What would you bring to this medical school as a minority student?

[jrucb]

That's the question I was asked by my interviewer at one of the UC's. "What would you bring to this medical school as a minority student?" I was just wondering what others would say to this sort of question. Or even just to the question of "How would you contribute to this medical school?"

stats: Gpa 3.7, Mcat 33
This is my first post by the way.

-jrucb

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SMW]

Welcome to SDN!! What I would say to that question wouldn't help you much, as they want to know what you, uniquely, would add to their school. As a minority I would guess that you have experiences that would give invaluable insights into how best to treat and serve currently underserved groups, or at least into the problems encountered by minorities in the current health care system. That question sounds like a golden opportunity to me.

 

[jmejia1]

Listen to SMW; that was excellent advice unless you're not interested in working with underserved populations.

Nice stats. As long as your modest about it,in a sense it's good that you include your numbers because it helps quell the rampant stereotypes that minorities get interviews and acceptances with crap-ass stats.

 

[UCLA2000]

I am latino med school applicant however I am NOT a urm. My stats are similar to yours....

33 mcat, 3.7 gpa.

I've been doing volunteer work since I was in junior high. Much of my volunteer work has dealt with underserved populations. I had many interviewers ask me what I could bring to their school. I tried to focus on my love for volunteering in underserved communities coupled with personal experiences with medicine.

If you enjoy volunteering in underserved communities AND you have a strong volunteer history to prove it then by all means talk about it! If you don't have that kind of experience then I would find a different way to answer the question or you're probably going to ge burned.