How well can connections help in admissions?

[Prettypinkdoc5545]

California resident here with a 3.62cGPA, 3.77sGPA, a 29 MCAT (10/9/10), and decent ECs (research, volunteering, clinical experience, etc.)

I realize that if your stats are terrible, no connections will help..but for applicants like me who have decent but not amazing stats, how helpful is it to have friends or family members on faculty of the school or admissions board?

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[TxC]

You may get a courtesy interview, but that's about it.

 

[FoodIsMyBFF]

I have friends who have slightly better stats than yours, had all types of connections, but still can't get off any waitlists. Doing it on your own will be much more likely!

 

[gyngyn]

It will depend on the school and the connection.

 

[palatopharyngeus]

It will depend on the school and the connection.

this. your dad being a big-shot professor at the university will probably help you more than your uncle knowing a guy who knows a guy who used to know a guy who knows an ex-AdCom

 

[Goro]

Yup, that's what happens. You get a polite interview and a polite wait-listing.

You may get a courtesy interview, but that's about it.

 

[NickNaylor]

I've said this elsewhere, but at my institution you would get, at most, an interview depending on the connection. With your stats, though, there's almost zero chance that you would get an acceptance unless you're a URM. Connections don't help people past getting an initial interview.

 

[Salt Salt]

Yup, that's what happens. You get a polite interview and a polite wait-listing.

Does this include legacies?

 

[Finches]

Does this include legacies?

Depends on the parent.

Big-time donor and buddies with the dean of admissions? Maybe.
Just another graduate? No.

 

[Goro]

OP's post is the textbook definition of a legacy interview.

Does this include legacies?

 

[Salt Salt]

OP's post is the textbook definition of a legacy interview.

Ok. But haven't we debated in the past about how prevalent legacy admissions are, and you said they happened frequently? (It was in a thread where you said that everyone complains about URM admissions but not legacy admissions.)

 

[Goro]

I have an n=1 for my school, Salty, but in our experience, we've admitted more legacy candidates that URM. Let's see if @LizzyM or @gyngyn can give some insight to some MD schools.

Note: I do have to modify things that with a new Dean, our legacy admits have declined massively.

Ok. But haven't we debated in the past about how prevalent legacy admissions are, and you said they happened frequently? (It was in a thread where you said that everyone complains about URM admissions but not legacy admissions.)

 

[Prettypinkdoc5545]

I've said this elsewhere, but at my institution you would get, at most, an interview depending on the connection. With your stats, though, there's almost zero chance that you would get an acceptance unless you're a URM. Connections don't help people past getting an initial interview.

Really? I figured my stats would at least put me in the running for lower tier schools.

Yup, that's what happens. You get a polite interview and a polite wait-listing.

So the interview would just be a gesture? Even if I did great in my interview?

 

[NickNaylor]

Really? I figured my stats would at least put me in the running for lower tier schools.

I don't attend a lower tier school; my opinion was for my school specifically.

 

[Goro]

As gyngyn said, it would depend upon the school. You actually are competitive for a good number of MD schools, for example, the Philly triplets, and nearly all of the newest ones. However, Pitt, Baylor, USC or Harvard? Unlikely.

At a highly competitive school, an Adcom member might say "Nice guy/gal, but I'm worried about those stats. They are, after all, X points below our median score."

Really? I figured my stats would at least put me in the running for lower tier schools.

So the interview would just be a gesture? Even if I did great in my interview?

 

[Mad Jack]

You might get into a lower tier school somewhere, but chances are that you'll have to kiss California goodbye. As to connections, they're very hard to quantify and highly variable depending on the relationship and the school. Often, they'll get you a courtesy interview, after which you'll be judged by the same criteria as all other applicants and rejected if you don't stack up.

 

[it'sabeautifullife]

One of my immediate family members is Admissions Dean at a top five school, and another is on the faculty at a top twenty. I steered completely clear of both their schools when applying for two reasons. In the case of the Dean in particular, we even have the same last name. He has worked his entire lifetime in academia earning his stellar reputation of integrity. I would rather not go to med school than do anything to jeopardize the well-deserved good name of either of my family members. Secondly, I did not want to open any possibility of a reputation following me around that "she only got where she is because of her connections." I wanted it to be abundantly clear that I had earned my place like everyone else, so I stayed far, far away from the schools where that could be called into question. This was important to me, maybe not so much to someone else.

 

[PlaqueBuster]

Those stats are at the lower end for MD schools. Hopefully you have good EC's and LOR to have them consider you for an interview.

 

[Goro]

OP, offhand, your stats are in striking distance for NYMC, Albany, Rosy Franklin, Wake Forest, Creighton, MCW, SLU, Netter, TCMC, Rush, EVMS, VCU, Gtown, GWU, Oakland, and West MI. Add on to any DO school (start with Western, TUNCOM and Touro-CA), and if your ECs are good, you should get some love, somewhere.

 

[NickNaylor]

As gyngyn said, it would depend upon the school. You actually are competitive for a good number of MD schools, for example, the Philly triplets, and nearly all of the newest ones. However, Pitt, Baylor, USC or Harvard? Unlikely.

At a highly competitive school, an Adcom member might say "Nice guy/gal, but I'm worried about those stats. They are, after all, X points below our median score."

Not to mention, "they'll bring our median down for USNWR."

 

[GypsyHummus]

Yup, that's what happens. You get a polite interview and a polite wait-listing.

What about someone who is a boarder line applicant?

 

[Goro]

100% of the legacies I've interviewed were below the border.

What about someone who is a boarder line applicant?

 

[LizzyM]

I have an n=1 for my school, Salty, but in our experience, we've admitted more legacy candidates that URM. Let's see if @LizzyM or @gyngyn can give some insight to some MD schools.

Note: I do have to modify things that with a new Dean, our legacy admits have declined massively.

Years ago we stopped tagging applications as legacy so it is harder to see them than it is to see the URM.
I have interviewed plenty of legacies that were above our median and perhaps even more who were below average. Those who are above average tend to get an offer, those below get a waitlist.

At a big university with other professional schools, there are scads of grads whose children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins have a tie to the university. That said, I'm not sure if there is any advantage in admissions or if they outnumber URM as a proportion of matriculating students.