UIC Med School's point-based admission.

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In wake of ruling, UIC reviewing med school's point-based admission

June 25, 2003

BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter


As one of the most diverse campuses in the country, officials at the University of Illinois at Chicago point to one statistic with particular pride: The medical school has trained an estimated 70 percent of minority physicians in Chicago.

But in the wake of Monday's Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action, officials concede they will have to take a hard look at their admissions policy at the school that graduates among the highest numbers of African-American and Latino doctors in the country each year.

That policy, like one ruled unconstitutional at the University of Michigan, uses points to determine who is granted admission, as does UIC's nursing school. Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans receive additional points because of their race in both systems.

"Everything we've been doing up to now we have to look at,'' said UIC spokesman Mark Rosati. While most of the school's 140 programs would appear to pass muster under another Supreme Court ruling upholding affirmative action Monday, Rosati said: "Certainly we are going to be looking at the admissions policies in medicine and nursing closely, reviewing the Supreme Court decision, and making any and all changes we need to to get into compliance.''

Competition to get into the nation's largest medical school is intense: 4,500 students applied for 300 spots in the fall class.

The system at the medical school has some similarities and some differences from that used to determine undergraduate admissions at Michigan, where minority students were automatically granted one-fifth of the 100 points needed to get in.

At UIC's medical school, students needed 76 points for admission. But unlike Michigan, applicants first must reach a cutoff of 60 points, which is determined by a formula based on grades, medical entrance exam scores, and the strength of a student's pre-med program, said Jorge Girotti, director of admissions.

Officials declined to release that formula, saying doing so could compromise the integrity of the process. But some 2,500 students of all races don't make the cut.

For those who remain but whose so-called cognitive scores are still under 76, race can then play a role. Students from underrepresented minority groups automatically get 13 points, along with points granted to students who agree to practice in a rural area.

"We do look at ethnicity and it does play a role,'' said Girotti, noting that 20 percent of the 1,200 students at the school are minorities. But, "if all they had to show was they were in a disadvantaged group, they wouldn't get in.''

Beyond that, the extra points drop off. Disadvantaged students--those who worked 20 hours or more while in college, those who overcame a major illness or other obstacle, first-generation college students--can get an additional five points in each of those categories.

Students who have doctoral degrees or are seeking one get three points. Athletes or musicians can get up to two additional points. Volunteering in a health setting nets up to two points. Children of alumni get one point.

Critics of affirmative action said they will watch what UIC does to ensure it is in compliance.

"Unless schools like this make big changes, and not cosmetic changes, there is going to be a lot of litigation,'' said Curt Levey, one of the attorneys representing the students who sued Michigan.

"From now on,'' added Northwestern law professor Stephen Presser, "any point system is going to have a presumption against it.''

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you may wonder how many points you get for playing NCAA varsity athletics for all 4 years??? the answer....1 point. the formula is a joke.
 
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