Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UKs Conservative Party, is facing scrutiny over claims she once received an offer to study medicine at Stanford University, after a former admissions officer at the institution disputed the account. Badenoch has repeatedly said she was admitted into a pre-med programme at Stanford when she was 16, presenting the claim as part of her personal story of resilience in the face of financial challenges. In a 2017 interview, she said her ambition to become a doctor was cut short after she moved to Britain from Nigeria, telling the Huffington Post: I had actually got admission into medical school in the US, I got into Stanford pre-med, and I got into medical school in Nigeria, but I came here because being a citizen, it was just a lot cheaper. The claim has been repeated in other media, including a feature in The Times last year, which stated: At 16, her US SAT scores won her a partial pre-med scholarship to Stanford, but her family still couldnt afford the place. However, Stanford does not offer a pre-med degree. According to the universitys website, students pursuing careers in health can major in any discipline, as pre-med is not a standalone programme. Jon Reider, who was Stanfords admissions officer responsible for international students at the time of Badenochs alleged application, has now cast doubt on the politicians account. Although 30 years have passed, I would definitely remember if we had admitted a Nigerian student with any financial aid. The answer is that we did not do so, Reider told The Guardian. He added that offers were never made on the basis of test scores alone and that a 16-year-old applicant with only O-levels would not have been considered ready for admission. She would have had to have an extraordinary record, he said, noting that the university was cautious about admitting students of such a young age. Reider also rejected the idea of a partial scholarship being offered to an international student unable to cover the remainder of tuition, explaining that Stanfords policy was to provide full financial support if a candidate was admitted. If an applicant needed, say, $30,000 a year to attend Stanford, we would offer them the full amount. There was no point in offering them less because they would not have been able to attend. If we admitted them, we wanted them to enrol, he said. The dispute comes as Badenoch faces heightened attention from within her party, where rivals have been seeking opportunities to challenge her leadership. Questions over the accuracy of her personal narrative could add pressure to her position at a time of internal tensions in the Conservative Party.
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