Headshot Photo for Secondaries

[LAIsTheBestPlaceEver]

I know schools require us to attach a picture of ourselves when submitting the secondaries. But I do not have any headshot photo of myself.

Can anyone let me know the standard dimension/size?
Does it has to be a particular color in the background?
I have a yearbook photo of myself from a year ago that is 4x5 but grey in the background, will that do?
Last, can I just take a selfie with my phone? Sorry If I sound dumb 🙁

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[neuro1122]

I would go with the high-quality yearbook picture. I don't really think med schools care about the background color of the pic, it's just to verify who you are when you arrive for an interview. But a selfie is unprofessional. I think the general rule is usually a 1:1 ratio passport picture.

 

[LizzyM]

You can do this yourself with a friend and a cell phone if you don't have a professional photo handy.

Dress as you would for an interview or just business casual. Frankly, I'm fine with anything except a tee shirt. (in other words, open neck dress shirt, polo shirt, shirt and jacket without a tie, shirt and tie with no jacket...)

Choose a background color that is neutral but contrasts with your hair color. Don't use a dark background if you have dark hair or a light background if you have light hair and skin. You want some contrast between yourself and the background.

Stand or sit as if your photographer would be taking your picture in profile. Hold a large piece of white cardboard at waist level (below the level of the photo) to direct light up toward your face.
Now twist slightly at the waist and turn your head toward the photographer. Tilt your head up slightly if you are prone to a double chin. have your photographer take a few shots and don't be afraid to edit.

This is not something to spend a ton of money on. It is only used to help your interviewers identify you when they call you from the waiting room and then to remember who you are when they go back to write up their interview notes. (Some of us interview 4-7 candidates per interview day and something to jog the memory is a real plus.)

 

[Oso]

I put on a shirt and tie and took a photo of myself against a wall in my basement

 

[Sagebrush]

You can do this yourself with a friend and a cell phone if you don't have a professional photo handy.

Dress as you would for an interview or just business casual. Frankly, I'm fine with anything except a tee shirt. (in other words, open neck dress shirt, polo shirt, shirt and jacket without a tie, shirt and tie with no jacket...)

Choose a background color that is neutral but contrasts with your hair color. Don't use a dark background if you have dark hair or a light background if you have light hair and skin. You want some contrast between yourself and the background.

Stand or sit as if your photographer would be taking your picture in profile. Hold a large piece of white cardboard at waist level (below the level of the photo) to direct light up toward your face.
Now twist slightly at the waist and turn your head toward the photographer. Tilt your head up slightly if you are prone to a double chin. have your photographer take a few shots and don't be afraid to edit.

This is not something to spend a ton of money on. It is only used to help your interviewers identify you when they call you from the waiting room and then to remember who you are when they go back to write up their interview notes. (Some of us interview 4-7 candidates per interview day and something to jog the memory is a real plus.)

Thank you for this guide! It' so helpful!

 

[Zharp]

Yeah, I dressed nicely and had my girlfriend snap a few photos... No way I'm shelling out 40-50$ for a "professional" headshot lol.

 

[benjamin94559]

on the flip side if youºre in the market anyway for a prof head shot you might as well use it for this lol

 

[DocAdams]

I highly recommend Glamour Shots by Deb.

 

[chappikachu]

I used my yearbook photo this past cycle, and it worked just fine!

 

[alexlex143]

I only had 1 school that seemed to be more strict with my particular photos. They wanted a passport size photo with a white background. I took a selfie (a great quality one at that) in front of a white door and they said no...

Otherwise, I used a photo with a neutral, light background where I stood in front of a plant. I liked it a lot and submitted it for 90% of my schools.

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

I only had 1 school that seemed to be more strict with my particular photos. They wanted a passport size photo with a white background. I took a selfie (a great quality one at that) in front of a white door and they said no...

Otherwise, I used a photo with a neutral, light background where I stood in front of a plant. I liked it a lot and submitted it for 90% of my schools.

Pro tip - can use a selfie stick to make it look less like a selfie!
Also, some colleges do this for free at the career and internship services or somewhere that rents out tech/photo equipment.. It's called 'linkedin photo day' like once a week at my school.

 

[Stagg737]

For residency, you will need to go out and have a professionally taken photo for your apps. Fortunately med school apps are a little more laid back with photos. You'd be shocked how many photos of people I saw in t-shirts or just a plain button-up at interviews, so it's not as big of a deal as you'd think. You should still try and look professional, and LizzyM gave a great little guide, but if it doesn't quite look professional quality there's no need to panic over it. For reference, on my most successful cycle I wore a dress shirt and tie and had one of my roommates take a picture in front of a black wall. Idk if I was even wearing pants...

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

Idk if I was even wearing pants...

Dressy top from salvation army thrift store, target clearance cloth shorts bought at age 13 or younger 😉

 

[getdown]

just get a couple of passport photos from CVS or walgreens.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Doesn’t Walgreens do passport photos for $15?

 

[MedicalDoge]

Literally took a selfie in my room with a suit jacket and tie and no pants on...

This is not something to stress about.

EDIT: I used Paint to adjust the dimensions, that might help

 

[Sagebrush]

You can do this yourself with a friend and a cell phone if you don't have a professional photo handy.

Dress as you would for an interview or just business casual. Frankly, I'm fine with anything except a tee shirt. (in other words, open neck dress shirt, polo shirt, shirt and jacket without a tie, shirt and tie with no jacket...)

Choose a background color that is neutral but contrasts with your hair color. Don't use a dark background if you have dark hair or a light background if you have light hair and skin. You want some contrast between yourself and the background.

Stand or sit as if your photographer would be taking your picture in profile. Hold a large piece of white cardboard at waist level (below the level of the photo) to direct light up toward your face.
Now twist slightly at the waist and turn your head toward the photographer. Tilt your head up slightly if you are prone to a double chin. have your photographer take a few shots and don't be afraid to edit.

This is not something to spend a ton of money on. It is only used to help your interviewers identify you when they call you from the waiting room and then to remember who you are when they go back to write up their interview notes. (Some of us interview 4-7 candidates per interview day and something to jog the memory is a real plus.)

Public service announcement for everyone currently worrying about taking a headshot for their secondaries: this method works like a charm, even if you're the least photogenic person imaginable (me). And be creative with what you can use as a background - I was having trouble finding a contrasting background and wound up sitting on the floor in front of a solid wood cabinet that held a dishwasher. When cropped appropriately, the background looks like a background you'd find in a professional studio, not like I was sitting in front of a dishwasher

 

[Blanky]

Time to shave the beard. 🙁

 

[Unlimited Apps]

Time to shave the beard. 🙁

Tell me about it 🙁. Had a nice one going but forgot that I would need to shave it off for the secondary photos.

 

[djsbaseball2014]

@Blanky @Unlimited Apps I think im going to keep my beard but its pretty clean and tidy to begin with, not bushy or anything. I literally look like im 15 when I shave...

 

[Blanky]

@Blanky @Unlimited Apps I think im going to keep my beard but its pretty clean and tidy to begin with, not bushy or anything. I literally look like im 15 when I shave...

I think you should be fine, but some people are old school and will prefer a clean shave. In the off chance that an interviewer would hate my beard I will just shave.

 

[LizzyM]

I know of at least one former Dean of Admissions who had a bushy beard... I think you dudes make too much of it.

 

[Unlimited Apps]

I know of at least one former Dean of Admissions who had a bushy beard... I think you dudes make too much of it.

But do you not agree? Clean-shaving is just the safest option. I am sure there are still some admissions members in the country, especially some of the older ones, that would think a candidate that didn't shave his beard for a medical school interview is being unprofessional. Even my parents are so old-fashioned that they try to get me to clean shave for every important gathering or event (or atleast used to LOL).

@Blanky @Unlimited Apps I think im going to keep my beard but its pretty clean and tidy to begin with, not bushy or anything. I literally look like im 15 when I shave...

Lol, I am in a similar situation. I look significantly younger clean shaven (haven't even seen myself clean shaven in a few months!).

 

[LaceyMD]

Just keep in mind when selecting your photo that depending on your school, you may be "stuck" with it for most of med school - for my school, that photo was what was printed on our IDs, it was attached to the electronic evaluation forms our professors use to submit grades, you'll see it printed on random sheets of paper from time to time (e.g., during advising appointments). I'm not saying you have to spend the money on professional head shots (in fact, I'd say don't), but just make sure you like it enough that you're okay with seeing it crop up from time to time over the next few years.

 

[LizzyM]

But do you not agree? Clean-shaving is just the safest option. I am sure there are still some admissions members in the country, especially some of the older ones, that would think a candidate that didn't shave his beard for a medical school interview is being unprofessional. Even my parents are so old-fashioned that they try to get me to clean shave for every important gathering or event (or atleast used to LOL).



Lol, I am in a similar situation. I look significantly younger clean shaven (haven't even seen myself clean shaven in a few months!).

Stubble is not an option in my book but a well trimmed beard would not be a deal breaker for me or for the adcom members and interviewers I know. I've never heard an interviewer or adcom member make an issue of facial hair. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable.

 

[Sagebrush]

But do you not agree? Clean-shaving is just the safest option. I am sure there are still some admissions members in the country, especially some of the older ones, that would think a candidate that didn't shave his beard for a medical school interview is being unprofessional. Even my parents are so old-fashioned that they try to get me to clean shave for every important gathering or event (or atleast used to LOL).



Lol, I am in a similar situation. I look significantly younger clean shaven (haven't even seen myself clean shaven in a few months!).

Not that my opinion as a lowly pre-med counts for much, but something I'm trying to keep in mind while I apply is that for anything in my application/interview/etc... to have a negative impact on my chance of admission, someone needs to be willing to bring it up in a room full of other adults and get them all to agree that it's a negative. For the facial hair example, picture a group of med school faculty sitting around a table, and one of them saying "well, I really liked Bob's application, but I'm just not sure that his picture was professional enough, what with that beard..." and everyone else around them agreeing. That's essentially what would have to happen for something to have a negative impact on your chance of admission. So whenever I worry about something affecting my chances, I just try to picture that scenario and see how ridiculous it would be for someone to bring that up.

If you submitted a picture of yourself completely naked, I can reasonably imagine an Adcom voicing concern and getting a lot of agreement. I have a harder time imagining someone being willing to bring up reasonable, well-groomed facial hair in that manner, much less getting everyone else in the room to agree that it's an issue.