What's Harder getting into Medical School or into the FBI

Get Your Med School Admissions Questions Answered!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
helpfuldoc2b

helpfuldoc2b

Membership Revoked
Removed
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
429
Reaction score
1
Back when we were in our sophmore year in undergrad, a good friend and I used to joke that its harder to get into the FBI than med school because we both had semi interests in everything exciting and everytime the FBI came to career fair at our university and they told us that their is like 10000000000 applicants for whatever small amount of spots in the FBI (less than 2% of those who apply get in the FBI according to the agents). Anyhow that was 8 years ago, its funny how the joke turned into reality. The friend ended up not doing so hott in undergrad, did a post bacc masters, 2 years of clinical research, decided he didnt want to "invest his soul to medicine" and gave up his medical school idea/dream. Anyhow i bumped into him a few months ago after years of not seeing him and it was really funny because it brought back old school memories when i asked him, so what do you do? Guess what he does, he is actually an FBI agent now, crazy where life takes you....
Members don't see this ad.
 
i knew a guy in the FBI...he was a chemical weapons specialist. apparently he was instrumental in stopping an attempted attack in San Francisco with an organophosphate nerve agent by some rogue US soldiers holding Alcatraz Island hostage.

it sounds sorta boring, but it's actually a pretty neat story. apparently this old British special operative that once broke out of Alcatraz helped him and a Navy SEAL team get inside and they had to disable all of these rockets full of the stuff.

Pretty scary to know that kind of thing is happening around us....sounds like it comes right out of a movie or something.
 
FBI. Background check is much more harsh.

You you thought that diversity was important for med school, try the FBI.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Wizard of Oz said:
FBI. Background check is much more harsh.

You you thought that diversity was important for med school, try the FBI.
Click to expand...

yeah, but in the FBI it has a CLEAR operative purpose. you want our agents to be able to speak the language (whichever, but arabic and farsi would be a start) and blend in.

no, this is NOT an attack on the arabic or persian communities. but, if you think the reality is otherwise, perhaps take some time to think about it before responding out of emotion. (Not YOU, specifically Wiz)
 
A huge number of those FBI applicants are people with a law enforcement background, a pool from which the FBI hires very few people. If you have a law, computer science, accounting, or just science degree you are much better off.
 
cfdavid said:
yeah, but in the FBI it has a CLEAR operative purpose. you want our agents to be able to speak the language (whichever, but arabic and farsi would be a start) and blend in.

no, this is NOT an attack on the arabic or persian communities. but, if you think the reality is otherwise, perhaps take some time to think about it before responding out of emotion. (Not YOU, specifically Wiz)
Click to expand...

That's not really the diversity I'm talking about. Not really speaking out of emotion, but the only people I've known who've scored interviews with the FBI have not spoken any other languages than English, yet they don't exactly look like the typical person accepted at my medical school. Federal jobs can afford to use tighter filters.

logos said:
A huge number of those FBI applicants are people with a law enforcement background, a pool from which the FBI hires very few people. If you have a law, computer science, accounting, or just science degree you are much better off.
Click to expand...

This is a good point about becoming a special agent, and the last time I checked the four pathways were knowledge of useful foreign language, JD, CPA, or Bachelor's plus years of career experience.

Since this thread speaks of one specific federal agency rather than a profession in general, I'm inclined to think it's more competative to get on with the FBI. Plus if you've ever had a run-in with the law (or even rented too many adult movies or the like), you're out.

Again, I will repeat my complaint about using the word "harder." It's a Loki's Wager and only creates unnecessary arguments because different posters define that word differently.
 
Agent Splat said:
i knew a guy in the FBI...he was a chemical weapons specialist. apparently he was instrumental in stopping an attempted attack in San Francisco with an organophosphate nerve agent by some rogue US soldiers holding Alcatraz Island hostage.

it sounds sorta boring, but it's actually a pretty neat story. apparently this old British special operative that once broke out of Alcatraz helped him and a Navy SEAL team get inside and they had to disable all of these rockets full of the stuff.

Pretty scary to know that kind of thing is happening around us....sounds like it comes right out of a movie or something.
Click to expand...

didn't nicholas cage stab himself in the heart in that movie lol? :laugh:
 
cfdavid said:
yeah, but in the FBI it has a CLEAR operative purpose. you want our agents to be able to speak the language (whichever, but arabic and farsi would be a start) and blend in.

no, this is NOT an attack on the arabic or persian communities. but, if you think the reality is otherwise, perhaps take some time to think about it before responding out of emotion. (Not YOU, specifically Wiz)
Click to expand...

I typically think of the CIA as wanting applicants with language skills.
 
Agent Splat said:
i knew a guy in the FBI...he was a chemical weapons specialist. apparently he was instrumental in stopping an attempted attack in San Francisco with an organophosphate nerve agent by some rogue US soldiers holding Alcatraz Island hostage.

it sounds sorta boring, but it's actually a pretty neat story. apparently this old British special operative that once broke out of Alcatraz helped him and a Navy SEAL team get inside and they had to disable all of these rockets full of the stuff.

Pretty scary to know that kind of thing is happening around us....sounds like it comes right out of a movie or something.
Click to expand...

Daniel Goodspeed. There's a name that inspires courage. When will people realize that the true hero's of the world are those who can draw the structure of every amino acid and not some silky smooth, still better looking at 60 than I am at 20, kick ass Scottsman.
 
you can only smoke marijuana 15 times or less and still be eligible for the fbi. i think a lot of med schoolers might not pass that one.
 
It's not really fair to compare getting into A Med School and getting into the FBI.

Either way in some ways, I honestly think the FBI is easier. Sure only a small percent of applicants get in, but I suspect the number of people claiming pre-med at the start of college v. the ones who make it to acceptance are about as small. Medicine just has a much longer process to weed out people than the FBI.

I don't have any numbers, but just on intuition I would say they are comparatively difficult and if you limit it from A Med School to a top Med School, Medicine would take the lead...
 
My girlfriend applied for the FBI and was offered a job at 70 k a year but needed to fly to NC for 3 months for training and she would be an agent. She applied straight out of college, magna cum laude, double major in math and bio. Its not as hard as you think to get in; sure its impossible if you have a record, but if not and you have some credentials they actually encourage you applying. That was the word on the street when she applied and sure enough...

She ended up not taking the job and now she is doing a Phd... holla
 
Members don't see this ad :)
The background check isn't even that bad. My sister has "Top Secret" clearance and she was never squeaky clean. It took a while to get but she got it without much trouble.
 
FBI can do a polygraph on you. I don't know too many med schools that can legally do that.
 
That doesn't mean its harder...shouldn't be lying in an interview anyways
 
I actually read an article recently that was saying the CIA or FBI (I don't remember which) was actually declining in numbers and was getting ready to fire up a pretty intense recruitment campaign. Apparently, as you would expect the applicant numbers shoot up way high after major events such as 911, but then it's dropped significantly since then...so, yeah when we were all in undergrad there was quite a bit more competition. Plus, now, with the military recruiting so heavily and special ops type programs in high demand due to the war, there has been a significant decline in the applicant pools for CIA/FBI.

A few months ago I was talking to a guy who dealt with FBI, CIA, homeland security type recruiting and he said that medical students would probably find it pretty easy to get into the FBI... what you'd be doing in the FBI would most likely depend on various factors (IE: You may handle crime scene analysis in a lab instead of being a field agent), but as stated before (by someone else) they really seem to like to see applicants with science backgrounds.

If I could choose another field besides medicine I'd probably either choose to do secret agent type work or to fly a military jet...I think those jobs would be stinking sweet. I'm thinking about compromising though and going into EM and then getting either SWAT or flight doc training
 
Agent Splat said:
i knew a guy in the FBI...he was a chemical weapons specialist. apparently he was instrumental in stopping an attempted attack in San Francisco with an organophosphate nerve agent by some rogue US soldiers holding Alcatraz Island hostage.

it sounds sorta boring, but it's actually a pretty neat story. apparently this old British special operative that once broke out of Alcatraz helped him and a Navy SEAL team get inside and they had to disable all of these rockets full of the stuff.

Pretty scary to know that kind of thing is happening around us....sounds like it comes right out of a movie or something.
Click to expand...

Oh yeaaaah. I heard about this story. The guy was exposed to the nerve agent and a shot into his heart kept his skin from boiling off. Good man. Hot wife.
 
Medical schools don't require the physical fitness level that the FBI does. That alone would keep out a lot of pre-meds, I think. Too much time spent in the library instead of out on the track running. 😛
 
That's so strange. I used to have the mindset of either FBI or Med school. I wonder what it is about med applicants that interests us in both these professions. FBI just seems like it would be a challenging, entertaining and rewarding job ... i guess no different than med school.
 
PugMD said:
Oh yeaaaah. I heard about this story. The guy was exposed to the nerve agent and a shot into his heart kept his skin from boiling off. Good man. Hot wife.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to this, Pug? Sounds interesting...
 
CoryChevalier said:
That doesn't mean its harder...shouldn't be lying in an interview anyways
Click to expand...


yeah, but it means they can bring up skeletons in the closet. personally, i don't have any so either way i'd be aight with med or fbi interviews.
 
NEATOMD said:
A few months ago I was talking to a guy who dealt with FBI, CIA, homeland security type recruiting and he said that medical students would probably find it pretty easy to get into the FBI... what you'd be doing in the FBI would most likely depend on various factors (IE: You may handle crime scene analysis in a lab instead of being a field agent), but as stated before (by someone else) they really seem to like to see applicants with science backgrounds.
Click to expand...


You could get assigned to help agents in the field of paranormal investigations. 🙂

FTR - The fbi is harder to get into b/c there are so many more applicants than there are spots.
 
glp said:
you can only smoke marijuana 15 times or less and still be eligible for the fbi. i think a lot of med schoolers might not pass that one.
Click to expand...
Purely theoretically, if a person smoked marijuana continuously for one full year, would that count as 1 smoking, or 365.25?
 
FBI is much harder to get into. And when I joined the military my recruiter asked if I had done drugs, I said yes he told me great I did it once to experiment (not exactly the truth) Then he asked me what drugs, I began making a list and he said no you tried pot when you were 16. The lesson of this dumb anecdote is-deny deny deny-unless they can prove otherwise.
 
beefballs said:
FBI is much harder to get into. And when I joined the military my recruiter asked if I had done drugs, I said yes he told me great I did it once to experiment (not exactly the truth) Then he asked me what drugs, I began making a list and he said no you tried pot when you were 16. The lesson of this dumb anecdote is-deny deny deny-unless they can prove otherwise.
Click to expand...

So what did your list consist of?
 
helpfuldoc2b said:
Maybe this is why FBI are not retaining as much agents anymore. They have not had a raise in over 10 years!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-04-05-cover-fbi_x.htm
Click to expand...

The article is a bit misleading with regards to salary. FBI agents (most fed agents) receive 25% bonus pay for mandatory LEAP duty (10 hour days). So multiply those quoted salaries by 1.25. In addition, FBI agents receive guaranteed pay grade increases very quickly. Basically, within 5 years they will be making nearly six figures. Of course, 100k won't go far in the big cities (DC, NY, Cali). Nonetheless, it's good pay for 50-60 hour weeks.

As for the FBI vs MD comparison, if you have a science degree (preferably graduate), the FBI is easier. If you are only considering agent positions, it's a much closer comparison. If you don't have a science degree, you fall into a HUGE pool of candidates (crim justice majors, lawyers, accounting, etc), in which case you better know Arabic!
 
What about an MD going into the FBI after residency or some work experience? Like scully on x-files or something.

Actually I was interested somewhat in how you become a profiler for the FBI-I want to do forensic psych and was wondering if this was possible/comeptitive or if anyone knew-I think that would be a cool-ass job, combining some pretty cool fbi stuff with your medicine background.
 
helpfuldoc2b said:
Maybe this is why FBI are not retaining as much agents anymore. They have not had a raise in over 10 years!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-04-05-cover-fbi_x.htm
Click to expand...

A lot of that is a function of how the government pay scales work. They're pre-set, it's not like each agency idependently decides what their employees are going to make. Plus, keep in mind that the President only makes $400,000 to run the entire country, and nobody can make more than him. As a result, government pay usually maxes out at around $100,000 for most folks.

For example, FBI special agent trainees start out as a GS-10, meaning that they make about $50,000 a year. They work up from that, with the highest step being a 15. Anything higher than that are the (mostly) appointed positions. You can assume the director of the FBI makes more than just a career agent.

For reference: http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/html/dcb.asp
 
Agent Splat said:
i knew a guy in the FBI...he was a chemical weapons specialist. apparently he was instrumental in stopping an attempted attack in San Francisco with an organophosphate nerve agent by some rogue US soldiers holding Alcatraz Island hostage.

it sounds sorta boring, but it's actually a pretty neat story. apparently this old British special operative that once broke out of Alcatraz helped him and a Navy SEAL team get inside and they had to disable all of these rockets full of the stuff.

Pretty scary to know that kind of thing is happening around us....sounds like it comes right out of a movie or something.
Click to expand...

one of the funniest posts I've ever read
 
PseudomonasPAO1 said:
In addition, FBI agents receive guaranteed pay grade increases very quickly. Basically, within 5 years they will be making nearly six figures.
Click to expand...

According to the article, "After five years, agents can make about $72,000 plus overtime." I was surprised to see that police officers (generally 2 years of college or military service) make more than FBI agents (college degree + 3 years of work experience) [1],[2].

I didn't see anything that would qualify as an employment option for physicians. You're certainly welcome to try the CIA instead. See these websites: medical officer, medical analyst.
 
deuist said:
I didn't see anything that would qualify as an employment option for physicians. You're certainly welcome to try the CIA instead. See these websites: medical officer, medical analyst.
Click to expand...

Cool, and while $91,000 for the first link would beat the hell out of residency pay, that's a bit of a pay cut for someone that actually went on to get boarded in IM/EM/FM and practice... I imagine the benefits can't be THAT much better, although being an MD in the CIA sounds like an awesome job to have.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

smc285
Chances of Getting Into a T20 Medical School
Replies
5
Views
2K
wysdoc
wysdoc
D
pasted wrong essay into the "Why... school of medicine"
Replies
7
Views
1K
LunaOri
LunaOri
L
  • Locked
What does it take to get into Stanford BRUH
Replies
3
Views
794
chilly_md
chilly_md
arka18
Do I have a chance of getting into med school with a CC DIY postbacc?
Replies
3
Views
842
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
S
Can LPR gratuated abroad get into medschool?
Replies
14
Views
627
AJS59
AJS59
Top