Pay to Get Into Med School?

[chicogold]

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Hi guys, I know some may not like this question but it's something my friend told me he was going to do. He stated that his marks were quite low but his Mom was going to pay to get him into Med school. Is this possible could you pay to get into Med school? If so, how much would these schools accept to take in these students. Has anybody had any friends who have done this? Which schools do this? Thanks

 

[XT777]

you send me alot of money and i promise i will get you in.

you don't mind sending the money to a P.O. box do you?

 

[zinjanthropus]

each year, some congressmen goes around nominating researchers for the 'worst waste of taxpayer dollars'

i think SDN should nominate a new thread each day for 'most ridiculous thread of the day'

 

[mlw03]

yeah, there's a website listing schools where you can buy your way in, even with an 8 on the mcat and a robust 2.7 gpa. it's www.yougottabefrigginsh*ttingme.com. seriously, what the hell is wrong with people? if i ever found out that someone in my med school class got in cuz there's a new library named after their daddy i would ridicule them on a daily basis until they ran home crying to their daddy, who would then pay the school some more money to make me stop. then i would seek to transfer the hell out of that school because any school where you can buy admission would produce a useless degree.
seriously, think about it. say cnn reported and proved that 3 students each year buy their way in ABC COM - anyone with a degree from that school would immedeately be scrutinized by their colleages and their patients. nobody would apply to that school for similar reasons. i can't imagine a school risking that, for any amount of money.

 

[rjmst]

i know a guy whos dad bought his way in to harvard business. in fact, i've seen this thing more than once now that i think about it. i can't beleive you guys havent. it happens all the time.

 

[rjmst]

ps. i know most of my posts are sarcastic, but this one isn't.

 

[Neon Black]

Yep, I've heard the same thing. Kids with only average marks but their parents are hot shot doctors and well connected that can pull strings and hook them up. It seems to be happening in other fields too, not just this one. Politics need to be left out school.

 

[mlw03]

i can't believe people aren't as ticked about this as i am. i can see it happening in other fields - business, law, other grad schools, but for it to happen in medicine, dentistry, or vet medicine is really depressing. when a business leader screws up money may be lost, or if a lawyer screws up there is the appeals process, but when a healthcare professional screws up people (or pets) can DIE - there may not be a second chance.

and there's a difference between "average" marks and really crappy ones. schools ask about alumni relatives for a reason, and i guess this is ok. if ALL things else are equal, then i guess a parent could give someone the edge, but to think that someone clearly less qualified than his/her classmates could get in with parental influence... that's just disappointing.

 

[Megalofyia]

While I am in no means advocating this I do think it's a little extreme to say that the people who get into med school because someone paid their way in are the cause of people's deaths.

They are simply being allowed a corrupt way in, they are not paying to also pass med school.

 

[sgilani]

wow. makes you wonder if you need to start now on a for-an-adcom trust fund for your kid. (sarcasm)

 

[zinjanthropus]

hey, they still have to pass the boards, so i don't think it really invalidates the degree and it might very well give you better resources as an average student, and maybe a few scholarships for some disadvantaged or URM students.....my original response posted above was not in disbelief that this happens, because i know it happens, but was instead in disbelief that someone would ask if there was a compiled list of the schools that allow this and to quantify the dollar amount....sheesh

 

[Mike59]

Originally posted by chicogold
Hi guys, I know some may not like this question but it's something my friend told me he was going to do. He stated that his marks were quite low but his Mom was going to pay to get him into Med school. Is this possible could you pay to get into Med school? If so, how much would these schools accept to take in these students. Has anybody had any friends who have done this? Which schools do this? Thanks

Ya, I've heard of this.

Interesting that your payment needs to be in large unmarked bills, and sent to Madagascar!

 

[peterockduke]

Actually... I have a sort of friend who I am fairly certain got accepted b/c of his father. He will remain nameless.

His science gpa was a 3.2 from a large decent state school... MCAT was a 27. His personal statement had typos and included the phrase "cool beepers".. honestly it was laughably bad.

There are always perks to being rich and in the business. If one of the adcoms children wants into the school... you better believe they're getting in before you.

Frankly, very few people can say they're just as valuable to the school as say Person X + a new chemistry building. 🙁

 

[Outer Space]

Originally posted by chicogold
Has anybody had any friends who have done this? Which schools do this? Thanks

Medical College of Mexico.

 

[finnpipette]

I guess you could always donate enough money for the medical school to say...build a new library, or rename their school after you, like david geffen. i'm sure that'll boost your chances of getting into the school.

 

[....]

A plasic surgeon told me that he got in to medscool with crap grades because he knew the adcom director. Its not fair, but at least he was smart. He ended up being competitve at plastics programs so he wasnt dumb, just unfocused in undergrad.

My dads a doc and knows alot of people. I have had 3 seperate offers made to pull strings. My neighboors brother is adcom for washU in st louis. ect. If the people actually had any power...I cant be sure...But i said no thanks. integrity is my middle name 😀 I think buying your way in at least betters the school overal. Pulling strings...I HATE IT.....would make me lose credibility in my AA threads too 🙂

 

[Samus Aran]

Originally posted by chicogold
Hi guys, I know some may not like this question but it's something my friend told me he was going to do. He stated that his marks were quite low but his Mom was going to pay to get him into Med school. Is this possible could you pay to get into Med school? If so, how much would these schools accept to take in these students. Has anybody had any friends who have done this? Which schools do this? Thanks

Translation: I am getting my mom to pay to get me into med school, do you guys think that's wrong?


😀

 

[Chronotropic]

You all shouldn't be so schocked. Theres probably a good number (around 10 or so) students at every med school that got in via connections or money.

 

[Dr. Xavier]

Originally posted by Outer Space
Medical College of Mexico.

Don't forget offshore diploma mills too.

 

[AspiringDoctor9]

Hi Guys,

I don't understand why this is so much of a shock - I knew someone on UCSF admissions, and he told me the following. People on the adcom would make deals with others - if they let their son or daughter in this year, the favor would be returned a few years later for their own children. Seriously, it happens all the time.

A similar instance happened where someone got into the UCR/UCLA Biomedical Sciences BS/MD program - someone donated a million dollars, and his son was let in.

 

[Megalofyia]

Only a million dollars? 🙄

 

[Chronotropic]

Well if you're a neurosurgeon and your kid is dirt stupid then it's not such a bad deal.

 

[DAL]

This is really sad. If I had connections I'd like to believe I'd take the road less traveled. In the end I know it'll mean that much more to me.

 

[TTSD]

It shouldn't be a surprise guys. And yes, the UCR/UCLA biomed program is in a world of trouble. They have been favoring students with parental connections.. and it's really a bad program I hear. Friends get screwed up GPAs by professors whose duty it seemed was to give as many people C's to weed them out.

But anyways.. yes of course connections ALWAYS count. What do you think LORs are partly for if the adcomm recognizes the name of who sent it in as well?

I've been offered two different hookups as well.. one on the condition that I go for a specific field that I absolutely hate.. the other one.. well, I'm not going to say 😛

 

[Marianne11]

It may be possible, but doubtful. I have a friend who's dad is a famous heart doc, he went to a very good school, majored in the hardest major, and his dad tried using good friends to help his son get in. He applied two years in a row, had approx GPA 3.0, and could not get in. Even with very strong ties & lots of $$, it didn't work. He went to a foreign school, and is now doing very well (head of his dept) in the US. Bottom line: His major was too hard, he was young & liked to have fun, he "was" smart and able to make it, but it could not be bought.

I agree with an earlier point, I only want to get in because of merit. I wouldn't want to walk around med school next year knowing I didn't deserve to be there, and got accepted for other reasons. I'd like to think my classmates made it there on merit as well.

 

[WonderBoy]

Originally posted by chicogold
Hi guys, I know some may not like this question but it's something my friend told me he was going to do. He stated that his marks were quite low but his Mom was going to pay to get him into Med school. Is this possible could you pay to get into Med school? If so, how much would these schools accept to take in these students. Has anybody had any friends who have done this? Which schools do this? Thanks

I know people who have done this, but all of those schools are Indians. Many of my US born friends paid about $75,000/each for five years at an Indian medical school. They left right after finishing high school here. Not a bad deal.

 

[Ryo-Ohki]

Academia isn't exactly a bastion of morality.

 

[NRAI2001]

My friend was telling me that Georgetown does this and I know a person that use to be on the admission committee at Georgetown and he also said that this was true.

 

[sgilani]

on the other hand, i recently met a girl whose dad is on the adcom at hopkins and yet she claims she's not using it to her advantage b/c she doesn't want to get into med school on daddy's account. go figure.

 

[skypilot]

Originally posted by sgilani
on the other hand, i recently met a girl whose dad is on the adcom at hopkins and yet she claims she's not using it to her advantage b/c she doesn't want to get into med school on daddy's account. go figure.

I have a similar advantage of a parent on the adcom. But I figure that as long as I get into at least one other school on my own merits if I then choose to attend my parent's school I won't have violated any sacred trust .

 

[Paws]

I think in the end we all have to live with ourselves and we make our own path; what I mean by that is that when you think of someone like OJ Simpson, he may have gotten off as a 'not guilty' person in his wife's murder trial, his life is basically ruined because of his own actions.

In the same way, if someone gets into medschool in a devious or dishonest way, people will know. Everyone always knows who's really pulling their own weight, who's a good doctor, who's nice and who is really trustworthy - you can't hide that kind of stuff. On the other hand, people always know who's a cheat, or dishonest, or a sleazebag, or stupid, etc. You can't hide that stuff either.

I say be yourself and do your best, and things will all come out in the wash - besides, as far as I'm concerned, it's way too hard to be dishonest and it takes way too mujch energy !

 

[link26]

it's not such a big deal really.
like someone said already.... the dude still needs to pass the board exams.
if he gets crap grades and crap scores in a good school, he's still not gonna get that good residency.

now, if he got hooked up with a good residency.... THEN i'd be worried.... for his patients 😱

 

[TTSD]

That's true.. in the end, s/he does have to meet up to the national standards.. and in the end if they do well on the boards and place well into a good residency, the end result would be that the world got another good doctor. If not, then they were just a waste of a space and the other person who would've got the spot might have had to wait maybe one more year.