ORM (i.e., whites/asians), would it hurt you more to declare your race as "prefer not to disclose"?

[ayjaystudent]

Since being an ORM doesn't really help your application (and can put you at a disadvantage), would it be better then to just choose the option "prefer to not disclose"? At worst, your chances would be the same as if you had declared it.

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[Maybe.a.dentist]

Why bother? If they interview you they will see you face to face.

 

[WedgeDawg]

It will be unlikely to make any sort of difference

 

[ayjaystudent]

Why bother? If they interview you they will see you face to face.

At least you got an Interview Invite? Then, if your interview skills are great, you'd get a solid offer?

 

[Maybe.a.dentist]

At least you got an Interview Invite? Then, if your interview skills are great, you'd get a solid offer?

You're not going to be refused an interview over your race. If they want to interview you they will, if you don't get the invitation it won't be because of what continent your ancestors came from.

 

[lpp06]

Applying to medical school is like going to a casino - you can try to game the system and get a slight advantage over the house, but at the end of the day your odds are still less than favorable.

And they take your money.

 

[lorian99]

Might benefit ORMs whose appearance and last name are ethnically ambiguous.

 

[RunawayGrape]

.

 

[tiedyeddog]

At least you got an Interview Invite? Then, if your interview skills are great, you'd get a solid offer?

If you elect not to tell they assume you're not a minority.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[libertyyne]

I know this, but that doesn't automatically mean it's because the admissions system/committee members are prejudiced against Asian applicants. Asian (and white) applicants also have a higher MCAT/GPA on average compared to URM populations (Asian applicants have a little higher MCAT, white applicants have a little higher GPA), which logically might skew the distribution of the MCAT among matriculants, and are more likely to be in already competitive states (California). And like you said - despite a perceived disadvantage regarding MCAT scores, they still are overrepresented in proportion to the percentage of the US population.

Edit: Don't think we're in disagreement here so I'm not trying to argue with you, just trying to clarify my position!

Only god can help if you are an Asian with mediocre GPA and mcat in Cali. You are being compared to Asian peers. There is probably a small disadvantage of being Asian in the process. In Cali 37.24 % of asian applicants matriculated vs 38.38% of white applicants. Nationwide 40.45 % of Asian applicants matriculated vs 42.11% of white applicants.

If you assume the premise that Asians and whites have the same distribution of MCAT scores. The average Asian matriculant has a 32.8 compared to a 31.8 for whites. The average Asian applicant has a 29.5 vs 29.2 for whites.

I would venture a guess that being Asian means you are disadvantaged by .5 to 1 MCAT point.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Asian medical school matriculants have higher MCAT/GPA numbers than their white peers, who in turn have higher numbers than their URM peers. This is a known, well-documented fact.

However, I wouldn't think of this as Asians/whites being at a disadvantage. After all, if Asians/whites were truly disadvantaged, they wouldn't make up the vast majority of students in medical schools.

So your "facts" aren't really accurate. It's true that White and Asian students make up 70% of medical students, but they also make up ~70% of the applicant pool. In fact if you look at the data below from AAMC, you'll see that matriculant diversity is roughly proportional to applicant diversity.

Last year Asian applicants made up 19.2% of the applicant pool and accounted for 19.8% of matriculated applicants.
Last year White applicants made up 47% of the applicant pool and accounted for 51% of the matriculated applicants.
Last year Black/African-American applicants made up 7% of the applicant pool and accounted for 6.5% of the matriculated applicants.
Last year Hispanic applicants made up 6.1% of the applicant pool and accounted for 6.3% of the matriculated applicants.

If you're looking at MCAT and GPA, White and Asian matriculants had identical sGPA (3.69), non-science GPA (3.79) and cGPA (3.73) scores. Asian matriculants did have on average a higher MCAT score than Whites, but nothing significant - 32.8 vs. 31.8.

Also, the deviation* between average applicant scores and matriculant scores for sGPA was ~4-5% for Asian and White students and 7.5% for Black students. For MCAT, it was 10% for Asian, 8% for White and 7.5% for Black students. So in terms of expectation and leniency for applicants based on race, there is no divinitive trend showing higher expectations for a specific group.

*calculated as (mat. GPA - app GPA)/mat. GPA

 

[Frogger27]

so the MCAT average for ORM and a White matriculants is 32.8 vs 31.8..... Do you guys think that the fact that a good amount of asian applicants are from California which due to the schools out there requires them to have a higher MCAT... The White numbers may be skewed down a little bit from people who live in predominately White states where the MCAT averages are closer to 30 and asian may be skewed up due to living in California

 

[libertyyne]

I would not intentionally lie or obfuscate the truth on the application. It is an optional question you can refuse to answer. If I was an ad com and I found out you had intentionally made a misrepresentation on the app after meeting you in interview I would just reject. Why even take that risk. Your app may be good enough to get an interviee anyway.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I'm white as snow and my grades suck. Still got in. Stop wasting synapses on this crap.

 

[tantacles]

Doesn't matter. Either way is fine.

 

[deleted480308]

So your "facts" aren't really accurate. It's true that White and Asian students make up 70% of medical students, but they also make up ~70% of the applicant pool. In fact if you look at the data below from AAMC, you'll see that matriculant diversity is roughly proportional to applicant diversity.

Last year Asian applicants made up 19.2% of the applicant pool and accounted for 19.8% of matriculated applicants.
Last year White applicants made up 47% of the applicant pool and accounted for 51% of the matriculated applicants.
Last year Black/African-American applicants made up 7% of the applicant pool and accounted for 6.5% of the matriculated applicants.
Last year Hispanic applicants made up 6.1% of the applicant pool and accounted for 6.3% of the matriculated applicants.

If you're looking at MCAT and GPA, White and Asian matriculants had identical sGPA (3.69), non-science GPA (3.79) and cGPA (3.73) scores. Asian matriculants did have on average a higher MCAT score than Whites, but nothing significant - 32.8 vs. 31.8.

Also, the deviation* between average applicant scores and matriculant scores for sGPA was ~4-5% for Asian and White students and 7.5% for Black students. For MCAT, it was 10% for Asian, 8% for White and 7.5% for Black students. So in terms of expectation and leniency for applicants based on race, there is no divinitive trend showing higher expectations for a specific group.

*calculated as (mat. GPA - app GPA)/mat. GPA

Not as much between Asian and white, but a significant difference between Asian and black. Adcom really do look at race when you review likelihood of admission at various gpa/mcat scores. Like it or not, it's a thing

 

[JustaDO]

At least you got an Interview Invite? Then, if your interview skills are great, you'd get a solid offer?

Given your multitude of questions, I wouldn't stress out over this possibility.

 

[wizzed101]

Well, I think if your name was Deshawn Washington and you choose not to disclose, that can be perceived positively. If it were Zhang Goozon, or Jenny McMeat then...