Hispanic/Latino Applicant Advantage?

Get Your Med School Admissions Questions Answered!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
L

longhorn41592

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
113
Reaction score
22
I know that it has been said that minorities have a better chance of getting accepted into medical school while having sub-par g.p.a. and mcat scores.

Does anyone know how true this is?
Members don't see this ad.
 
It's not that simple and sub-par is a bit too strong of a word.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
longhorn41592 said:
I know that it has been said that minorities have a better chance of getting accepted into medical school while having sub-par g.p.a. and mcat scores.

Does anyone know how true this is?
Click to expand...

This is like the unwritten rule when it comes to deciding who gets in and who gets out. Just look at the reported stats.. Some schools (like UNM for example) are very explicit about the fact that they give priority to 'minority' applicants. This is an argument that is already done and over with. Just pull up the stats, they speak for themselves.
 
OMG!!!! These minorities keep taking the spots of qualified, white applicants. I am so outraged. Grrr..... 🙄
 
Last edited:
wzmh6.jpg
 
Ismet said:
If every thread started by an OP who didn't use the search fxn and asked a question that is asked weekly was locked, half of pre-allo would be locked. 😀
Click to expand...

😍
 
Members don't see this ad :)
longhorn41592 said:
I know that it has been said that minorities have a better chance of getting accepted into medical school while having sub-par g.p.a. and mcat scores.

Does anyone know how true this is?
Click to expand...

Its very true, especially at Ivy League schools which want to appear diverse. Not all minorities are given this advantage. Asians are considered over-represented minorities because as a race they have better test scores and grades than other races. Ther american medical school association has statistics on average MCAT and GPA admission scores by race and it goes from highest scores to lowest: Asian > White > Hispanic/Latino > Black
 
I think it has been said before that if you are in the top 30% of your ethnicity, you have a pretty good shot of getting in. Trends show hispanics are generally less competitive applicants, so yes there is an advantage.
 
Few Hispanics count as under represented (such as white counterparts like Cubans who aren't really an URM). This mostly applies to Carib-Black (who count as both) and Puerto Ricans. The averages for Hispanic are rising though.
 
It's not that simple and sub-par is a bit too strong of a word.
Click to expand...

if you look at the stats, it is that simple, and sub-par is probably accurate.


for 3.4-3.59 GPA, 27-29 MCAT:

white applicants: 34% chance of getting in (to at least one MD school)
hispanic or latino applicants: 68% chance of getting in
african-american applicants: 84% chance of getting in


although i do agree that this is good for society and that the negative effect it has on non-minority applicants is small enough to be worth it.
 
LizzyM said:
Submit your DNA for analysis and/or comb ancestry.com and find your links to the more desirable continents. Profit.

/jk
Click to expand...

lol :laugh:

I have been wanting to submit my dad's as a Xmas present but they charge ~200 (national geographic). I wonder how long it will take for it to go down to 100...
 
Medstart108 said:
Its very true, especially at Ivy League schools which want to appear diverse. Not all minorities are given this advantage. Asians are considered over-represented minorities because as a race they have better test scores and grades than other races. Ther american medical school association has statistics on average MCAT and GPA admission scores by race and it goes from highest scores to lowest: Asian > White > Hispanic/Latino > Black
Click to expand...

Um...Asians aren't over represented because they have good test scores, they're over represented because the ratio of Asian doctors to Asian patients is high.
If you matched medical school demographics to US demographics classes be 62% white/non hispanic, 12% African American, 12% Hispanic, and 5% Asian.
 
Medstart108 said:
Its very true, especially at Ivy League schools which want to appear diverse. Not all minorities are given this advantage. Asians are considered over-represented minorities because as a race they have better test scores and grades than other races. Ther american medical school association has statistics on average MCAT and GPA admission scores by race and it goes from highest scores to lowest: Asian > White > Hispanic/Latino > Black
Click to expand...

Lol what.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile
 
Mako555 said:
if you look at the stats, it is that simple, and sub-par is probably accurate.


for 3.4-3.59 GPA, 27-29 MCAT:

white applicants: 34% chance of getting in (to at least one MD school)
hispanic or latino applicants: 68% chance of getting in
african-american applicants: 84% chance of getting in


although i do agree that this is good for society and that the negative effect it has on non-minority applicants is small enough to be worth it.
Click to expand...

no, it's not that simple. It doesn't take into account many of the historically Black medical schools, which comprise a large number of the Black applicants, are aimed towards the underserved, and generally have lower median GPA and MCAT requirements, or that there are several Puerto Rican medical schools which accept MUCH lower median GPA's and MCAT scores. It also doesn't take into account the fact that even though minorities have a higher likelyhood of getting accepted somewhere with lower stats, there are more White matriculants with below-median MCAT scores than ALL of the Black matriculants or Hispanic matriculants combined.

Will you have an advantage as an URM? Probably, but the advantage isn't such where you have entirely unqualified URMs getting into top 10 medical schools, and in any case it's more likely that the students who got in below median are white than anything else.
 
galaxyx said:
Um...Asians aren't over represented because they have good test scores, they're over represented because the ratio of Asian doctors to Asian patients is high.
If you matched medical school demographics to US demographics classes be 62% white/non hispanic, 12% African American, 12% Hispanic, and 5% Asian.
Click to expand...

Well they are over-represented among applicants. I love how in the US, clearly asian doctors treat asian patients and no one else. White doctors treat white patients, black doctors treat black patients and hispanic doctors treat hispanic patients. Thats in essence what AA is supposed to correct... ratios from US demographics to US doctors by race.

Clearly, we haven't gotten anywhere near over race in the US....
 
Medstart108 said:
Well they are over-represented among applicants. I love how in the US, clearly asian doctors treat asian patients and no one else. White doctors treat white patients, black doctors treat black patients and hispanic doctors treat hispanic patients. Thats in essence what AA is supposed to correct... ratios from US demographics to US doctors by race.

Clearly, we haven't gotten anywhere near over race in the US....
Click to expand...

😕

I can't begin to explain why this is not correct.
 
galaxyx said:
Um...Asians aren't over represented because they have good test scores, they're over represented because the ratio of Asian doctors to Asian patients is high.
If you matched medical school demographics to US demographics classes be 62% white/non hispanic, 12% African American, 12% Hispanic, and 5% Asian.
Click to expand...

Yes, but one reason there are more Asian doctors in the first place is because they had higher test scores on average.
 
Medstart108 said:
Well they are over-represented among applicants. I love how in the US, clearly asian doctors treat asian patients and no one else. White doctors treat white patients, black doctors treat black patients and hispanic doctors treat hispanic patients. Thats in essence what AA is supposed to correct... ratios from US demographics to US doctors by race.

Clearly, we haven't gotten anywhere near over race in the US....
Click to expand...

I hope you are being sarcastic.
 
galaxyx said:
Um...Asians aren't over represented because they have good test scores, they're over represented because the ratio of Asian doctors to Asian patients is high.
If you matched medical school demographics to US demographics classes be 62% white/non hispanic, 12% African American, 12% Hispanic, and 5% Asian.
Click to expand...

+1 yup.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using SDN Mobile
 
If you wanna talk about unequal representation.. its income level. Ill try to find stats from aamc again but like about 90% of matriculating med schools are from family with over 100k income. With future docs from wealthier backgrounds, u wonder how we r gnna bring competent care to the poor.. or how if our overall desire to care for the "underserved" is going to last past third year of med school.......

Sent from my DROID RAZR using SDN Mobile
 
Mako555 said:
if you look at the stats, it is that simple, and sub-par is probably accurate.


for 3.4-3.59 GPA, 27-29 MCAT:

white applicants: 34% chance of getting in (to at least one MD school)
hispanic or latino applicants: 68% chance of getting in
african-american applicants: 84% chance of getting in


although i do agree that this is good for society and that the negative effect it has on non-minority applicants is small enough to be worth it.
Click to expand...

Just curious, why is it "subpar" if they still manage to complete the medical school curriculum and earn the degree? It would seem the only reason you would call it "subpar" is because you are either misguided about just how meaningless numbers are beyond a very minimal threshold level for predicting success in med school and as a physician and/or "u mad."

(sent from my phone)
 
Also.. at the risk of being non pc, ppl who r bitter about URMs getting an "advantage" dont understand how immensely difficult it is to get past cultural and family barriers to actually even stick with becoming a doc. Its a lot more than ppl think. When u dont have a family, community, or culture who dont understand your career choice or cant give you the resources u need to make it out on top... its easy to find more practical alternatives.. yes, medicine isnt the most logical career choice for the majority of ppl. So as a non-URM, i see all their effort as a "make up" for a few points off the mcat or gpa. its actually more commendable and can teach us non-URM folks a thing or two about reality and life.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using SDN Mobile
 
Medstart108 said:
Well they are over-represented among applicants. I love how in the US, clearly asian doctors treat asian patients and no one else. White doctors treat white patients, black doctors treat black patients and hispanic doctors treat hispanic patients. Thats in essence what AA is supposed to correct... ratios from US demographics to US doctors by race.

Clearly, we haven't gotten anywhere near over race in the US....
Click to expand...


I'm a white guy with a Black primary care physician. And, my orthodontist was Black as well. I think some of us have moved past race. 🙂
 
NickNaylor said:
Just curious, why is it "subpar" if they still manage to complete the medical school curriculum and earn the degree? It would seem the only reason you would call it "subpar" is because you are either misguided about just how meaningless numbers are beyond a very minimal threshold level for predicting success in med school and as a physician and/or "u mad."

(sent from my phone)
Click to expand...


their GPA and MCAT are "subpar" compared to other applicants. I am not saying that they are subpar as people. please don't put words in my mouth. URM applicants have a clear advantage, getting into schools that others with the same stats would not. To deny this is laughable. Like I said earlier, I think it is a good thing that URM's have an advantage. I wouldn't have said that if I thought they would be bad doctors, would I?

try not to create racism or "u mad" feelings where there are none. the internet is sometimes a reasonable place.
 
No!! URMs should not be allowed into medical school. Only successful white applicants can complete the rigorous medical education, jump through the hurdles of residency and fellowships, with the final goal of joining the well-oiled machine that is our healthcare system. Gawd, when will these threads stahp!!??
 
Mako555 said:
their GPA and MCAT are "subpar" compared to other applicants. I am not saying that they are subpar as people. please don't put words in my mouth.
Click to expand...

Then "subpar" isn't the word you want to use. "Subpar" implies that something is below some kind of set standard. It doesn't simply mean "less than."
 
La Presse said:
No!! URMs should not be allowed into medical school. Only successful white applicants can complete the rigorous medical education, jump through the hurdles of residency and fellowships, with the final goal of joining the well-oiled machine that is our healthcare system. Gawd, when will these threads stahp!!??
Click to expand...

Yet another straw man argument...

Who suggested discriminating against URM's in the med admissions process?
 
Shockwave456 said:
Yet another straw man argument...

Who suggested discriminating against URM's in the med admissions process?
Click to expand...

You need to go out to your local retailer and pick up an lsat book for reading comprehension.:meanie:

There is nothing about my post above that suggests that URMs are being discriminated against. In fact, if you open your eyes and stop smoking that Langone, you might even realize that the post has traces of sarcasm and cynicism embedded in it, ultimately drawing that everyone has an equal chance at becoming a doctor, as long as you put in the work.

This a topic that has been discussed extensively on SDN and I presume you have not done your homework. Ugh...these feels.
 
Back on subject- I'd say the Latino factor will only get u an interview, then battle.to.the death for acceptance
 
La Presse said:
You need to go out to your local retailer and pick up an lsat book for reading comprehension.:meanie:

There is nothing about my post above that suggests that URMs are being discriminated against. In fact, if you open your eyes and stop smoking that Langone, you might even realize that the post has traces of sarcasm and cynicism embedded in it, ultimately drawing that everyone has an equal chance at becoming a doctor, as long as you put in the work.

This a topic that has been discussed extensively on SDN and I presume you have not done your homework. Ugh...these feels.
Click to expand...

First, I was attacking your argument. Not you. No need to get pissy and make personal attacks.

Second, the "sarcasm and cynicism embedded" in your post are in favor of affirmative action for URM's, not against it. You are misrepresenting an opposing viewpoint in an attempt to make your position appear stronger.

Third, your statement that "everyone has an equal chance at becoming a doctor, as long as you put in the work" is ignorant of the realities in med student admissions. For example, 50% of entering medical students come from families in the top 20% of income. An ORM with an application identical to that of a URM does not have the same chance of getting in.
 
NickNaylor said:
Then "subpar" isn't the word you want to use. "Subpar" implies that something is below some kind of set standard. It doesn't simply mean "less than."
Click to expand...

did you even read the original post? "while having sub-par g.p.a. and mcat scores"

your first post in this thread makes no sense. don't try to turn this into a grammar lesson.
 
Lexdiamondz said:
no, it's not that simple. It doesn't take into account many of the historically Black medical schools, which comprise a large number of the Black applicants, are aimed towards the underserved, and generally have lower median GPA and MCAT requirements, or that there are several Puerto Rican medical schools which accept MUCH lower median GPA's and MCAT scores. It also doesn't take into account the fact that even though minorities have a higher likelyhood of getting accepted somewhere with lower stats, there are more White matriculants with below-median MCAT scores than ALL of the Black matriculants or Hispanic matriculants combined.
Click to expand...
👍👍👍Yes!

Will you have an advantage as an URM? Probably, but the advantage isn't such where you have entirely unqualified URMs getting into top 10 medical schools, and in any case it's more likely that the students who got in below median are white than anything else.
Click to expand...

If you are born a URM then by definition, you are at a disadvantage toward the goal of ever being a physician. IF this wasn't true, then you wouldn't be a URM.
 
Shockwave456 said:
First, I was attacking your argument. Not you. No need to get pissy and make personal attacks.

Second, the "sarcasm and cynicism embedded" in your post are in favor of affirmative action for URM's, not against it. You are misrepresenting an opposing viewpoint in an attempt to make your position appear stronger.

Third, your statement that "everyone has an equal chance at becoming a doctor, as long as you put in the work" is ignorant of the realities in med student admissions. For example, 50% of entering medical students come from families in the top 20% of income. An ORM with an application identical to that of a URM does not have the same chance of getting in.
Click to expand...

Firstly, do not preach to me about medical school admissions. I have family for that. Secondly, you are quite unaware of what my actual views are regarding AA.

Because of the frequency of these threads, I occasionally like to come into the thread and poke fun. The same is employed in MD vs. DO threads where there are the same posters and eventually the same conclusion is reached. Therefore, I understand your bitterness if you do not really agree with it. Read the portion in boldface; you may notice something.

My personal belief is that if you are a strong academic student and have opportunities to improve yourself and other through commitment to community and medicine, I do not see the big deal why these individuals should not be strongly considered for admissions. And think about it: how many of these URM applicants even apply?
 
Lexdiamondz said:
no, it's not that simple. It doesn't take into account many of the historically Black medical schools, which comprise a large number of the Black applicants, are aimed towards the underserved, and generally have lower median GPA and MCAT requirements, or that there are several Puerto Rican medical schools which accept MUCH lower median GPA's and MCAT scores. It also doesn't take into account the fact that even though minorities have a higher likelyhood of getting accepted somewhere with lower stats, there are more White matriculants with below-median MCAT scores than ALL of the Black matriculants or Hispanic matriculants combined.

Will you have an advantage as an URM? Probably, but the advantage isn't such where you have entirely unqualified URMs getting into top 10 medical schools, and in any case it's more likely that the students who got in below median are white than anything else.
Click to expand...
👍
This^ if you control for 5 schools in Puerto Rico then suddenly the number of Latino applicants that get in isn't that high. The same is true for African Americans if you control for the historically Black medical schools.
 
I wish the OP would come back and clarify. Is he a URM with lesser stats that hopes he still has a chance or is he just worried that someone is "going to take his spot."?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
  • Question Question
Advice for 2026 applicant
Replies
7
Views
642
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
2025-2026 AMCAS Applicant Guide
Replies
1
Views
239
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
thorntonjr
  • Locked
Applicant rarity/ x factor for t20s
Replies
26
Views
2K
Moko
Moko
FutureMD2025
AMCAS primary application returned to applicant
Replies
11
Views
2K
surelycalm
S
L
  • Question Question
Is there any advantage to submitting Day 1 if the MSAR gives a later "Application review begins" date?
Replies
4
Views
750
LindaAccepted
LindaAccepted
Top