reasons and make a valid case for myself. So this time around I will do so.

 

[LizzyM]

I would not consider having to work, or choosing to work, in college to make one disadvantaged. Maybe I'm biased because my kids worked while in college and I worked while in college.

Not every doctor will sign on to be a provider through a Medicaid HMO but if you had no problem finding a doc and getting the services you need, then it is ok to say that you didn't feel as if you were in an underserved area although, by the numbers, you were. (Just a side note, some cities with multiple medical schools are considered underserved because there are too few primary care providers for the population while the medical schools are top-heavy with specialists and subspecialists).

Being in two households is a bit tricky. Presumably, your mother was providing support for you but not providing health insurance coverage through her job or whatever. I'd you feel that you were going without necessities as a kid or that you got to college not having adequate academic and life skills preparation? (I always remember back to a youngster I met who could not take advantage of free swimming lessons in our city because she did not own a swimsuit and her mom, who worked at a fast food restaurant, couldn't afford one.) Basically, as you exited HS were you on par with your peers or behind them? If you were behind them then it might be fair to say that you were at a disadvantage in starting college.

 

[MDProspect]

I would not consider having to work, or choosing to work, in college to make one disadvantaged. Maybe I'm biased because my kids worked while in college and worked while in college.

Not every doctor will sign on to be a provider through a Medicaid HMO but if you had no problem finding a doc and getting the services you need, then it is ok to say that you didn't feel as if you were in an underserved area although, by the numbers, you were. (Just a side note, some cities with multiple medical schools are considered underserved because there are too few primary care providers for the population while the medical schools are top-heavy with specialists and subspecialists).

Being in two households is a bit tricky. Presumably, your mother was providing support for you but not providing health insurance coverage through her job or whatever. I'd you feel that you were going without necessities as a kid or that you got to college not having adequate academic and life skills preparation? (I always remember back to a youngster I met who could not take advantage of free swimming lessons in our city because she did not own a swimsuit and her mom, who worked at a fast food restaurant, couldn't afford one.) Basically, as you exited HS were you on par with your peers or behind them? If you were behind them then it might be fair to say that you were at a disadvantage in starting college.

I agree with your opinion in part about working throughout school and it worries me that other adcoms will feel the same way, but does the type of unemployment make a difference? My job wasn't 9-5 and whenever I was needed, I couldn't say no and had to go to work.

I think the real issue with my area is that there are too many foreign doctors that don't uphold to the standard of American medical schools. But it's not my place to judge or to even mention it as I am not a doctor. Out of the 1200 seniors of my graduating HS class, only 800 or so graduated. My guidance counselor should have been fired for incompetency. When I met with him, he just tried to push as many classes as he could. When I told him that I want to be a doctor, he said that it looks like my head is on my shoulders and he's more concerned with failing students. Pretty much did all the college research on my own without the help of the college office and ended up in a notorious grade-deflating premed factory.

 

[gyngyn]

I doubt that your failure to self designate had any effect on your outcome.
I'm also pretty sure that designating this year will raise eyebrows, not sympathy for your cause.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

I doubt that your failure to self designate had any effect on your outcome.
I'm also pretty sure that designating this year will raise eyebrows, not sympathy for your cause.

If you have valid reasons to designate, then why would it?

 

[MDProspect]

I doubt that your failure to self designate had any effect on your outcome.
I'm also pretty sure that designating this year will raise eyebrows, not sympathy for your cause.

I am not trying to get sympathy, but rather thinking about using the section to explain hardships instead of explaining them in my PS.

 

[gyngyn]

If you have valid reasons to designate, then why would it?

We compare applications.
It would potentially give the appearance of disingenuousness. This is a designation based on circumstances of birth. How did his circumstances of birth change from one cycle to the next?

 

[OchemOficionado]

If you have valid reasons to designate, then why would it?

Because they didn't the first time they applied?? If the reasons were valid why were they only discovered once someone became a re-applicant? If you grew up disadvantaged you know it. You don't get a revelation your second AMCAS cycle.

 

[LizzyM]

I agree with your opinion in part about working throughout school and it worries me that other adcoms will feel the same way, but does the type of unemployment make a difference? My job wasn't 9-5 and whenever I was needed, I couldn't say no and had to go to work.

I think the real issue with my area is that there are too many foreign doctors that don't uphold to the standard of American medical schools. But it's not my place to judge or to even mention it as I am not a doctor. Out of the 1200 seniors of my graduating HS class, only 800 or so graduated. My guidance counselor should have been fired for incompetency. When I met with him, he just tried to push as many classes as he could. When I told him that I want to be a doctor, he said that it looks like my head is on my shoulders and he's more concerned with failing students. Pretty much did all the college research on my own without the help of the college office and ended up in a notorious grade-deflating premed factory.

If you had a schedule for work that was stable, even if you couldn't skip work when school was intense, I would think you could "sell" that as helping you form good time management habits.
Foreign medical doctors who are licensed to practice in the US have passed the exams and done a residency or fellowship in the US. Some might be sub-par but they are licensed. There are some shady storefront clinics operated to pull in the most Medicaid dollars with little attention to quality of care. I think that what you may be saying. Did you have problems getting high quality care?

Bad advising is one of those things that does hurt kids, particularly those whose parents don't speak English and who come from families where no one has ever attended college.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

I am not trying to get sympathy, but rather thinking about using the section to explain hardships instead of explaining them in my PS.

This is exactly what I mean...I spoke of my hardships last year, I just wasted space in my actual application in doing so, instead of placing them in the disadvantaged portion, mistake yes. But I clearly still identified myself as being disadvantaged throughout the application, and was designated as such via the E01.

 

[gyngyn]

I am not trying to get sympathy, but rather thinking about using the section to explain hardships instead of explaining them in my PS.

As you have explained it here, most of my committee would find self designation a very soft call.
Given the fact that you did not designate in the previous ap, it gives the appearance of "gaming."
I'm using sympathy in its broad definition: having the effect of favoring your cause.

 

[gyngyn]

This is exactly what I mean...I spoke of my hardships last year, I just wasted space in my actual application in doing so, instead of placing them in the disadvantaged portion, mistake yes. But I clearly still identified myself as being disadvantaged throughout the application, and was designated as such via the E01.

EO1 speaks volumes.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

EO1 speaks volumes.

I can't tell if I'm sensing sarcasm or not...

 

[gyngyn]

I can't tell if I'm sensing sarcasm or not...

I'm pretty concrete, so that would be a...no.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

I'm pretty concrete, so that would be a...no.

So then why would it be an issue if I chose to speak more in-depth this year by using the disadvantaged statement, if I was already officially defined by AMCAS as such last year?

 

[LizzyM]

I would say that an E01 applicant who did not self-identify as "disadvantaged" was either self-deprecating (modest), poorly informed about what disadvantaged meant (note the comment from the advisor who suggested that only URM should/could check that box), or came from families that were middle class wage earners despite a lack of formal education (skilled union trades, highly skilled artisans, small business owners). Those who were poorly informed or who were too modest to claim disadvantage the first time around, might on a second round decide that they should go for it. My school is not big on looking back at past applicants, particularly if we didn't interview them the first time around.

 

[MDProspect]

As you have explained it here, most of my committee would find self designation a very soft call.
Given the fact that you did not designate in the previous ap, it gives the appearance of "gaming."
I'm using sympathy in its broad definition: having the effect of favoring your cause.

What would you recommend I do? I applied only to a few schools last cycle and I am only reapplying to 2 of them. Most schools will be seeing my application for the first time. I have rewritten a solid PS and adding hardships to the essay would just disrupt the flow of it. I knew that I was disadvantaged before, but chose to not designate myself because of poor advice.

 

[gyngyn]

So then why would it be an issue if I chose to speak more in-depth this year by using the disadvantaged statement, if I was already officially defined by AMCAS as such last year?

If you are EO1 and chose not to discuss disadvantage in a previous application, it would not be held against you.
If you were not EO1 and chose to change your self description, it is likely that the decision would be viewed differently.

 

[gyngyn]

What would you recommend I do? I applied only to a few schools last cycle and I am only reapplying to 2 of them. Most schools will be seeing my application for the first time. I have rewritten a solid PS and adding hardships to the essay would just disrupt the flow of it. I knew that I was disadvantaged before, but chose to not designate myself because of poor advice.

What was your AMCAS SES designation?

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

If you are EO1 and chose not to discuss disadvantage in a previous application, it would not be held against you.
If you were not EO1 and chose to change your self description, it is likely that the decision would be viewed differently.

Thank you, all I wanted to know 🙂, I should have specified in greater detail in my initial post, my apologies!

 

[MDProspect]

What was your AMCAS SES designation?

" Yes, EO2"

 

[gyngyn]

" Yes, EO2"

You could self designate and hope that the 2 re-applicant schools don't read your old application too closely.
I just want you to be aware that self designation with anything other than an EO1 designation is less likely to have a net positive effect on an application. Those with an upbringing similar to yours will scoff.

 

[MDProspect]

You could self designate and hope that the 2 re-applicant schools don't read your old application too closely.
I just want you to be aware that self designation with anything other than an EO1 designation is less likely to have a net positive effect on an application. Those with an upbringing similar to yours will scoff.

Looking at the AAMC SES disadvantaged chart, I got the EO2 because I indicated that my parents have a BA or equivalent. However, both are foreign graduates from"institutes" or the higher level education institutions in the Soviet Union.

 

[gyngyn]

Looking at the AAMC SES disadvantaged chart, I got the EO2 because I indicated that my parents have a BA or equivalent. However, both are foreign graduates from"institutes" or the higher level education institutions in the Soviet Union.

Having educated parents is a big advantage.

 

[MDProspect]

Having educated parents is a big advantage.

But what if their degrees don't equate to a BA degree?

Let's say I do self designate and the school reviews my first application and spots the difference. What is likely to happen?

 

[gyngyn]

Let's say I do self designate and the school reviews my first application and spots the difference. What is likely to happen?

Those who achieve what we would consider post high school education are among the more privileged, in any society. I can only tell you what I have seen at my school. They are quick to see "gaming."

 

[pnwhmt]

I would say that an E01 applicant who did not self-identify as "disadvantaged" was either self-deprecating (modest), poorly informed about what disadvantaged meant (note the comment from the advisor who suggested that only URM should/could check that box), or came from families that were middle class wage earners despite a lack of formal education (skilled union trades, highly skilled artisans, small business owners). Those who were poorly informed or who were too modest to claim disadvantage the first time around, might on a second round decide that they should go for it. My school is not big on looking back at past applicants, particularly if we didn't interview them the first time around.

@LizzyM I know this is an older post but I'm hoping you can elaborate a little for me on what you've said here. I am a E01 applicant and it's never really occurred to me to identify as disadvantaged. I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but after reading this I'm concerned I may fall into the "modest" category.

I was under the impression that government assistance was a great way to measure this. Although my upbringing was difficult at times (domestic violence at home/father used drugs throughout youth and is a felon/mother had some serious mental health issues that were not managed), to my knowledge we managed to get by without assistance from the government. I just assumed that because of this I would be immediately excluded from the "disadvantaged" category. For reference, these things affected me profoundly. I ended up moving away from home at 18 and went to therapy regularly for a few years to work through all the baggage. I now have a 3.9 sGPA and cGPA and will be graduating in December at 26 years old.

I think it's hard for me to assess my situation now because after working through everything many years ago I am stable and happy. My childhood is very much a part of my past so I don't feel "disadvantaged."

Thanks for any information you can share!

 

[LizzyM]

@LizzyM I know this is an older post but I'm hoping you can elaborate a little for me on what you've said here. I am a E01 applicant and it's never really occurred to me to identify as disadvantaged. I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but after reading this I'm concerned I may fall into the "modest" category.

I was under the impression that government assistance was a great way to measure this. Although my upbringing was difficult at times (domestic violence at home/father used drugs throughout youth and is a felon/mother had some serious mental health issues that were not managed), to my knowledge we managed to get by without assistance from the government. I just assumed that because of this I would be immediately excluded from the "disadvantaged" category. For reference, these things affected me profoundly. I ended up moving away from home at 18 and went to therapy regularly for a few years to work through all the baggage. I now have a 3.9 sGPA and cGPA and will be graduating in December at 26 years old.

I think it's hard for me to assess my situation now because after working through everything many years ago I am stable and happy. My childhood is very much a part of my past so I don't feel "disadvantaged."

Thanks for any information you can share!

In large part, the disadvantaged section is meant to identify students who were "behind" their peers as they started college. Was your father in prison at any time when you were 0-18 years of age? Domestic violence, parents with drug & mental health issues, would also seem to be valid to me as putting you behind your peers in college.