what role does greek play in med school admission?

[premedgurl]

Does being greek play a typical role in med school admission? or it doesn't matter at all?

do med school admission officers like to see we are greek?

what about the leadership in greek organizations? does it look better if we are the top officers in greek org. or mayb the same as the leaderships in other orgs.

thanks!

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[nick_carraway]

Well a lot of medical terminology is Greek... so you could use your expert knowledge of the ancient Greek alphabet (alpha kappa delta phiii!!) to write your case notes. That's diversity, baby!

Seriously though, I don't think most adcoms like it or are neutral about it. I guess it depends on what you did. How committed you were? How your grades were too? Did it take too much of your time? How does it fit into your interests? Then again, there are medical fraternities too that a lot of doctors join so maybe they like it.

 

[Law2Doc]

Does being greek play a typical role in med school admission? or it doesn't matter at all?

do med school admission officers like to see we are greek?

what about the leadership in greek organizations? does it look better if we are the top officers in greek org. or mayb the same as the leaderships in other orgs.

thanks!

If you are talking about frats/sororities, it's a mixed bag. Certainly some adcoms may have been blackballed or otherwise have negative perceptions (whether founded or not) about the greek system. I personally omitted it from my app for this concern.

But a good leadership experience is a good leadership experience, and so if you were in charge of X people or raised $Y dollars running a charity event, it's probably ok to mention. I wouldn't just put it if you were a non-officer member. Also I suspect sororities don't share the same "Animal House" fraternity perception/taint.

 

[Picklesali]

Does being greek play a typical role in med school admission? or it doesn't matter at all?

do med school admission officers like to see we are greek?

what about the leadership in greek organizations? does it look better if we are the top officers in greek org. or mayb the same as the leaderships in other orgs.

thanks!

Okay at first glance I saw "Does being GEEK play a typical role in med schools admission?" Haha - I think we're all geeks - but Greek, not as much. Anywho as I am a proud member of the geek category and not the greek one - I can't actually offer any legitimate advice

 

[MahSpoon]

I read it as GEEK also

 

[DropkickMurphy]

what about the leadership in greek organizations?

I can see the bullets now:
"Responsible for logistics of the most bad ass kegger our school has ever seen. One of our pledges drank himself to death.....at his funeral, everybody got laid."
"Functioned as the health and safety chair for *insert sorority name*.....duties included handing out condoms, maintaining a stockpile of morning after pills, organizing random STD screenings and scheduling abortions for my sisters."

 

[Law2Doc]

"Functioned as the health and safety chair for *insert sorority name*.....duties included handing out condoms, maintaining a stockpile of morning after pills, organizing random STD screenings and scheduling abortions for my sisters."

Honestly, if this were true, you could spin it into a very impressive pre-health EC, relating to reproductive healthcare.

 

[UCDavisdude]

id definitely put it down especially if you recieved awards for leadership, etc. on my app, i put down that i was inducted into the "order of omega"-honor society for leaders in the greek community, also how as philantropy chair, we raised thousands of dollars just on one event (hi-lighter party) for childrens miracle netwprk (which won philantropy of the year at the ifc awards night,, and other awards, like being voted new member of the year etc.and as the ifc chair for my house.so especially if youved recieved recognition in the greek community, id put it down, but if you were the typical stereotypical fraternity man.i.e the "frat boy" it could be looked upon negatively.

 

[UCDavisdude]

and im really tired of the whole stereotype situation that members of the greek community receive. did you know, at uc davis, the greek system has a higher average gpa than non greek students!! and the greek system only includes the social greek organizations (ifc), not the community service/psychology/pre-med fraternities and sororities(not that theres anything wrong with these).

 

[Falco2525]

and im really tired of the whole stereotype situation that members of the greek community receive. did you know, at uc davis, the greek system has a higher average gpa than non greek students!! and the greek system only includes the social greek organizations (ifc), not the community service/psychology/pre-med fraternities and sororities(not that theres anything wrong with these).

well then someones sleepin with someone higher up haha

 

[Running Water]

i usually try to avoid listing things that i have to pay money to get into i.e. country clubs. doesn't really fit with the whole nobility and humbleness of medicine. same reasoning why nobody lists "national honor roll" (or equivalent) as you gotta pay to play.

also i know quite a few frat guys and everyone of them is chair of this or president of that in their respective houses. i don't see the value in listing bucket loads of pseudo-positions that have no merit. but this is just my opinion and OP should what feels appropriate....

 

[DropkickMurphy]

did you know, at uc davis, the greek system has a higher average gpa than non greek students!!

To quote my Kindergarten teacher, "Would you like a sticker for that?"

Lighten up.....it was meant as a joke, or did they beat your sense of humor out of you during some initiation ritual resembling a blanket party?

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Honestly, if this were true, you could spin it into a very impressive pre-health EC, relating to reproductive healthcare.

Just leave it off the app when you apply to Loma Linda, eh?

 

[Bacchus]

Just leave it off the app when you apply to Loma Linda, eh?

Oh snap... gimme five.

 

[nick_carraway]

id definitely put it down especially if you recieved awards for leadership, etc. on my app, i put down that i was inducted into the "order of omega"-honor society for leaders in the greek community, also how as philantropy chair, we raised thousands of dollars just on one event (hi-lighter party) for childrens miracle netwprk (which won philantropy of the year at the ifc awards night,, and other awards, like being voted new member of the year etc.and as the ifc chair for my house.so especially if youved recieved recognition in the greek community, id put it down, but if you were the typical stereotypical fraternity man.i.e the "frat boy" it could be looked upon negatively.

I'm all fine with the fraternities and sororities but before I accept their propaganda, what is the percentage of those people in less intense majors? I bet that if you included the pre-professional groups, then the GPA of the greek system would decrease due to the inclusion of the hardcore majors.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I'm all fine with the fraternities and sororities but before I accept their propaganda, what is the percentage of those people in less intense majors? I bet that if you included the pre-professional groups, then the GPA of the greek system would decrease due to the inclusion of the hardcore majors.

Excellent point......here it seems like most of the frat members are communications majors or something else ridiculously simple.....just like how the NCAA claims student athletes have higher average GPAs, yet most of them are history majors or something like that......

 

[EM84]

most of them are history majors or something like that......

oh no you did'n

we history peeps have to write long papers too...that's probably a weak defense, but that's all I got right now

 

[DropkickMurphy]

oh no you did'n

we history peeps have to write long papers too...that's probably a weak defense, but that's all I got right now

Agreed, and no offense meant to those in the major who actually try....if done properly a history major is as difficult (if not more so) than a "hard" science major. Personally I think it's just because it's easier for the coaches to browbeat the history profs into giving their athletes good enough grades to allow them to dress for games than it would be if they were bio or math majors......

 

[Noeljan]

Listen
just be yourself. Everyone from everywhere told me not to talk about....Pageants, sorority, or cheerleading.....well that's basically saying not to talk about me I talked about all of the above where I wanted to go and got accepted the very next day Go figure.

 

[LadyWolverine]

I resent the implication that the majority of fraternity and sorority members choose "less difficult" majors. Many of my sorority sisters were in tough programs in the engineering school, mathematics, and the hard sciences. Four of us were molecular biology/biochemistry majors, and there were several of us who were pre-grad school, pre-med, or in other pre-professional programs. As a matter of fact, many sororities have to maintain a minimum GPA to remain eligible for activities and membership.

To the OP: I would definitely mention that you were Greek on your application, especially if you were an officer, inducted into Order of Omega, or participated in a philanthropy project. I mentioned my sorority and my position within the house on my application, and was actually asked about my role at three of my interviews. Going Greek is a great way to get involved in the campus community, in IM sports, in philanthropy, and in leadership, in addition to being a way to greatly expand your social life. You should take pride in your organization, and in your contributions to it.

Some fraternities and sororities also offer scholarships for you to pursue graduate or professional school. Take advantage of them if you can. Good luck!

 

[sga814]

Greek is good, greek and able to get med school interview in their minds = someone who is intelligent AND sociable, which is good for patients.

 

[Nasrudin]

Does being greek play a typical role in med school admission? or it doesn't matter at all?

do med school admission officers like to see we are greek?

what about the leadership in greek organizations? does it look better if we are the top officers in greek org. or mayb the same as the leaderships in other orgs.

thanks!

have you ever seen revenge of the nerds? prepare for a tri-lambda science nerd but whoopin.

 

[Jaded03]

Greek is good, greek and able to get med school interview in their minds = someone who is intelligent AND sociable, which is good for patients.

As someone who is non-Greek, I paid attention to this closely. A few cali schools see this as favorable. UCSF and UCLA stories have agreed with Greek members being correlated with acceptance, and it wasn't so much for philanthropy (although I suspect there has to be SOMETHING like it), but for the social aspect. They enjoyed people who weren't "bookworms", and you really can't put partying and drinking before finals in the EC section of the AMCAS. A Greek membership maybe the only official way to say that you're social. You're MCAT and GPA speak for themselves. Just a thing I noticed.

 

[UCDavisdude]

To quote my Kindergarten teacher, "Would you like a sticker for that?"

Lighten up.....it was meant as a joke, or did they beat your sense of humor out of you during some initiation ritual resembling a blanket party?

it wasnt even a response to your posting dude

 

[Law2Doc]

I resent the implication that the majority of fraternity and sorority members choose "less difficult" majors.

Seems to me that the fact that there are these misperceptions amongst premeds would suggest there may be similar misconceptions amongst adcom members. Unless you had a leadership role (rather than just being a member) I would probably omit this from an EC.

 

[StevenJ128]

It sounds like a couple of people here are angry because they cant get laid.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

it wasnt even a response to your posting dude

It still needed to be said.....

 

[UCDavisdude]

I'm all fine with the fraternities and sororities but before I accept their propaganda, what is the percentage of those people in less intense majors? I bet that if you included the pre-professional groups, then the GPA of the greek system would decrease due to the inclusion of the hardcore majors.

not sure, but in my fraternity, currently, there are 5 of us applying to med school,all very competitive, except myself perhaps. about 10 engineers (various fields), a few architects. also, we have members who have been admitted to prominent vet schools this past year.we also have alumni who are in prominent positions at uc davis med center, as well as many brothers in great med schools (pritzker comes to mind). so yes, there are many bros in my house who are majoring in econ, communications, etc, but many also enter the sciences and go on to grad schools, law schools, dental schools, med schools,buisness schools, etc. all im saying is, lets try not to put to much weight on the stereotypes.

 

[maestro1625]

I can see the bullets now:
"Responsible for logistics of the most bad ass kegger our school has ever seen. One of our pledges drank himself to death.....at his funeral, everybody got laid."
"Functioned as the health and safety chair for *insert sorority name*.....duties included handing out condoms, maintaining a stockpile of morning after pills, organizing random STD screenings and scheduling abortions for my sisters."

two words: Foam Party.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

two words: Foam Party.

Four letters: CAFS

 

[Pinkertinkle]

When I interview people I recommend all greek ones be rejected. So watchout for that.

 

[Bre]

I remember hearing a girl ask an ADCOM member at *anonymous* school how favorably they viewed social fraternity/sorority memberships.

He responded that he treated social fraternity/sorority memberships as completely meaningless when he reviewed applicants.

 

[Hershi]

so im assuming not to mention it at all when I apply.

 

[UCDavisdude]

mention it if you had a prominent role, i.e pesident, vice president, philantropy chair, etc. it should be mentioned if it supports your leadership experience. otherwise, theres really no reason to.

 

[Law2Doc]

mention it if you had a prominent role, i.e pesident, vice president, philantropy chair, etc. it should be mentioned if it supports your leadership experience. otherwise, theres really no reason to.

Certainly don't mention it if your "officer" position involved something like "Keeper of the Kegs", "Beer Meister" or the like (we had both of those). I probably wouldn't list things like "Rush Chairman" or "Pledge Master" either (too many potentially negative connotations). But if you were President, Vice President, or were in charge of a big money event or a blood drive, you probably could spin it into something reasonably positive.

 

[littlealex]

The Fraternity is a huge part of my life, so of course I mentioned it. However, I kept it to just 1 blurb in the activities, and don't plan on mentioning it again.

I guess I'm trying to keep it on the down low in case it hurts me, but it means too much to me to not mention it.

 

[StevenJ128]

When I interview people I recommend all greek ones be rejected. So watchout for that.

It's the internet, and it's hard to read sarcasm, but that is a joke, right?

 

[TeaKae]

Excellent point......here it seems like most of the frat members are communications majors or something else ridiculously simple.....just like how the NCAA claims student athletes have higher average GPAs, yet most of them are history majors or something like that......

Boo on the hostility toward athletes and Greeks. Those of us who belong(ed) to these organizations and are applying to med school obviously don't fit the stereotypes.

 

[Law2Doc]

Boo on the hostility toward athletes and Greeks. Those of us who belong(ed) to these organizations and are applying to med school obviously don't fit the stereotypes.

But a lot of us who belonged would agree that some of these stereotypes were well founded in regards to certain chapters.

 

[capn jazz]

I really thought this topic was going to be about being of Greek nationality and it having something to do with admissions. Now I am slightly disappointed. Carry on.

 

[Law2Doc]

I really thought this topic was going to be about being of Greek nationality and it having something to do with admissions. Now I am slightly disappointed. Carry on.

I guess it could be about either -- the OP was never that clear. If you have a nationality related experience that's cool too.

 

[gallbladder2]

It doesn't help or hurt
If you want something to really help you do something that not everyone else is doing
that is my two cents
medschoolrocksdotcom

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Boo on the hostility toward athletes and Greeks. Those of us who belong(ed) to these organizations and are applying to med school obviously don't fit the stereotypes.

There are exceptions to every rule for the most part. Just because a slim majority actually do something like pursue graduate education and maybe earn themselves status as poster children for NCAA advertising: "Becky Blasenbalg is a women's lacrosse player at Duke, but her greatest contribution to the school is the fact that she won a Nobel Prize for bringing peace to the Middle East. We're not going to mention the fact that she's the only person on the team that does her own homework or isn't improving her GPA through sexual favors to profs, because she is the true face of collegiate athletics".

 

[IceQueenNY]

We're not going to mention the fact that she's the only person on the team that does her own homework or isn't improving her GPA through sexual favors to profs, because she is the true face of collegiate athletics".

Edited: Not worth it.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Edited: Not worth it.

Just FYI, I was being hyperbolic in my last post in case you didn't pick up on that.....

 

[premedgurl]

Thanks for everyone's reponse!

wow. i never realize being greek can be such controversial on the matter of med school app.

 

[dazlindz]

i wonder if what school you go to factors in when considering greek life? i'm in a sorority at uchicago (yes, we have them, surprisingly) and we defy every stereotype about sorority life, probably b/c we're all sort of nerdy. and we don't have a house.

i don't particularly care if people view greek involvement as a neutral thing, but now i'm just afraid that my application will be looked down upon because i mentioned i'm in a sorority!

also, is anyone in a greek-letter honor society like phi beta kappa? adcom knows what those are, right?

 

[MassTransport]

I doubt there's a formal grading rubric for greek involvement, but if the adcom knows your school's greek reputation (maybe a med school affiliated with the undergrad) it might have marginal weight.

Also, from what I've seen, adcoms are unimpressed with PBK or other honor societies.

 

[Nasrudin]

i wonder if what school you go to factors in when considering greek life? i'm in a sorority at uchicago (yes, we have them, surprisingly) and we defy every stereotype about sorority life, probably b/c we're all sort of nerdy. and we don't have a house.

i don't particularly care if people view greek involvement as a neutral thing, but now i'm just afraid that my application will be looked down upon because i mentioned i'm in a sorority!

also, is anyone in a greek-letter honor society like phi beta kappa? adcom knows what those are, right?

Honor or service fraternities are safe and of good quality. That should be obvious if you describe them I would think.

For your other concerns--the question is not what your experience is but what perceptions pertain to the viewers of your application. I went to a huge undergrad with a huge and diverse (by group-to-group comparison) greek community. My animal house outfit did not resemble the jewish academic all-star outfit or the ultra-vanilla prep squad and so on and so on. But the nuances are pointless.

A better consideration is this: At the hospital I worked at until recently I used to love looking at the 40 year history of resident class photos on the wall of one of the wings. It was a revealing, often hilarious pastime. What was immediately obvious was a transition from uber-wally cleaver frat boys from Santa monica or some place like that with the occasional female to the side-burned sporting, mustached, long-haired hippified types with of course increasing numbers of minorities and women wearing increasingly shorter skirts.

The hippie years have produced the classes of physicians who are prevalent now as the gatekeepers of the profession. Gross over-generalization of course but instructive as a cautionary move to not emphasize involvement in a social context that in reality is more often self-indulgent and exclusive than it is supporting of academic prowess or general good will towards the human family as opposed to some narrow social niche designed as a sexual marketing tool directed at other specifically targeted social niches.

The stereotypes are not useful for revealing the individual for either good or bad characteristics. If the conventional wisdom is correct that EC's should be meaningful and purposeful in some larger sense then the citation of social fraternities or sororities is filler at best, junk at worst.

 

[BlackSails]

If its Greek as in beer and togas, find some way to present it.
If its Greek as in community service,
If its Greek as in Skull and Bones, dont worry, you will get in wherever you want.