Networking Question

[chickenloverr5]

Hi all. I am URM (AA female, low income, immigrant, fgen, pell grant recipient) and will be applying during the 2024-2025 cycle. I see a lot of comments on here about needing to network with different communities at med schools before applying and I was wondering how do I find these communities/do you have any recommendations? I am a CA resident. I’m the first in my family to pursue higher education so any advice would be really helpful. Thanks!

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[Moko]

Hi all. I am URM (AA female, low income, immigrant, fgen, pell grant recipient) and will be applying during the 2024-2025 cycle. I see a lot of comments on here about needing to network with different communities at med schools before applying and I was wondering how do I find these communities/do you have any recommendations? I am a CA resident. I’m the first in my family to pursue higher education so any advice would be really helpful. Thanks!

I personally don't think that you need to network with schools. Most successful students get in without doing so. And for those who do network with schools, the net effect is probably neutral for most applicants and possibly even net negative for those inadvertently coming off too strongly.

Much more helpful would be knowing current medical students, residents, fellows, or early career attendings who can provide mentorship, essay proofreading, and practice interviews when the time comes. This would provide you with much more benefit than networking with individual schools imo (there's no way anyone can meaningful "network" with 20+ schools!).

In the mean time, continue to focus on getting goods grades and a good MCAT score. Just my thoughts.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hi all. I am URM (AA female, low income, immigrant, fgen, pell grant recipient) and will be applying during the 2024-2025 cycle. I see a lot of comments on here about needing to network with different communities at med schools before applying and I was wondering how do I find these communities/do you have any recommendations? I am a CA resident. I’m the first in my family to pursue higher education so any advice would be really helpful. Thanks!

Given the small number of Black/African-American physicians, I disagree a bit that you can't... because eventually you will.

SNMA chapters are a good place to start.

That said, I don't think that you should think about networking for admissions. You should network to understand the community and support system you need to persevere in medical school, especially as a first generation student. Use their experience to sharpen your observation skills to know how each of the schools differ from each other and ultimately find out what matters.

There are many mentoring organizations even for Black applicants to medical school.

I need to find the infographic that is pertinent from the AAMC Action Collaborative.

 

[LonelyBobRogers]

I second the recommendation to reach out to SNMA (Student National Medical Association) chapters at various schools.

Many schools have first gen/low income (FGLI) organizations as well. They may also be worth contacting.

You can usually find an email/social media for the student orgs via googling.

 

[chickenloverr5]

I personally don't think that you need to network with schools. Most successful students get in without doing so. And for those who do network with schools, the net effect is probably neutral for most applicants and possibly even net negative for those inadvertently coming off too strongly.

Much more helpful would be knowing current medical students, residents, fellows, or early career attendings who can provide mentorship, essay proofreading, and practice interviews when the time comes. This would provide you with much more benefit than networking with individual schools imo (there's no way anyone can meaningful "network" with 20+ schools!).

In the mean time, continue to focus on getting goods grades and a good MCAT score. Just my thoughts.

Thank you so much, this is very helpful!

 

[chickenloverr5]

Given the small number of Black/African-American physicians, I disagree a bit that you can't... because eventually you will.

SNMA chapters are a good place to start.

That said, I don't think that you should think about networking for admissions. You should network to understand the community and support system you need to persevere in medical school, especially as a first generation student. Use their experience to sharpen your observation skills to know how each of the schools differ from each other and ultimately find out what matters.

There are many mentoring organizations even for Black applicants to medical school.

I need to find the infographic that is pertinent from the AAMC Action Collaborative.

Thank you so much! I will definitely check out local SNMA chapters. I appreciate it!