How are extremely ugly applicants viewed?

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lolpremed22

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This might seem like a troll question but I'm genuinely wondering. I've read about the Halo effect and how being ugly can hurt you in job interviews. I'm wondering if being really ugly could lead to an otherwise average applicant that should be successful having an unsuccessful cycle.

Edit: I personally don't consider myself extremely ugly.. but who knows. This was more of a hypothetical.
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If you are truly several standard deviations below what is considered "average" physical attractiveness (not that high tbh) then yes there will undoubtedly be some bias. It certainly won't be intentional, but we as humans enjoy symmetrical things and extremely altered features are not psychologically interpreted as being aesthetically pleasing.

But my point is, I doubt you or many other applicants are ugly enough to be legitimately concerned about this.
 
lolpremed22 said:
This might seem like a troll question but I'm genuinely wondering. I've read about the Halo effect and how being ugly can hurt you in job interviews. I'm wondering if being really ugly could lead to an otherwise average applicant that should be successful to having an unsuccessful cycle.
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Has anyone collected any data in regards to this? Doubt it.

Surely, the attractive faces have an advantage.

I would argue that someone who hasn't been hit with the pretty stick can compensate somewhat with impeccable grooming, a friendly smile, and a good photographer for the secondary pic.

Edit to add...go to a top hair stylist for a more flattering cut. Can do miracles.
 
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I wonder how much being super-attractive can have the same effect. I was actually thinking about this yesterday while deciding what secondary photo to use. I'm pretty average in appearance, I think - maybe more attractive in person than in photos, but generally about middle-of-the-road. And I was wondering if drop-dead gorgeous model types might be dismissed by ad com members, maybe in part because of the stupid stereotypes about beautiful people being lacking in the brains department. I almost feel like this more people will fit this category than the opposite end of the spectrum, since with people getting all gussied up to impress during the application process, there will really be very few that can't pass that minimal threshold to be considered average in appearance.


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Barring any physical illnesses or genetic conditions, if you are noticably overweight or obese (which I presume implies you are not as attractive) I would argue that people could have a legitimate concern regarding your sense of self-discipline, care about your own body, etc.

I know I touch a sensitive topic but this could be a possibility
 
lolpremed22 said:
This might seem like a troll question but I'm genuinely wondering. I've read about the Halo effect and how being ugly can hurt you in job interviews. I'm wondering if being really ugly could lead to an otherwise average applicant that should be successful having an unsuccessful cycle.

Edit: I personally don't consider myself extremely ugly.. but who knows. This was more of a hypothetical.
Click to expand...

"Beauty is only skin deep."

I would recommend fine tuning one's speech and behavior to be so pleasant that it could not contrast more with an ugly appearance. The greater that contrast, the more likely someone is to pick up on it. And how memorable it will be.
 
lolpremed22 said:
This might seem like a troll question but I'm genuinely wondering. I've read about the Halo effect and how being ugly can hurt you in job interviews. I'm wondering if being really ugly could lead to an otherwise average applicant that should be successful having an unsuccessful cycle.

Edit: I personally don't consider myself extremely ugly.. but who knows. This was more of a hypothetical.
Click to expand...
My school has accepted students who look like movie stars, and others who look like they are refugees from Boris Karloff/Bela Lugosi movies.

Contrary to mass delusion, med school interviews are NOT job interviews.

Next question.
 
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ADSigMel said:
I wonder how much being super-attractive can have the same effect. I was actually thinking about this yesterday while deciding what secondary photo to use. I'm pretty average in appearance, I think - maybe more attractive in person than in photos, but generally about middle-of-the-road. And I was wondering if drop-dead gorgeous model types might be dismissed by ad com members, maybe in part because of the stupid stereotypes about beautiful people being lacking in the brains department. I almost feel like this more people will fit this category than the opposite end of the spectrum, since with people getting all gussied up to impress during the application process, there will really be very few that can't pass that minimal threshold to be considered average in appearance.


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An aspect of the Halo effect is that attractive people are viewed as smarter. Especially if the applicant has the stats to back this up, being drop-dead gorgeous is only going to help them.
 
Like someone else said, even if you are very ugly, you can improve your looks significantly with a flattering haircut and outfit, working out/losing weight, good grooming and white teeth, and a friendly demeanour.
I'd like to think that that would be enough to compensate for unattractiveness in most settings
 
Minus 7 from MCAT scores. Seriously though... who knows?


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lolpremed22 said:
This might seem like a troll question but I'm genuinely wondering. I've read about the Halo effect and how being ugly can hurt you in job interviews. I'm wondering if being really ugly could lead to an otherwise average applicant that should be successful having an unsuccessful cycle.

Edit: I personally don't consider myself extremely ugly.. but who knows. This was more of a hypothetical.
Click to expand...


Interesting thread...for purposes of med school admissions, I think one's personality (great versus lousy) can help/hurt you more than physical attractiveness. Your chances of getting into a particular med school are largely determined by your stats/academic record/research experience etc. Your interview is also greatly influenced by who your interviewer is. Attractiveness for med school in my mind is like picking out the color of a car, though I may prefer a black Audi RS7, I am not going to pass a up on a white RS7 or pick a black BMW M6 one instead
 
vm26 said:
Attractiveness for med school in my mind is like picking out the color of a car, though I may prefer a black Audi RS7, I am not going to pass a up on a white RS7 or pick a black BMW M6 one instead
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Good thing *most* of my classmates look like (and drive) Toyota Prius's then. Don't think I'd have been able to compete within the luxury market!
 
Now that I think about it, almost all the med students I've seen from top schools are decent to amazing in attractiveness. Gdi, another thing to worry about...
 
My .02: It's not really about being good looking, it's about being charismatic. They often go together but aren't the same thing. Surely you can think of a few people you know that really aren't in the best shape or don't have the nicest faces, but are extremely outgoing and charming? Attractiveness alone isn't what makes an interviewer enjoy an hour of speaking with you.
 
efle said:
My .02: It's not really about being good looking, it's about being charismatic. They often go together but aren't the same thing. Surely you can think of a few people you know that really aren't in the best shape or don't have the nicest faces, but are extremely outgoing and charming? Attractiveness alone isn't what makes an interviewer enjoy an hour of speaking with you.
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I seriously do not think it makes a big difference at all for an II. During the interview, people have natural biases, but I still think the impact would be small. I agree, it is more about how you present yourself and make your case.
 
I am embarrassed to admit that I have been wondering the same thing lately. Adcoms are people and it's likely that despite their best attempts to ignore appearance, it will make some kind of a difference.

But I think that proper grooming, a well-tailored suit, and good posture are far more important and will make a bigger difference.
 
I remembered in my psychology or sociology class, instructors mentioned an "informal experiment" whether interviewers like interviewees to have curly hair or straight hair.
The hypothesis was that interviewers prefer straight hair, because curly hair looked messy. I forgot the informal experimental results though.
In short, I do think appearance will play a role. This phenomenon should not be very different from racism or other things.
The problem is how much weight they will put on our appearance.
However, this is a factor we barely can control. So plz just forget about this.
 
I think an aspect to your beauty comes from your confidence. You can be objectively "not attractive," but we still think Tyrion Lannister is a god damn sexy man.

It's all about confidence dude--rock a nice looking FITTED suit, put on some very subtle cologne, get a nice tie, and give off the air of "I'm comfortable in my skin." Confidence > natural beauty, any day, for me at least.

Anyway, that's what my girlfriend thinks. I used to say I'm "not too attractive" but I've changed my attitude 🙂 I'm comfortable doing me, and I think other people value that.
 
The short answer is, yes. It is one of many factors.

Though, even with only mild grooming and adequate social skills, you can go a loooooong way.


Edit:

Also as a general rule, I would NEVER date my classmates.
 
UBLI-EINSTEIN said:
I remembered in my psychology or sociology class, instructors mentioned an "informal experiment" whether interviewers like interviewees to have curly hair or straight hair.
The hypothesis was that interviewers prefer straight hair, because curly hair looked messy. I forgot the informal experimental results though.
In short, I do think appearance will play a role. This phenomenon should not be very different from racism or other things.
The problem is how much weight they will put on our appearance.
However, this is a factor we barely can control. So plz just forget about this.
Click to expand...
Appearance plays a huge role, unfortunately, and adcoms who don't admit some subconscious bias, are doing themselves and those interviewing a disfavor. Thank god I look like Fabio
 
I looked up some literature on this, and found this abstract:

"Applicant sex, applicant physical attractiveness, type of rater (120 students and 105 professional employment interviewers) and the type of job were manipulated experimentally in a 2 times 2 × 2 times 2 design. Physical attractiveness of job candidates had the broadest influence on employment decisions. There was no main effect for applicant sex, but professional interviewers were biased in favour of female applicants while student raters were not. Also, as expected, professional interviewers rated job applicants less leniently than students did."

Also this tidbit from the discussion interested me:
"Student raters were particularly lenient when rating male applicants, and recruiters gave much lower ratings to the same male applicants while rating female applicants more positively than the male applicants"

So it depends on who's interviewing you and what sex you are. Now, even if med school interviews are not job interviews, I doubt everyone on the admissions committees are free from such cognitive biases.

GILMORE, D. C., BEEHR, T. A. and LOVE, K. G. (1986), Effects of applicant sex, applicant physical attractiveness, type of rater and type of job on interview decisions*. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 59: 103–109. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1986.tb00217.x
 
I just think being human means being victim to biases. A lot of it is even evolved. We innately like people who are better looking. We instinctively trust those belonging to our "in-group" rather than an "out-group". The best thing to do is to be aware of common biases and make a cognizant effort to combat their effects, not suggest they don't exist.
 
I look a lot younger than I actually am. I'm about to turn 21 and people always confuse me for being 15-16. Do you think this might weight against me? Surprisingly most of the female doctors I have shadowed have said I looked "adorable and cute." Male doctors generally mention something about my height but in a kiddish way.
 
mwsapphire said:
You just said it was 50/50 tho.....
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LnSin said:
Ill take "joke" for 50, Alex


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Goro said:
Yet another time worth mentioning that SDNers that reading skills are important for the MCAT CARS section...nowhere in my post did I mention ratios.
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I thought your original post said some students are very god looking and some are very the opposite, I didn't realize it would be taken so literally.
Sorry 😛
 
If you think you're ugly, you are most likely just average looking.

IMO, although attractiveness does play a factor, admissions will only take into account aspects of your appearance that you can control (obesity, grooming, shaving, proper fitting of garments, demeanor, etc.)
 
I thought it was universally known that attractive people generally fare better in most aspects of life. Life as an attractive girl, in particular, must seem so easy. Everybody is nice enough to open doors for you and to do everything for you at your request.
 
Pusheen said:
Like someone else said, even if you are very ugly, you can improve your looks significantly with a flattering haircut and outfit, working out/losing weight, good grooming and white teeth, and a friendly demeanour.
I'd like to think that that would be enough to compensate for unattractiveness in most settings
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No you really can't. There is this one girl in the gym that whenever I see her I seriously consider going for plastic surgery. I see her in the gym every day and every time I see her from behind I instinctively walk toward that direction only to make to 90 degree turn when my brain reminds me of who it is.
Her body is one of a Goddess: the proportion, the elegance in her walk, her hair, her skin, her demeanor. But her face is a tragedy. Its being ugly is not tragic. What tragic is that you can see from her attires that she has good taste and she tries really hard to make it work. But it doesn't.
I cry internally every time I see the girl.
 
wizzed101 said:
No you really can't. There is this one girl in the gym that whenever I see her I seriously consider going for plastic surgery. I see her in the gym every day and every time I see her from behind I instinctively walk toward that direction only to make to 90 degree turn when my brain reminds me of who it is.
Her body is one of a Goddess: the proportion, the elegance in her walk, her hair, her skin, her demeanor. But her face is a tragedy. Its being ugly is not tragic. What tragic is that you can see from her attires that she has good taste and she tries really hard to make it work. But it doesn't.
I cry internally every time I see the girl.
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What makes her ugly?
 
Goro said:
You obviously haven't seen my students.
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@Goro please post this in your office.
large.jpg
 
Dude/girl forget whatever ur thinking most attractiveness straight up comes from hygiene and dressing well if u can do those and get a decent to good haircut ur set.


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Holmwood said:
Omg, are kids sending in Instagram filtered passport photos now? @Goro share the deets~
Click to expand...

I mean, I'm using a professional headshot that I already had on hand. It shows me well, in good lighting, and kept me from having to get a new photo made, so...


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