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your father is a donor and he also went to the school your trying to get into? will that make it any easier to get in?
what if...
- Thread starter joejoe2020
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I don't know, you tell me.
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I'm sure it helps, but its not enough to get you accepted.
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I guess if he donated a new wing to the school you might stand a chance
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I agree with the posters on this thread, but many of my friends seem to think that if your father is a faculty member then you are guaranteed an acceptance.
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You profit.
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a friend of mine thinks she's guaranteed a spot at UNC cuz the stadium's named after her grandfather....all i gotta say is BOOOOO. makes it that much harder for us who are trying to fight to get there
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I can cite a few cases where this is NOT true.
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My uncle got into KCOM partly because a family doctor who graduated there and was a regular donor called them and told them they should admit him. Of course there are a couple of caveats to this: 1. He still had to have the stats. 2. This was about 35 - 40 years ago. 3. KCOM is a private school and I would imagine this would have more influence than with a state school. 4. This didn't guarantee my uncle a seat, but it definitely helped.
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TRUE STORY:
My friend's part-time co-worker graduated from Penn this year (06). Applied to a bunch of med schools his senior year including Creighton where his father and his uncle went for med school. He got a rejection letter initially from Creighton. STRIKE 1. His dad called the school up and somehow managed to get him an interview. He goes to the interview and the interviewer straight up tells him his stats are not good enough for the school, and he'd be digging himself in a hole if he attended med school and maybe he should try to improve his grades before he applies again. STRIKE 2. He gets a "I'm sorry, you are rejected" letter in his mail a month later. STRIKE 3.
A week before Creighton starts its school year, he gets a phone call that he's accepted. He's in med school now.
Fair, I don't think so. But that's the privileged world that we live in.
**Correction: It was Rosalind Franklin in Chicago. Not Creighton.**
My friend's part-time co-worker graduated from Penn this year (06). Applied to a bunch of med schools his senior year including Creighton where his father and his uncle went for med school. He got a rejection letter initially from Creighton. STRIKE 1. His dad called the school up and somehow managed to get him an interview. He goes to the interview and the interviewer straight up tells him his stats are not good enough for the school, and he'd be digging himself in a hole if he attended med school and maybe he should try to improve his grades before he applies again. STRIKE 2. He gets a "I'm sorry, you are rejected" letter in his mail a month later. STRIKE 3.
A week before Creighton starts its school year, he gets a phone call that he's accepted. He's in med school now.
Fair, I don't think so. But that's the privileged world that we live in.
**Correction: It was Rosalind Franklin in Chicago. Not Creighton.**
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If your friend is able to prove himself in medical school and do well does it really matter how he got there?
Ethical question...Id be interested in hearing what people think.
Ethical question...Id be interested in hearing what people think.
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you'd be surprised how far connections can get you. unfortunately, not everyone is rewarded based on their merits.. i'd have to say that i believe that there are a lot of people who are simply handed privileges just because they know important people.
so yah, i think that if you know people who are important enough then you'll get everything you want.
so yah, i think that if you know people who are important enough then you'll get everything you want.
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If it deprives even one person who could have gotten in on his or her merits, but instead was rejected, then it's wrong. Yet, that's the way the world works. People just absolutely love to "cheat" the system and get away with it. Can't dwell on it, though. Got my own life life to live.
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life isn't as fair as we'd like it to be. i can't help but think that schools ask for your DO connections/connections to their school for more than just curiosity's sake. it might not help if your stats/ECs, etc. are ridiculously low, but all things equal i think most of us would agree you'd have an edge over your Johnny McAverage competition. we, the less lucky, can say "i wouldn't want to feel like i got in based solely on my connections"--but i'd be surprised if many of us wouldn't happily play the connections card to get into our top choice school. just a thought
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Who you know and what they think of you goes a long way in most aspects of life.
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I think it does matter. An unearned acceptance takes the seat away from someone who has really worked for it, and therefore deserves it. Even if the shoo-in has the stats, I don't think there is anything other than an unfair advantage offered by disclosing any ties to the school. Again, someone who has worked very hard with similarly good stats loses out. However, I know how the world works, and the "good ole boy" network ain't going anywhere anytime soon.
It would be nice if everyone had to earn everything on their own merits.
Yet, I imagine everyone can think of a situation where they cashed in by knowing someone on the inside: myself included.
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i know, but it sucks when you think that the person might have possibly taken a seat that you probably deserve....its discouraging. It goes back to the "are you applying to med school because you want to be a doctor or your parents pressuring you" problem.
I was watching a 20/20 special on the Privileged in America, and it trulymade me sick to my stomach on how much "privileged" people in all senses - race, connections, looks, fame, etc. - get away with.
I was watching a 20/20 special on the Privileged in America, and it trulymade me sick to my stomach on how much "privileged" people in all senses - race, connections, looks, fame, etc. - get away with.
I don't really think that it matters. My parents are not docs, so for me there is no pressure to carry a torch. There are also a small number of first year students at most schools who had the stats, were accepted on merit enrolled and drop out because "medicine just wasn't for me." Should they be given the seat instead of someone who maybe didn't have the stats but who had the connections to get in and finish school?
If adcoms could look at a student's paper application and be able to tell what kind of doc they'd be in 10 years (or if they'd even be a doc in 10 years) all of the frustration that some people feel for "Sally took my seat because she has connections, or Johnny took my seat because of AA" would be eliminated. Fortunately for those of who will become physicians we have the opportunity to experience some failure at times. In the end failure only makes success that much sweeter.
best of
to everyone!
T
If adcoms could look at a student's paper application and be able to tell what kind of doc they'd be in 10 years (or if they'd even be a doc in 10 years) all of the frustration that some people feel for "Sally took my seat because she has connections, or Johnny took my seat because of AA" would be eliminated. Fortunately for those of who will become physicians we have the opportunity to experience some failure at times. In the end failure only makes success that much sweeter.
best of
to everyone!T
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But this isnt just in the case of admissions it happens often for jobs, clubs, etc. just one of those things that stinks if you dont have a connection or you feel you were rejected over someone with poorer stats etc
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Absolutely it helps! Connections make the world go around. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was searching the web and came across a 50 page report from the Duke Admissions Office. They had a paragraph on there where they stright up said that relatives of donors to the University get acceptances, but they try to limit the number to ~10 per year.
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The idea of a meritocracy being preached here is somewhat humorous as connections are a large basis of one's medical practice(read: referrals from other physcians). You participate in things such as city council, Jaycees, and Freemasonry to work yourself into the community which opens up connections. You then call up your lawyer to see who in the community can help you get started in real estate investing. Etc.
It's not fair but the bottomline is that this person still has to pass classes, board exams, and a residency to practice. Here's a little tip for all of you. Your professionalism as a physician is a good foot into the door of the community. You can then use that power for financial gain OR for community service. The power is really your's. A legacy to a medical school is small beans. I don't like it but welcome to reality.
It's not fair but the bottomline is that this person still has to pass classes, board exams, and a residency to practice. Here's a little tip for all of you. Your professionalism as a physician is a good foot into the door of the community. You can then use that power for financial gain OR for community service. The power is really your's. A legacy to a medical school is small beans. I don't like it but welcome to reality.
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I agree.
I mentioned a friend of mine in an above post. Sure, he had connections that may have helped him get into school but in the end he got very good grades and ended up matching into a great program.
Does that necessarily make it "right"? I dont know. Personally I dont think its "wrong."
Someone also mentioned those who are privelaged.
I dont want this to turn into a class, race, gender or ethnicity discussion, but each group has its own obstacles to overcome. And very, very few of us here have had the opportunity to experience two different set of obstacles head on, so it would be useless to try to figure out "who has it toughest."
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