PREP Program Question

[Prolix]

I am looking at my options for pursuing research in my gap year, and I came across PREP programs. The ones that I have looked at so far prefer applicants that are part of an under-represented group in science. I was wondering if under-represented in science included White females or not?

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[s_med]

As far as I know, if you are white, you are not an underrepresented minority (URM) in science or medicine. Women made up 47.7% of medical students last year (source) and whites 53.0% (source); as of 2012, women made up 49.5% of the science and engineering workforce in the US with a doctoral degree (source). Although you are free to make your own judgment from these numbers, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the medical or scientific communities (especially on adcoms) that considers white females to be an underrepresented group in these fields today, especially as compared to black and Hispanic/Latino populations.

None of this should discourage you from pursuing research during a gap year, although your chances of doing so in a PREP program are probably limited.

 

[Prolix]

Thank you! Now I know that I am not the candidate those programs want, so I will be looking elsewhere.