Should I have mentioned in an interview that my uncle is faculty?

[medhearter]

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I interviewed at a place where my uncle is faculty.
I didn't mention this anywhere in my application, and during the interview I simply said "I have family here"

Should I have mentioned, btw... I'm Dr-so-and-so's niece?

 

[Ponger]

I was in a similar situation. My mom works at one of the medical schools I interviewed at. The advice I always got was just to not bring it up. The logic being it could be perceived that you're pointing it out to get some brownie points or pull rank. Some interviewers may not take kindly to that. Some won't care but some could take offense.

Now if they bring it up, e.g. oh your last name is medhearter are you related to Dr. Medhearter?, then its fine to discuss it. My family connection actually ended up coming up in my interview anyway when my interviewer told me he was good friends with a close colleague of my mom. I had gone on a medical mission with the colleague.

 

[thinker]

depends if they like your uncle or not 😀

 

[medhearter]

heh
yea he's a very nice guy
everyone seems to like him

when my interviewer asked "why *insert school name*"
and i explained
then she asked "no but why *insert city here*"
and i explained
and she said "ok but.. why not *insert hometown here*"
and i explained
and she said "then why *insert city here* again"
me: ok. well. i have family here.
and she said "there you go. now thats a good reason"

lol

could i have said "well i have family here, so it'd be really nice to have that.. even if its just meeting them for a sunday dinner... and actually my uncle, who has been a great inspiration to me, also happens to be faculty here"

or not?

 

[rocketbooster]

Don't bring it up. They'll see it listed in the application, if anything.

Want to know what happened to me by bringing up my connections in my interview? I was waitlisted so I called the dean to ask how to improve my app. for next year. The interviewer wrote down "strong commitment to medicine, strong medical experiences, but may have used connections to get in with their colleagues to get the experience."

In other words, he implied I had it easier than most applicants to find medical activities since I knew tons of ppl in the medical field. I don't know what's wrong with that to be honest. If you have connections, you should use them because that's what gets you the best opportunities, at least for jobs. For admissions, I guess they see it differently.

I doubt that was the sole reason I got waitlisted, but it definitely didn't help having the rest of the adcom reading that comment from the interviewer. So, in other words, it probably won't make or break you, but it has the potential to do more harm than good.

Now, let's say you know someone on the adcom and they interview you. That can only help you. Basically, you can try using your connections but do not verbalize that you have connections.

 

[medhearter]

yikes.
i'm sorry for that.
hope everything works out though.

but there are schools which do ask if any of your relatives are faculty or work for the school. i guess this school didn't. and i didn't know how to mention it in my application.