Is preference given to attractive interview candidates?

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That's why it seems like a far better idea to wear an attractive outfit while still mostly appropriate and is flattering than some boring plain jane outfit.
 
justadream said:
Of course. Preference in practically everything in life is given to attractive people.
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dokte said:
In all seriousness, yes but I think it's more important to focus on your interviewing skills. Yes because we're humans living in a sick society.
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As offensive as it may sound, you will soon come to understand the meaning of "honor boobs."
 
yeah there is probably some subconcious bias but im sure adcom tries to be aware of that bias and ensure it isnt a big factor
 
I think looks def. play a role. But remember, when making decisions they also have to incorporate many objective variables including MCAT score, GPA, hours volunteered.


PS: I was just thinking about the girl that got banned. She would have loved this question. Lol.
 
Confused as to why some of you think this is something I would be worried about!
 
The one thing I am worried about though is wearing some ugly plain jane interview outfit that I don't feel confident in whatsoever. I would rather wear something more flattering but it's probably not what most women wear in med school interviews
 
xyphr said:
Hit the gym. (Also, delete Facebook and lawyer up.)
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If you need to lawyer up as a premed, you've probably done something wrong.

Looks matter, because unfortunately people are hard-wired to care about them. They will matter more or less depending on the adcom and their level of self awareness.
 
Mad Jack said:
If you need to lawyer up as a premed, you've probably done something wrong.

Looks matter, because unfortunately people are hard-wired to care about them. They will matter more or less depending on the adcom and their level of self awareness.
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Looks matter. But imho identification with tribe matters more.
 
ridiculouslygoodlooking.jpg
 
Yes. Ditto the user who mentioned the Halo Effect
 
I hope so 😉 Although in all seriousness, yes looks definitely play a role in not only med school acceptances but job offers as well.
 
If you look at the average matriculating medical school class, you'll notice they're definitely more attractive on average than the general population. In my lab we call them "hot baby doctors"
 
Easonred57 said:
If you look at the average matriculating medical school class, you'll notice they're definitely more attractive on average than the general population. In my lab we call them "hot baby doctors"
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You do have to consider the fact that 50% of the general population is also overweight-obese.
 
Easonred57 said:
If you look at the average matriculating medical school class, you'll notice they're definitely more attractive on average than the general population. In my lab we call them "hot baby doctors"
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Probably because of the general personality of a lot of people that are attracted to medicine.. We like challenges and working hard. I know me and my friends who are in engineering all weight lift and work out a lot while my friends who are in more "relaxed" majors don't work out at all. Definitely not true for everyone, but it's a trend I noticed in my personal experience.
 
It's likely a combination of those factors. Medical students are more likely to be health-conscious, combined with the fact that attractiveness can be construed as being charismatic in interviews. = pretty med students
 
Syns said:
"Why lift when it's all about the face?"
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I hate this saying. Most people can get a much more attractive face if they lose weight and tone up by hitting the gym. Not many people look good with fat face. Even if they are a "normal weight" getting a bit more lean can add just a touch of definition to their face that can make quite the difference. Also a muscular upper body can provide a much more flattering "frame" for certain faces (especially people who are bald/ have short hair.)

I know it's a joke but I feel like some people actually use that as a reason to NOT work out.
 
starstruck20 said:
The one thing I am worried about though is wearing some ugly plain jane interview outfit that I don't feel confident in whatsoever. I would rather wear something more flattering but it's probably not what most women wear in med school interviews
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You don't have to wear some ugly plain Jane interview outfit. But neither should you look like a TV lawyer or newscaster. To clarify that last bit, I've seen a number of outfits on TV lawyers and newscasters that could work if they were only 2 sizes bigger. Interview skirts should 'skim', not hug the tush.
 
What I'm worried about is the fact that at 20 years old, I still look like I'm 14, even if I wear makeup and dress professionally. No one is ever going to trust me 🙁
 
WedgeDawg said:
I've heard that if you're an 8+/10 you get about 2.5 points added to your MCAT score (old scale)
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iDOliveinMD said:
But I am very ugly! Curse you adcoms, foiled again.
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hahahaha

vantheman said:
MCAT 35, GPA: 3.8, Face: 8.7/10 What are my chances?
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Picture?
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I have half of my face in my pic......Where do I stand on the 1-10 scale?
 
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2389.00135/abstract

In this particular study,

"Results indicated that attractiveness had no impact when the quality of the application was high but that attractiveness was an advantage when the application was mediocre. When the résumé quality was average the attractive applicant was evaluated more positively than the control, no photograph, applicant; an attractive photograph boosted the evaluation of a mediocre application."

If you get the chance, I recommend checking out Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The dude was a psychologist, but he won the Nobel Prize in economics for all of his experiments that directly contradicted the then-prevailing idea that people usually make rational economic choices. He talks about this particular bias and other ones that suggest that our conscious thoughts are often controlled by unconscious biases.
 
I feel that the more aware you are of the Halo effect, the less susceptible you are to it. But that could just me thinking I'm all clever or whatever.

That being said, I joked that one of my IIs might be given to me cause I was cute (not really. I'm not cute, I'm old) since I was legitimately surprised I got one.

I think I also remember a study actually that being attractive works to the advantage of only guys and works against girls? Apparently attractive girls are seen as "less serious" -__-
 
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