“His MCAT scores and science grade point average met SLU’s criteria for admission at that time, and his race or ethnicity did not factor into his acceptance into the University,” states Saint Louis University School of Medicines’ spokeswoman in a Huffington Post article.
Before I pass any judgement of my own, I want to present you with some official FACTS and FIGURES, and let you decide whether this statement is truthful.
- Saint Louis University School of Medicine publicly declared in the late 1990s that:
“The School of Medicine participates actively in Project 3,000 by 2000, a minority recruitment campaign sponsored by the Association of America Medical Colleges (AAMC).”
This program set the quantitative target (a quota, official or unofficial) of doubling minority enrollment in American medical schools from 1584 to 3000 between 1990 to 2000 and was put forward by the Division of Community and Minority Programs (DCMP) of the Association of America Medical Colleges (AAMC). Source: Minority Student Opportunities in United States Medical Schools
- The average GPA of an entering student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine was 3.70 in the 1996. Source: Medical School Admissions Requirements United States and Canada 1998-1999
- The average GPA of an entering student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine was 3.67 in the 1997. Source: Medical School Admissions Requirements United States and Canada 1999-2000
- In the late 1990’s, the medical school had a 1 year post-baccalaureate program called Medical Preparatory Program that allowed minority students (black and Hispanic) to bypass the conventional medical school admissions process and complete their first year of medical school in 2 years. Source: Minority Student Opportunities in United States Medical Schools
So what do YOU think? Do you believe that Saint Louis University School of Medicine let in every kid with a 3.1 GPA (like me) in 1999, or do you think they may have cut me a lot of slack because I was the African American affirmative action applicant? You decide.
Now, the admissions policies at Saint Louis University School of Medicine might have undergone substantial changes over the past 15 years, and one might argue that an individual case does not represent the whole picture of medical school admissions in America; but take a look at the MCAT and GPA Grid for Applicants and Acceptees by Selected Race and Ethnicity, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 and the evidence will speak for itself:
Even put into today’s admissions scenario, an applicant with my GPA (3.1) and my MCAT score (31) would have an acceptance rate of 74.3% if s/he was African American, 49.1% if s/he was Hispanic; YET 29.0% if s/he was White, and 17.1% if s/he was Asian American…
Need I say more? And let’s not forget one thing, to which those of you who have been through college/graduate school applications can definitely relate, is that universities are never 100% transparent about their admissions policies – think about how almost all rejection letters will read “you are great, but unfortunately we can’t offer you a spot at this point…”
Here is a list of recent academic research books about admissions beyond medical schools, in case you want to dig more into how ethnicity plays a big role: (and honestly, a Google or Wikipedia search would reveal all the stories and research studies you need…)
