HBCU = Utopia?

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Espadaleader

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Hello. Has anyone in this forum experienced a HBCU medical school? I would assume this would be a "dream like" experience...Instead of being the only person of color in a BIO or Honors class, you're surrounded by people who look, think, act like you. It seems like a perfect situation. Am I overreacting or is there just cause to think in this manner?

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no, it's not utopia. It's just like everywhere else. You may even be at a disadvantage because to them you're just another "you know what".
 
I have some good friends that are at Howard and Meharry now. I also interviewed at the 3 med schools this year. One thing that I can say is that it was refreshing to see people that look like me learning and teaching in groups. There was a strong sense of community at all 3 and that made me really happy how close knit and strong it felt. I chose against attending because I felt happier at Pitt but it was a great experience getting to know the schools, faculty and students.
 
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Hello. Has anyone in this forum experienced a HBCU medical school? I would assume this would be a "dream like" experience...Instead of being the only person of color in a BIO or Honors class, you're surrounded by people who look, think, act like you. It seems like a perfect situation. Am I overreacting or is there just cause to think in this manner?

I have some sad news for you. Being a person of color does not automatically make you look/think/act just like another person of color. That's a stereotype. There is an extraordinary amount of diversity within certain ethnic groups and cultures. HBCU medical schools aren't utopias.

If you'd feel more comfortable studying at an institution that is predominately of your own ethnic background, then by all means go for it! I , however, think other factors -- a particular school's mission, the population they serve, financial aid packages, academic support, and curriculum (among other factors) are more important to one's success as a student rather than having a class full of brown people.
 
Utopia is getting into a medical school where you as an individual can thrive both academically and professionally. For some this is a HBCU (doesn't just apply to URM/minorities) and for others, HBCUs are not a good fit. If you have a choice, make it based on what's going to work for you in terms of preparing you for the best career that you can have. HBCUs turn out excellent physicians and Ivy League schools can turn out poor physicians. Finding what works best for one person may not be the best for another.

From experience, medical school is one small part of your training as a physician. It goes by rapidly and 30 years from now, you likely won't remember much of what took place in medical school (any medical school). I am coming up on my ten-year anniversary of medical school now which, seem pretty remote and far from my day-to-day experiences. Go to the school where you can excel, HBCU or not.
 
I have some good friends that are at Howard and Meharry now. I also interviewed at the 3 med schools this year. One thing that I can say is that it was refreshing to see people that look like me learning and teaching in groups. There was a strong sense of community at all 3 and that made me really happy how close knit and strong it felt. I chose against attending because I felt happier at Pitt but it was a great experience getting to know the schools, faculty and students.

I'm a rising 3rd year at a HBCU and I love it. The strong sense of community is great and I think it exists because it is a HBCU and the class size is small. After undergrad I felt a school that was less cutthroat would be better for me to thrive. I also preferred the smaller class size.

Based off reputation/rankings some people may be wary of attending a HBCU. But if you're intelligent and hard-working you can do well anywhere and I believe it's easier to distinguish yourself at a smaller HBCU than a big time Ivy - you can still score 260+, less comp to get AOA, etc and get great residencies. We had someone match into Ortho at Yale this past year so it's not a hindrance going to a HBCU

But as another poster mentioned just because there are people of color doesn't mean they will think and act like you. My class is very diverse and due to the diversity, small class size, and female predominance, I am one of only a few black American males in the class.
 
I have some sad news for you. Being a person of color does not automatically make you look/think/act just like another person of color. That's a stereotype. There is an extraordinary amount of diversity within certain ethnic groups and cultures. HBCU medical schools aren't utopias.

If you'd feel more comfortable studying at an institution that is predominately of your own ethnic background, then by all means go for it! I , however, think other factors -- a particular school's mission, the population they serve, financial aid packages, academic support, and curriculum (among other factors) are more important to one's success as a student rather than having a class full of brown people.

Thank you. We're not one massive, monolithic group of people just simply because we have the same skin color.
 
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