Have the opportunity to have "strings pulled" for my entrance in to med school. Can it hurt me?

[Tiger_Bait_Mate]

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I have been working a new job and met a physician with strong ties to one of my state schools. He described himself as friends with the chancellor and offered to meet with me and review my application and then call on my behalf. I am below their average GPA and slightly above their average MCAT, a re-applicant with a great upward trend (all As last year and a half). What I am trying to say is that I may need the help.

I have never had an opportunity like this and was wondering if there was any way this could hurt me? Is it likely to help me at all or not really? Will I be viewed by adcom members as "that guy"?

I am trying to get some opinions from adcom members or current medical students. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Inb4 neurotic premed freaking out

 

[mimelim]

#1 There is limited utility to these kinds of things. In the vast majority of cases it does not help an application. It will definitely increase the likelyhood of being interviewed, but how much it will impact actual acceptance rates depends on too many factors like how close he actually is with the chancellor, who the chancellor is, how far you are from the averages of the school, etc.

#2 This can be a negative, but only in very very specific circumstances. It isn't about being labelled, "that guy". It is about someone saying something bad about you inadvertently.

#3 This is the real world. This happens all the time in virtually every field. You should be taking this opportunity. Don't expect a ton, and certainly don't bank on it. But, this is how it works. We call the letter writers of all the people we are seriously considering. Having someone vouch for you gets your foot in the door many times.

 

[Tiger_Bait_Mate]

I am definitely currently planning on taking him up on the offer. Like I said, I am near their averages, but have yet to hear back from either school. It's still relatively early in my home state. I never got an interview last time applying because of a subpar MCAT and GPA. I increased my MCAT score by 5 points since last application (old exam still) and my cGPA has gone up by .2 and sGPA by about .3

I would say he is decently close to the chancellor...he was on the selection committee when the school was searching for a chancellor. He seemed really confident that it was strong enough ties to help me out, which is why I am feeling okay about the whole thing.

 

[Lost in Translation]

I've always been under the impression that the only way to get an acceptance to medschool through an "in" is it your family writes a six-figure check to the school as a "donation".

But to get an interview, or even an expedited review/decision on your application, I'm sure you can expect at least that much.

 

[Tiger_Bait_Mate]

Yeah the acceptance rate for interviews is pretty high from my understanding (almost 40% at one of the schools; interview 250 for 120 spots; other is 500 for 180 spots). I have had a lot of meaningful life experiences and have a REALLY awesome job that has honestly made me a better person. I would have a much better chance after having an interview than not having one (duh).

 

[Gandyy]

Yeah the acceptance rate for interviews is pretty high from my understanding (almost 40% at one of the schools; interview 250 for 120 spots; other is 500 for 180 spots). I have had a lot of meaningful life experiences and have a REALLY awesome job that has honestly made me a better person. I would have a much better chance after having an interview than not having one (duh).

I wouldnt consider a 40 percent post interview acceptance rate "pretty high".

 

[Tiger_Bait_Mate]

I wouldnt consider a 40 percent post interview acceptance rate "pretty high".

Okay, but I am pretty sure there are schools that have a much lower percentage. If that point is bothering you then just ignore it. I suppose it wasn't really important to the discussion anyways.

 

[Lancer]

I wouldnt consider a 40 percent post interview acceptance rate "pretty high".

What he listed was post-interview matriculation rate, which is extremely high. Most schools accept at least 2-3x their class size, which would mean that the school accepts almost everyone they interview

 

[Goro]

This might lead to a polite interview, followed by a polite spot on the wait list, followed by an even more polite rejection.

I have been working a new job and met a physician with strong ties to one of my state schools. He described himself as friends with the chancellor and offered to meet with me and review my application and then call on my behalf. I am below their average GPA and slightly above their average MCAT, a re-applicant with a great upward trend (all As last year and a half). What I am trying to say is that I may need the help.

I have never had an opportunity like this and was wondering if there was any way this could hurt me? Is it likely to help me at all or not really? Will I be viewed by adcom members as "that guy"?

I am trying to get some opinions from adcom members or current medical students. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Inb4 neurotic premed freaking out

 

[Tiger_Bait_Mate]

This might lead to a polite interview, followed by a polite spot on the wait list, followed by an even more polite rejection.

Better than a polite no interview rejection like last year, right?! jk
That rejection letter was so polite last year...here I am, though.

 

[NickNaylor]

I agree with @mimelim's post. When I was doing admissions work in the medical school, every once and a while we would come across an applicant that had some kind of legacy connection to the school, some kind of personal "string pulling," etc. which got them an interview - people on the admissions committee said as much - but which is irrelevant after that. No matter who is making calls on your behalf, if there are concerns about admitting you to a school then it will ultimately net you nothing. These kinds of calls are meant to grab the attention of the "decision makers," not to completely flip a decision. Go for it and take advantage of this opportunity, but I wouldn't expect anything out of it.

 

[Doug Underhill]

It's called "legacy admissions", not "legacy polite interviews followed by rejections". Someone must be admitted through this process.

Ultimately, Low-Yield Med School has 5,000 3.7/31 applicants. Here, getting an interview is the hard part, and perhaps Dr. String Puller can help you get past this challenging barrier.

 

[Goro]

Legacy admits are not from connections like the OP wants to use. They're for the children or relations of current students, Deans, Faculty, or most commonly, donors. The wise @gyngyn has written about the governor of his state trying to pull a legacy, and it doesn't work. Ditto the US Senator and Nobel laureates who have tried to get people into my school. Only the donor's' kid got in.

It's called "legacy admissions", not "legacy polite interviews followed by rejections". Someone must be admitted through this process.

Ultimately, Low-Yield Med School has 5,000 3.7/31 applicants. Here, getting an interview is the hard part, and perhaps Dr. String Puller can help you get past this challenging barrier.

 

[Med Ed]

I have been working a new job and met a physician with strong ties to one of my state schools. He described himself as friends with the chancellor and offered to meet with me and review my application and then call on my behalf. I am below their average GPA and slightly above their average MCAT, a re-applicant with a great upward trend (all As last year and a half). What I am trying to say is that I may need the help.

I have never had an opportunity like this and was wondering if there was any way this could hurt me? Is it likely to help me at all or not really? Will I be viewed by adcom members as "that guy"?

I am trying to get some opinions from adcom members or current medical students. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Inb4 neurotic premed freaking out

So a physician you don't really know wants to make a call on your behalf to someone in the upper echelon of the university organization, well above the admissions office. Then the chancellor is supposed to take time from his or her day to contact the medical school dean or admissions dean to plug an application from an unconnected, numerically average individual.

It sounds like it's more about the physician flexing his ego than actually helping you. You should ask him if he has offered this assistance to others in the past, and what the outcomes were.

 

[mistafab]

"Can getting help hurt me?" -OP

You can't be serious.

 

[IlDestriero]

It can't hurt.
Your app might need the boost to get an interview. Then upon closer inspection, your upward climb, sting MCAT, strong interview... Welcome aboard!

 

[Slave to the Game]

The pro of your getting into med school greatly outweighs any cons it could possibly have.

He offered to meet with you and review your application. He offered to give the school's chancellor a phone call on your behalf. It would be a completely different story if you were asking him to do these for you.

Take the opportunity and be grateful. Be sure to take this as seriously as you would take a real interview, or perhaps even more so since it would be much more in-depth. The interviewer already knows you, and needs to make a very strong case for your backdoor-ish admission to the med school.

 

[Med Ed]

The interviewer already knows you, and needs to make a very strong case for your backdoor-ish admission to the med school.

As stated above, within reason the most this would do for the OP is net an interview. The LCME stipulates that the final authority for admissions rests with the admissions committee, which shall operate free of political and financial influence. Stuff still happens, of course, but considering what happened to Bruce Kone at UF, senior administrators are fairly reluctant to stick their necks out for no good reason.

While I might be in the minority here, my n=1 experience with admissions committees has shown me that people outside the process who attempt to influence it, like a physician who calls the chancellor, usually get treated like stray animals: not fed.

 

[mimelim]

As stated above, within reason the most this would do for the OP is net an interview. The LCME stipulates that the final authority for admissions rests with the admissions committee, which shall operate free of political and financial influence. Stuff still happens, of course, but considering what happened to Bruce Kone at UF, senior administrators are fairly reluctant to stick their necks out for no good reason.

While I might be in the minority here, my n=1 experience with admissions committees has shown me that people outside the process who attempt to influence it, like a physician who calls the chancellor, usually get treated like stray animals: not fed.

Honestly, I think that the main problem is that most of these people have an inflated sense of self importance. They also are calling for their friend's kid or someone else that they have no business recommending (very similar to shadowing LOR actually). On the other hand, when a big name calls and says, "take a close look at this guy, I worked with them, they are solid, make sure you don't overlook them." You bet that their application gets scrutinized at a higher level. It also helps non-academic portions of an application shine.

This of course flips with residency applications because the majority of those calling on applicants behalf are people who's opinions matter in this field.

 

[Tiger_Bait_Mate]

"Can getting help hurt me?" -OP

You can't be serious.

Sorry, I guess I am pretty nervous about everything. I didn't get interviewed last year at either state school, and have yet to hear anything back. I am an Louisiana resident just below the two state schools' averages. Not trying to waste anybody's time.

 

[jl lin]

This kind of thing happens. It's like someone introducing you to someone else. It's like "word of mouth" and sales. At the end of the day, however, the metrics pretty much have to have the right sense to them in most cases.

Just as has been said already. It could go either way. It can't necessarily hurt, but it may or may not help.

To me, it would depend upon the referring person, the professional/academic nature of our relationship, and my honest appraisal of my whole application.


As a re-applicant, if you have made the right application improvements, and the professional reference is a stellar one, there is no harm in it.

 

[Slave to the Game]

As stated above, within reason the most this would do for the OP is net an interview. The LCME stipulates that the final authority for admissions rests with the admissions committee, which shall operate free of political and financial influence.

That would corroborate the instances that came to my mind regarding backdoor admissions - it was member(s) of the admissions committee who had weighed in heavily on the student(s) being admitted (top 50 MD schools). I haven't heard of any successes nor failures from an outside faculty member weighing in, but I can't see why it would hurt the applicant to accept the help - it would essentially serve as an extra letter of recommendation.

 

[ChillDawg]

#1 There is limited utility to these kinds of things. In the vast majority of cases it does not help an application. It will definitely increase the likelyhood of being interviewed, but how much it will impact actual acceptance rates depends on too many factors like how close he actually is with the chancellor, who the chancellor is, how far you are from the averages of the school, etc.

#2 This can be a negative, but only in very very specific circumstances. It isn't about being labelled, "that guy". It is about someone saying something bad about you inadvertently.

#3 This is the real world. This happens all the time in virtually every field. You should be taking this opportunity. Don't expect a ton, and certainly don't bank on it. But, this is how it works. We call the letter writers of all the people we are seriously considering. Having someone vouch for you gets your foot in the door many times.

You guys actually do this? Post interview and before acceptance?

 

[bc65]

You guys actually do this? Post interview and before acceptance?

For residency positions and jobs? Absolutely.

For a job, we're going to hire one person. We culled through 20 or 30 applications and interview the best 4 or 5 of those. We reject 2 after the interview, and we have 3 possibilities left. We read through the letters again looking for clues, in light of what we gleaned from the interviews, and then call the letter writers to clarify our impressions.

For residency positions, you do the same. You should make phone calls about everyone you plan on ranking or accepting.

 

[Goro]

Pretty much the same for faculty hires! At the schools I've been on Faculty at, after the interviews, the search committee voted (AND took input from the rest of the Faculty) and made the offer to the top ranked candidate.

For residency positions and jobs? Absolutely.

For a job, we're going to hire one person. We culled through 20 or 30 applications and interview the best 4 or 5 of those. We reject 2 after the interview, and we have 3 possibilities left. We read through the letters again looking for clues, in light of what we gleaned from the interviews, and then call the letter writers to clarify our impressions.

For residency positions, you do the same. You should make phone calls about everyone you plan on ranking or accepting.

 

[ChillDawg]

For residency positions and jobs? Absolutely.

For a job, we're going to hire one person. We culled through 20 or 30 applications and interview the best 4 or 5 of those. We reject 2 after the interview, and we have 3 possibilities left. We read through the letters again looking for clues, in light of what we gleaned from the interviews, and then call the letter writers to clarify our impressions.

For residency positions, you do the same. You should make phone calls about everyone you plan on ranking or accepting.

Pretty much the same for faculty hires! At the schools I've been on Faculty at, after the interviews, the search committee voted (AND took input from the rest of the Faculty) and made the offer to the top ranked candidate.

But not for medical school admissions, right?

 

[Goro]

They similar in that about 50% of the time, people have no business applying. You'd be surprised how many geneticists, physiologists, and microbiologists apply for a position in Anatomy.

But not for medical school admissions, right?

 

[Ostallopathic]

They similar in that about 50% of the time, people have no business applying. You'd be surprised how many geneticists, physiologists, and microbiologists apply for a position in Anatomy.

How is it surprising that a physiologist would apply for a position in Anatomy?

 

[Goro]

It's hard to explain if you haven't taken med school anatomy or physiology, but there really two separate fields. Knowing where the lobes of the liver are have nothing to do with understanding liver function. And knowing where the masseter is and it's role in chewing have nothing to do with understanding myocyte contractability.

How is it surprising that a physiologist would apply for a position in Anatomy?