From AEI: Here are some observations based on the new AAMC data:
For those applicants to US medical schools last year with average GPAs (3.40 to 3.59) and average MCAT scores (27 to 29), black applicants were 4 times more likely to be admitted to medical school than Asians in that applicant pool (81.0% vs. 20.4%), and 2.7 times more likely than white applicants (81.1% vs. 30.6%). Likewise, Hispanic applicants to medical school with average GPAs and MCAT scores were twice as likely as whites in that applicant pool to be admitted to medical school (61.7% vs. 30.6%), and three times more likely than Asians (61.7% vs. 20.4%). Overall, black (81%) and Hispanic (64.1%) applicants with average GPAs and average MCAT scores were accepted to US medical schools in 2014 at rates (81.1% and 64.1% respectively) much higher than the 32.3% average acceptance rate for all students in that applicant pool.
For students applying to medical school with slightly below average GPAs of 3.20 to 3.39 and slightly below average MCAT scores of 24 to 26 (first data column in the table, shaded light blue), black applicants were 9 times more likely to be admitted to medical school than Asians (58.7% vs. 6.5%), and 7.2 times more likely than whites (58.7% vs. 8.2%). Compared to the average acceptance rate of 18.1% for all applicants with that combination of GPA and MCAT score, black and Hispanic applicants were much more likely to be accepted at rates of 58.7% and 30.9%, and white and Asian applicants were much less likely to be accepted to US medical schools at rates of only 8.2% and 6.5%.
We find the same pattern of acceptance rates by ethnic/racial groups for applicants with slightly above average academic credentials. For example, for applicants with MCAT scores of 30 to 32 (slightly above average) and GPAs between 3.40 to 3.59 (average) in the eighth data column (shaded light blue), the acceptance rates for blacks (88.4%) and Hispanics (78.8%) were much higher than the acceptance rate for whites (48.9%) and Asians (41.3%) with those same academic credentials.
For all matriculants to US medical schools in the fall of 2014, the average MCAT score for Asians (32.8) and whites (31.7) were above the average MCAT score of 31.4 for all matriculants, while the average MCAT score for Hispanics (28.1) and blacks (27.3) had average MCAT scores below the overall average (see second to last column in table). Likewise, the average GPAs for Asian (3.73) and white (3.72) matriculants were above the overall 3.69 GPA average, while the average GPAs for Hispanic (3.57) and black (3.46) matriculants were below the overall average (see last column in table).
Bottom Line: Like in my previous posts on this topic, I’m concluding again that 2014-2015 medical school acceptance rates suggest that medical schools must have “affirmative discrimination” and “racial profiling” admission policies that favor black and Hispanic applicants over equally qualified Asian and white students.
