OK. It seems though that one would have to network with the right people. AdCom members, Dean of Admissions, etc. So if I'm from NY for example and I'm interested in going to Duke but have yet to set foot in North Carolina, how would one accomplish such networking (and get my face in front of them) ?
It doesn't really seem practical to be able to network with the actual decision makers in any meaningful way. I guess you could cold call and ask some questions. Or email and try to strike up some conversation that way. Send a photo ? Seems clunky to me.
IMO, if you have a strong enough package and apply broadly, this networking may be unnecessary.
I admit, my opinion doesn't mean much but --- anecdotally --- I have not encountered current med students who did much of this.
Being on the other side of the recruitment table, there's plenty you can do. It's true the processes are definitely set up to isolate any applicant from networking with actual decision-makers in medical admissions given the way decisions are actually made, but you can network with people who can be influential in that process (i.e., admissions professionals, faculty deans, students serving in leadership roles).
Networking isn't that hard thanks to the good ol' Internet. In fact, we want you to reach out. For nuts and bolts on how to network, you can start by asking your career services offices to give you some fundamental pointers and tips (not to mention again searching the internet). We even have people on SDN that attend or used to attend certain schools of interest.
But the interesting point is how you can interact in a meaningful way. My question is if you don't know why you feel you want to apply to a specific school, you'll never get a meaningful conversation. If you just want to know how to get into a T20 school, your questions (when asked to me as an admissions recruiter) are going to tell me how invested you really are and how meaningful the conversation is really going to be.
A lot of med students don't know much about how to do this, and that's why they need so much help with residency interviews and applications IMHO. I shouldn't be shocked but I had students come to me to show them how to write up a resume for residency interviews/applications... referred by their faculty advisors, mind you.
That said, I acknowledge it's not a requirement. We admissions folks like to espouse "holistic admisssions" and "getting to know the person" so much, but when the results come in that applicants get admitted with very little engagement or conversation prior to or during the process (except for interview days), then the only way adcoms really know you is as a set of numbers and data, and we shouldn't be surprised if applicants don't believe that admissions uses "holistic review" at all.
But networking and building relationships is what will help you get noticed, mentored, and promoted (including articles in professional society magazines). In the end, if you want to stand out later as a professional vying for chief resident or being on a leadership board, you need to develop these skills throughout your career journey.
