Overreliance on standardized tests also can lead to disparities and inequities in the kinds of students that are admitted to medical and other professional schools. For example, another committee of the IOM (2004) summarized data showing that, for reasons generally associated with fewer opportunities for high-quality education, underrepresented minority students typically score lower on a range of standardized tests than do their Caucasian or Asian-American counterparts, and therefore are less successful in gaining admission to medical and other professional schools. That report and others that it cited (e.g., Cohen, 2003 ) predicted that without admissions practices that allow applicants' race or ethnicity to be considered along with other personal characteristics, participation by underrepresented minority students in the health professions is likely to decline sharply in the future.⁴