is it a bad idea to pull connections here?

[coralfangs]

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my bossman's relative is the chairman of my top choice school
He kept insisting that I should go meet the chairman just for fun.

What would the chairman think?

 

[146233]

It couldn't hurt, as long as you are just meeting with him to discuss the school and your interest in the school. Don't give him the impression you're hoping he'll pull a string or something. People meet with Deans of Admission and whatnot all the time. Whether they need to or whether they ultimately are admitted to those schools, I don't know.

 

[ryandote]

Just don't give him the impression that you're a commie


I think meeting the chairperson would be a great way to express interest in the school. Like zipmedic says: make sure you come off enthusiastic and not like you want the hookup.

 

[Haemulon]

Exactly. Take advantage of any opportunity you can to get your name and face recognized, just as long as you do it in an ethical way. As an earlier poster mentioned, many people take the extra step of writing or otherwise contacting the deans and directors of admissions in order to set up additional phone or in-person meetings (moreso in waitlist situations, obviously). So if you are able to get one person to at least recognize your name, then hey .... why not? You may even learn a thing or two more about the school or admissions process that may help you. Just be cool about it though.

 

[coralfangs]

sure thing
will do hahaha


ps: I promise that I wont wear a red scarf hahaha

 

[maestro1625]

"Chairman" as in "Chairman Mao!?"

your lack of commie-ness will only hurt you.

 

[Kfire326]

I dunno about you (not judging you, don't worry...) but I'd rather be honest and get rejected than get in, go there, and always think that I got in just cuz I knew the right person. Then again, if you get multiple acceptances to similar and higher level schools, then you probly won't need to worry about that...

My dad offered (multiple times) to ask our PCP for a letter of rec (he's involved the with the admin (not admissions) at AECOM) and I refused. I got rejected and don't mind one bit.

 

[Abilene85]

I dunno about you (not judging you, don't worry...) but I'd rather be honest and get rejected than get in, go there, and always think that I got in just cuz I knew the right person. Then again, if you get multiple acceptances to similar and higher level schools, then you probly won't need to worry about that...

My dad offered (multiple times) to ask our PCP for a letter of rec (he's involved the with the admin (not admissions) at AECOM) and I refused. I got rejected and don't mind one bit.

It's always better to get admitted based on your hard work and honesty. That is the way I played the game. But I can tell you from experience, it doesn't feel good to "have the whole package" and see your classmates with significantly lower numbers and similar if not weaker ECs get accepted (while you got waitlisted) to schools where they (and physician daddy) knew a few very important people. 😡 (Sense the bitterness?)

Of course, I'm not telling you to meet the guy and try to use him to get into your top school, but if you have the time, why not sit down with him for 30 minutes? You will learn a lot more about the school and get to know some of the people in charge - see if they are the kind of people who treat students with respect, etc.

 

[trevagandalf]

Lol, make sure you talk to him like you are talking to an interviewer... I tried pulling strings with the boss of my boss who was the chairman of admissions in one of the schools in Texas... he met with me and told me that I was too young to go to medical school (I'm like 3 years younger than the average applicant) and I think that because of him, I didn't get into to that school.