Lon Wongson

One of the things I continue to find remarkable in this debate is how many people look at Black students scoring in the 95th percentile on the MCAT — often higher than the average matriculant at most American medical schools — and still conclude they were admitted “only because of race.” These are objectively elite academic performers. Many scored higher than applicants admitted to excellent medical schools across the country. And yet some people persist in speaking as though the mere existence of Black students at Yale is proof that standards collapsed and that unnamed “more deserving” Asian applicants were robbed. At that point, the conversation is no longer about MCAT scores. It is about an inability to imagine that highly accomplished Black students belong in elite institutions. What also fascinates me is how quickly social media pundits become absolute authorities on physician selection, while dismissing the judgment of admissions committees at institutions that have spent generations training world-class physicians and scientists. Medicine is harder — and more human — than sorting percentiles on a spreadsheet.

One of the things I continue to find remarkable in this debate is how many people look at Black students scoring in the 95th percentile on the MCAT — often higher than the average matriculant at most American medical schools — and still conclude they were admitted “only because of race.” These are objectively elite academic performers. Many scored higher than applicants admitted to excellent medical schools across the country. And yet some people persist in speaking as though the mere existence of Black students at Yale is proof that standards collapsed and that unnamed “more deserving” Asian applicants were robbed. At that point, the conversation is no longer about MCAT scores. It is about an inability to imagine that highly accomplished Black students belong in elite institutions. What also fascinates me is how quickly social media pundits become absolute authorities on physician selection, while dismissing the judgment of admissions committees at institutions that have spent generations training world-class physicians and scientists. Medicine is harder — and more human — than sorting percentiles on a spreadsheet.