On a scale of 1-10 how sketchy is it if I list the Organization Name from when I was a waitress as "Restaurant"

[Hamber_Gorl]

For my work and activities section. I don't want to include the actual name of the establishment.

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

I’d say it’s pretty weird

maybe less so if you’re listing a contact

 

[Hamber_Gorl]

I’d say it’s pretty weird

maybe less so if you’re listing a contact

Yeah I'm listing my former manager as the contact. If you saw that on an application, what assumptions would you make as to why I chose to leave it off?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

don’t really know. Why aren’t you wanting to list it?

 

[Hamber_Gorl]

don’t really know. Why aren’t you wanting to list it?

The restaurant is controversial to some people.

 

[chilly_md]

The restaurant is controversial to some people.

This is unlikely to cause issues if it is a national chain. You are not running the company. Walmart is controversial at times, but that does not mean somebody who has worked there is going to be judged because of that.

 

[cj_cregg]

This is unlikely to cause issues if it is a national chain. You are not running the company. Walmart is controversial at times, but that does not mean somebody who has worked there is going to be judged because of that.

I think you're missing a certain type of controversial that would almost certainly not be looked kindly upon by adcoms lol.

This is a tricky one if I'm understanding you correctly OP. If this is somewhere you worked for a long time and you really need it on your application, I think just listing "restaurant" is the best you can do. It is sketchy - there might be some assumptions made, and it might make them more likely to actually call the contact to confirm the details, but it's better than listing the restaurant name if it is what I think it is or similar. I would make sure your manager is aware that you're trying to keep things on the DL in case they get called.

If it's not important to your application in some way, you might honestly just consider leaving it off your application.

 

[Goro]

Yeah I'm listing my former manager as the contact. If you saw that on an application, what assumptions would you make as to why I chose to leave it off?

I'd assume that you worked at Hooters.

 

[Hamber_Gorl]

I'd assume that you worked at Hooters.

Ding ding ding.

Is it best to just leave it off? I was told putting “restaurant” is fine.

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

Ding ding ding.

Is it best to just leave it off? I was told putting “restaurant” is fine.

Just put the parent company's name: HMC Hospitality Group

 

[Goro]

Ding ding ding.

Is it best to just leave it off? I was told putting “restaurant” is fine.

Just leave it out, or be up front and truthful.

Applying to med school is all about reducing risk. If you do list it, just don't apply to Loma Linda or LUCOM.

 

[Hamber_Gorl]

Just put the parent company's name: HMC Hospitality Group

Omg you’re so smart. THANK YOU ❤️🙏🏼

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Just leave it off.

Interviewers often ask about experiences. You could easily get caught up in an awkward interview situation if one asks “what is the HMC hospitality group? I’ve never eaten there” or “what restaurant did you waitress at”

I got asked about the most obscure parts of my app often. Weird hobbies, fantasy football etc.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I wouldn't list it, but I am guessing you have a LOT of hours working there?

Remember that the Work/Activities acts like a resume, and you don't have to put everything you did down. This isn't an investigation or a deposition. The goal is (as stated earlier) to reduce the chances that your application is thrown out.

 

[Hamber_Gorl]

I wouldn't list it, but I am guessing you have a LOT of hours working there?

1500hrs. SMP wasn’t going to pay for itself 😅

 

[Mr.Smile12]

1500hrs. SMP wasn’t going to pay for itself 😅

Now that's fair. I have to find other articles about what graduate students did to moonlight in order to pay for their tuition. The tamest was probably "bartending" at a place with a less national reputation than yours... that's how your story reminded me. They got academic jobs as far as I remember.

 

[Med Ed]

Oh Gawd, it's a freaking restaurant. It's not like you were working in a massage parlor by the airport.

Working service jobs like this require teamwork and dealing with the public, two things that are useful in medicine. You can often tell the students who have never had a crap job in their lives.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Oh Gawd, it's a freaking restaurant. It's not like you were working in a massage parlor by the airport.

Working service jobs like this require teamwork and dealing with the public, two things that are useful in medicine. You can often tell the students who have never had a crap job in their lives.

I don’t know. Even if 3 or 4 adcom members feel strongly enough about it, that could keep the OP out. Some schools said they do anonymous voting. So if those faculty give or 1 out of 5, it will hurt OP in terms of her position on the rank list. The benefits of listing it aren’t worth the risks of listing it imho unless the name isn’t listed. In that case, she should prepare to answer questions about it during an interview.

 

[LizzyM]

I like the idea of listing the parent company name. If asked, you can say you worked as a waitress and that it was a good job that helped you support yourself while in your SMP and that you really learned to deal with customers of all kinds, yada yada, take the question where you want to take it and you won't need to say the name. Or mispronounce it a bit and call it Hoovers.

 

[GoSpursGo]

One way or another you should list this experience. As outlined above, having endured a crap job and figuring out how to deal with aspects of the job that you hate is intrinsically valuable. I think the parent company is a good idea.

Alternatively, is this the only non-medical job you've ever held, or have you had multiple "gotta pay the bills" jobs? If you've had multiple jobs, then I think you could combine them all and call it "Non-medical employment." Then your description could be "Job 1: I worked x hours at a major national chain restaurant; Job 2: I worked y hours at a retail store (or whatever); etc." List the contact(s) as your supervisors.

 

[Med Ed]

The restaurant is controversial to some people.

I'm seem to recall the Southern Baptists getting themselves into a lather over it back in the mid 1980's. But come on. You served wings and beer while wearing orange shorts. In my opinion there is zero shame in that. I'd give you extra points because you've clearly learned how to deal with drunk, obnoxious customers.

I've seen plenty of applicants list working in bars and/or clubs, and I doubt they are all particularly savory environments. The ones who served drinks poolside were probably wearing a quarter of what your average Hooters waitress typically has on. No intelligent person should care, and if an adcom has a serious problem with it then it's a school you probably don't want to attend.

Several others have mentioned naming the parent company. You can do that, but if I was interviewing you and teased out that it was actually Hooters, I would be utterly perplexed as to why you felt the need to obscure the facts.

I do recall one spirited discussion about an applicant who was heavily into beauty pageants. A couple of people on the committee were initially really weirded out by the whole thing. But the applicant was from a disadvantaged background, and the pageants actually got her through school. We ended up accepting her but she went elsewhere (probably with a scholarship).

 

[Mister Mxyzptlk]

You're worried about Hooters? The place where families eat? The one with a children's menu?

I just hope they don't find out about your parking tickets.

And beauty pageants? Did any of them involve a pole? This adcom sounds like it lives in the Victorian age.

 

[ChiDr]

Be honest with yourself and others, your whole life. Do not be afraid to tell them about yourself. Do not lie on applications, make it true, make it bold, make your experiences stand out. I worked at Hooters as a host a long time ago. It was a job that paid for gas, bought me a car, and got my mom a vacation to a beach. Be proud of your life, no matter what experiences you shared. If you feel you are lacking, talk up what you have, try to find others to fill in gap. VOLUNTEER, it is free.

 

[Proudfather94]

I don't see why it would get you rejected. You're still clothed for that job and you're literally just a waitress. Holding a job while in school is great and shows your maturity and ability to multitask I think you should put it.

 

[LadyDustyBlue]

For what it’s worth, I was a beauty & fashion model for years and I accept that someone will ask me about that in an interview.

I plan to be up front with it & I can tell you that modeling required me to do things that a Hooters waitress is not required to do, such as change in front of a room full of (often naked & beautiful) strangers working for the same designer as you. And I’m sure some people will not take me seriously, but you get that from most jobs - even when people hire you for the way you look. Regardless, you do what you have to do to get through life and learn from every experience.

I agree with Goro that just be mindful which schools you apply to that you might risk explaining that experience to. Otherwise, it’s fair to list it - even the parent company. It’s at your discretion, of course. But you wanted to be a physician, so you did the SMP, got yourself this far, and must believe in yourself, right?

Not everyone gets a work-study job or good financial aid that’s good enough to pay the bills and tuition.

I guarantee you that there’s someone in an admissions committee who worked a job that some people thought was weird once. I’ve met an adcom (for a public ivy) individual who once admitted to me that he was once a male prostitute (back in like the 70s/80s at one point - but also went to medical school and law school. Given that, I think that there are more shocking things you could be than a Hooter waitress (Don’t get me wrong, this person I mentioned is one of the most brilliant professors I’ve ever had in my life!).

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

It’s unfortunate that applicants have to worry about listing a legitimate server job just because the job requires one to have a certain physique and personality. Sorry that this is something you even have to think about. I did something in a similar vein to pay for school but it was part time enough that it wasn’t a big deal to leave it off the app.

 

[Lost in Translation]

It’s unfortunate that applicants have to worry about listing a legitimate server job just because the job requires one to have a certain physique and personality. Sorry that this is something you even have to think about. I did something in a similar vein to pay for school but it was part time enough that it wasn’t a big deal to leave it off the app.

This.

For a profession that by and large claims to be on the left side of “woke”, discrediting an otherwise strong applicant because they worked for Hooters is the most NIMBY thing since the first pearl necklace was clutched.

 

[Proudfather94]

It’s unfortunate that applicants have to worry about listing a legitimate server job just because the job requires one to have a certain physique and personality. Sorry that this is something you even have to think about. I did something in a similar vein to pay for school but it was part time enough that it wasn’t a big deal to leave it off the app.

My thing is if a woman goes to the beach in a 2 piece bikini they're showing more off than a waitress at hooters. I could only see this being an issue if the adcoms are jealous due to being under the effects of gravity for a few more decades than op or if they have a creepy inappropriate interest in their students.

 

[LadyDustyBlue]

Exactly. It doesn’t have to be an “inappropriate” job, but that’s on the perception of the committee members & says more about them than you, OP.

And besides, jobs like modeling or being a Hooters waitress wouldn’t exactly exist if we didn’t understand the way society works - we’re adults. These are actual jobs, even males become models or you could say anybody does a job that seems odd to 1 person, but totally normal to someone else.

 

[astrobean]

I agree with everyone saying that a reasonable admissions committee person shouldn't get hung up on this- but they might. And pointing out how it makes you a strong independent woman will not help, because they're going to be talking about this behind closed doors and not with you in the room. I'm a woman and I 100% understand why you think this could possibly hurt you in the application process and I think you're probably right. Sure lots of people work at other bars and clubs but do those bars have a name that is literally referencing boobs? I don't think so, and this is the problem with this specific chain. Like others have recommended, if it doesn't look too weird in the formatting I would rephrase it as focusing on the job- server/waitress and not the place and just note that you worked in food hospitality for X years. Once you're in medical school you can be even more vague about a hospitality background and once you are applying for doctor jobs it won't even be on the resume anymore. Unfortunately old men and prudes still rule the world.

 

[alwaysrunning]

@Hamber_Gorl , please come back after you are accepted and tell us how you handled it.

 

[Hamber_Gorl]

@Hamber_Gorl , please come back after you are accepted and tell us how you handled it.

Will do. I appreciate all the advice on here 🤗

 

[Med Ed]

I agree with everyone saying that a reasonable admissions committee person shouldn't get hung up on this- but they might.

They might do a lot of things. I've seen adcoms get hung up on nonsense. I've seen them ignore blinking neon red flags. I've seen textbook "perfect" applicants get dissed because they looked like box checkers. I've seen candidates get ripped on for being uninteresting, and I've seen very interesting candidates get ripped on for being too unconventional.

If you want credit for a piece of your story then at some point you just have to own it, and have faith that if you're a competitive applicant someone somewhere will see that and go to bat for you.

 

[Doctoscope]

Speaking of controversial jobs, I've got a friend who has a rather large OnlyFans account. They want to talk about it on their adversity essay and how they used it to pay through college. I've got no idea what to tell them. Thoughts?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

This.

For a profession that by and large claims to be on the left side of “woke”, discrediting an otherwise strong applicant because they worked for Hooters is the most NIMBY thing since the first pearl necklace was clutched.

The profession may be more "woke" but the industry in which we work is certainly not (yet).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Speaking of controversial jobs, I've got a friend who has a rather large OnlyFans account. They want to talk about it on their adversity essay and how they used it to pay through college. I've got no idea what to tell them. Thoughts?

What's the prompt? I'm not really resonating with it as a means to overcome a systemic or chronic challenge.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Speaking of controversial jobs, I've got a friend who has a rather large OnlyFans account. They want to talk about it on their adversity essay and how they used it to pay through college. I've got no idea what to tell them. Thoughts?

DOA (imo)

 

[Doctoscope]

What's the prompt? I'm not really resonating with it as a means to overcome a systemic or chronic challenge.

Neither of us got secondaries yet, so no specific prompt. We were talking about writing our secondaries, and the topics we could write about our adversity/challenge essays (since it's such a common prompt). She just mentioned "oh, I guess I could talk about my OnlyFans account paying for college," and I just said "yeah I guess you could" because I didn't know what to say lol.

On one hand, it really is an innovative way to pay for post-secondary education. On the other hand, it's a pretty taboo subject, I guess? I personally don't see a problem with it, but I know adcoms tend to on the more cautious side, so the whole "pr0n" thing could be a huge turn off.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Neither of us got secondaries yet, so no specific prompt. We were talking about writing our secondaries, and the topics we could write about our adversity/challenge essays (since it's such a common prompt). She just mentioned "oh, I guess I could talk about my OnlyFans account paying for college," and I just said "yeah I guess you could" because I didn't know what to say lol.

On one hand, it really is an innovative way to pay for post-secondary education. On the other hand, it's a pretty taboo subject, I guess? I personally don't see a problem with it, but I know adcoms tend to on the more cautious side, so the whole "pr0n" thing could be a huge turn off.

Not sure I think the subject is verboten, but it may be a bit too inaccessible to some of the older members of the admissions committee.

 

[Doctoscope]

Not sure I think the subject is verboten, but it may be a bit too inaccessible to some of the older members of the admissions committee.

There's definitely some weirdness/controversy around that site. The most "public" controversy was the cash-me-outside girl from Dr. Phil () starting an account the moment she turned 18 and making $1M her first month.

Thinking of all this, I'm 100% going to recommend her to stay away from talking about this lol. The site just has way too much weirdness surrounding it.

 

[wook]

Just put the parent company's name: HMC Hospitality Group

This!

 

[Goro]

Speaking of controversial jobs, I've got a friend who has a rather large OnlyFans account. They want to talk about it on their adversity essay and how they used it to pay through college. I've got no idea what to tell them. Thoughts?

How is having an OnlyFans account an adversity?

 

[Doctoscope]

How is having an OnlyFans account an adversity?

I guess the adversity part is using it to pay for college tuition... but I agree, it's a REAL stretch to make it fit (if it even fits at all). I just need to show her this thread and hopefully she understands why she shouldn't write about it lol.

 

[OchemOficionado]

I love the responses above. You have all the info you need, but I still want to reiterate, don't include anything on your application that you can't talk about with confidence. You better learn to say Hooters with a smile on your face and then use it as an opportunity to sell yourself based on what working there taught you or allowed you to do (pay for SMP). If you're gonna be shy or awkward if they ask the name of the place it's going to be worse than just being confidently upfront.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I guess the adversity part is using it to pay for college tuition... but I agree, it's a REAL stretch to make it fit (if it even fits at all). I just need to show her this thread and hopefully she understands why she shouldn't write about it lol.

It doesn’t fit. Presumably if she was not a profitable influencer, she could have paid for college the “normal” way. If she was truly at a loss for how to pay for college and used ingenuity to become an influencer specifically to overcome her financial hardship… maybe. But I am generally dubious.

 

[Proudfather94]

Speaking of controversial jobs, I've got a friend who has a rather large OnlyFans account. They want to talk about it on their adversity essay and how they used it to pay through college. I've got no idea what to tell them. Thoughts?

I would say that's too far to add to their statement and will decrease their chances of getting in. Op worked in a place whose outfits are on the suggestive side, but OF is usually straight up nudity. If they had some severe challenges in their life that limited their options like sick parents who couldn't work and she had to support them or parents who were completely unwilling to provide financial info and she couldn't get loans I could see it being an adversity thing.

They can take it that she has no morals and will do anything to make or save money since she didn't do what the average student does which takes out loans. They'll also think about if a patient recognizes her she's going to go from being their respected doctor into a weird fantasy of the patient or she'll just lose respect.

My personal opinion about it is that they shouldn't care but that's not what's likely going to happen in reality.

Edit another thing to consider is that the industry that OF is a part of is starting to come under scrutiny for feeding an addiction. Some people that watch that stuff on the regular become desensitized to their partner and it has ended in divorces. That material takes advantage of the dopamine pathway like drugs and someone could try to argue that she took advantage of this to make money. While unlikely she could get an ADCOM whose marriage was ended or is on the rocks from this or believes that she is a predator that takes advantage of one's addiction to earn money.

 

[threepwood]

I guess the adversity part is using it to pay for college tuition... but I agree, it's a REAL stretch to make it fit (if it even fits at all). I just need to show her this thread and hopefully she understands why she shouldn't write about it lol.

Lol what a real adversity to be attractive enough that people will pay to see your body. Thankfully I will likely never have to face such an adversity judging by what I see in the mirror, I am truly fortunate