Is long hair on a guy too unprofessional?

[Tired Pigeon]

Whoops. I really hope this wasn't a poster on this thread...

I was wondering about that. What SDNer do you think this is most likely to be?

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[gotmeds?]

By the way, I had long hair in highschool and was told by my manager (at the MOVIE THEATER) to cut it or be fired...So I got fired. Poeple who judge you based on your looks are some of the worst kinds of poeple. Dont give them the satisfaction of winning.

Yes, don't let a silly thing like getting into medical school stand in the way of your true dream of having long, luxurious hippie hair. The stack of rejections will only be a testament to your unwavering idealism (about hair, anyway).

By the way, people (not, poeple) will always judge you on your looks. Get used to it. I've got some really nice tattoos that I would've loved to show off at my med school interviews, but I chose to go with a suit rather than a tank top. God, I'm such a sellout.

 

[Guile]

Yes, don't let a silly thing like getting into medical school stand in the way of your true dream of having long, luxurious hippie hair. The stack of rejections will only be a testament to your unwavering idealism (about hair, anyway).

By the way, people (not, poeple) will always judge you on your looks. Get used to it. I've got some really nice tattoos that I would've loved to show off at my med school interviews, but I chose to go with a suit rather than a tank top. God, I'm such a sellout.

👍 👍

 

[blakemd]

Here are my thoughts on long hair:

It only looks good on certain people and those that it does, it is usually groomed and trimmed nicely. Those that are older (which are who will most likely make admissions, residency decisions etc) want to see cleanly cut professional hair, although some people can pull off the long hair, though it is rare.

I personally have had long hair most of my life, but recently cut it for several reasons. I work in a hospital, where I am occasionally on call and it's impossible for me to look professional with long hair when on call. It just goes all over the place, it's hard to take care of as well. So my opinion is that while in medical school and early on in residency, i.e. your internship it's a good idea to have short hair.

 

[doublejab]

what about dreadlocs?... there part of my religious belief....

 

[darknation]

if you are David Beckham with long hair or look like him:

don't cut it!! it looks really nice, well groomed and makes you look mature.

but if you look like this:

CUT IT NOW.

 

[SpiresAAC]

This might be a little different, but I have a nose ring, and I left it in for all of my interviews--though some people told me to take it out. I've been accepted or waitlisted at all of the schools I've interviewed at, including acceptances to Yale, NYU, and Northwestern, WL at Cornell and Penn. So I think that these things don't really matter as much as people assume. Just my two cents.

I have my nose pierced too and I'm white. I got mixed reviews before my interviews as to whether I should leave it in or not, but I ended up leaving it in. I was accepted at all five schools that I interviewed at...so I think it wasn't that big a deal.

I have a guy friend who had really long hair (down the middle of his back, at least) when he interviewed at med schools, and he goes to Yale now. As long as you look neat and professional, I don't think it matters whether your hair is long or short. But, if you think you will always wonder "what if" if you don't get accepted and you kept your long hair, it might be worth cutting it for the peace of mind.

 

[Law2Doc]

All med schools have provisions in their handbook governing appearance, and all med schools have faculty/administrators who may frown on unconventional hairstyles, colors, dress, ink and piercings. I've certainly heard of folks getting sent home to change during later years of med school, and of folks being quietly informed by administrators that their (non-natural/radical) hair color was not acceptable for the wards. You are entering a profession that is fairly conservative, and are best served limiting your individuality to places you can hide under your clothes. You need to pick your battles, and somehow risking rubbing various interviewers the wrong way with your long hair just doesn't seem like the battle I'd pick. Look like professional you strive to be. Once you are in private practice, you can open your own shop and look however you want.

 

[Chulito]

Do not cut your hair. If an admissions member does not like you because of your hair, then this is an institution you probably do not want to attend.

I hear this kind of logic bandied about often on SDN. The fact is that there are almost certainly people working at each of the 125 US allopathic schools who would be predisposed to discount your candidacy for silly reasons such as hair length. They are probably a minority, but they are there. You can't judge an entire institution by a couple of its members.

It's probably true that the majority (perhaps even an overwhelming majority) of interviewers these days would not penalize--consciously or subconsciously--an applicant with long hair. But if the one-out-of-100 who would be soured to you by such a look happens to be your interviewer at your top school, you suffer the consequences.

 

[WCGee]

Cut it.

 

[Law2Doc]

You are correct Chulito. You can not judge an institution by a couple of its members. The same must apply to the admissions committee. Lets assume that the potential medical student is clean, well groomed and has long hair. If the admissions committee member does not look at the character or personality of the potential medical student, what type of selection factors are he/she looking for????

Well, bear in mind that schools get up to 10,000 applications so it doesn't take much to make them move to the next one on the list (even subconsciously). There is a ton of subjective evaluation going on by individuals who have their own idea about what a future professional looks and acts like. By contrast the average applicant probably applies to a dozen schools. So who needs to impress who more?🙂

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Do not cut your hair. If an admissions member does not like you because of your hair, then this is an institution you probably do not want to attend.

So if the one old doc with whom you interview at Hopkins doesn't like your long hair, Hopkins must be crap.

How silly.

 

[c.bear]

It's a risk; cut it.

And don't grow it back out...unless you are soooo astonishing brilliant that you can accept the liability. What I mean is that as a medical student (esp on clinical rotations) perceptions are everything. You may not see an attending very much and his/her first impression maybe all you have before they write something on an eval about you...

 

[Law2Doc]

Law2Doc you have me curious. Are you claiming that if you have long hair, you can not make a lasting impression? Or are you claiming that it would just be more difficult?

You might make a lasting impression, but not necessarilly the one you want. I'm just suggesting that if your long hair rubs a few people the wrong way, i.e. they feel you do not look the part, it can make a difference in where you end up, and thus IMHO it's just not worth it.

Your goal in a med school interview is to inspire the individual you are interviewing with that you would make a good physician, and become the interviewer's future colleague. In most cases the interviewer will be older, and relatively conservative. So clean cut, professionally dressed, and minimal ink/piercings visible goes furthest to portray the impression you want to portray.

 

[Law2Doc]

This is a reminder for the OP

Except that for all we know that poster could have avoided those waitlists altogether without the piercing.

 

[apnea]

i've got 3 holes in my face that i put there on purpose. They look nice, and i've got some very expensive jewelery for them, but even in my weird, conservative little town, i'm overlooked if there's a guy with long hair to gawk at. i'm sure your hair is grand, but it's also a liability 🙁

 

[JohnMadden]

Long hair is not unprofessional, but it's NOT conservative.

Ungroomed/unkempt hair of any length IS unprofessional.

Neatly groomed long hair is better than unkempt short hair. That being said...

Get a HAIRCUT.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Please dont take statements out of context. I said that the op would probably not want to attend. I never said the institution was crap. 🙂

I don't think I did. If the one old crusty doc at Hopkins didn't like his hair, then he wouldn't want to attend Hopkins?

 

[Haemulon]

I don't think I did. If the one old crusty doc at Hopkins didn't like his hair, then he wouldn't want to attend Hopkins?

Exactly the response I was thinking. I agree. It makes no sense to judge the quality or desireability of an institution's medical program based on what they think of your hair.

This whole discussion about hair length is baffling to me. How is it that people are so unaware of what the profession is like? Just observe how real doctors actually look. There is a reason for it. I mean, with the occassional rebel doc excepted, doctors just do not have wild or expressive hair. It is short and conservative. As is the case with most all business/white collar professions. Why does this seem like such a suprise to some? How many of you have been to a male doctor that had long flowing hair, all conditioned and perfect looking, almost like at any moment you could expect him to hold up a tub of margarine and say "I can't believe its not butter".