How much of a factor is attractiveness in admission? [Conspiracy]

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LittleEngineCould

LittleEngineCould

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I've been looking at class photos from some schools and I have this growing paranoia that, when all else is near-equal, there's a "beauty pageant" component in the AdCom's decisions; either subconscious bias, or voluntary to maintain the school's appearance.



"I have a 3.98 GPA, 524 MCAT with 132 in V-CARS, ECs totaling 3k hours... And Pittsburgh still rejected me!"

maybe it's because you're guyl.png
 
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There are all sorts of reasons beyond academics people may be accepted for medical school, residency, and jobs: personality, looks, manners, speech, etc. Despite what many people may say, however, all these things can be worked and improved upon; it just takes work and effort which a lot of people are unwilling to devote.
 
Height, percieved beauty probably do play a role in selection through unconcious biases. However, that person was probably not rejected because they wanted to save that seat for a hunk or hottie.
 
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I've seen some research that found solid correlations between attractiveness and social skills (likely due to the more social opportunities that attractive people have), so any correlations between attractiveness and application success very well could be just that - correlation but not causation.
 
walloobi said:
I've seen some research that found solid correlations between attractiveness and social skills (likely due to the more social opportunities that attractive people have), so any correlations between attractiveness and application success very well could be just that - correlation but not causation.
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What about taller people?
 
libertyyne said:
What about taller people?
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I'm sure there's some correlation between height and attractiveness (at least for guys and within reasonable limits), so there's probably a correlation between height and social skills and therefore height and interview success, although it's probably an extremely small correlation.
 
Pusheen said:
Me. Too. I felt really tall, but i I think I rocked it. It was definitely a confidence boost and made me feel less intimidated.

@DokterMom convinced me to wear heels about a month ago haha. It worked!
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I agree!! I played it safe with kitten heels on my first interview but after that, I went all out and bust out my favorite pumps! People dream of that white coat and blue scrubs in their career. Pffft I dream of shoes and cute dresses in MY career!
 
Haven't you guys seen grey's anatomy? Being attractive is a prerequisite for becoming a physician. I thought everyone knew this...

It goes MCAT score, GPA, >8/10 on attractiveness scale. Why else would schools have you send in pictures?
 
LittleEngineCould said:
I've been looking at class photos from some schools and I have this growing paranoia that, when all else is near-equal, there's a "beauty pageant" component in the AdCom's decisions; either subconscious bias, or voluntary to maintain the school's appearance.



"I have a 3.98 GPA, 524 MCAT with 132 in V-CARS, ECs totaling 3k hours... And Pittsburgh still reject me!"

View attachment 210064
Click to expand...
Attractiveness is very important for admission to Trump University Medical School and Casino @gonnif
 
LittleEngineCould said:
I've been looking at class photos from some schools and I have this growing paranoia that, when all else is near-equal, there's a "beauty pageant" component in the AdCom's decisions; either subconscious bias, or voluntary to maintain the school's appearance.



"I have a 3.98 GPA, 524 MCAT with 132 in V-CARS, ECs totaling 3k hours... And Pittsburgh still reject me!"

View attachment 210064
Click to expand...


I get what you're saying but so many factors outside of stats such as research/work experience/other background issue etc that can be deciding factor aside from looks....also when I attended med school class pics were taken by a professional photographer with ideal lighting so people looked their very best...With that said , graduated med school back in 2007 so its been a while but overall thought my classmates were above average looking but as an attending would not say the same thing about my colleagues...its all relative, prior to med school took an acting class in NYC over the summer and there were extremely good looking/model-esque peeps on a much higher level of attractiveness (of course don't think they would do all that well on the mcats)
 
My theory is that attractive people tend to have the confidence/esteem to build a better application and are generally more drawn to a profession like medicine that involves a lot of meeting new people. I doubt the admissions department sits there looking at our 2 x 3 blurry jpegs and only invites the hotties.
 
vm26 said:
I get what you're saying but so many factors outside of stats such as research/work experience/other background issue etc that can be deciding factor aside from looks....also when I attended med school class pics were taken by a professional photographer with ideal lighting so people looked their very best...With that said , graduated med school back in 2007 so its been a while but overall thought my classmates were above average looking but as an attending would not say the same thing about my colleagues...its all relative, prior to med school took an acting class in NYC over the summer and there were extremely good looking/model-esque peeps on a much higher level of attractiveness (of course don't think they would do all that well on the mcats)
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I think that's the usual case with NYC schools. The "model-esque" major in arts, film, liberal studies, and psychology. The above average-attractive go to dental schools or nursing. The rest are in med schools, pharma, and other competitive white collar professions.
 
efle said:
My theory is that attractive people tend to have the confidence/esteem to build a better application and are generally more drawn to a profession like medicine that involves a lot of meeting new people. I doubt the admissions department sits there looking at our 2 x 3 blurry jpegs and only invites the hotties.
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I was thinking along the same lines.
 
gonnif said:
See, its all rigged by the system. Bias by the adcoms, the med schools, AMCAS, AAMC, MCAT, and the liberal media. The only way i cant be accepted its rigged. Probably can find my application out on wiki leaks along with the 33,000 missing LORs . Of course I have now translate it back from Russian....** Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with... geometric logic... that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the Caine out of action. I, I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officers...***So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!'....***



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Omg I'm dying!! 🤣😆:laugh:
 
Attractiveness can give you bonus points if you blend it well along with personality and core competences, which makes one charasmatic.
If one simply has good looks but talks in an unpleasant manner, it doesn't do him/her any good.
 
walloobi said:
I'm sure there's some correlation between height and attractiveness (at least for guys and within reasonable limits), so there's probably a correlation between height and social skills and therefore height and interview success, although it's probably an extremely small correlation.
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Wait wait wait... now I have to worry about not getting acceptances because I'm a shorty too?

This system is rigged against me
 
Well, I got accepted so I think that pretty much debunks the attractive conspiracy theory. :laugh:
 
efle said:
My theory is that attractive people tend to have the confidence/esteem to build a better application and are generally more drawn to a profession like medicine that involves a lot of meeting new people. I doubt the admissions department sits there looking at our 2 x 3 blurry jpegs and only invites the hotties.
Click to expand...

I dunno about you @efle, but that's definitely why I was invited 🙂




NOTE: I'm bald, bearded, older. I definitely don't fit the typical young attractive med school student mold 🙂
 
hubbsbubbs said:
I imagine attraction plays a role, perhaps for some adcoms more than others.
Also, not really proof or anything, but I work at Stanford and there are some serious hotties among the medical students
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Many young driven people will have taken care of their bodies and looks. There is definitely a confounding factor when it comes to the things you can do to improve your looks (i.e. outside of genetics). Regardless, any Adcom worth their opinion isn't going to care.
 
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