Getting involved in admissions?

[chef]

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Anyone here work as admissions officers? i think many schools give full voting rights to its student members, and i wonder if these are fun things to do. after trying so hard to get in it'll be kinda fun to give thumbs up or down and decide someone's fate.. LOL but more seriously, are these worthwhile, take too much time, and are they considered a good thing on your CV?

 

[md_student10021]

don't do it if you think it's a "fun thing to do." Sitting on admissions committee is serious business, inasmuch as you deciding the fate of a complete stranger.

As far as time, it depends on your school, and the requirements re: going to various meetings etc.

This sort of thing looks pretty good on the CV, but realize that nothing is more important that grades/board scores.

 

[southerndoc]

Fun? You think an AdCom is fun?

It can be depressing in my opinion.

Nearly all applicants to medical school are well qualified. Many of those who apply to your school will not get into a school that year, and some won't get into a school at all. Voting "no" on a person who has applied 3 times is a depressing thing. Unfortunately, you know that there aren't enough spaces to accept everyone.

 

[Brewster]

I have friends who are involved in the admissions process. They really enjoy it.

My school involves fourth years in interviewing applicants. They are also invited to the adcom meetings, but I am not sure what kind of voting rights they have. I am sure the committee values student opinions since they are the ones "in the trenches."

If you think it would be fun and you like the idea of influencing who will join the future generation of students at your school, go for it.

Saying you like the idea of giving someone's fate the thumbs up or thumbs down sounds a little macabre. I suspect (and hope) you were kidding...

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

I think it's a great idea that schools allow 4th years on the admissions commitee. We all know that some pretty crappy people slip through the adcoms hands and manage to get accepted whenever they don't deserve it. As a student, it is sometimes easier to see through a person who is completely faking a caring and normal demeanor during the interview.

 

[Jalby]

I would absolutely love to be involved. I know that as second years, we are allowed to interview students, but I would love to have the up or down vote. I'm crossing my finger.

 

[Castro Viejo]

Most of us think that being former applicants gives us a leg up on the guy or gal who's "faking" an application, but truth be told, most non-student admissions officers are up to speed on the tricks of the trade, so to speak. Other than being an extra set of hands, I didn't see how my role on a med school admissions committee was any different from the other officers. I voted just the same, and I evaluated applicants similarly.

Going into it I thought that I would be able to pick out the "fakers" and application padders, but it's not always so cut and dry. I found it extremely difficult to pick out a class of 180 from a pool of nearly 4,500 by just reading someone's application.

It's an enjoyable experience because you feel like you're helping to pick a class of superstars, but when you think of the thousands of applications that will fall to the axe because of your decision, you feel kind of crappy. It's a tough job, but it would give anyone tremendous insight into the way a med school class is selected. It's a lot more "hit or miss" than most think.

 

[edfig99]

I was appointed to be on the adcom as a fourth year and it was an awesome experience. The student members are generally very valued on the committee and opinions are taking very seriously, i.e. "i would love to be in class with this person" or "thank god i am not in class with this person." It is serious business, but so is most of medicine. Being on the adcom also helped me tremendously for residency interviews - the CV filler was nice, but I also now knew the mentality of the people on the other side of the desk, and it made interviewing that much easier. Grades and board scores are not the end all...the interview is.

Anyway, I think the amount of responsibility allotted to student adcom members is variable by school. I screened many applications, but I wasn't the one to make the final decision regarding interview...and once I interviewed applicants, I had no guilt about the people that were screened out...it was out of my hands. Nothing was better though, than going to that adcom meeting an advocating for someone that Dr. So-and-So didn't care much for, and having my say count just as much (sometimes even more).

I say if you can get on the adcom, go for it.