I too struggled with checking the box. At first I thought I didn’t qualify until I read the description. I checked the box and will let the chips fall where they may.
I am the only one in my family to graduate from college. Both of my parents were high school dropouts. I worked in high school to buy things that I needed and help with bills. My parents were loving and supportive though so I never realized that this was “disadvantaged”. I came home from college one day to find my father dead of a heart attack. The next day I found out that we were truly broke. I was already working but in order to help my Mom out more financially since our income was cut in more than half, I started working a full time jobs and on call jobs. My grades SUFFERED Horribly from lack of sleep, crazy working hours, and my own depression and guilt over my Dad’s death. I put medicine on the back burner and once I finally graduated I became a teacher. I had the opportunity to earn a MS in Biology in 2011 and then the thoughts of med school came flooding back as I started seeing that it MIGHT be a possibility.
It is interesting to me that there are MANY students in med school who DON’T want to be there. They were basically raised with “this is what you do”. I know this because I am friends with an instructor at a local medical school and she has shared many stories with me (no names of course) of what she knows about the students.
- underdog808 Said:
The original poster brings up a question I had regarding this topic: if an applicant was the first person in his/her immediate family to graduate with a bachelor's degree, does that qualify as disadvantaged?.
Here's what makes you disadvantaged. First, according to AAMC data, the majority of folks accepted to med school have at least one parent with the letters "Dr." in front of their name. The last time I looked at the data, this worked out to be 60% of all Black students, 70% of all White students, and 80% of all Asian students. Second, money buys exposure to the best education money can buy. These kids often attend schools in the best districts in the US or expensive private schools. Put another way, most of my clients are high school students from Asian families, paying me to teach their kids MCAT study skills. IN HIGH SCHOOL. Third, if your mom, dad,or cousin is on the adcom or has/had a colleague that knows a colleague on the adcom........ You get the picture. Forth, everything else that comes with having a "Dr." parent.
Now to be clear, I'm NOT throwing shade at folks born with advantages, but it is what it is.
I thought folks might be interested in reading a Harvard medical student’s definition of “disadvantaged.” Devon Taylor has contributed blog posts to the Aspiring Docs Diaries which is hosted by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The title of his thoughtful blog post is, “What Does it Mean to be Disadvantaged?”
Cheers,
Liza