Having relatives that work at a medical school

[geewillie]

My step grandaparents are both doctors at a top tier medical school and I was wondering how to utilize it? If they know someone on admissions, how helpful is that? Can they write a recommendation letter for me? Technically they are not related to me but I know how a letter from a relative may be disregarded. Thanks

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[smeagol]

I'm not sure how much it would help but maybe you can just apply without 'utilizing' them.

 

[geewillie]

yea but i just figure i can use all the help i can get.

 

[lawnboy313]

.

 

[EBI831]

yeah right forget all these people who because they dont' have any connections will tell you not to use them. face it, it's hard enough to get into med school as the process is so random i'd use any certainty i could get. get them to write a rec but make sure you put in other recs from science profs, PIs, etc also. also, in a lot of my med apps there was a spot for relatives affiliated with the school, so i'd list them there too. it might help you out and i agree with you a person should take all the help that they can get in this process. i just wouldnt apply somewhere completely out of reach ie that you don't think you'll be anything but the village idiot at (ie apply to harvard with a 2.5 GPA and 24 MCAT or anything) b/c if by some fluke you get in, then you might feel really unworthy.

 

[CTtarheel]

It could definitely be worked into a response to the question "why did you apply to X school?". This is really a delicate situation though to make it known but not act arrogant like it gives you some kind of entitlement. Good luck!

 

[Husky85]

I'd suggest not mentioning it at all, unless specifically asked.

And if your step grandparents don't share a last name in common with you it would be fine to have them write a letter attesting to your potential as a doctor assuming that you shadowed them at work and they got to see how you interact with patients, etc. Make sure they don't mention the family thing in the letter because it would look bad for you if they said "my grandson/daughter is such a great kid...last thanksgiving (s)he was so helpful with cleaning the turkey and is always so durn polite!"

If they want they can turn their political wheels on their own for your benefit, but you shouldn't try to do it for them.

 

[solitude]

You should ask them what they can do. You'll probably need a better intuitive sense of how to use nepotism if you're going to succeed at a top-tier school.

You should have them put in a good word for you, preferably in written letters to the admissions office and in conversations with members of the adcom. Pulling strings can be a double-edged sword, given the politics of academia: if the fellow faculty like your grandparents, they'll be willing to give you a push; if the fellow faculty hate your grandparents, they'll probably reject you out of spite.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

An LOR is a bad idea. Connections like these are best utilized behind the scenes. It's all about networking. Let's go through an example...

Grandparents bring you to the department picnic. They'll introduce you to some people. Someone will ask you what you do. You get to talk about pre-med a little bit. Nothing pushy, just small talk. You'll probably get some good advice and someone there is probably on the adcom. You'll have no idea but when your name comes up at the meeting that person will "know" you already. Thank you, grandpappy.

You can also ask your grandparents if they know of any good mentors for you. They'll have a decent idea of who is open to shadows, etc.

Using connections is smart, but you have to use them smartly. Solitude gives a good warning about the dangers of name dropping/pulling strings.

 

[Law2Doc]

You should have them put in a good word for you, preferably in written letters to the admissions office and in conversations with members of the adcom. Pulling strings can be a double-edged sword, given the politics of academia: if the fellow faculty like your grandparents, they'll be willing to give you a push; if the fellow faculty hate your grandparents, they'll probably reject you out of spite.

Agree with the double edged sword issue, disagree with the written letters. If you are going to use "pull" it is better if it is not documented.

 

[solitude]

Agree with the double edged sword issue, disagree with the written letters. If you are going to use "pull" it is better if it is not documented.

My opinion is that a letter can serve to remind the entire committee exactly who is going to be pissed off if the applicant is rejected, whereas it's going to be hard for your connection to get facetime for persuasion with more than one or two members of the adcom. My understanding is that most schools use some sort of committee system to make final decisions, so the cachet of a letter from Grandparent X for all to see is (barring animus as described above) going to help more than the good will of just one or two committee members.

But in the back of my mind I really tend to agree with you. I think the best form of persuasion would be that somebody on the committee brings it up, and everybody banters about that "we really wouldn't want to piss of Big Deal Grandparent, who says this guy is a great kid", and they decide to accept. This kind of stuff goes a long way and happens all the time, especially when, as you said in another thread, the applicant is "at the door of admissibility".

 

[Law2Doc]

But in the back of my mind I really tend to agree with you. I think the best form of persuasion would be that somebody on the committee brings it up, and everybody banters about that "we really wouldn't want to piss of Big Deal Grandparent, who says this guy is a great kid", and they decide to accept. This kind of stuff goes a long way and happens all the time, especially when, as you said in another thread, the applicant is "at the door of admissibility".

The best move (for OP) would be to have your step grandparents talk to the dean, and have the dean talk to the adcom. No documentation means never having to concede the existence of favoritism/nepotism.

 

[lilnoelle]

An LOR is a bad idea. Connections like these are best utilized behind the scenes. It's all about networking. Let's go through an example...

Grandparents bring you to the department picnic. They'll introduce you to some people. Someone will ask you what you do. You get to talk about pre-med a little bit. Nothing pushy, just small talk. You'll probably get some good advice and someone there is probably on the adcom. You'll have no idea but when your name comes up at the meeting that person will "know" you already. Thank you, grandpappy.

You can also ask your grandparents if they know of any good mentors for you. They'll have a decent idea of who is open to shadows, etc.

Using connections is smart, but you have to use them smartly. Solitude gives a good warning about the dangers of name dropping/pulling strings.

This is what I was going to say. Use your connections to show your interest in the school or your interest in medicine. I.e. they can help you get some desireable shadowing experience, or maybe you can meet some of your future teachers and talk about research or something because they throw in a good word for you.

If they know the Dean, or someone on the Adcomm, then they can put in a good word.... not "you need to accept this person" but, "I'm really impressed with my step grandchild for these reasons, I know he's planning on applying to your school next year, and I know this is his dream school."
The above recommendation is not likely to get you the spot, but it might help, just a smidge."

 

[CTtarheel]

I'd suggest not mentioning it at all, unless specifically asked.

And if your step grandparents don't share a last name in common with you it would be fine to have them write a letter attesting to your potential as a doctor assuming that you shadowed them at work and they got to see how you interact with patients, etc. Make sure they don't mention the family thing in the letter because it would look bad for you if they said "my grandson/daughter is such a great kid...last thanksgiving (s)he was so helpful with cleaning the turkey and is always so durn polite!"

If they want they can turn their political wheels on their own for your benefit, but you shouldn't try to do it for them.

how dare you question my advice

 

[solitude]

The best move (for OP) would be to have your step grandparents talk to the dean, and have the dean talk to the adcom. No documentation means never having to concede the existence of favoritism/nepotism.

Well that's true that the dean trumps all. For all practical purposes though, the dean of the medical school is probably not going to go out of his/her way to pull strings for some faculty member's step-grandchild unless said faculty member holds a lot of sway, so the safest bet is to try for the adcom itself as well (albeit without a mandate from the dean, this will be less effective).

 

[etf]

one of the surgeons my mom works with is one of the most famous faculty at one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country. she couldn't get her own daughter a secondary at this school.