<p>On the Harvard Medical School Profile it says that 57% of their students are of color. Is this a typo? If not, affirmative action has gone way too far!! Medical school admissions should be based on aptitude, not race. I find this absolutely appalling. What do you guys think??</p>
<p>Students of color include: Asian, Black, Latino, Native American and mixtures of these folks
It may very well add up to 57%</p>
<p>Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks. It also says 22% of the students body are members of underrepresented minority groups, which races are included in these?</p>
<p>Blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics (not sure if they refer to all hispanics or just Mexicans and mainland Puerto Ricans).</p>
<p>What did you think it meant?</p>
<p>People of southeast Asian descent might also be considered under-represented, though this probably varies from place to place.</p>
<p>Indians are definitely not underrepresented in medicine lol</p>
<p>Some other Asians are sometimes considered URM's for college admissions but the AAMC definition has traditionally only included NA's, Hispanics, and Blacks.</p>
<p>Of color would also include Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Indian (subcontinent) and other from Asian. Middle-eastern might even be included in their definition (although it often is not at many schools). It would not suprise me if 30%+ of the class is made up of students from these ethnic groups. Like the Jews, these ethnic groups have traditionally valued education as an end to itself as well as a pathway for upward social mobility in the U.S. Additionally, the professions, particularly medicine, are highly respected among these ethnic groups (I know because I belong to one of them). Thus medicine attracts many of the very top students from these Asian groups. I do not find it surprising that they are so overrepresented. I also would guess that probably at least 20% of the class may be Jewish. Among the general U.S. population, many top students will choose other areas, particularly business and law or even more creative endeavors whereas medicine is often the favorite profession among these ethnic groups.</p>