During application cycle, how effective is it ..

[MrWheat]

During the cycle, how effective is it to go the medical school you really want and ask for a "tour" of the school? From what I heard before, people have gotten interviews from going personally to the school and telling them you are very interested and wants to take a more detailed look.

I just want to know how effective it is? I want to go to USC and just ask around and talk to some people, or maybe Loma Linda, what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

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[Potatoman1800]

Nah.

 

[addo]

During the cycle, how effective is it to go the medical school you really want and ask for a "tour" of the school? From what I heard before, people have gotten interviews from going personally to the school and telling them you are very interested and wants to take a more detailed look.

I just want to know how effective it is? I want to go to USC and just ask around and talk to some people, or maybe Loma Linda, what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

thats a pretty gutsy move. If i was in admissions and someone did that, id give them an interview, assuming his file looks reasonably ok.

 

[maniacmath13]

Nah, they'll want your file and your application money before they pay attention to you.

I believe OP was talking about showing up after submitting an application.

Going out of your way to visit a school seems fiscally irresponsible and if you already live near it then you should already have a good feel for the school.

The only time I would consider doing it would be if you happen to be in the area and your stats are competitive for that school.

 

[Astarael]

Some schools do give tours of their campus, but going on a tour will probably have very little (if any) effect on your chances of admission. This would be something you would do just because you want to find out more about the school, not to improve you chances. Keep in mind that schools almost always give a tour of campus when you go in for an interview, so going earlier really won't accomplish much.

 

[Potatoman1800]

In any case, the whole thing seems pretty unrealistic to me. Maybe they'll remember your name or face after you came by to say hello and ask about the school, but I doubt any school would all of a sudden offer you an interview after coming by to the admissions office to bother the staff people for a "tour" of the school.

You can give yourself a tour of the campus. Or even say hi to some med students that are willing to give a few minutes of their day to answer your questions.

 

[theWUbear]

going on a tour will probably have very little (if any) effect on your chances of admission.

I've toured three schools. In terms of personal recognition, they barely even ask your name for the purpose of speaking to you during the tour. Some of these schools have 10 thousand applicants for like 100 spots - the game is too big for the whole 'i toured campus so i must be genuinely interested' bit

Edit: meant to give a thumbs up for the quotation ^^. I'm reiterating it and agreeing with it obvs

 

[IHeartNerds]

During the cycle, how effective is it to go the medical school you really want and ask for a "tour" of the school? From what I heard before, people have gotten interviews from going personally to the school and telling them you are very interested and wants to take a more detailed look.

This is a terrible idea. Even if you 1) get them to do this for you and 2) get an interview out of it, your chances of acceptance after that interview must be near zero. There's a reason they didn't interview you before you gave them the lovin'.

Generally, the best way to get interviews and acceptances is to have a competitive application with good grades, MCAT score, and ECs/research. But maybe i'm just old school in that regard.

 

[NickNaylor]

Most schools won't oblige you for a tour.

 

[MrWheat]

What if you say that you have an interview at another school near by, and then going in telling them this? I heard this actually works .. then just going in blind

 

[slatermd]

What if you say that you have an interview at another school near by, and then going in telling them this? I heard this actually works .. then just going in blind

Dude, it sounds like you are trying to game the system. Adcoms are not stupid enough to be fooled by stunts like this. Also, adcoms from different schools talk to each other. If you are lying about having an interview nearby, you are not likely to get away with it.

But please try. It will make it easy for them to filter out another shotty applicant.

 

[NickNaylor]

Dude, it sounds like you are trying to game the system. Adcoms are not stupid enough to be fooled by stunts like this. Also, adcoms from different schools talk to each other. If you are lying about having an interview nearby, you are not likely to get away with it.

But please try. It will make it easy for them to filter out another shotty applicant.

 

[ceasefire]

Pity interview?

Cheap.

 

[MrWheat]

I'm not trying to game the system. But that's what I heard, and just trying to see how many people have done this. Supposedly it works better if you are flying in and the schools are right next to each other.

 

[Potatoman1800]

You are trying to game the system. The only legit way of doing what you are trying to do would be to send an in-the-area email to the nearby school ahead of time (weeks ahead). Say you will be in the city during the week of "Month/Day". That way, the adcom may expedite reviewing your application and possibly extend an invite.

Walking into an office randomly will not do it, buddy.

 

[MrWheat]

who says i'm actually gonna do it? i'm just asking to see if people actually do it and if so the effectiveness .. lay off the hate