How do you feel about students with disabilities getting extended testing?

[sunyplatt]

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How does everyone feel about students with learning disabilities getting considerably extra time on each section of the MCAT? I am not taking a stance either way I am just curious.

 

[Yreva]

Who gives a crap? Worry about yourself. Them getting extra time has absolutely no effect on how you're going to score.

If you're disabled yourself, then who cares what other people (other than adcoms) think?

 

[angldrps]

Who gives a crap? Worry about yourself. Them getting extra time has absolutely no effect on how you're going to score.

If you're disabled yourself, then who cares what other people (other than adcoms) think?

I agree!...the MCAT journey is incredibly tedious and if you have time to worry about others no matter what their circumstances may be, then you are not studying enough.

 

[MrNeuro]

How do you feel about disabled people getting handicap parking?

SMH

 

[411309]

How do you feel about disabled people getting handicap parking?

SMH

They always be stealin my parking space. Those sick people. Next thing you know women are going to want to the right to vote and that's a world i can't live in

 

[ScarlettOHara]

If someone has a disability and they need the extra time and get the amount of time that accurately corresponds to their issue, well great!

Most people only get ticked when the student doesn't really have a disability (or a very, very, very mild one) and they get a doctor to diagnose them as such so they can have the extra time, or the testing center gives 300% extra time to anyone for any disability just because it's hard to gauge the right amount of time for each individual. A lot of things are created with good intentions, it's just hard to regulate programs.

Examples of things that are BS and totally contrary to the purpose of a program: people make/buy handicap parking passes when they're not handicap at all, someone writes that they're a minority on their app when their grandmother is a minority but they've never spoken to her, she didn't pass down any culture/language to the kid's parent, the kid doesn't identify with that culture EVER (and doesn't know the language, traditions, etc.) except when on an application where minority status is an advantage, collecting welfare when you've won the lottery (some lady actually did this, she won a million but thought she still should get welfare so she didn't report it).

Some programs are good in essence but without regulation you're going to find a lot of scenarios that annoy you. Someone getting extra time is out of your control, just try to forget about it if you think it's unwarranted for someone you know and do well on your own exam.

 

[411309]

I say people shouldnt be allowed to wear glasses for the test. That gives them an unfair advantage and makes them have super vision.

 

[Perimeter]

It doesn't even matter, those people get a terrible mark on their application that says "non-standard MCAT" lol unfortunantly for them it's not confidential.

 

[MedPR]

Their scores should be scaled separately than the everyone else's. More fair for everyone, including them. If I had an extra hour or two I could probably get at least 1 more point on each section. Time is a pretty huge factor on the MCAT and it's really not fair that someone with a disability gets more time than someone without one. Before you get mad, listen to my reasoning.

There is no way to quantify exactly how much more time you need/deserve because of your disability. For example, your disability might make you 1minute slower per question than everyone else, but if AAMC decides to give you 5 minutes more per question, you now have a 4 minute advantage on everyone else.

Maybe you won't be a surgeon or trauma doc, but on your ER rotation do you really think your patients are going to appreciate you needing more time to make a life and death decision because of whatever disability you may have? Hell no.

 

[Godric]

I've read that theirs an asterisk next to their score on report. So assuming that its indicated they had extra time, I would hope that adcoms would review that score differently.

Speaking from personal experience, in high school I was given extended time, and a few other advantages because I was thought to have some learning disadvantage. But I refused to believe I did. I was placed in a few remedial classes, and given extra time on exams and different tests as well (for example my file said no open ended, or must have said something similar because most of the kids in the class would get open ended tests and I would get matching). However I spoke to a few teachers, told them I do not need the extra time or special exams, and a few opted to listen to me. I also doubled up in a few classes and caught up with everyone. I proved that I didn't need the extra help and I didn't have learning disabilities . I do believe at one point I may have had some degree of learning disadvantage, because I came from a foreign country, but having lived a longer portion of my life here I think I outgrew them.

While in my some of my earlier classes, I did know some students that had real learning disabilities , I had a friend who had dyslexia, and I believe he did deserve the extended time. But by the third year in high school/fourth I believe he'd coped with his dyslexia, and manged to do everything that an average person could, without needing extra time. I think by the time people reach their 3/4th year of college and plan to take the mcat, they should have found a way to cope with their learning disability (I say this in reference to the ones that manageable). So the fact that the mcat does have option for people with learning disabilities is fair and it is reflected on their score report. I feel that if a student wishes to apply for learning disability then he/she must show some proof/documentation to the AAMC, thus limiting people who would like the dupe the system.

 

[MedPR]

I've read that theirs an asterisk next to their score on report. So assuming that its indicated they had extra time, I would hope that adcoms would review that score differently.

Speaking from personal experience, in high school I was given extended time, and a few other advantages because I was thought to have some learning disadvantage. But I refused to believe I did. I was placed in a few remedial classes, and given extra time on exams and different tests as well (for example my file said no open ended, or must have said something similar because most of the kids in the class would get open ended tests and I would get matching). However I spoke to a few teachers, told them I do not need the extra time or special exams, and a few opted to listen to me. I also doubled up in a few classes and caught up with everyone. I proved that I didn't need the extra help and I didn't have learning disabilities . I do believe at one point I may have had some degree of learning disadvantage, because I came from a foreign country, but having lived a longer portion of my life here I think I outgrew them.

While in my some of my earlier classes, I did know some students that had real learning disabilities , I had a friend who had dyslexia, and I believe he did deserve the extended time. But by the third year in high school/fourth I believe he'd coped with his dyslexia, and manged to do everything that an average person could, without needing extra time. I think by the time people reach their 3/4th year of college and plan to take the mcat, they should have found a way to cope with their learning disability (I say this in reference to the ones that manageable). So the fact that the mcat does have option for people with learning disabilities is fair and it is reflected on their score report. I feel that if a student wishes to apply for learning disability then he/she must show some proof/documentation to the AAMC, thus limiting people who would like the dupe the system.

I agree with you, but a lot of the time people can just go to their family physician and ask them to write a bogus letter saying they have XYZ learning disability.

Though I'm understanding of people with disabilities and disadvantages, I am a pretty strong believer that there should be no differences or biases in testing or test scoring. For instance I'm completely against the fact that african americans matriculate with lower average GPA/MCAT while asian americans must have vastly superior GPA/MCAT to matriculate. I am a URM, so the biases often work in my favor, but I still don't think it's the right thing to do. We should be matriculating the smartest students and those who appear to be most likely to succeed as physicians rather than worrying about diversity in the profession. If all physicians were asian/caucasian, that would be fine so long as they had the best apps going in. The same is true for disabled individuals who want to become physicians. You should not get special treatment or different standards because of your condition. Yes that may seem insensitive and unfair, but it is unfair to patients who are possibly getting substandard care because an academically/intellectually underqualified pre-med got into medical school in part because of their race/disability/whatever other disadvantage you can name.

You don't seen professional athletes with quotas or special treatment for any race or disability. The biggest, fastest, strongest players are the ones who make it. I'm sure all of us here agree that the role of a physician is much more critical in society than the role of a professional athlete, yet it is easier to become a physician than it is a professional athlete. Doesn' tmake sense to me.

 

[MrNeuro]

They always be stealin my parking space. Those sick people. Next thing you know women are going to want to the right to vote and that's a world i can't live in

http://youtu.be/ZFyyPNseWvA

 

[ridethecliche]

If you guys have time to discuss this, then you're probably not studying enough.

 

[xGeorgettex]

Personally? I think it's utter BS. But before someone jumps on me as an insensitive *******, there are a few reasons I say so. One, as someone already mentioned, diversity in medicine means very little to a person if their doc says 'hang on; I need extra time to figure this out because I have a disability.' Two, I go to a school where students with learning disabilities can get extra help. However, the students who end up in this program at my college most often have mild ADD or some problem that doesn't actually seem to effect their test taking ability. Basically, my school is thinking of shutting the program down because it's being abused. These students get first registration, override for all prereqs, extra exam time, alternative questions, etc., but these same students are those who most frequently skip class or who only use their 'extra time' for classes like organic chemistry but not a 101 humanities course, implying they just want the extra time for harder subjects (like every normal student does). Students who actually need the help refuse to go to the program because it has such an awful reputation among students and faculty.

All that said, seeing how badly the program is abused at my own university, I don't like seeing it used on the MCAT because I can only see it being used as an 'out' or 'excuse' for a poor score by students who don't want to put in the work. Again, call it insensitive, but even if you do have a legitimate medical issue, you don't belong in a high academia world like medicine if you need special exemptions to take an exam in most cases.

 

[mcloaf]

Personally? I think it's utter BS. But before someone jumps on me as an insensitive *******, there are a few reasons I say so. One, as someone already mentioned, diversity in medicine means very little to a person if their doc says 'hang on; I need extra time to figure this out because I have a disability.' Two, I go to a school where students with learning disabilities can get extra help. However, the students who end up in this program at my college most often have mild ADD or some problem that doesn't actually seem to effect their test taking ability. Basically, my school is thinking of shutting the program down because it's being abused. These students get first registration, override for all prereqs, extra exam time, alternative questions, etc., but these same students are those who most frequently skip class or who only use their 'extra time' for classes like organic chemistry but not a 101 humanities course, implying they just want the extra time for harder subjects (like every normal student does). Students who actually need the help refuse to go to the program because it has such an awful reputation among students and faculty.

All that said, seeing how badly the program is abused at my own university, I don't like seeing it used on the MCAT because I can only see it being used as an 'out' or 'excuse' for a poor score by students who don't want to put in the work. Again, call it insensitive, but even if you do have a legitimate medical issue, you don't belong in a high academia world like medicine if you need special exemptions to take an exam in most cases.

This topic has been beaten to death elsewhere, but since you brought it up again...the MCAT is not a predictor of one's performance as a physician. Med school and licensing exam performance, sure. Doctoring, not so much.

Secondly, while it does sound like your school's program has serious issues, that really doesn't have much relevance for the MCAT. I'll be more interested when your sample size exceeds n=1.

To be frank, I think this concern about other people getting more time largely stems from one's own insecurities, whether or not you choose to admit it. It is an easy way for someone to justify their own poor performance if it is not what they would like it to be. This is especially apparent on the MCAT, where your curve isn't even affected by their scores.

 

[xGeorgettex]

Mcloaf, I pretty much agree with you. Like I said, that's my personal opinion on the matter, which is what I think the OP wanted with the discussion. My own experience with programs like these has given me a negative perception of them. I didn't actually know extra time was an option before this thread though, so the fact that it is doesn't change how I'm going to prepare for the exam. All I meant to get at is that from my experience, I would tend to look down on people who've used that option, or at least look at their performance more critically. How I evaluate my own performance will be a totally separate matter and if I don't get the score I want, I'm the only one I can blame for that. In that respect, this discussion is basically irrelevant, which is what I think you're saying.