Following Schools on LinkedIn

[mdphd123j]

Does anyone have a list of med schools that check your LinkedIn profile? I follow several schools whose research I am interested in, but not all schools on my list. I am concerned that schools will think I am not interested and reject me if they view my public profile and see that I am not following their school, or even that I am following other schools that they believe are “competitors.” It is pretty obvious where I am leaning if you look at my LinkedIn activity. And I don’t want to dilute my interest by following too many schools.

Tried to adjust privacy settings but you can still see the icons of organizations I am following. Should I just unfollow all schools? I do not want this to influence my acceptances.

Thanks!

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[Engrailed]

You have nothing to worry about.

fyi: keeping your linkedin up to date is generally a good thing-sometimes school adcoms do google applicants. But again, no worries about following schools or unfollowing schools etc

 

[TheDataKing]

I don't think schools look at it like this tbh. Just don't have anything illegal or grossly disturbing on social media

 

[KnightDoc]

Does anyone have a list of med schools that check your LinkedIn profile? I follow several schools whose research I am interested in, but not all schools on my list. I am concerned that schools will think I am not interested and reject me if they view my public profile and see that I am not following their school, or even that I am following other schools that they believe are “competitors.” It is pretty obvious where I am leaning if you look at my LinkedIn activity. And I don’t want to dilute my interest by following too many schools.

Tried to adjust privacy settings but you can still see the icons of organizations I am following. Should I just unfollow all schools? I do not want this to influence my acceptances.

Thanks!

This really isn't dating, where schools might get jealous that you are following some schools but not theirs. That said, it's pretty safe to assume in 2020 that all schools can and will check out your social media, including LinkedIn, at some point in the process.

If this is a concern for you, what does it cost to just follow every school you apply to? Are you worried about diluting your interest by applying to more than a small handful of schools? Actually paying for and submitting a bunch of secondaries seems a lot more dilutive than clicking on the follow button on LinkedIn!!! There is no way any school you apply to will think it's your one and only.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Is having PIs from HS research giving recommendations on LinkedIn add any value?

 

[KnightDoc]

Is having PIs from HS research giving recommendations on LinkedIn add any value?

Zero. If they're looking at LinkedIn (or any social media), they're looking for red flags, not unofficial, unsubmitted LORs.

I mean, it's not like I work in an admissions office or anything, but I would think it's someone in the office looking at this stuff, NOT the adcom, and, if it happens at all, it might not happen until they are deciding whether or not to accept, or even afterward, as part of pre-matriculation due diligence. Unless there is a problem that needs to be brought to someone's attention, the adcom would never even see random items like PI recommendations from HS. I'm sure someone is not printing out every page from a LinkedIn account and adding them to a file!!!

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Zero. If they're looking at LinkedIn (or any social media), they're looking for red flags, not unofficial, unsubmitted LORs.

let's see what adcoms think

 

[KnightDoc]

let's see what adcoms think

Sure, but if you think someone combs social media looking for random things to add to a file, you're dreaming!

They're looking for undisclosed red flags, not things that are asked for 15 different ways in the application.

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

Is having PIs from HS research giving recommendations on LinkedIn add any value?

I mean, just think about this question logically. For the official recommendations that AdComs weigh, most schools won't even accept letters that aren't on institutional letterheads, don't have the recommenders' signatures on them, and aren't submitted officially through AMCAS. So why would AdComs give any weight to an unverified recommendation on LinkedIn, where honestly anybody can make a profile....

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I mean, just think about this question logically. For the official recommendations that AdComs weigh, most schools won't even accept letters that aren't on institutional letterheads, don't have the recommenders' signatures on them, and aren't submitted officially through AMCAS. So why would AdComs give any weight to an unverified recommendation on LinkedIn, where honestly anybody can make a profile....

So why are schools (or employers) even checking Linkedin if anybody can make a profile of faculty members from reputed universities? May be applicants profiles are also created to sabotage their chances?

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

So why are schools (or employers) even checking Linkedin if anybody can make a profile of faculty members from reputed universities? May be applicants profiles are also created to sabotage their chances?

Which just lends more credence to the fact that they're most likely not giving that much weight to applicants' Linkedin pages, including any "recommendations" posted there.... As another poster mentioned, if they do check, they are most likely checking for glaring red flags. I would guess that the same goes for employers as well; Most people aren't formally hired via an employer simply checking their LinkedIn profile -- most companies still require applications, interviews, and contact information for formal references, etc. As for people trying to sabotage others by making fake profiles: uh, sure? I mean, anything can happen? That's not really pertinent to whether an informal recommendation on LinkedIn matters to medical school AdComs, though...

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Which just lends more credence to the fact that they're most likely not giving that much weight to applicants' Linkedin pages, including any "recommendations" posted there.... As another poster mentioned, if they do check, they are most likely checking for glaring red flags. I would guess that the same goes for employers as well; Most people aren't formally hired via an employer simply checking their LinkedIn profile -- most companies still require applications, interviews, and contact information for formal references, etc. As for people trying to sabotage others by making fake profiles: uh, sure? I mean, anything can happen? That's not really pertinent to whether an informal recommendation on LinkedIn matters to medical school AdComs, though...

I can understand red flags on other social media but what red flags anyone finds on Linkedin, mismatches between app and LinkedIn profile?

 

[KnightDoc]

I can understand red flags on other social media but what red flags anyone finds on Linkedin, mismatches between app and LinkedIn profile?

Could be anything. Outright lies, like you said, maybe following offensive groups, etc. LinkedIn was the example given, but if a school is looking at social media, they are looking at all of the usual sites. Could be drunken posts on Facebook, etc.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Could be anything. Outright lies, like you said, maybe following offensive groups, etc. LinkedIn was the example given, but if a school is looking at social media, they are looking at all of the usual sites. Could be drunken posts on Facebook, etc.

I understand all that but what OP asked about LinkedIn specifically.

 

[KnightDoc]

I understand all that but what OP asked about LinkedIn specifically.

But OP wasn't asking about red flags on LinkedIn -- that was merely the answer! OP was asking if schools "will think I am not interested and reject me if they view my public profile and see that I am not following their school, or even that I am following other schools that they believe are 'competitors.'”

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

But OP wasn't asking about red flags on LinkedIn -- that was merely the answer! OP was asking if schools "will think I am not interested and reject me if they view my public profile and see that I am not following their school, or even that I am following other schools that they believe are 'competitors.'”

True and topic changed to red flags.

 

[<L>]

As someone who's been out of residency for quite a while, I've never had a LinkedIn account. It's utility in medicine is honestly pretty small especially if you're not moving around from metro area to metro area.

 

[jhmmd]

Yea I would use LinkedIn maybe but not things like Facebook, MySpace, AIM, etc.

 

[mdphd123j]

I think it is important that applicants indeed follow their prospective schools on LinkedIn. Indeed they should find out the admissions committee faculty membership and follow those members directly. I would include Facebook for those members as well as any Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, Whatsapp, and even MySpace for those older faculty who still have AOL addresses. Dont overlook the current medical school class for these or even the campus maintenance twitter account. And if you can snap any who has created a twitter or instagram account for their pet dog, I would jump on it. I want any applicant I look at to have gone thru the obsessive time and effort to follow me on all my social media, knowing that such an OCD person would never overlook a detail and is willing to brown nose their way into medical school

No one will care, notice, consider, wonder, etc if you follow them on LinkedIn. If anything I would at best overt brown nosing and at worst the beginning a stalker mentality

View attachment 307723

I understand the *sarcasm* — I was just wondering because schools like to know they are your preferred option, and may even influence admissions decisions based on that information. Since I am following some schools and not others, and liking posts about those schools’ work, if you were from the University of X and I hadn’t been interested enough to look at your school then you are clearly not near the top of my list. I know that would require a detailed review of my online profile, but I didn’t think it would be completely shocking if they looked at that information as medical school admissions are so intensive.

 

[KnightDoc]

I understand the *sarcasm* — I was just wondering because schools like to know they are your preferred option, and may even influence admissions decisions based on that information. Since I am following some schools and not others, and liking posts about those schools’ work, if you were from the University of X and I hadn’t been interested enough to look at your school then you are clearly not near the top of my list. I know that would require a detailed review of my online profile, but I didn’t think it would be completely shocking if they looked at that information as medical school admissions are so intensive.

Read his last sentence. That is your answer. They are dealing with literally thousands of applications. They do not send a CSI team in to examine your online profile. At some point they might do a search to see if there are any pictures of you drunk in blackface, or to see if you are a member of a hate group, etc. While @gonnif is mocking the level of neuroticism, you apparently would not be completely shocked by any of this, so what else is there to say??

 

[mdphd123j]

Read his last sentence. That is your answer. They are dealing with literally thousands of applications. They do not send a CSI team in to examine your online profile. At some point they might do a search to see if there are any pictures of you drunk in blackface, or to see if you are a member of a hate group, etc. While @gonnif is mocking the level of neuroticism, you apparently would not be completely shocked by any of this, so what else is there to say??

Lol all right

 

[deleted804295]

I didn't know premeds used linkedin.

Haven't updated mine since first day of college.

 

[KnightDoc]

I didn't know premeds used linkedin.

Haven't updated mine since first day of college.

Nope, it's definitely a thing. My advising office encourages it.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

As someone who's been out of residency for quite a while, I've never had a LinkedIn account. It's utility in medicine is honestly pretty small especially if you're not moving around from metro area to metro area.

Faculty that engage in research seems to be active on LinkedIn.

 

[<L>]

Faculty that engage in research seems to be active on LinkedIn.

Could be. Not really my field though.

For the jobs I've applied to, there's a pretty significant word of mouth network in my field. If I drop my CV off somewhere there's almost a guaranteed chance that there's someone who works there who knows me or knows someone who knows me. May be a different game if I decide to move my family across the country someday, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Updating my CV this spring was torture enough.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Nope, it's definitely a thing. My advising office encourages it.

Did your advising office tell you the benefits of having LinkedIn profile?

 

[KnightDoc]

Did your advising office tell you the benefits of having LinkedIn profile?

Not really -- I'm guessing it's to get us to start acting like "professionals." In my case it's mostly just students connecting to each other, but I did notice that people from ECs viewed my profile. I don't personally think it's super high value, but, on the other hand, it doesn't hurt and it doesn't cost anything.

I'll take people at their word that it's not a big thing in medicine. I see how it would be useful for networking in business, and definitely see how medicine networking would be more through personal knowledge rather than through impersonal online websites, but, whatever. I have a profile and receive invitations to connect from a bunch of random people from my school plus a few friends from UG and HS. I have no illusions that it's going to be in the least bit useful in applying to med schools.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Not really -- I'm guessing it's to get us to start acting like "professionals." In my case it's mostly just students connecting to each other, but I did notice that people from ECs viewed my profile. I don't personally think it's super high value, but, on the other hand, it doesn't hurt and it doesn't cost anything.

I'll take people at their word that it's not a big thing in medicine. I see how it would be useful for networking in business, and definitely see how medicine networking would be more through personal knowledge rather than through impersonal online websites, but, whatever. I have a profile and receive invitations to connect from a bunch of random people from my school plus a few friends from UG and HS. I have no illusions that it's going to be in the least bit useful in applying to med schools.

It may add tiny bit of value depending on how it's presented. Some adcoms noted that they did check LinkedIn (based on past postings here).