Why would a school ask for your picture in their app?

[Pacchin55]

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I'm applying to Campbell in North Carolina this year. Already submitted my PharmCAS app and supplemental. Funny thing about the supplemental though, I had to attach a passport size photo to it.

Now Campbell is a private Baptist school so they don't have to admit a certain percentage of minority students. I'm Asian so I got the idea that the purpose of the photo is so the admissions board knows what your race is. And from what I see from the demographics of the faculty and students there, I don't think Asian is one of the preferred races there.

Now I understand that the school is in a small town in North Carolina which would mean not a lot of Asians live in the area and would bother applying there. But really, why would they need a photo of you? Don't say it's because want to admit good looking people.

Also, are there any other schools that require a photo of you? I applied to six other schools and no one else needed a photo.

 

[musicman123]

I'm applying to Campbell in North Carolina this year. Already submitted my PharmCAS app and supplemental. Funny thing about the supplemental though, I had to attach a passport size photo to it.

Now Campbell is a private Baptist school so they don't have to admit a certain percentage of minority students. I'm Asian so I got the idea that the purpose of the photo is so the admissions board knows what your race is. And from what I see from the demographics of the faculty and students there, I don't think Asian is one of the preferred races there.

Now I understand that the school is in a small town in North Carolina which would mean not a lot of Asians live in the area and would bother applying there. But really, why would they need a photo of you? Don't say it's because want to admit good looking people.

Also, are there any other schools that require a photo of you? I applied to six other schools and no one else needed a photo.

The photos are probably meant to match your face if the interview comes. Just my guess..

 

[UNMorBUST]

I'm Asian so I got the idea that the purpose of the photo is so the admissions board knows what your race is.

The flaw in your logic is this: You can't tell 90% of peoples race by looking at a picture.

 

[pharm B]

The flaw in your logic is this: You can't tell 90% of peoples race by looking at a picture.

Naturally, I don't remember the details or specifics, but I could swear there was a scholarship a few years ago that got busted for requiring its applicants to send in photos of themselves. It was later determined that they were using the photos to weed out minorities.

 

[mandydp6]

The photos are probably meant to match your face if the interview comes. Just my guess..

I would guess the same thing - although I would feel a little weird about it too.

 

[UES Girl]

I'm applying to Campbell in North Carolina this year. Already submitted my PharmCAS app and supplemental. Funny thing about the supplemental though, I had to attach a passport size photo to it.

Now Campbell is a private Baptist school so they don't have to admit a certain percentage of minority students. I'm Asian so I got the idea that the purpose of the photo is so the admissions board knows what your race is. And from what I see from the demographics of the faculty and students there, I don't think Asian is one of the preferred races there.

Now I understand that the school is in a small town in North Carolina which would mean not a lot of Asians live in the area and would bother applying there. But really, why would they need a photo of you? Don't say it's because want to admit good looking people.

Also, are there any other schools that require a photo of you? I applied to six


other schools and no one else needed a photo.

What about Western in ca ? They require photo and I imagine like most Ca school Asians are either a hefty portion of the class or even the majority like in our class. Certainly, you are not insinuating that the schools racially profile against you because of your ethnicity ?

 

[mcalabr3]

Although it's not common for Pharmacy schools to ask for a passport type photot I believe it's fairly common for people that apply med scoolsvia amcasto submit one

 

[charfdorn]

I'm applying to Campbell in North Carolina this year. Already submitted my PharmCAS app and supplemental. Funny thing about the supplemental though, I had to attach a passport size photo to it.

Now Campbell is a private Baptist school so they don't have to admit a certain percentage of minority students. I'm Asian so I got the idea that the purpose of the photo is so the admissions board knows what your race is. And from what I see from the demographics of the faculty and students there, I don't think Asian is one of the preferred races there.

Now I understand that the school is in a small town in North Carolina which would mean not a lot of Asians live in the area and would bother applying there. But really, why would they need a photo of you? Don't say it's because want to admit good looking people.

Also, are there any other schools that require a photo of you? I applied to six other schools and no one else needed a photo.

They will probably have a photo ID ready for you when you come to interview. Either that, or they are RACISTS!

 

[crazybob]

They will probably have a photo ID ready for you when you come to interview. Either that, or they are RACISTS!

 

[rxlea]

New Mexico also requires a photo. I think it is strange, personally. You never know who is on the adcom or how they will judge you based on the way you look- whether intentionally or not. We form a lot of impressions/judgements about a person based on the way they look. Just look at studies about how attractive people are more likely to get certain jobs.

 

[phathead]

Because I'm a hot mofo and everyone wants to see me

 

[297point1]

I don't know anyone at Campbell, so I can't speak for them. A growing number of schools are taking pictures of applicants at the interview.

Why? Because they need to make sure that the person who comes to the interview is the same person who shows up in the fall if they were to accept them.

Does this sound like overkill? It did to me at first...and then I heard from a colleague about some shenanigans that went on at her school; the applicant sent her older sister (a licensed pharmacist) to the interview in her place. She got caught and was promptly expelled, but this wasn't caught until orientation, making it tougher to fill the now-vacant seat. Matching the picture submitted with the application with the person who shows up for the interview could theoretically speed up this vetting process.

 

[Farmacist21]

Campbell is one of the school's I'll be applying to this cycle and I actually asked one of the people in the admissions department about this. They told me that it is to match a face with the app when they are reviewing it so the applicant is not just papers in front of them.

 

[SparkLy09]

I don't know anyone at Campbell, so I can't speak for them. A growing number of schools are taking pictures of applicants at the interview.

Why? Because they need to make sure that the person who comes to the interview is the same person who shows up in the fall if they were to accept them.

Does this sound like overkill? It did to me at first...and then I heard from a colleague about some shenanigans that went on at her school; the applicant sent her older sister (a licensed pharmacist) to the interview in her place. She got caught and was promptly expelled, but this wasn't caught until orientation, making it tougher to fill the now-vacant seat. Matching the picture submitted with the application with the person who shows up for the interview could theoretically speed up this vetting process.

I was just thinking, if the applicant were planning to do something like this, wouldn't it be just as easy as to submit her sister's photo along with her application instead of her own? Unless the photo needs to be some legal document + photo, which I don't think is required.

Either case, I can understand why some schools would want to see a face to the application, it adds a bit of a personal touch compared to just writing on paper... although I do believe that it would be incredibly hard not to be even a LITTLE biased.

 

[297point1]

I was just thinking, if the applicant were planning to do something like this, wouldn't it be just as easy as to submit her sister's photo along with her application instead of her own? Unless the photo needs to be some legal document + photo, which I don't think is required.

The student in the case I cited was caught when her school-issued ID photo (taken at orientation) didn't match the person in the photo taken at the interview.

 

[DrYoda]

Although it's not common for Pharmacy schools to ask for a passport type photot I believe it's fairly common for people that apply med scoolsvia amcasto submit one

Some med schools do require a picture (3/14 schools I applied to did). The stated reasons are always 1. If the interviewee evaluation is filled out later a picture might help the interviewer remember you better 2. match your face at the interview (One place liked to have everyone's name memorized beforehand).

 

[owlegrad]

I don't know anyone at Campbell, so I can't speak for them. A growing number of schools are taking pictures of applicants at the interview.

Why? Because they need to make sure that the person who comes to the interview is the same person who shows up in the fall if they were to accept them.

Does this sound like overkill? It did to me at first...and then I heard from a colleague about some shenanigans that went on at her school; the applicant sent her older sister (a licensed pharmacist) to the interview in her place. She got caught and was promptly expelled, but this wasn't caught until orientation, making it tougher to fill the now-vacant seat. Matching the picture submitted with the application with the person who shows up for the interview could theoretically speed up this vetting process.

We had to show our driver's licences at one of my interviews for this reason. I understand the need, but still I had mixed feelings about it. Shame it's necessary I guess...

 

[SparkLy09]

The student in the case I cited was caught when her school-issued ID photo (taken at orientation) didn't match the person in the photo taken at the interview.

Oh, well I guess that makes sense if they take a picture of you at the interview to make sure you're the same person who arrives in Fall... but even if they require a photo in your application, that same problem can still occur.
Student submits sister's photo, sister goes to interview, sister gets her picture taken during interview... everything will still match up until fall when school starts and that student attends instead of her sister.

Honestly though, it's hard to understand why someone would want to do that... 😕 So I dunno. I see how the driver's license can solve that problem though 🙄

 

[adsa]

The bottom-line reason that the ask for a photo so that you are not just a number to them. Also, when the admissions committee is reviewing your file after the interview, it helps them remember who you were, what you said, what you were like, etc. You have to realize that most faculty members interview up to 100 applicants per cycle and once they get into that room to discuss the comments they wrote about you; sometimes it's hard to recall and the photo jogs their memory. Also, as 297point1 indicated, it is also a tool to to manage integrity. There was another school that had a student attending class the entire year. Just showed up at orientation and didn't realize it until it was time to go on IPPE.

This is NOT about race and it's not about appearance. Trust me, if appearance is going to be your detriment, it will occur during the interivew (not dressed professionally, ungroomed, etc)

 

[owlegrad]

The bottom-line reason that the ask for a photo so that you are not just a number to them. Also, when the admissions committee is reviewing your file after the interview, it helps them remember who you were, what you said, what you were like, etc. You have to realize that most faculty members interview up to 100 applicants per cycle and once they get into that room to discuss the comments they wrote about you; sometimes it's hard to recall and the photo jogs their memory. Also, as 297point1 indicated, it is also a tool to to manage integrity. There was another school that had a student attending class the entire year. Just showed up at orientation and didn't realize it until it was time to go on IPPE.

This is NOT about race and it's not about appearance. Trust me, if appearance is going to be your detriment, it will occur during the interview (not dressed professionally, ungroomed, etc)

You mean the person attending class was not a student? 😱 How does that happen? Why would you attend class if not a student? Does not compute. Did he/she think that they did not have to pay tuition? No part of that makes sense.

 

[Passion4Sci]

It's to stop overweight / unattractive people from becoming pharmacists.

On that screenshot of Campbell's Supp, they misspelled discriminate. Yikes.

 

[mandydp6]

On that screenshot of Campbell's Supp, they misspelled discriminate. Yikes.

OMG...how about that attention to detail? Big time Yikes!

 

[Passion4Sci]

OMG...how about that attention to detail? Big time Yikes!

That's intel for you baby. Close readin'!

Errors like that have always popped out for me. If editing paid anything more than $11/hr I'd have done that for a living since nothing ever gets over on me!

 

[PharmOl]

When I showed up at Campbell for my interview, some faculty knew my name without asking for it. They need your picture to associate your app with your face. They thoroughly prepare for the interview and make you feel welcome. The interview process is very laid back. Do not worry, race has nothing to do with it.

 

[crazybob]

When I showed up at Campbell for my interview, some faculty knew my name without asking for it. They need your picture to associate your app with your face.

Do they do that for applicants who are attractive, or all applicants?

 

[Passion4Sci]

Do they do that for applicants who are attractive, or all applicants?

Just more proof that attractive people garner more success. Now overweight/ugly folks can't even get into pharmacy schools...

 

[297point1]

Just more proof that attractive people garner more success.

While that's usually the case, it is not always so.

A few years ago it was time for me to choose a financial advisor. I went to a presentation and open forum hosted by Morgan Stanley. After the formal presentation, the attendees were moved into a separate room where all of MS's associates were milling around; we were encouraged to go talk to them. There were probably 20 advisors there to choose from; I was one of the first ones in the room, so I had the pick of the litter.

I walked up to the homeliest looking guy in the group (overweight, balding, wrinkled clothes, etc.) and started talking to him. Why? Because I wanted someone who had gotten this job in spite of their looks, not because of it...I figured that this guy probably knew his stuff better than anyone. And fortunately for me, he did.🙂

 

[UNMorBUST]

That's intel for you baby. Close readin'!

Errors like that have always popped out for me. If editing paid anything more than $11/hr I'd have done that for a living since nothing ever gets over on me!

Working for USPS has me detail oriented also. It drives me crazy when I think of everything in terms of street address numbers.😳