Does being a minority help

[ComplexPuzzle]

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I keep hearing about how being a minority women will help me get into med school. Pre-med advisors say that you will be highly sought after. But I want to know, how much does it actually help. 🙄

 

[PMPMD]

A lot.

 

[dukeblue01]

Please remember, in medical school admissions the definition of minority is different. Under represented minorities (URM's) in medicine are defined by the AAMC. It only will "help" if you are in one of the defined groups.

 

[The Fly]

C'mon people, although I understand that URMs are specifically defined by the AAMC, does this question need a response. Seems sort of rhetorical to me. . .

 

[Dr. Don]

I guess it does, but I haven't noticed it. I am getting rejected left and right over here. Maybe I'm not as competitive as I thought.

 

[reesie0726]

A common misconception is that just because you are a URM, you will get into medical school. Wrong! That is not the case. Go to the aamc's website and see the percentage of urms that apply and who actually get in. Most do not get in. However, as a URM, adcoms take special consideration when looking at your application. You have to still be competitive but they will look at the overall picture. Me for instance. I had a poor ugrad gpa, but good mcat, good post bac and good masters gpa, good ec's and good lor's so I was able to get into competitive schools. They took special consideration and looked more at the overall picture, I believe, because I am an under-represented minority. They probably would not have looked at my overall picture as much if I was not a URM. My low ugrad gpa would have been a much bigger hindrance. However, some schools did not show me any love at all because of that ugrad gpa, so being a urm can give you a slight edge if there is a weaker part of your application. But if you have a bad gpa and a bad mcat, you still don't have a chance.

 

[matthew0126]

complexpuzzle -- just go to yahoo and do a search on minority admissions... i think the numbers speak for themselves

otherwise, i'm not getting involved in another u.r.m. thread, yikes 😀

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ComplexPuzzle:
•I keep hearing about how being a minority women will help me get into med school. Pre-med advisors say that you will be highly sought after. But I want to know, how much does it actually help. 🙄 •••••

 

[none]

Only URMs as defined by the AAMC: Mexican-Americans, Mainland Puerto Ricans, African-Americans, and Native Americans (American Indians).

 

[BushBaby]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ComplexPuzzle:
•I keep hearing about how being a minority women will help me get into med school. Pre-med advisors say that you will be highly sought after. But I want to know, how much does it actually help. 🙄 •••••It helps a little but it's holds no promises....trust me...... I was told all that crap that my chances are good blah blah blah....you still need decent grades/gpa. Don't reply on the URM factor to get you in....it's not %100. I fill two quotas though......I am a woman and also a minority.....accept me and you can kill two birds with one stone! 😀

 

[Diogenes]

To be honest, so many people apply to medical school that no one factor will get you an automatic acceptance. No matter how unique you are, there is a good chance that there are dozens or hundreds or thousands of people out there like you who also are "unique." So being a minority woman is all well and good, but it won't get you in by itself because thousands of minority women apply. As always, it is the sum of the parts that matters, not any one part by itself.

 

[none]

The URM part may help, the woman part almost definitely won't. Women are now well represented in medicine. They aren't represented in every medical field...but that isn't so much the concern of the medical school adcom.