Is there such a thing as courtesy interviews (in a non-legacy/VIP/faculty connection context)

[Engrailed]

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At many of the top tier schools, there seems to be a strong correlation between the school's rank (for lack of a better term) and the caliber of Ugrad schools they recruit students from. Similar to how "feeder schools" exist for certain high schools and undergrads (Some that come to mind are Philips Academy and Lawrenceville School--they are often interviewed by Ivy schools) etc.... I think certain med schools probably have a similar connection with local undergrad institutions.

Just very peripherally related to this... if let's say a T10 school usually selects just a very small handful of students from X school (unranked/public) to interview, is that because those students are actually qualified for the interview (on par with the rest of the entire interviewee cohort at T10 school) or are they courtesy interviews because the T10 school has a tradition of interviewing students from X school / send invites for the sake of Ugrad institution "diversity"?


Does this make sense? If not (or if this question is unnecessary, please feel free to ignore and jump to a different thread)

 

[FreeGibbs]

No, I don't believe "courtesy" interviews are a thing. Interviewing applicants take a lot of time and energy on the adcom side of things, and doing an interview for the sole sake of interviewing is wasting resources and an interview spot for a potentially better candidate.

If you have an interview, they believe that you are potentially acceptance-material. Several factors like your undergrad can play a role too, but I don't think it has a great impact in medical school admissions.

 

[LizzyM]

Some medical schools do have relationships with feeder schools. They may have visit days for pre-med advisors, make visits to the undergrad campuses, and get to know the writers of "committee" letters. Adcoms can say, "we know this letter writer and we know the quality of students coming out of this school and if 'Mary Frances' tells us that this is one of the top candidates from Duke this year then we should not miss a chance to interview this one." It is not a "courtesy", it is that the applicant has a stellar application and comes from a highly regarded school and has the endorsement of someone the adcom knows and trusts. The proof of the pudding, of course, is how the medical students who come out of that undergrad perform in medical school and if we consistently see bright, motivated, highly professional students from a particular undergrad succeed in our medical school then we are likely to think highly of subsequent applicants from that school.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

This didn’t happen at a T10/20 school, but I have a friend who interviewed at her undergraduate institution’s (state school) MD program with an MCAT << 10th percentile. She herself described it as a “courtesy interview” and said it was pretty apparent that her alma mater was just throwing her a bone (she interviewed very late in the season when the school was likely at the point of identifying waitlist candidates).

She knew going into her application cycle that she needed to retake her MCAT and was sad, but not surprised, when she was rejected a few weeks after the interview. I don’t know if her interpretation about the nature of the interview was correct, but it seemed to track with a “courtesy” interview.

 

[deleted965528]

I'm wondering the same thing. I felt out of place at some of my interviews as literally the only person from a public state school. I can't help but to think I was invited so the school can say they're not being elitist.

 

[deleted1009115]

N=not that many, but every applicant I know from undergrad has interviewed at our med school (T10), including with MCAT << 10th percentile.

Could be that I just know really stellar applicants, or it could be courtesy. I speculate the latter.

 

[deleted972488]

I believe Nebraska interviews all in-state applicants, even those without the numbers needed to be accepted.

 

[Rachapkis]

If you received an interview at a top tier medical school, it's because the medical school thinks that you have what it takes to succeed there and wanted to get to know you better. With thousands of applicants and hundreds of interviews, they don't have time to waste with courtesy interviews. Believe in yourself and nail the interview.