What about religious intolerance?

[3aliyah]

Hi people,

I've been wondering about religious intolerance since the 9/11 attacks. I am a Muslim (white American convert) and I wear a scarf to cover my hair. I have been told that perhaps I should not wear it in my interviews just in case one (or more) of the committee members has some prejudice. At the moment I'm facing an inner struggle with what my heart believes in and what my brain thinks I should do instead. Any input?
Thanks.

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[moo]

Wear it. If the school doesn't like it, then you probably would not be happy there anyway.

 

[wolferman]

3aliyah, while I truly believe that you have the right to wear whatever you want to your interview, I can kind of see what your friend is getting at. I would like to think that the people on an adcom would be above any kind of prejudice, but I'm sure not all are. So, it just comes down to how much you want to get into medical school. Not being Muslim, I have no feeling for how much not wearing a scarf would violate from your practices. Personally, I'd wear a dress to an interview if I thought it'd help me get in. But that's just me.

 

[gizzdogg]

aliyah
wear the scarf. Med schools are all about diversity, aren't they? I understand that some people have hard feelings against muslims, but seriously, i see it more as a potential positive than negative.

 

[Ray22]

3alliyah
Definitly wear it aliyah. Good luck and be yourself.

 

[Sea_dragon]

I say wear it if you want to... medical schools might actually be so afraid of being (or appearing) bias against you that they will accept you just to reassure themselves that they are not bias.

 

[styphon]

I think it matters who interviews you.
As a white muslim convert, I have found the people with the strongest prejudice against me to be arabic ex-muslims. My encounters with them end up with them trying to prove how stupid the religion is and how stupid I am for joining it.
This has happened when I interviewed for an early admissions program and one of the people was an arabic ex-muslim doctor. I mentioned something about Islam being part of the reason for me being a doctor and all he did from then on was try to point out faults and debate with me about it.

 

[praying4MD]

My friend, who converted to Islam a while ago, also relayed a similar story to me. However, he indicated that usually the Arab Ex-Muslims had confused their culture with their religion. They had major disagreements with their cultural norms, but could not differentiate their culture from their religion; so while they disagreed vehemently with Arab cultural practices, they actually blamed their religion for anything lacking in their lives and anything 'wrong' in their culture. Hence, they found solace in another religion, usually one whose cultural practices do not differ as much from religious practices.

Interesting point of view, to say the least, esp in these times.

To answer the original question: wear the scarf because you will probably feel more comfortable wearing it anyway and it is always best to be at ease during interviews. I cannot guarantee that you will not be discriminated against, but just be true to yourself and present yourself as you really are and you should be fine. As another poster suggested: you would hardly want to attend a school that denied you acceptance based on your religious attire anyway. Good luck!