Any Asian Indian Pre-Meds Out There? part 01

[SillyBoyCT]

Hello to all! Any people of Asian Indian heritage applying?

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[MD Rapper]

Hello to all! Any people of Asian Indian heritage applying?

Probably more than you can count... join the club!

 

[TX_Longhorn]

joining the club

 

[drguy22]

im joinin too

 

[abcxyz0123]

im joining too but hes just kidding around.

 

[MADSTAB]

im joining too but hes just kidding around.

No, but Good Food!

 

[pratik7]

is there a purpose to this club or is it like AMSA

 

[batchild39]

Is it just me or are too many Indians doing this cuz their parents want them to and taking up my spot in med skools?

Sucks a**, but it may just be the people I know. Oh yah, I'm brown too.

 

[PublicEnemy]

indian pre-meds? ha, no such thing.

 

[Cat's Meow]

I am not Indian. But I am Jewish.

I guess there's a lot of me in medical schools too.

 

[MD Rapper]

Is it just me or are too many Indians doing this cuz their parents want them to and taking up my spot in med skools?

Sucks a**, but it may just be the people I know. Oh yah, I'm brown too.

Maybe there are... but I don't think you should stereotype. I've wondered the same thing for years... but I've recently met quite a few indos who are very much interested in medicine and have real motivations. Three more things:

1) The process is intense enough that the people who half-heartedly want to do it get weeded out. But yeah there are people who are smart and just sort of pick the career by default.. I don't think thats exclusive to our community though

2) I don't think the OP is a troll... he is just new to the board

3) If you're posting on SDN, you're probably really interested in medicine. ("you're" meaning everyone, not you exclusively)

 

[1hotaartichoke]

joining the club

oooh! ooh! me too...im in the club! i'm a member!

 

[virilep]

count me in. guju all the way ;-)

 

[lakersfan]

count me in. guju all the way ;-)

me toooooo

 

[lakersfan]

Is it just me or are too many Indians doing this cuz their parents want them to and taking up my spot in med skools?

Sucks a**, but it may just be the people I know. Oh yah, I'm brown too.

I doubt it. I don't think people become doctors anymore just for the prestige . Second of all, I go to Berkeley and while there a lot of Indian premeds here, a lot of them don't make it because the only reason why they were doing it is since their parents wanted them to and thus they lacked the required discipline/motivation that is needed to get into med school. Saying that, if you actually look at MSAR, I think Indian people are the second or third largest represented group in medical school (more than Chinese or Korean people which was a shock to me at least since here at CAL, i can guarantee you there are more Chinese/Korean people that desire to become doctors than Indians) but my theory behind that is at least for this first generation of Indians children in America, most have parents who are professionals (doctor, dentist, engineer....) and thus are likely to end up becoming a doctor.

 

[vikaskoth]

Another thing about the stereotype of first gen indians all being docs is that the indians that came to this country from the 60's through 80's were ones who had decent jobs in america(docs, professors, engineers, business) and were generally the more educated compared to other minoritiees who flooded into america for middle class working jobs. And so lots of first gen indians have oppurtunities in education not available to the populations of other minorities. My parents are docs and they wanted me to do computers, the bottom line is that all parents try to push their kids to succeed and successfull indian ones do it tenfold.

 

[vikaskoth]

also my basketball gene is recessive so i will never play in the nba...goddamn parents

 

[priyanka]

also my basketball gene is recessive so i will never play in the nba...goddamn parents

hahahaha

its cool man

 

[priyanka]

hey count me in !!! darn i love desis lol..not that am a racist but but...you know it better!!!

 

[desikudi]

way to go desi pre-meds....

 

[PKP719]

Indian over here ,

just commited to the art of medicine a month ago . Fell in love with the practice & methods after working with several medical device companies .

 

[desikudi]

Indian over here ,

just commited to the art of medicine a month ago . Fell in love with the practice & methods after working with several medical device companies .

yeah...its interesting . r u now in med school??

 

[Cat's Meow]

way to go desi pre-meds....

What is "desi"?

Sorry if I sound stupid, but I am not sure.

Also, why do you think that there are so many Indians, Asians, and Jews in medicine? I live in the Midwest where this is not the case...but I guess things are different on the East and West Coasts (at least so many SDNers have told me this).

 

[jammin06]

count me in. guju all the way ;-)

haha, proud Guju here as well.

 

[batchild39]

Maybe there are... but I don't think you should stereotype. I've wondered the same thing for years... but I've recently met quite a few indos who are very much interested in medicine and have real motivations. Three more things:

1) The process is intense enough that the people who half-heartedly want to do it get weeded out. But yeah there are people who are smart and just sort of pick the career by default.. I don't think thats exclusive to our community though

2) I don't think the OP is a troll... he is just new to the board

3) If you're posting on SDN, you're probably really interested in medicine. ("you're" meaning everyone, not you exclusively)

GET BACK TO STUDYING FOR HISTO MD RAPPER!!!

Anyways, I could name about 5-6 indian peeps who really don't wanna do this...but apparently "they have no choice" (I'll conceed this prolly is cross-cultural). And somehow I always am the one who gets asked if I really truly want to do this...cuz of my low grades. grrrrr. sorry just venting.

 

[vikaskoth]

What is "desi"?

Sorry if I sound stupid, but I am not sure.

Also, why do you think that there are so many Indians, Asians, and Jews in medicine? I live in the Midwest where this is not the case...but I guess things are different on the East and West Coasts (at least so many SDNers have told me this).

"desi" means countrymen, I gave my reason for why there are lots of indian docs earlier in this post, i think the some of the same reasons apply to asians and jewish people. We've had our spat about your whole midwest jew thing.
I just wanted to know why you keep bringing it up.

 

[Cat's Meow]

"desi" means countrymen, I gave my reason for why there are lots of indian docs earlier in this post, i think the some of the same reasons apply to asians and jewish people. We've had our spat about your whole midwest jew thing.
I just wanted to know why you keep bringing it up.

I never got a straight answer last time...only a bunch of hate

 

[vikaskoth]

you got straight answers and hate. Fact is a large portion of the jewish community in this country lives on the east coast and this is where assloads of med schools are, and since there are lots of jewish docs, they are abundant in the east coast. It's like if i was hispanic and kept asking why aren't their hispanic doctors in wyoming, because many hispanics live in areas like texas, fl, cali, ariz, nm. Its just a simple matter of population distribution.
Why some minorities are overrepresented has to do with these races put a strong emphasis on hard work and value education (doesn't mean other people dont, dont go nuts on me) they also maintain tight knit families or communities so it fosters an environment of success and things like that.

Overall, your either being a troll, or your analyzing way too much

 

[Cat's Meow]

you got straight answers and hate. Fact is a large portion of the jewish community in this country lives on the east coast and this is where assloads of med schools are, and since there are lots of jewish docs, they are abundant in the east coast. It's like if i was hispanic and kept asking why aren't their hispanic doctors in wyoming, because many hispanics live in areas like texas, fl, cali, ariz, nm. Its just a simple matter of population distribution.
Why some minorities are overrepresented has to do with these races put a strong emphasis on hard work and value education (doesn't mean other people dont, dont go nuts on me) they also maintain tight knit families or communities so it fosters an environment of success and things like that.

Overall, your either being a troll, or your analyzing way too much

makes sense. but you make a point the point about hispanics.

there are a lot of hispanics in CA (40-50% of the state pop.), but unfortunately, they only represent like 5-10% of med students.

really sad.

 

[vikaskoth]

makes sense. but you make a point the point about hispanics.

there are a lot of hispanics in CA (40-50% of the state pop.), but unfortunately, they only represent like 5-10% of med students.

really sad.

yea well thats a whole other issue that has been discussed all over this board, so i dont wanna turn this thread into an AA one.

I guess search for em, if you wanna see that.

 

[uclakid]

i'm indian too

 

[flash]

What's with the tension toward Cat's Meow? Guy's just asking questions. I guess you want this to be a thread of 1000 "count me in" in succession? (count me in, by the way)

I want to throw up when someone says "desi" and I usually can't stand that person. Do you guys actually care about India? Or view another Indian American as a countryment. I quite frankly don't too much. I'm not blindly "proud to be Indian" or ashamed, just indifferent. I'm an American first and last.

Never understood the desire to herd together, or group-think in the larger sense.


4 more years - GWB wins on Tues. AA is pitiful. (is this ok on this thread vikswonathajiramayan(sp?))

 

[Premedtomed]

I am an Indian too. I am a US resident with Indian citizenship and yes I do care a lot about India. As a future American citizen of Indian origin, I believe it is imperative to care about India, my contribution to making the world a better place.
Look at hordes of evangelicals running to India 24/7 to spread religion just because no one cares !
Pretty sad!
It's about time that when Americans of Indian origin think about community service think India. It needs a lot of freakin help sadly.

There is this organization called TIE www.tie.org aimed at fostering entrepreneurship among Indians, they care about Indians in general and that is another way of looking at things!

I am a freakin US resident who has gone through absolutely horrible financial conditions and luckily my relatives were lukewarm nice. But it is sad that nobody cares which makes me think if I should really give a sh*** about Indian Americans hence just India

 

[Premedtomed]

Probably more than you can count... join the club!

beautiful Avatar

 

[SensesFail]

Count me in too. Except I'm on the East Coast (Nova Scotia) of Canada! Not too many of us around here...

 

[junebuguf]

Hey, I'm a low-gpa Indian doing post-bacc, so I've got it all working for me. But I test well, so hopefully April '05 will be a good month. I'm applying next cycle. Any low-gpa post-bacc'ers out there?

Do you guys think there is a hard limit to the number of Indian kids schools admit? And, that said, do Indian kids compete against a different set of numbers than other applicants (ie should Indian kids add a point or two to mcats reported by schools to determine the average for our competition pool)?

Some schools that I've been tracking only admit a fixed number of Indians year after year after year...and every year its the same number! Whats up with that?

 

[lakersfan]

Hey, I'm a low-gpa Indian doing post-bacc, so I've got it all working for me. But I test well, so hopefully April '05 will be a good month. I'm applying next cycle. Any low-gpa post-bacc'ers out there?

Do you guys think there is a hard limit to the number of Indian kids schools admit? And, that said, do Indian kids compete against a different set of numbers than other applicants (ie should Indian kids add a point or two to mcats reported by schools to determine the average for our competition pool)?

Some schools that I've been tracking only admit a fixed number of Indians year after year after year...and every year its the same number! Whats up with that?

I HIGHLY doubt that...if they did that to us, I would be pissed. I could write a page about how I hate affirmative action here but I'm not gonna say anything since I don't want to offend anyone. But to answer your question, I don't think so. HOWEVER, I do remember one thing. I go to Berkeley and the dean of UC Davis came over here (the Philipino guy). Apparently, one of my friends went to the meeting and said that the dean was acting rude towarsd the Indian people (basically, ignorning their questions). If so, I don't wanna go there anymore and the dean of UC Davis should be dismissed if there is any truth to what I just wrote what was reported.

 

[junebuguf]

It might seem like institutional discrimination, but I dont think its that far fetched. Many schools only have a 100 or so seats. On merit alone, 60 seats would go to whites, and 35 would by split amongst the various Asian ethnicities (Indians included), leaving only 5 seats for all minorities. All schools want to see diversity in their student body makeup, and I dont blame them. It would suck to be surrounded by just Asians and White people. So something has to give. You have to concede that most schools use some sort of informal quota system (now that the Supreme Court has banned formal quotas) fixing the number of seats alloted to URMs in their incoming class. This limits the number of seats available to everyone esle. Indian kids make up a ridiculously disproportionate number of applicants even amongst ORMs and Caucasians, so if you dont cap the number available to Indians, you'll end up classes of 100 kids with 15-20 Indians, which is ridiculous.

I used to think capping seats for Indians and others was outrageous too. But having talked to a lot of Indian med students, I've come to think that its quite prevalent...and justified too.

 

[lakersfan]

It might seem like institutional discrimination, but I dont think its that far fetched. Many schools only have a 100 or so seats. On merit alone, 60 seats would go to whites, and 35 would by split amongst the various Asian ethnicities (Indians included), leaving only 5 seats for all minorities. All schools want to see diversity in their student body makeup, and I dont blame them. It would suck to be surrounded by just Asians and White people. So something has to give. You have to concede that most schools use some sort of informal quota system (now that the Supreme Court has banned formal quotas) fixing the number of seats alloted to URMs in their incoming class. This limits the number of seats available to everyone esle. Indian kids make up a ridiculously disproportionate number of applicants even amongst ORMs and Caucasians, so if you dont cap the number available to Indians, you'll end up classes of 100 kids with 15-20 Indians, which is ridiculous.

I used to think capping seats for Indians and others was outrageous too. But having talked to a lot of Indian med students, I've come to think that its quite prevalent...and justified too.

I don't think its ridiculous...If there are 20 Indian people that deserve a spot in the medical school, then they should get that spot (they earned it). If I knew a school was taking me based upon my ethnicity, I would hate that. I want to go a medical school where I'm going with people who were smart and earned their way there, not a medical school where I'm with people who are in my class just because they are underrepresented. If the most deserving peolpe in my medical school were to be only white and Asian and that was because they were the 100 or so smartest people that applied, that is fine with me.

 

[NYCDesi]

I don't think its ridiculous...If there are 20 Indian people that deserve a spot in the medical school, then they should get that spot (they earned it). If I knew a school was taking me based upon my ethnicity, I would hate that. I want to go a medical school where I'm going with people who were smart and earned their way there, not a medical school where I'm with people who are in my class just because they are underrepresented. If the most deserving peolpe in my medical school were to be only white and Asian and that was because they were the 100 or so smartest people that applied, that is fine with me.

Unfortunately, it's not (and very well shouldn't be) as cut and dried as that. There are a lot of other factors that come into play, such as socioeconomic status, WHERE the student wants to practice etc.

Let's take native americans for example. They have NOWHERE near the number or quality of resources available to other ethnicities (based on the simple fact that as a result of one of the largest genocides in history, they are almost wiped out!) So when they apply, their numbers are most probably going to be markedly lower. I find it hardly justifiable to penalise them by rejecting their applications purely based on numbers alone. They must be given some sort of leeway to accommodate for their meager resources.
Also, once you become a doctor, are YOU planning to go to their reservations and treat them so they don't becomes COMPLETLY extinct? I highly doubt it. It's the native american med students who after becoming doctors, go back and treat their fellow native americans. So even if their numbers are lower, which in some ppl's eyes may make them 'undeserving', if it can prevent further mortalities and help better the plight of their race, I am all for accepting them into med school.

You may ask "how is that fair for other 'deserving' applicants?" You have to realise that students on avg apply to about 15 schools. So even after accomodating for AA/qoutas, they may, at the most, 'take your spot' at 1-2 schools, which in the grand scheme of things, doesn't account for much. If you deserve to go med school based on your hard work/numbers, as long as you apply to enough schools, you will get in.

Good Luck

P.S. Keep in mind there are a lot of cons with the above allowances, the most common one being abuse (I have seen ppl taking advantage of the system by claiming to be hispanic or black). So I am not saying it's perfect. I am just saying I prefer it to the alternative of just taking the 'cream of the crop' into med schools.

 

[junebuguf]

I don't think its ridiculous...If there are 20 Indian people that deserve a spot in the medical school, then they should get that spot (they earned it). If I knew a school was taking me based upon my ethnicity, I would hate that. I want to go a medical school where I'm going with people who were smart and earned their way there, not a medical school where I'm with people who are in my class just because they are underrepresented. If the most deserving peolpe in my medical school were to be only white and Asian and that was because they were the 100 or so smartest people that applied, that is fine with me.

You display an astonishing lack of appreciation about the intricacies of med school admission. *Every* med school factors ethnicity to varying degrees. You will certainly be in a class with people who were granted a slot due to their ethnicity so your crass and frivolous dismissal of such policies will not serve you well. Live it, Learn it, Love it.

Moreover, having people of different ethnicities represented in a class helps the students become better doctors....like it or not. And even if you were to effectively argue that replacing the 5 or so people in every class with more 'deserving' applicants would make for 5 or so better doctors, every person in your class suffers from not being surrounding by a representative sample of the patient population they hope to serve. So you gain 5 and lose the whole class...

I'm not a social activist or anything, but I think its totally fair. Much like the caste system in India that may not explicitly bar someone from getting an education, there are undue hardships that people of disadvantaged and underpriviledged backgrounds face and there has to be some way to remediate that.

You really should read "The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down." It'll give you some perspective on how important it is to have a diverse class.

 

[PKP719]

yeah...its interesting . r u now in med school??

Nope , planning to attend one of the caribbean schools in fall 05 . Not really worth my time and commitment to study for the MCATS so effectively. Might prepare a month before the exam , but thats about it. Medicine is Medicine ...doesnt matter where you gain the intuition its about how effectively you can process the information And let me tell you this , after visiting so many surgeons & md's in conferances ..some have no clue what they doing. And yes , I could say a handful were inidans. Indians are not the brightest individuals , but they do focus on hardwork. After all the hardwork , they feel "burned" out ..and it effects their performance as a MD
Note to the younger kids :
Please dont go into medicine for the respect , money and family traditions cuz you will be looked upon as another scrub along with the many others out there. I am sorry , I highly criticized individuals who dont belong in this professional line of duty.

 

[desikudi]

Note to the younger kids :
Please dont go into medicine for the respect , money and family traditions cuz you will be looked upon as another scrub along with the many others out there. I am sorry , I highly criticized individuals who dont belong in this professional line of duty.

very true

 

[lakersfan]

You display an astonishing lack of appreciation about the intricacies of med school admission. *Every* med school factors ethnicity to varying degrees. You will certainly be in a class with people who were granted a slot due to their ethnicity so your crass and frivolous dismissal of such policies will not serve you well. Live it, Learn it, Love it.

Moreover, having people of different ethnicities represented in a class helps the students become better doctors....like it or not. And even if you were to effectively argue that replacing the 5 or so people in every class with more 'deserving' applicants would make for 5 or so better doctors, every person in your class suffers from not being surrounding by a representative sample of the patient population they hope to serve. So you gain 5 and lose the whole class...

I'm not a social activist or anything, but I think its totally fair. Much like the caste system in India that may not explicitly bar someone from getting an education, there are undue hardships that people of disadvantaged and underpriviledged backgrounds face and there has to be some way to remediate that.

You really should read "The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down." It'll give you some perspective on how important it is to have a diverse class.

While I appreciate your viewpoint and those who believe in the role affirmative action should play in the admissions process to med school, I don't really think much can change my opinion on this subject. It's just like Bush always says, is it fair to tax people at a higher rate (not amount) just because they make more ( I don't think it is even though I'm a Kerry supporter)? It isn't fair to hurt people just because they are of a certain ethnicity (in this case white or asian). I had many friends with 1500's on their SAT's who didnt get to come to CAL and I think that is very unfair and that is one of the many many many reasons why I've been opposed to aa. How long should we continue helping "underprivilege" people out. While Bush has his faults, I agree with him on these viewpoints that you dont screw someone over jsut because they started off with more (my friends I can guarantee you worked just as hard to deserve to get into CAL and it sucks for them that another person got their spot just based on ethnicity and the fact that some admissions officer here at CAL though they worked harder since they were underprivileged).

 

[lakersfan]

Nope , planning to attend one of the caribbean schools in fall 05 . Not really worth my time and commitment to study for the MCATS so effectively. Might prepare a month before the exam , but thats about it. Medicine is Medicine ...doesnt matter where you gain the intuition its about how effectively you can process the information And let me tell you this , after visiting so many surgeons & md's in conferances ..some have no clue what they doing. And yes , I could say a handful were inidans. Indians are not the brightest individuals , but they do focus on hardwork. After all the hardwork , they feel "burned" out ..and it effects their performance as a MD
Note to the younger kids :
Please dont go into medicine for the respect , money and family traditions cuz you will be looked upon as another scrub along with the many others out there. I am sorry , I highly criticized individuals who dont belong in this professional line of duty.

I beg to differ...the Indians that I know that will be accepted to med school are pretty bright people and I think tehy will become very very succesful doctors. The Indian doctors I know right now are very bright people and I think what you wrote was utterly insulting, shameful, insipid, blah blah!

 

[vikaskoth]

Nope , planning to attend one of the caribbean schools in fall 05 . Not really worth my time and commitment to study for the MCATS so effectively. Might prepare a month before the exam , but thats about it. Medicine is Medicine ...doesnt matter where you gain the intuition its about how effectively you can process the information And let me tell you this , after visiting so many surgeons & md's in conferances ..some have no clue what they doing. And yes , I could say a handful were inidans. Indians are not the brightest individuals , but they do focus on hardwork. After all the hardwork , they feel "burned" out ..and it effects their performance as a MD
Note to the younger kids :
Please dont go into medicine for the respect , money and family traditions cuz you will be looked upon as another scrub along with the many others out there. I am sorry , I highly criticized individuals who dont belong in this professional line of duty.

If the MCAT is not worth your time or commitment, how are you gonna gear yourself up for Step 1 and other board exams. These are supposed to be loads harder. I bet your the one who has no clue(your not an md yet buddy), claiming that md's and surgeons have no clue what they are doing. You criticize young people who don't belong in this line of duty, but you can't even get yourself up to go to the best school you can, you just opt for carribean cause its the easiest path?

P.S. - lakers blow

 

[lakersfan]

If the MCAT is not worth your time or commitment, how are you gonna gear yourself up for Step 1 and other board exams. These are supposed to be loads harder. I bet your the one who has no clue(your not an md yet buddy), claiming that md's and surgeons have no clue what they are doing. You criticize young people who don't belong in this line of duty, but you can't even get yourself up to go to the best school you can, you just opt for carribean cause its the easiest path?

P.S. - lakers blow

is lakers blow directed to me? :-(

 

[junebuguf]

Kobe swallows!! Caron's an underperformer, Grant's knees are made of lead and Odom'll be in rehab by February.

 

[lakersfan]

Kobe swallows!! Caron's an underperformer, Grant's knees are made of lead and Odom'll be in rehab by February.

Haha...I agree with your opinion on Grant but I think Kobe is amazing with the stuff he does on the court and Caron and Odom seem like rising start to me. While I don't think the Lakers are going to win a championship this year, I expect them to make it to the second round and give a good fight to whoever they play (probably spurs or twolves). I'm more interested in seeing if the Lakers finish ahead of the Kings this year.

 

[PKP719]

I bet your the one who has no clue(your not an md yet buddy), claiming that md's and surgeons have no clue what they are doing.

* I 'll retract my comment about indians not being the brightest Md's. I guess its the clients that I worked with and I built my idealization of that. Nevertheless , they are bright individuals out there.

I never said md's and surgeons had no clue what they were doing , plz read the passage corrrectly & critically.

Secondly , I never said the caribs was the easiest path. Once again you assuming.

Lastly ,
I am very positive that I want to do this