-
The 2026-2027 MD School Specific Threads are now live in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 cycle threads can be found here. -
Scholarship Access: Becoming a Student Doctor course
Free access to comprehensive medical school prep. Eligible students include AAMC FAP recipients and HS graduates from underserved areas. Apply today.
I'm a guy who had long hair and I cut it short for the interview process. I thought the cleaner look would look more professional.
I also currently work a clinical job, and the doctor I work with said he thinks it's good I cut my hair. It was cut days before starting this job. I still miss the long hair, but felt patients didn't want some "young hippie looking fella" being their first impression of the doctor they are seeing.
I also currently work a clinical job, and the doctor I work with said he thinks it's good I cut my hair. It was cut days before starting this job. I still miss the long hair, but felt patients didn't want some "young hippie looking fella" being their first impression of the doctor they are seeing.
Does it make him look like a filthy hippie? If so cut it. If it's nice groomed than keep it. "Are you feeling lucky? Punk?"
It depends on what he's interviewing for. If for med school, is he a risk taker?
9
907914
I mean...he once opened a very loud and fizzy can of soda during a biochem final. That was pretty daring.
9
907914
Now I know not to trust the internet...don’t go to a subreddit when you don’t know what the word is...
As long as his hair is clean and keep well I don't think it would be a problem, but if he does choose to cut it I wouldn't recommend doing it right before an interview, I would do it a few weeks to a month out so he can get used to the new look. I personally don't like to make any big changes right before interviews
LMAO
I can't recommend anything more pretentious than wearing a man bun to a medical school interview
9
907914
He initially thought his single gold ear ring would help him stand out. Didn’t realize how “professional” a professional interview is supposed to be. That earring woulda done it.
I was able to convince him no on that one...just wasn’t sure of the man bun. Will throw him y’alls recommendations
Last edited by a moderator:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Always dress for the part you want, not the part you have (in life).
I would nix the man bun. Of course, people can do what they want, but those of you who have been through an application cycle know just how random this process can (appear to) be and how fickle ADCOMS can be. Why give ADCOMs reason to think that you are less than 100% professional. One of our senior residents has a man bun, and it works for him, but when he arrived to our fair coast for his interview and as an intern, he wore a hair cut that would make a Marine proud. Now, about to embark on his first real job, I guess it was fair for him to wear his man bun on his first job interviews, so his future employers would know what they were getting and vice versa as he felt more in the drivers' seat than when he was interviewing for residency.
I would nix the man bun. Of course, people can do what they want, but those of you who have been through an application cycle know just how random this process can (appear to) be and how fickle ADCOMS can be. Why give ADCOMs reason to think that you are less than 100% professional. One of our senior residents has a man bun, and it works for him, but when he arrived to our fair coast for his interview and as an intern, he wore a hair cut that would make a Marine proud. Now, about to embark on his first real job, I guess it was fair for him to wear his man bun on his first job interviews, so his future employers would know what they were getting and vice versa as he felt more in the drivers' seat than when he was interviewing for residency.
Man buns were out by December of 2015.
Only if he completes the look with gauge earrings and a lip ring
9
907914
It's also setting dependent. I interviewed in 24 different states for residency, quite a few East coast and also a good swath of the middle of the country. I can tell you right now there was no where East of the West Coast that I thought a man bun would receive a consistent neutral reaction. So many more places I had the vibe the man-bun was not going to fly, and keep in mind at the residency stage as an applicant you have a little more... I don't want to say power but the word escapes me.
I also find that not only was the culture where I went to school and trained... more "hippie," but even that said, I think I've found that as a function of not only my age, but also being on SDN, that I likely have come to project a more "accepting" attitude onto the health care field than actually exists. Meaning, not sure that my viewpoint is representative of the physician brotherhood.
So even where I was, and now as part of the admissions process, I'm not sure that even where I think it might be OK, that it really might be OK. I think I underestimate the conservativeness. And I think that says something when I'm the young otherwise open-minded doc shaking my head at bad shoes. Sure, I forgive a man bun especially if the applicant seems on point. I'd like to believe that's a truism where I am, but not sure. And where I am, where bilateral full sleeve tattoos and gauged ears don't make any of the faculty bat an eyelash at the med students who sport them, and here I am, I'm not sure how the man bun is really OK, well, that's really making me pause and wonder if it's OK anywhere. If I hesitate to say it's OK in hippieland where almost anything goes, then I can't say it's a good idea anywhere.
I say it's too big a risk for the man-bun for med school interviews. If you're going to do a man bun, don't do it until you have an admission. That's the biggest hurdle. You will probably graduate and match somehow somewhere all while sporting your man-bun. But that's only if you pass go.
I also find that not only was the culture where I went to school and trained... more "hippie," but even that said, I think I've found that as a function of not only my age, but also being on SDN, that I likely have come to project a more "accepting" attitude onto the health care field than actually exists. Meaning, not sure that my viewpoint is representative of the physician brotherhood.
So even where I was, and now as part of the admissions process, I'm not sure that even where I think it might be OK, that it really might be OK. I think I underestimate the conservativeness. And I think that says something when I'm the young otherwise open-minded doc shaking my head at bad shoes. Sure, I forgive a man bun especially if the applicant seems on point. I'd like to believe that's a truism where I am, but not sure. And where I am, where bilateral full sleeve tattoos and gauged ears don't make any of the faculty bat an eyelash at the med students who sport them, and here I am, I'm not sure how the man bun is really OK, well, that's really making me pause and wonder if it's OK anywhere. If I hesitate to say it's OK in hippieland where almost anything goes, then I can't say it's a good idea anywhere.
I say it's too big a risk for the man-bun for med school interviews. If you're going to do a man bun, don't do it until you have an admission. That's the biggest hurdle. You will probably graduate and match somehow somewhere all while sporting your man-bun. But that's only if you pass go.
Get a haircut, hippie 😉
(Really prob doesn’t matter)
(Really prob doesn’t matter)
D
deleted480308
I wouldn’t dnr an applicant with a man bun but it would make me question what you’re going to do once you are “in” and no longer trying to impress us.
If that’s you putting your professional best foot forward, what mess will you pull when you relax?
If that’s you putting your professional best foot forward, what mess will you pull when you relax?
I rest my case.
labscience
Full Member
Like most daring haircuts, this is something only the insanely handsome and incredibly beautiful can get away with. If you're not Jason Momoa or David Beckham, not worth the risk!
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
D
deleted903608
A couple of my fellow classmates at a NYC school have man buns/ponytails and no one cares. That said, they all grew their hair out early M1 (in other words, it wan't that long before starting med school). I personally wouldn't risk standing out in a way that could possibly be construed as a negative by an older/more conservative interviewer. Once he's in, he can rock it if he really wants to.
Reading through this thread makes me wonder what an adcom would think of my braces. I get that first impressions are really important, but are they really that judgmental?
9
907914
Braces are a medical product. I want to see someone argue “a medical case for man-buns.”
In Thailand people actually keep their braces on even after their teeth are straight to show how rich they are. They're basically permanent grills.
I had braces, no one cared lol. I also made some interesting fashion choices during the interview season that no one seemed to care about.
I almost think more highly of adults with braces - it makes me think they are conscientious and care about personal appearance but not in a look-my-Gucci-bag kind of way. And in general it's also a health consideration so to see someone doing that kind of self-care I think reflects positively on them. In some ways it could even serve as a positive role model to patients. The idea that it's never too late to do something for self-care, even if it's somewhat uncomfortable in the short term.
9
965978
I think it’s pretty cool how you reflect on something so small 🙂
Something relatively minor that I thought about this morning that I find very powerful is when singers don’t appear in the music videos for their own song.
I wouldn't give it a second thought.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
