Question

Q6. Essay: Medical School Admission---

Revisit Answer the following question in an argumentative essay. A medical school has received 300 applications from students who want to enrol. The school has the capacity to accept only 120 new students. All the 300 applicants have at least the minimum academic requirements. All have sent cheques for the $6,000.00 tuition fee. Since the number of applicants exceeded the number of slots, there is scarcity and a need to determine which applicants will be admitted and which will not. It is important to recognize that each of these allocation mechanisms, institutions, or governance alternatives will likely result in a different class composition, i.e., a different 120 students granted admission. Which allocation mechanism do you think is the best? Present your answer in the framework of economics (maximum of 200 words). Note: Unlike the last essay question (Assignment 1 Problem 5), your logic affects the grade for this essay question. This question asks you if you understand the economic concept we learned in this course. Make sure to proofread for typos and the like; obvious grammatical/spelling errors could lower your grade. To get a full credit, the following hint will help. Hint: Allocating school admission seats is different from allocating goods and services. The interesting issue is: which class is best from society’s perspective? That is actually a deeper or broader question that asks how we should allocate the talents of the 300 students, between using their time as doctors or in a next best alternative. Would it not be great if the allocation mechanism resulted in their first best choice for their time also being the first best choice for society? Is it possible that each student’s best choice might also be the best choice from society’s perspective? Could private interest and social interest be the same?

Answer 1

Allocating school admission seats is different from allocating goods and services. The interesting issue is: which class is best from society’s perspective? That is actually a deeper or broader question that asks how we should allocate the talents of the 300 students, between using their time as doctors or in a next best alternative. Would it not be great if the allocation mechanism resulted in their first best choice for their time also being the first best choice for society? Is it possible that each student’s best choice might also be the best choice from society’s perspective? Could private interest and social interest be the same?Allocation of resources which are scarce is one of the key aspect of economics.We must consider linear programming into this logical question.Linear programming involves finding a solution related to this problem wherein the constraints are considered and they are formed equation wherein they are maximized or minimized to solve the problem.Since academic degree and fees are same, they are not considered as constraints.Linear programming is the only tool to solve this scarcity problem.

The objective is here to enroll only 120 students hence the objective function is Z.Here we should consider social perspective into consideration along with the economical perspective.Social interest ensures that the candidates have to undergo an interview or test to qualify for the admission.Since all the requirements are fulfilled, school must adopt a new method to enroll the students which might include a personal interview.This might be a rational decision to take in this context. From society's point of view,this will promote healthy competition.The students will get reward for their dedication and performance.Since the constraints of tuition fee and academic requirements are same, they have been ignored in this case.They won't be considered for decision making.