Do student tour leads have a say in school admission if they specificy they play no role?

[yogglo]

Question is the title

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[paradoxic_toxic]

Assume everyone plays a role in your app decision on interview day.

 

[Kardio]

Question is the title

I’d assume somewhat, at the very least.

They may not ordinarily contribute to AdCom meetings, but should you do something radically inappropriate they’d probably make it known.

 

[TheIllusionist]

there are the "don't **** up" screens and the "impress" screen

The latter are the formal interviews. Everything else is the prior. It all matters, just differently.

 

[LizzyM]

They do not get a vote. They are not asked for feedback on each applicant. However, there is an "if you see something, say something" culture such that if you behaved very inappropriately, the tour guide would report it to the admissions office staffer who supervises tour guides and/or to the dean of admissions directly. This rarely happens but if it does, it is an automatic red flag and an almost guaranteed rejection.

 

[Goro]

Question is the title

The only say they will have is if a candidate is being an dingus on the tour. It's happened, and those people got rejected at my school.

VERY rare, but it has happened.

 

[holdthemayo]

I've given tours/been on the student interview panel for the past 3 years. We mean it when we say that no one asks us about our opinion. So, if we decide to go out of our way mention someone being inappropriate, it's so far out of the norm as to virtually guarantee a rejection.

We want you to ask real questions. We probably heard the same criticisms you've heard about the school, concerns, etc when we were applicants. That's not what I mean by inappropriate. Basically, be a normal human who we could see as a classmate/future colleague and you have nothing to worry about.

 

[plshelpvanxious]

I've never been asked for any input on interviewees after the tour. Just don't be horrible or else the tour guides might speak up

 

[ciestar]

My school has the student tour guides do formal evals, but, they also are part of the “group” interview that takes place. Candidates know this well in advance and it is very hard to get a bad eval in this. Only time it really matters is if you’re a terrible person or if the interviewer finds something exceptional about you. Otherwise, you’re “average” it does nothing for you one way or the other.

 

[aldol16]

If they specifically tell you they play no role, they likely play no role. As in the admissions committee isn't going to ask for their input. But if you spend the whole social talking about your homicidal tendencies, they're most likely going to go to the administration and tell them themselves. So basically, don't be an ass or crazy and you'll be fine.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

We do not. We specifically tell the applicants we have no say in their admissions process, and we actually don’t. We just answer questions from a Med student perspective and give them a tour of the school, then walk them to where their interviews are.

 

[Ludwig2000]

Yeah, once the tour leader says they don’t play a role- it’s absolutely anything goes. Flash your concealed carry handgun, do edgy impressions of the other applicants and staff (especially if you can base them in racial/ethnic stereotypes) and just generally GO HAM on the ward floors. Pull the fire alarms, smash any glass, flip patients out of their transport beds. What’s the tour guide gonna do, tell on you?? After he specifically told you he wouldn’t!?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah, once the tour leader says they don’t play a role- it’s absolutely anything goes. Flash your concealed carry handgun, do edgy impressions of the other applicants and staff (especially if you can base them in racial/ethnic stereotypes) and just generally GO HAM on the ward floors. Pull the fire alarms, smash any glass, flip patients out of their transport beds. What’s the tour guide gonna do, tell on you?? After he specifically told you he wouldn’t!?

This isn’t really a great answer. Obviously if someone does something egregious that a tour guide thinks makes them someone the school wouldn’t want, they have the opportunity to tell admissions. But there’s more to the question than that. At our school, we have a panel for the applicants where current students answer questions. The admissions people are not in the room, and we don’t have any say in their apps, so they can ask questions they might feel less comfortable asking their interviewers or admissions staff. We then also give them their tours in smaller groups so they have more opportunity to get our actual opinions on things.

 

[Goro]

This isn’t really a great answer. Obviously if someone does something egregious that a tour guide thinks makes them someone the school wouldn’t want, they have the opportunity to tell admissions. But there’s more to the question than that. At our school, we have a panel for the applicants where current students answer questions. The admissions people are not in the room, and we don’t have any say in their apps, so they can ask questions they might feel less comfortable asking their interviewers or admissions staff. We then also give them their tours in smaller groups so they have more opportunity to get our actual opinions on things.

Sarcasm doesn't travel well over the electrons, Matt

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Sarcasm doesn't travel well over the electrons, Matt

Oh no I got the sarcasm lol. I just wanted to point out that at some schools we really don’t have any say which is nice because applicants can get some real unbiased info. That’s all.

 

[Ludwig2000]

Yeah I figured he wanted to clarify that while you can’t be egregious (which was my point, made sarcastically) you can in fact relax a little during a no-faculty student panel etc., and maybe get some more candid information.

The only part I disagree with is “This isn’t really a great answer”

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The only part I disagree with is “This isn’t really a great answer”

I mean it was a funny answer, so in some ways great.

 

[batpuac]

I advise students that from the moment they leave their home to travel to an interview until they return, assume you are interview footing. Why? On a few very rare occasions, I have heard from both students or faculty of running into and unknowingly interact with an applicant in the airport, on a plane, in the starbucks near campus. While the probability of this risk is low, the potential impact of the risk is huge. You dont want to be on a plane bad mouthing a school only to walk in and see the “grandmother” you sat next to Is your faculty interviewer

+1
I had a panel interview at a MD school in the Midwest a few weeks ago. On the flight home I literally sat next to one of my interviewers who was flying to a conference. She made it known that her portion of the evaluation process was done and that I could relax. Had a delightful conversation about life and medicine but boy was my butthole tight for those few hours.


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[batpuac]

+1
I had a panel interview at a MD school in the Midwest a few weeks ago. On the flight home I literally sat next to one of my interviewers who was flying to a conference. She made it known that her portion of the evaluation process was done and that I could relax. Had a delightful conversation about life and medicine but boy was my butthole tight for those few hours.


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Accepted yesterday to this school!!


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[The Knife & Gun Club]

So I’m a current student adcom, been involved with admissions for a few years now.

Our tour leaders don’t get a vote on the adcom. In fact, since I do have a vote on the adcom now I’m not allowed to lead tours anymore, which is a bummer.

That said, our tour leaders, adcoms, deans, etc. hang out and chat. If you do something significantly out of line, it will get back to the people with the power.

Some real life examples:
Making unwanted sexual advances towards the tour leader or other interviewees.
Excessive swearing
Being any amount of racist or sexist
Talking about how you’ll sue the school if you don’t get accepted

Ya can’t make this stuff up man.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So I’m a current student adcom, been involved with admissions for a few years now.

Our tour leaders don’t get a vote on the adcom. In fact, since I do have a vote on the adcom now I’m not allowed to lead tours anymore, which is a bummer.

That said, our tour leaders, adcoms, deans, etc. hang out and chat. If you do something significantly out of line, it will get back to the people with the power.

Some real life examples:
Making unwanted sexual advances towards the tour leader or other interviewees.
Excessive swearing
Being any amount of racist or sexist
Talking about how you’ll sue the school if you don’t get accepted

Ya can’t make this stuff up man.

Haven’t seen anything like that while giving tours, but if I did I would absolutely report it.