<p>will being african american help me get into med school down the road</p>
<p>Probably not.</p>
<p>But a great MCAT score/GPA/recommendations, those will help.</p>
<p>^basically.</p>
<p>don't depend on your race to get you into med school. once you graduate from college, you'll of had an equal education compared to everyone else. just work hard.</p>
<p>i disagree. i think it can be a boost.</p>
<p>It can be a boost, but it won't overcome serious academic weakness. It could certainly be a tie-breaker in an all-other-things-being-equal scenario. How do you plan on positioning yourself?</p>
<p>URM status is a SIGNIFICANT boost in med school admissions, probably even more so than in college admissions.</p>
<p>You really think that being black/hispanic is going to make the difference between acceptance at Harvard Med and rejection?</p>
<p>Puh-leez.</p>
<p>I think it can mean as much as 5-6 points on the MCAT. If a URM applicant has a 21 on the MCAT, he won't have a shot at Harvard. But if a URM applicant can get in the 30-34 range, he will have a good shot (as good as a ORM with a 35+ MCAT score). </p>
<p>To understand why affirmative action is so prevalent in med school admissions, you'll just have to do some research about the health care problems that med schools are trying to solve.</p>