School Admissions Research Articles

Biases in Artificial Intelligence Applications A ffecting H uman L ife : A Review

The introduction of Artificial Intelligence has improved operations in almost every sector, industry, and part of human life. The use of AI has been vital in the department of justice, recruitment by organizations, facial recognition by police, and school admissions. The aim of introducing AI algorithms in various fields was to reduce human bias in decision-making. Despite the progress, there are ethical concerns that the AI algorithms also exhibit biases. The main reason behind the claim is because human developers are in charge of training data used by the algorithms. There are areas where the issue of biases affects human life directly and can do damages to a person, physically or emotionally. Some examples are college admissions, recruitment, administration of justice at the courts, public benefits systems, police, public safety, and healthcare. There are high chances that the development process introduced biases in artificial intelligence algorithms, knowingly or unknowingly, during any area mentioned above. The paper provides background knowledge on AI bias and possible solutions to solve the problem.

Fair Stable Matchings Under Correlated Preferences (Student Abstract)

Stable matching models are widely used in market design, school admission, and donor organ exchange. The classic Deferred Acceptance (DA) algorithm guarantees a stable matching that is optimal for one side (say men) and pessimal for the other (say women). A sex-equal stable matching aims at providing a fair solution to this problem. We demonstrate that under a class of correlated preferences, the DA algorithm either returns a sex-equal solution or has a very low sex-equality cost.

A Theory of Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of School Quality

Many centralized school admissions systems use lotteries to ration limited seats at oversubscribed schools. The resulting random assignment is used by empirical researchers to identify the effects of schools on outcomes like test scores. I first find that the two most popular empirical research designs may not successfully extract a random assignment of applicants to schools. When are the research designs able to overcome this problem? I show the following main results for a class of data-generating mechanisms containing those used in practice: The first-choice research design extracts a random assignment under a mechanism if the mechanism is strategy-proof for schools. In contrast, the other qualification instrument research design does not necessarily extract a random assignment under any mechanism. The former research design is therefore more compelling than the latter. Many applications of the two research designs need some implicit assumption, such as large-sample approximately random assignment, to justify their empirical strategy. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, decision analysis.

Are different medical school admission tests associated with the outcomes of a simulation-based OSCE?

BackgroundMedical school admission procedures have the common goal to select applicants with the greatest potential of becoming successful physicians. Hamburg Medical Faculty selects medical students by grade point average (GPA) and employs a two-step selection process of a natural sciences test (HAM-Nat), in some cases followed by multiple mini-interviews (HAM-Int). Multiple mini-interviews can predict non-cognitive outcomes, while GPA has predictive validity for cognitive outcomes. The aim of our study was to explore communication skills and clinical knowledge of advanced medical students according to their respective admission procedure.MethodsIn July 2019, 146 students grouped according to their admission procedure into GPA-only (19.2 %), HAM-Nat (33.6 %), HAM-Int (30.8 %), and Waiting List (16.4 %) participated in four OSCE stations which equally assessed students’ communication skills (OSCE part 1) and clinical knowledge (OSCE part 2) in simulated patient encounters, rated by physicians with checklists. Additionally, psychosocial assessors ranked communication skills with a global rating scale (GR). The students also participated in a multiple choice (MC) exam testing clinical knowledge. Kruskal-Wallis analyses of variance of test performance and Spearman correlation of instruments were calculated.ResultsStudents from the Waiting List group performed significantly worse on the MC exam compared to GPA-only and HAM-Int (adjusted p = .029 and 0.018, respectively). No significant differences were found between the admission groups with respect to communication skills. Global Rating and OSCE part 1 (communication) correlated significantly (ρ = 0.228, p = .006) as did OSCE part 2 (clinical knowledge) and MC exam (ρ = 0.242, p = .003), indicating criterion validity. Constructs did not overlap, indicating divergent validity.ConclusionsAdvanced medical students selected for undergraduate studies by multiple mini-interviews assessing psychosocial skills showed similar communication skills compared to students admitted to medical school by other entryways. It is unclear whether these similarities are due to an effective undergraduate longitudinal communication curriculum. Assessing baseline communication skills of all medical students at entry-level may aid with this question.

Does school choice program affect local housing prices?: Inter- vs. intra-district choice program

We examine the effect of inter-district and intra-district high school programs on the residential real estate market in Seoul, South Korea, focusing on the switching effect from intra-district zoning to inter-district school choice. Data consist of 85,744 transaction-based housing observations corresponding to the 2008–2012 period surrounding South Korea's education policy change that directly affects 24 high schools. We employ a difference-in-differences (DID) methodology overcoming potential mis-specification bias while controlling for school, locational, and housing characteristics; and, find that switching from intra-district to an inter-district high school choice program decreases housing prices by an average of 4.7% within 0.5 km after the policy change was announced and another 5.3% after school admission. The observed price discount is ameliorated as the location boundary surrounding the affected schools is extended. This result suggests that the policy change reduced the economic barrier of higher housing prices near top performing schools and increased socio-economic diversity and geographic educational parity across the socio-economic spectrum. However, the creation of two different school systems can favor inter- over intra-district schools over time so care must be taken to avoid inequality between the two systems.

Key Insights From the Development and Implementation of a Novel Virtual Interview Process for Medical School Admissions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical schools have offered a virtual application process. Minimal literature is available to guide best practices. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) implemented a completely virtual interview (VI) process in April/May 2020. Large-group sessions for applicants, interviews with applicants, and ISMMS Admissions Committee meetings occurred via Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc., San Jose, California). Large-group sessions and committee meetings occurred via communal conference calls, while one-on-one, semistructured interviews occurred in individual breakout rooms. ISMMS offered live, virtual question-and-answer sessions with students and faculty, plus digital resources describing program features. After the interview day, applicants and interviewers were invited to complete anonymous surveys regarding their experiences with and perspectives of VI. Of 125 applicants and 20 interviewers, 99 (79%) and 18 (90%), respectively, completed at least part of the survey. Of the applicants, 85/95 (89%) agreed VI met or exceeded expectations, with many praising the day's organization and convenience, and 71/95 (75%) agreed they received a sufficient sense of the student body. A minority (n = 39/95 [41%]) felt limited in their ability to learn about the institution (commonly related to their inability to tour campus), and a majority (n =74/91 [81%]) would have preferred an in-person interview. Most interviewers felt comfortable assessing applicants' verbal communication skills (n = 13/16 [81%]), and most (n = 12/17 [71%]) felt VI should be an option for future applicants. VI, likely to be a temporary-but-universal fixture of upcoming application cycles, may benefit applicants and interviewers alike by saving resources and diversifying those involved. Next steps are developing programming that will permit applicants to virtually explore the institution and connect more with current students. Future research should evaluate potential bias in VI to ensure an equitable application process for all.

221 UK Medical School Selection Criteria Predicts Success in Part A of The Intercollegiate Membership of The Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) Examination

Abstract Background Selection into UK medical school typically involves a combination of three measures: prior academic attainment, selection tests (e.g., the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT), Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT)), and an interview. We investigated whether prior attainment and selection test scores can predict MRCS success. Method We used the UKMED database to analyse selection data for all UK graduates who attempted MRCS Part A (n = 9729) and Part B (n = 4644) between 2007-2017. Univariate analysis and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationship between selection scores and first attempt MRCS success. Results Successful MRCS Part A candidates had better A-Levels and higher scores in UCAT, BMAT and GAMSAT examinations (p < 0.001) than their unsuccessful peers. No statistically significant difference was observed for MRCS Part B. A moderate positive correlation was found between Part A, BMAT (r = 0.315, p < 0.001) and GAMSAT scores (r = 0.346, p < 0.001). A weak positive correlation was found between Part A, A-Level (r = 0.144, p < 0.001) and UCAT scores (r = 0.246, p < 0.001). Conclusions A-level results and medical school selection tests predict success in the knowledge-based (Part A) MRCS examination.

Post‐Baccalaureate Program Biochemistry Content as a Predictive Indicator of Health Professional School Admissions and Success

The Master of Arts in Medical Sciences (MAMS) degree at Heritage University, a predominantly Native American and Hispanic-serving institution, is a one-year bridge or pipeline program to graduate health professional schools. The degree program is operated in collaboration with Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine and Washington State University College of Pharmacy. MAMS students are typically first generation, minority, late-blooming, or disadvantaged individuals. Coursework taken alongside first-year medical students at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences as well as first-year pharmacy students at Washington State University coupled with standardized exam preparation, service-learning opportunities, mentorship, study strategies, club participation, and access to medical, physician assistant, and pharmacy school faculty/staff/students provide MAMS students with the capability to strengthen their applications as well as demonstrate their readiness for professional school. Rigorous Scientific Foundations of Medicine (SciFOM) and Pharmacogenomics courses within the MAMS curriculum have been shown to be key predicative indicators of student success in gaining admission to health professional school as well as subsequent academic performance and graduation. The SciFOM and Pharmacogenomics courses are biochemistry-rich and cover topics such as histology, immunology, embryology, microbiology, biochemical metabolism, genetics, neuroscience, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and molecular biology. Delivery of integrated course content utilizes lectures, in-class discussion, case-based learning, small-group learning, computer-facilitated learning, and laboratory activities to maximize student comprehension of fundamental basic science principles. MAMS students take the SciFOM coursework alongside first-year PNWU osteopathic medical students and the Pharmacogenomics content with first-year WSU pharmacy students. Since the program's inception in 2012, 98% of MAMS students that have scored 77% or higher in the SciFOM and 85% in the pharmacogenomics courses, respectively, have gained admission to a health professional school of their choice. Nearly 41% of the SciFOM high achieving MAMS students have been minorities, and 96% of the SciFOM performing MAMS students have remained in good academic standing, passed Board Exams, and/or graduated from health professional school. The highly performing MAMS students have been admitted to medical, dental, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, and physician assistant schools at nearly twice (1.5X) the rate of most post-baccalaureate program graduates. Biochemistry course content, therefore, appears to be a reliable predictive indicator of student admission and success in graduate health professional schools.

A Mixed‐Methods Study Exploring Anatomy Coursework as a Prerequisite for Nursing School Admission at Indiana University Bloomington

Undergraduate Human Anatomy (ANAT-A215) is a prerequisite course for admission to the Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) program at Indiana University Bloomington. Ten years of Student Information Systems data (2008-2019) was analyzed to explore pre-nursing student success in this course with correlation to admissions into the BSN. Special attention was focused on repeat attempts of the course. Correlations between A215 grades and grades in nursing courses determine the importance of anatomy for nursing school. A qualitative interview portion was also included to garner perspective on the importance of anatomy and achievement in anatomy. Results were extensive from both the quantitative and qualitative portions. Only 24.1% of IUB pre-nursing students are accepted into the IUB BSN. Students who achieve an A in ANAT-A215 are most likely to be admitted (81.7%), supported qualitatively with recognition that anatomy is important for a nursing career but of most importance for students is achieving an A. For each decrease in letter grade there is a decrease in acceptances and 0% for a B or less. Students who choose to repeat the course need an A for a chance at nursing school admission (66.7%) and acceptance is progressively less likely for each decrease in grade. The importance of ANAT-A215 is clear with positive academic correlations indicated for two nursing courses (PHSL-P215 and NURS-B261). Pre-nursing students not admitted to nursing move across majors with 22.4% choosing a major in the School of Public Health and 40.3% leave IUB without a degree. From the qualitative data and the many implications of the statistics, there is a need for more advisors in the School of Nursing to handle the many implications of this data and the large population of pre-nursing students. Changes in nursing admission standards and practices, advising of pre-nursing students, and support for the importance of ANAT-A215 are needed.

Accessing Quality Education in Gauteng: Intersecting Scales of Geography, Educational Policy and Inequality

In May 2016, the South African Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional the long-term use of default school feeder zones (with a 5 km radius) to govern school admissions in Gauteng province. The ruling drew on an amicus curiae application which argued that the default feeder zones were constitutionally invalid: in the context of a profoundly unequal education system where geography and educational quality are tightly linked, they replicate spatial apartheid and perpetuate racial exclusion. The case highlights the tension between individual schools’ incentives to preserve educational quality through limiting and controlling admissions, and the Gauteng Department of Education’s mandate to ensure universal, equitable access to education for all. The competing incentives of government, schools and parents mean that multiple scales of educational governance intersect at individual schools, and in school admissions policies. As one of the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure universal access to high-quality education, these tensions between scales of educational governance are under increasing scrutiny globally. This paper explores the distinctions and relationship between access to education and access to quality education through the case study of Gauteng, South Africa. We map a range of school-level variables to illustrate the challenges that geography poses to achieving equitable educational access and unpack how, in the context of policy that intends to univeralise access to education, physical location (of schools and children) and scale continue to shape the education that children can access.

LSAT Takers and Khan Academy Preparation

Free online Law School Admission Test (LSAT) preparation resources from the Law School Admission Council and Khan Academy have been widely utilized by LSAT and LSAT-Flex test takers. In September 2020, nearly 70,000 individuals engaged with Khan Academy’s Official LSAT® Prep platform. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential effects of engagement on actual LSAT performance. Our analyses showed that a higher level of engagement (measured in terms of practice time and number of practice exams taken) was associated with higher performance on the LSAT. These results held not only for the overall population but also across multiple demographic subgroups. The results also showed that the performance of test takers with lower initial practice exam scores was associated with slightly higher LSAT score gains per practice minute, indicating that these students benefitted at least as much as students who scored higher initially. Because this was a quasi-experimental controlled study, the possibility of alternative influences on LSAT performance cannot be ruled out. However, we believe that engagement with the Khan Academy platform is currently the best explanation for the LSAT score increases observed in this study.

Recognizing Another Black Barrier: The LSAT Contributes to the Diversity Gap in the Legal Profession

Imagine working your entire life with the purpose of building the house of your dreams. The ability to pursue this “calling” has been granted through your tremendous hard-work and dedication to your craft. In fact, building this dream home has been the final culmination of all that you have worked towards over the past several years. Now imagine, you have successfully built the foundation of the house, and began to lay the pipeline for the plumbing. Just as the plumbing was coming together, there was one exact piece that was missing, a coupling, which would be required to connect the pipes. Since pipelines are the heartbeat of all functionality within a house, without the coupling, the incomplete plumbing may diminish the potential of all that your dream house was meant to become. Thus, hindering the dream. Similarly to a person that has a dream of becoming a lawyer. The ability to pursue this calling would be directed through the education pipeline. After obtaining an Undergraduate degree through tremendous amount of hard-work and dedication, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), a coupling to the next education pipeline, is required for applicants to take when applying to law school. But, what if the LSAT is a faulty coupling that presents a major leak in the education pipeline? This standardize test has revealed years of racial bias from the disturbing score gaps between white and minority applicants. The LSAT has shown to have test biases within the questions that appear in the form of language interpretation, which contains culturally stereotypic language, situations, and structural components. As a result of these biases, there has been a disproportionate amount of lower scores by minorities, which hinders the chances of being accepted into law school. Thus, presenting a leak in the education pipeline that disconnects minorities from achieving their dreams of practicing law. Because of COVID-19, the Law School Admission Council is offering the LSAT online, remotely proctored in place of being in-person. This unexpected change should bring discussion in today’s society about the overreliance on LSAT performance. Institutions should develop new and equitable means to evaluate an applicant’s ability to do well in law school, without disproportionately excluding minorities. Without admission modifications, minorities will continue to remain at a disadvantage when applying to law school.

Spring cleaning: Review and (re)organize your marketing materials and space

When I worked in tech school admissions in the early 2000s, my director would set aside a day at least once a year for office organizing. We'd dress down, order pizza, and get to work. As part of this, we also usually rearranged our “cubbies” (a term of endearment for our small, square, sans‐door offices). Moving my desk, small bookcase, and two visitor chairs — coupled with a thorough cleaning of drawers and surfaces — gave me a sense of accomplishment. As an admissions team, together, we always felt reignited.

School Choice in Guangzhou: Why High-Scoring Students Are Protected?

Each year, millions of middle school graduates in China take a standardized test and compete for high school positions. Unlike other cities, Guangzhou still uses the immediate acceptance mechanism but implements a policy that students in the high-scoring group receive their allocations before those in the low-scoring group. In this paper, we study a class of the Guangzhou mechanisms, including the immediate acceptance (IA) and the serial dictatorship (SD) mechanism. We show that, if a collection of groups is refined by splitting its groups into a larger number of smaller subgroups, then the Guangzhou mechanism will perform more stably and less manipulable than before. This result provides a tool for policy makers to improve the allocation outcome of the IA mechanism under homogeneous priorities and justifies the use of a high-scoring student protection policy in Guangzhou’s high school admission.

Seroprevalence of antibodies against varicella among medical students - a need for immunization record for medical school admission

Introduction and Aim:This study was conducted at a medical University in UAE to assess the risk of acquiring Varicella – a vaccine-preventable disease, by estimating antibody titers among the clinically exposed students to provide a scientific implementation of immunization guideline during admission to medical school.
 Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 88 students in clinical years attending a medical college in the UAE. The students' demographics, vaccination data, and history of natural infection with vaccine-preventable communicable infectious diseases were collected, with more significance on Varicella. Blood samples were collected to determine varicella IgG via ELISA.
 
 Results:Out of 88 medical students, 20.45% of students had vaccination during childhood and 60.22%of students had a natural infection in the last five years. Three students (3.4%), who had childhood vaccination acquired the infection which is statistically significant during their clinical study years. 70.4% of students who had childhood vaccination and natural infection are at risk of acquiring varicella infections due to the waning of antibodies. 13.64% were found to be negative for varicella antibody titers are at the highest risk.
 
 Conclusion:Medical students are most susceptible to acquiring the infection. Medical Universities should take up a policy, that each student needs to take booster vaccinations as a mandatory requirement before admission into the first year, which is practiced as an admission protocol in Western countries like the United States of America but not in Asian countries. Special emphasis should be placed on catch-up vaccination of students because the likelihood of severe infection increases with age.

Combining Ethics Inquiry and Clinical Experience in a Premedical Health Care Ethics Internship.

The professional formation of physicians begins in the premedical years, and educators are now recommending that medical ethics and humanities courses be considered essential components to becoming a physician rather than elective prerequisites for medical school admission. As a result, questions have arisen about how to teach students ethical reasoning skills before their professional training, as they have limited opportunities now to develop these skills and the related competencies in a real-world medical context. The authors describe Santa Clara University's Health Care Ethics Internship (HCEI), an undergraduate college experience that emphasizes ethical inquiry and immerses students in health care settings to foster deep learning. The HCEI includes mentored clinical rotations integrated with classroom inquiry into ethical theory, structured reflection, and professional development considerations. A survey of former students (academic years 2001-2002 to 2017-2018) explored their perceptions of these program components and the impact of the experience on their preprofessional readiness, career choice, and professional capabilities. Of 185 former students who could be contacted, 89 (48.1%) completed the survey. Students reported that the HCEI: (1) assisted them in gaining admission to medical school, (2) had a positive influence on their career decisions, (3) increased their professional capabilities, (4) helped them develop preprofessional competencies, (5) gave them knowledge and experience they used in their personal and professional ethical decision making, and (6) increased their moral sensitivity and ethical responsibility. Integrating clinical rotations into ethics education exposes premedical students to real-world ethical questions, helps them develop a nuanced understanding of a health care career, and prepares them for the medical school admissions process. Other universities should consider implementing a similar program to prime their students for continued professional and moral development during medical school and residency.

A Study of Effects of E-Learning Based Exploratory Education on Students’ Self-Efficacy and Interpersonal Relationship

Under constant education reform to cultivate students with transferable skills, it is necessary to effectively release excessive competition for school admission and guide normal teaching and balanced development of five ways of life. By re-positioning book knowledge as footprints commonly accumulated by humans, it might be able to recover current rigid education. Students should not be restrained from formal education, but should positively cultivate learning autonomy aiming at living to successfully seek for goals and ideal. Taking a university in Fujian Province as the empirical object, total 214 students are preceded the 15-week e-learning based exploratory education experiment (3 hours per week for total 45 hours). The research results show that exploratory education would affect self-efficacy, exploratory education would affect interpersonal relationship, and self-efficacy reveals significantly positive effects on interpersonal relationship. According to the results to propose suggestions, it is expected to help students discuss, communicate, establish goals, solve problems, and generate trust in the interaction process in learning activities as well as connect specific experience in activities with life experience, transfer and generate meanings, encourage adventure and self-challenge, self-awareness, and finally discover innovative thinking and new potential to generate the natural development for learning and change.

The attitudes, perceptions and experiences of medical school applicants following the closure of schools and cancellation of public examinations in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional questionnaire study of UK medical applicants

ObjectiveDescribe the experiences and views of medical applicants from diverse social backgrounds following the closure of schools and universities and the cancellation of public examinations in the UK due to...

Making Merit Just in Medical School Admissions.

Medical school education must better align with patient care needs for a rapidly changing population. One challenge is to eliminate bias in merit-based admissions to more equitably review candidates with the structural competency skills desperately needed to promote public health and health equity. Aligning merit-based admissions approaches with holistic admissions approaches and equitable candidate evaluation will simultaneously support learners and improve patient care.

Admissions experiences of aspiring physicians from low-income backgrounds.

Students from low-income backgrounds (LIB) have been under-represented in Canadian medical schools for over fifty years. Despite our awareness of this problem, little is known about the experiences of aspiring physicians from LIB in Canada who are working towards medical school admission. Consequently, we have little insight into the barriers and facilitators that may be used to increase the representation of students from LIB in Canadian medical schools. This paper describes a qualitative description interview study aimed at understanding the experiences of aspiring physicians from LIB as they attempt to gain entry to medical school. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 participants at different stages of their undergraduate, master's, and non-medical professional education, and used the theories of intersectionality and identity capital as a theoretical framework for identifying barriers and facilitators to a career in medicine. Participants experienced social, identity-related, economic, structural and informational barriers to a career in medicine. Intrinsic facilitators included motivation, self-confidence, attitude, strategy, information-seeking and sorting, and financial literacy and increasing income. Extrinsic facilitators were social, informational, financial and institutional in nature. This study fills existing knowledge gaps in the literature by identifying the pre-admissions barriers and facilitators encountered by aspiring physicians from LIB in Canada. The barriers and facilitators outlined in this study offer a framework for identifying target areas in developing support for admitting medical students from LIB. Given that medical students from LIB are more likely to serve underserved populations, our study is relevant to Canadian medical schools' social accountability commitment to producing physicians that meet the health needs of marginalised and vulnerable patients.