My point Wagy is that if you look at the few URM's who apply to top schools, you will see that URM's such as my self with numbers comparable to white/Asians do not always see the greatest success. There is a poster who had a 31 and 3.46 from Dartmouth. He got in everywhere. Supposedly, his ec's and personal statement were epic. My point is that my numbers are in the 99 percentile for URM's, but I have not had as much success with top schools as URM applicants with significantly lower numbers. I know applying late hurt but still.
So, I was pointing out that schools do hold URM's to lower standards. However, it seems that if they are going to accept a
URM with a 29 and 3.4 as Vandy did and not me with a 38 3.6 then the former must have shown service to the underserved. I did not. In closing, I should have clarified that schools are willing to take a chance on URM students who have displayed service to the poor as evidence that they will return to serve them once they are physicians. I did not mean to imply that URM's have better ec's than their white/asian counterparts. My point was that these schools must have seen something in their ec's to overlook their numbers, a fact that is overlooked by the majority.
Now, whether or not they will actually serve their demographic is another story. A lot do primary care but is that due to lower performance and no options or a general interest? Wagy, I appreciate your manner in which you have discussed this issue as well as Link2swim.
I should have clarified that the ec's that schools expect from minority applicants are probably different than their white/asian counterparts. Schools are concerned or at least pretend to be concerned with increasing the number of minority doctors who can practice in underserved areas. So, if they feel that a kid with a 29 and 3.4 will, perhaps they are more willing to take a chance on him/her, which is a fact missed by people. Now, I personally don't think that they should lower standards so significantly in order to do this. There are other manners to get physicians to practice in underserved areas. I don't think people would mind doing so for 3-4 years in exchange for a repayment of their student loans.
In closing, my main point was that one shouldn't say someone got in just because he/she is a URM. They should say that it helped (a lot).
One's skin color along with experiences/activities does make them unique. So, with regard to that, a lot of URM candidates have a lot to offer. The issue at hand is whether this "uniqueness" justifies a significant lowering of standards. In my opinion it does not but needs to be taken on a case by case basis. My big point is that being black doesn't just get you in. It helps but you have to offer other attributes. I'm not saying these attributes are better than white/Asians, but they need to be acknowledged as playing a role. You are correct in that we can't quantify them, but they play a role and no matter how small this still needs to be considered. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been rejected from Uchicago when a Black female who also applied late in got accepted with a 29 and 3.64. So, Uchicago saw something in her that I didn't offer. She probably isn't the best example as she is female and I male. But if I'm not mistaken, black males are almost extinct at medical schools and something like 2/3 of Black students who matriculate are female.
My long 2 cents.