Does your secondary picture have any bearing on probability of II?

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Could be coincidence, but I only got IIs from schools where I sent a "better" picture and those that didn't ask for one at all.
 
Mcat513 said:
I see everybody obsessing over seemingly minor details, but I am unsure if their concerns are legitimate or simply a case of pre-med neuroticism.
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I think this, much like a lot of the uber-worrying that goes on in these forums, is likely the latter! A healthy pre-med diet includes worrying in moderation. Put your best foot (face) forward, but minor details don't matter very much, especially when medical schools likely print your picture out in a 1-inch square on a sheet of paper...
My $0.02
 
The purpose of the picture is (generally) to put a face to the name when they're discussing your file post-interview. So no, I don't think the picture should be a big deal.
 
The Dean of Admissions at my soon-to-be med school once said (in a presentation to my post bacc program) to make sure your picture was professional, showed your face clearly from shoulders up, and didn't have anybody else (or disembodied hands from cropped put friends). Just take a passport-style photo with your phone and call it a day.
 
Framed a little better, and I lost some weight between the pictures (first one was taken a while before the application season)
 
Potentially, if this is what they see.
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But more than likely, no.

For what it's worth....I'm a winning!
 
Don't forget the instagram filter.

I've also heard the abs in the bathroom mirror pic is as impressive to adcoms as it is to ladies on a dating site. While other applicants are simply showing what they look like, you can go a step further and demonstrate your dedication to diet/exercise and interest in health.
 
No. Just look professional and presentable and there will be no problem.
 
I put on a dress shirt, went to Walgreens, and paid 10 bucks to get a photo taken on a half decent camera against a plain white background. Was that totally necessary? Probably not, but now I have a great photo and nothing to worry about at all.
 
Would it be okay to turn in a photo where I'm wearing a sleeveless black dress? The photo was taken at my graduation.
 
As they said above, as long as you look professional in it, it's fine. The dean from my med school has a collection of most ridiculous application photos he shows the admissions committee, including ones of the back of someone's head shooting a gun, in prom or wedding dresses, popping out of flower pots, posing with Ronald Mcdonald, etc. Most of those prompted serious discussions about the applicant's degree of maturity. Your picture is something that will not help you, but it could potentially hurt you if you try to make it into a joke.
 
DOFOSHO said:
your file isn't discussed post interview. the decision is usually made before the interview is concluded.
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Is this the case at every school? I've definitely been told otherwise.

And what about for selecting people off waitlists?
 
It'll only help you if you're HOT LIKE ME
 
I took a selfie at work while wearing a Superman sweater. Cropped it at the shoulders and sent it in. 7 med school acceptances, so it couldn't have hurt too much. I even joked about it with one interviewer when I saw the print out of all interviewees photos. They were all in suits and I looked like a doofus.....To be fair, I've been told on a regular basis that I look like Clark Kent, so maybe it works
 
Thatsnotmyname. said:
I took a selfie at work while wearing a Superman sweater. Cropped it at the shoulders and sent it in. 7 med school acceptances, so it couldn't have hurt too much. I even joked about it with one interviewer when I saw the print out of all interviewees photos. They were all in suits and I looked like a doofus.....To be fair, I've been told on a regular basis that I look like Clark Kent, so maybe it works
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You were accepted in spite of your sweater!
Not everyone can count on that.
 
DOFOSHO said:
your file isn't discussed post interview. the decision is usually made before the interview is concluded.
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At my med school, post interview was the only time the pictures were looked at. The interview invites were extended by the dean of admissions based on numbers and/or experiences in the file. After the interview, we'd meet as a committee, put the picture up on the big projector while the interviewer presented the applicant and we looked through their applications, and then discuss each applicant so we could individually score each person. The picture of the applicant jogged memories for the interviewer as well as the med students on the committee so we could speak up if we had given their tour or had lunch with them. The interviewers can help or hurt your application by the way they present you to the committee, but they certainly don't ultimately make the decision whether the applicant should be admitted at many med schools. So, by no means is a decision made before an interview is concluded. The interviewer is usually a member of the admissions committee, but they often are just one person out of 10-30 people scoring/ranking/accepting applicants (and there were many, many times I or others on the committee disagreed with the interviewer's assessment and recommendations).
 
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