I re-read the article to make sure I hadn't missed anything. You describe an interaction with your Dean, where he was less than enthused about your C grade. That honestly sounded about right, given what I've experienced as a student at MIT and what I've heard from friends of mine at Harvard, Cornell, Georgia Tech, Stanford, etc.

It's pretty much a given that medical schools are competitive. You have to have great MCATs and great grades. An Asian friend of mine who was an undergrad at MIT with me told me because he "only" had a 3.6 average, he wouldn't be able to get into the medical school he wanted.

MIT had pass/fail freshman year, but we knew that for competitive situations such as medical school, there would be "hidden grades". My friends who wanted to be doctors were aware of the necessity to get mostly As. It's just the nature of the beast. I think any of them, white, brown or black, if they had gotten a C, would have gotten a similar assessment from advisors.

To be fair I am not sure this is the best way to produce competent AND compassionate doctors, and one good thing about having more POC and women in the medical field is that it may help address that issue...

I am just sharing my own opinions and experience. No problems if you disagree.

BTW, I'm also a cancer survivor, so, awesome, I'm glad you're in remission. :-)