How poor ORMs are viewed by med schools?

[HopeP]

This question spumed from another thread Mexican and Asian mix race thread.
General consensus is URM, irrespective of socioeconomic status, rich or poor are treated as URM.
Wonder if same holds true for ORM or not.
Disclaimer: I don't intend to turn this into affirmative action debate, URM vs ORM merits, acceptance bar etc. as my goal is simply to understand the current system the way it is.

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[gyngyn]

Distance traveled is always a consideration. The degree to which it influences any individual decision varies.

 

[Goro]

Hope, you've already seen this, but LizzyM's comments from the other thread where you asked a similar question is nearly a /thread type of answer:

Given the LCME (accrediting body for medical schools) focus on racial/ethnic diversity, every school is going to at least make an effort to recruit a racially and ethnically diverse student body. Diversity of socio-economic status in childhood is not a criteria AFAIK for accreditation. That said, there is some thought that the people most likely to locate their medical practices in low income settings, either inner-city or rural, will be people who grew up in such settings and are familiar with the culture and lifestyle. Ergo, it behooves us to train such people to be physicians. Furthermore, schools are putting more emphasis on "grit" and if you can show you finished the race at the same time as someone else (for this metaphor, let's say you achieved 3.9/512) but you started 200 meters behind the other competitors in this 1500 m run (e.g. coming out of a poor performing public HS, and with neither parent having attended college), then you are someone who certainly has what it takes and is perhaps stronger than other applicants who put up the same numbers.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

This question spumed from another thread Mexican and Asian mix race thread.
General consensus is URM, irrespective of socioeconomic status, rich or poor are treated as URM.
Wonder if same holds true for ORM or not.
Disclaimer: I don't intend to turn this into affirmative action debate, URM vs ORM merits, acceptance bar etc. as my goal is simply to understand the current system the way it is.

what's your definition of poor?

 

[deleted480308]

what's your definition of poor?

Well, this one year things were so hard our butler had to let their butler go

 

[HopeP]

what's your definition of poor?

In same context @Goro commented, schools wants URM doctors, rich or poor. So I assume definition of poor is same irrespective of ethnicity.

 

[KnightDoc]

In same context @Goro commented, schools wants URM doctors, rich or poor. So I assume definition of poor is same irrespective of ethnicity.

With all due respect, I think that assumption would be flawed. Is the definition of "not poor" the same irrespective of ethnicity? Does that mean median stats are the same for all matriculants regardless of ethnicity?

Building a med school class is a game of multi dimensional chess. Lots of factors and lots of moving parts. As you well know, and what you are really asking about, median stats are higher for Whites than URMs, and higher for ORMs than Whites. This calculation takes into account all SES. As a result, it follows that applicants are stratified by race regardless of SES, with low SES ORMs competing with other low SES ORMs, just like high SES ORMs are doing.

In the end, schools are looking to build a balanced class, and higher stat, low SES ORMs will not crowd out lower stat low SES candidates of other ethnicities, any more than they do at high SES. So, while the definition of "poor" is certainly constant, the median stats for matriculants of various ethnicities vary for low SES just like they do for other SES, and you can rest assured that while low SES ORMs receive a preference just like other low SES ethnicities, they likely still have higher stats than other ethnic groups, as reflected by the reported medians that take all SES groups into account.