Navigating Medical School Admissions: Couples

[pertussisprincess20]

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Hi everyone! I'm making this post to hopefully get some advice and perspective on how to navigate an admissions cycle if applying as part of a couple. Any advice at all is appreciated!

(I haven't seen a ton of threads on this, but I apologize if I missed one and am re-posting.)

A couple specific questions include:

1. Some secondaries allow a space to provide your S.O.'s name and AMCAS ID, how does this affect your application in the admissions process? Does it hurt your chances of getting accepted?
2. Is it appropriate to mention that you are applying with a significant other and hope to attend the same school at an interview? Or when you receive and acceptance?

Ultimately I understand that chances of a couple getting into the same place are slim to none, and most schools will not care about an S.O. But I was hoping to get an outside perspective.

Thanks so much!

 

[Seihai]

Hi everyone! I'm making this post to hopefully get some advice and perspective on how to navigate an admissions cycle if applying as part of a couple. Any advice at all is appreciated!

(I haven't seen a ton of threads on this, but I apologize if I missed one and am re-posting.)

A couple specific questions include:

1. Some secondaries allow a space to provide your S.O.'s name and AMCAS ID, how does this affect your application in the admissions process? Does it hurt your chances of getting accepted?
2. Is it appropriate to mention that you are applying with a significant other and hope to attend the same school at an interview? Or when you receive and acceptance?

Ultimately I understand that chances of a couple getting into the same place are slim to none, and most schools will not care about an S.O. But I was hoping to get an outside perspective.

Thanks so much!

Are you married? If not, I don't see schools caring that much in any way whatsoever. Girlfriends/boyfriends come and go.

From my understanding, schools will tend to consider an SO for an interview if one member of the pair has been interviewed, though they're not going to interview someone who is blatantly uncompetitive just because their SO was interviewed at the same school. You don't get much benefit unless you're both already competitive and one of you received an II.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi everyone! I'm making this post to hopefully get some advice and perspective on how to navigate an admissions cycle if applying as part of a couple. Any advice at all is appreciated!

(I haven't seen a ton of threads on this, but I apologize if I missed one and am re-posting.)

A couple specific questions include:

1. Some secondaries allow a space to provide your S.O.'s name and AMCAS ID, how does this affect your application in the admissions process? Does it hurt your chances of getting accepted?
2. Is it appropriate to mention that you are applying with a significant other and hope to attend the same school at an interview? Or when you receive and acceptance?

Ultimately I understand that chances of a couple getting into the same place are slim to none, and most schools will not care about an S.O. But I was hoping to get an outside perspective.

Here is a recent thread about a married couple applying to med schools which might have some value for you: Important Questions About Applying as a Married Couple

 

[pertussisprincess20]

Are you married? If not, I don't see schools caring that much in any way whatsoever. Girlfriends/boyfriends come and go.

From my understanding, schools will tend to consider an SO for an interview if one member of the pair has been interviewed, though they're not going to interview someone who is blatantly uncompetitive just because their SO was interviewed at the same school. You don't get much benefit unless you're both already competitive and one of you received an II.

Not married at the moment, so I can definitely see what you're saying. I assumed that would probably be the case unfortunately.

And gotcha, that makes sense! Thank you for the advice!

 

[pertussisprincess20]

Here is a recent thread about a married couple applying to med schools which might have some value for you: Important Questions About Applying as a Married Couple

Thank you for posting this! Can't believe I missed that thread.. it seems to have addressed some of my questions

 

[Arsartium]

Hi everyone! I'm making this post to hopefully get some advice and perspective on how to navigate an admissions cycle if applying as part of a couple. Any advice at all is appreciated!

(I haven't seen a ton of threads on this, but I apologize if I missed one and am re-posting.)

A couple specific questions include:

1. Some secondaries allow a space to provide your S.O.'s name and AMCAS ID, how does this affect your application in the admissions process? Does it hurt your chances of getting accepted?
2. Is it appropriate to mention that you are applying with a significant other and hope to attend the same school at an interview? Or when you receive and acceptance?

Ultimately I understand that chances of a couple getting into the same place are slim to none, and most schools will not care about an S.O. But I was hoping to get an outside perspective.

Thanks so much!

Just had a successful cycle with the significant other (she and I will be attending the same medical school), so I think I can be of assistance.

1. Short answer? No. Schools will consider your application separately and together. In fact it may help if one of you is borderline while the other is competitive.

2. I mentioned my partner at nearly every interview and with every thank you letter. We ended up sharing 6 IIs. One school sent her an invite the day after my interview. Another school sent her an invite a week after my interviewer said she would encourage the admissions committee to re-review my partner's application. Perhaps these were just coincidences, but I think that some schools do care about couples. That said, your partner has to be qualified. Sometimes adcoms just need a reason to take another look though.

Waiting until you have an acceptance may be too late for some schools. Interview slots are rolling.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Hi everyone! I'm making this post to hopefully get some advice and perspective on how to navigate an admissions cycle if applying as part of a couple. Any advice at all is appreciated!

(I haven't seen a ton of threads on this, but I apologize if I missed one and am re-posting.)

A couple specific questions include:

1. Some secondaries allow a space to provide your S.O.'s name and AMCAS ID, how does this affect your application in the admissions process? Does it hurt your chances of getting accepted?
2. Is it appropriate to mention that you are applying with a significant other and hope to attend the same school at an interview? Or when you receive and acceptance?

Ultimately I understand that chances of a couple getting into the same place are slim to none, and most schools will not care about an S.O. But I was hoping to get an outside perspective.

Thanks so much!

I applied as a couple. We were boyfriend/girlfriend at the time, now engaged and doing couples match. Here’s some tips:

1) apply broadly, with special emphasis on home state schools and locations with multiple schools (nyc, Chicago, LA, Miami). We applied to 30 places, from DO to top 20.

2) if a school specifically asks about SO, tell them! Send an email too, to be sure they’re aware. If they DONT ask, just don’t mention it at first, wait for the interview.

3) once the interview has been offered, send the dean an email letting him know you’re applying as a couple and that youd both be excited to attend ___SOM

4) once one of you has an acceptance, you’ve gotta get in touch with admissions ASAP. Respectfully tell them you want to attend but are applying as a couple.

Using this strategy my SO and I were able to cobble together a few different school/location combinations that would work.

Finally, recognize applying as a couple means significant sacrifices. I turned down a lot of scholarship money and a top 20 school. My SO did the same. I thank my lucky stars every day we were able to get in together, but it should be acknowledged by both partners the gravity of the decision to apply together.

Best of luck. Happy to answer any other questions you may have!

Are you married? If not, I don't see schools caring that much in any way whatsoever. Girlfriends/boyfriends come and go.

Nope. If you express interest in applying together and are clearly committed to staying together I don’t think being engaged is necessary. Of the 5 couples in my class only 1 was engaged at the start, other 4 were long term bf/gf.

 

[pertussisprincess20]

Just had a successful cycle with the significant other (she and I will be attending the same medical school), so I think I can be of assistance.

1. Short answer? No. Schools will consider your application separately and together. In fact it may help if one of you is borderline while the other is competitive.

2. I mentioned my partner at nearly every interview and with every thank you letter. We ended up sharing 6 IIs. One school sent her an invite the day after my interview. Another school sent her an invite a week after my interviewer said she would encourage the admissions committee to re-review my partner's application. Perhaps these were just coincidences, but I think that some schools do care about couples. That said, your partner has to be qualified. Sometimes adcoms just need a reason to take another look though.

Waiting until you have an acceptance may be too late for some schools. Interview slots are rolling.

Thank you for your reply and for the advice! Also congrats on yours and your SO's acceptance! How did you go about mentioning your partner at interviews if I may ask? I have one coming up that my SO will be interviewing at a couple weeks later...

 

[pertussisprincess20]

I applied as a couple. We were boyfriend/girlfriend at the time, now engaged and doing couples match. Here’s some tips:

1) apply broadly, with special emphasis on home state schools and locations with multiple schools (nyc, Chicago, LA, Miami). We applied to 30 places, from DO to top 20.

2) if a school specifically asks about SO, tell them! Send an email too, to be sure they’re aware. If they DONT ask, just don’t mention it at first, wait for the interview.

3) once the interview has been offered, send the dean an email letting him know you’re applying as a couple and that youd both be excited to attend ___SOM

4) once one of you has an acceptance, you’ve gotta get in touch with admissions ASAP. Respectfully tell them you want to attend but are applying as a couple.

Using this strategy my SO and I were able to cobble together a few different school/location combinations that would work.

Finally, recognize applying as a couple means significant sacrifices. I turned down a lot of scholarship money and a top 20 school. My SO did the same. I thank my lucky stars every day we were able to get in together, but it should be acknowledged by both partners the gravity of the decision to apply together.

Best of luck. Happy to answer any other questions you may have!




Nope. If you express interest in applying together and are clearly committed to staying together I don’t think being engaged is necessary. Of the 5 couples in my class only 1 was engaged at the start, other 4 were long term bf/gf.

Thank you so much for your advice!!! We applied to 30 MD and 9 DO, 95% of which were in "clusters" (big cities where we could maybe live together and attend different schools). How did you go about mentioning your SO at interviews? I want to be as respectful as possible, obviously we'd rather one of us get in than none of us.

We definitely have had some difficult conversations about the weight of this decision, and both know we'll be making some big compromises to (hopefully) make this happen, so I'm hoping for the best! That's awesome that it worked out for you and your SO!

(Also happy to hear about the fact that being married isn't necessary. We lowkey considered just getting engaged and pushing things along early if it was going to help the process.. but glad to hear we don't have to rush that lol.)

 

[Arsartium]

Thank you for your reply and for the advice! Also congrats on yours and your SO's acceptance! How did you go about mentioning your partner at interviews if I may ask? I have one coming up that my SO will be interviewing at a couple weeks later...

Thanks!

Many times it would come up naturally in the conversation, especially for one on one interviews. At least one of my interviewers asked, "What reservations do have about attending our school?" I went on to mention that my SO hadn't received an interview invite yet, so I was worried that we wouldn't be able to attend together. He promptly asked for her name and AMCAS ID. For another interview, my SO actually came with me, because she figured she could enjoy herself in NYC. She then ended up talking to some of the admissions staff. Her invite came much later though so who knows if that helped. (Not all schools will be open to this. This school specifically addressed bringing significant others). A couple times I would mention my SO in the context of raising kids (e.g. what is the best time when you are both in training?) Physician interviewers were often happy to discuss their own challenges with raising a family during med school/residency/fellowship and offer advice. Meanwhile, I had subtly (or not so subtly) suggested the importance of my SO.

Congrats on both of you getting invites so early! At this stage, I'm not sure how helpful it will be to talk about each other since you both have invites. I always felt like it was more useful if my SO or I advanced to the next stage (e.g. II, acceptance, acceptance + scholarship), but the other hadn't yet. If one of you gets an acceptance first, then addressing the importance of your relationship can be a strategy (especially if someone is on a waitlist). The same is true of scholarship money. If you frame your debt as combined COA, there is potential to negotiate more scholarship money for whomever has less. But we are getting a little ahead of ourselves. First, you guys should the crush the interview!

I'm sorry I haven't been terribly specific. Honestly, my SO was such an important part of my journey that I couldn't help but talk about her in my interview. I will say that your SO does have an opportunity here with the first interview. Basically, whoever interviews later can always talk about how the other "loved the school when he/she interviewed and would be ecstatic to attend together!" We did that most of the time (especially if it was true)!

Good luck!

 

[NickNaylor]

I agree that mentioning this aspect of your life is worthwhile, however the appropriate time to do it is after you're accepted and your SO is not. In my medical school class, there was a married couple where one person was accepted and the partner was waitlisted but ultimately accepted after the former spoke with the admissions office. However, they were married at the time that they were applying. I agree with others that simply being in a relationship may be perceived differently than being engaged or married.