[Repetition and private exams--the road to medical studies. Extent, financing and social consequences of collecting of grades for medical studies in Norway]

Abstract

This article is based on a survey of Norwegian freshmen medical students in autumn 1993. Norwegian medical students are selected mainly by grades from the upper secondary school, and the purpose of this study is to shed light on the extent of repetition of exams among the entrants, emphasizing differences by gender and social background. A wide range of activities are associated with improvement of grades, including a high rate of attendance at private school. Most students are recruited from the upper social strata, and children of physicians are remarkably overrepresented. The unintended consequences of the selection mechanisms are discussed.