I wrote recently about the rates of medical school acceptance by race. If you are a white male and you are competing with other white males, you will be accepted on your merits. If you are a white male and you are competing for a slot with less qualified black and Hispanic males (based on objective scored data), the data says you are less likely to get accepted. I didn't make it up. That's what the data says.
I brought this data up to a colleague recently. Here's how that conversation went
Happy: Did you know that being white is a disadvantage when applying to medical school? If you have great scores and great MCATs, your rates of acceptance are much lower than black or Hispanic candidates with lower scores and a lower grade point average. Much lower.Colleague: That's interesting. I have a relative who's white son is thinking of applying to nursing school. His mother told him it might be kind of hard to get in since there is a waiting list. And you know what he told her? "
"Mom, I'm a man. Nursing schools want men. I don't think I'm going to have any problem getting in."
So. If you are a white male and you can't get accepted into medical school because you're white, think about nursing school. They're looking for a few good men. I think the reverse holds true too. If you are a female and you can't get into nursing school, try applying to medical school. They're always looking for a few good women too. But it helps to be black or Hispanic and a women.
