Here are the articles for you to decide. I am not bitter at all, and completely understand the reason that I was not accepted had nothing to do w/ quotas, but more of a reason that I did not accept the views of one of the adcoms (dr. ingebretson). Regardless the post I made is completely accurate and not a case of "sour grapes".
You are under the assumption that the U was my first choice and me not getting in mad me mad. The U was never my first choice and I am psyched with the accepts that I did have and my present school.
U. Med Bias Alleged, Lawmakers: Audit confirms their fears
Wednesday, January 30, 2002
BY KIRSTEN STEWART AND ASHLEY E. BROUGHTON
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Women and minority applicants are accepted by the University of Utah Medical School at twice the rate of their white, male counterparts, according to a legislative audit of the school's admissions process.
The audit, released Tuesday, also said the medical school has lowered the academic bar for "disadvantaged" appli- cants -- those who have a lower socioeconomic status -- while requiring higher grade-point averages and entrance exam scores from other, more privileged applicants.
U. medical school representatives denied using an acceptance system that gives preference to any group of applicants.
"In its admissions process, the school of medicine has only one goal: to select applicants who together who will make a strong medical school class and who individually will become excellent physicians," said Lorris Betz, dean of the school.
Admission to the medical school is competitive. Of the 1,200 people who apply each year, 102 are accepted.
For the past two years, medical school records show about half the female applicants were accepted, compared with one male in five. Similarly, half the minority applicants were accepted, compared with one white in five.
Auditors found no proof of age-related or regional bias among applicants, and no sign of an anti-Mormon bias, as has been alleged. And there was no evidence that nonqualified applicants had been admitted.
But some lawmakers said the audit confirmed their fears. "It's reverse discrimination," said Rep. Carl Saunders, R-Ogden, who requested the audit after his son and grandson were both rejected by the medical school. "Many of my allegations have been borne out. To keep calling it 'diversity' is just dancing around the issue."
Saunders wasn't alone in seeking the review. Lawmakers from Utah County also called for the audit after receiving complaints from constituents who alleged the medical school is biased against white, Mormon males.
Betz and others said there is no quota system for minorities and women, suggesting instead that they successfully stand out from a pool of applicants.
"Women and minorities tend to pursue less traditional paths to medical school, which sets them apart from their male counterparts," Betz told lawmakers at a subcommittee meeting.
Once a woman or minority member meets the basic requirement of a 2.5 GPA and a score of 7 on the Medical College Admission Test, the admissions committee only looks at an applicant's work history and background.
Betz and others said their goal is to select a medical school class that mirrors the state's population.
But recent changes to the school's selection criteria -- de-emphasizing grades and test scores and giving more weight to applicants' character and background -- have led to higher acceptance rates for women and minorities while making it harder for white males to get accepted, auditors said. Despite that, white males make up the majority of each class currently enrolled at the school.
The acceptance practices, though consistent with the U.'s strategy to improve diversity among its student ranks, conflict with nondiscrimination policies of the state Board of Regents, which governs Utah's state-funded colleges.
"An applicant's race and gender are the attributes most often used to identify their diversity," the report said.
The practices also fly in the face of the university's claim that students are never evaluated on the basis of gender, race and religion, said House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, reminding Betz that such discrimination violates federal law.
Betz denied that women and minorities have an advantage over white, male applicants, saying the U.'s medical school is simply following national trends. The school's selection criteria is endorsed by the Association of American Medical Colleges, he said, and is used by most of the nation's 126 medical schools.
Only three of those schools, he noted, admit a lower percentage of women than the U.
"We're not accepting women and minorities for the sake [of doing so]," said Kim Wirthlin, assistant vice president for legislative and public affairs at the U.'s Health Sciences Center.
Auditors claimed that applicants from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds are subject to disparate treatment; applications from would-be students routinely have "disadvantaged" written or stamped on them and the candidates are given lower academic standards to meet, they told lawmakers.
Betz denied existence of a lower academic standard, saying, "There's no evidence that we treat advantaged or disadvantaged applicants differ- ently."
"There's no evidence?" responded Stephens. "We're talking about this report, dated January 2002?"
Here is a link to the audit as well:
http://www.le.state.ut.us/audit/02_01arpt.pdf
As far as the buildings... Moran is Great, The good side of University Hospital is nice, and of course Huntsman is good, but the actual school building isn't so hot, espcially compared to most other school. This has always been the case with the University of Utah. Yes you can do research at Moran, but you are doing gross, Micro, Bio, etc all in a building that is anything close to exceptional.
Have you ever wondered why the U doesn't do tours of the school during the interview?
Isid
