Pre-Med Hopkins! Help! Help!

sakky
Sat, 25 Jun 2005 19:27:13 +0000

I have friends at ivies and am well aware of the policies there despite what may or may not be formally posted as policy. Again I suggest you look into this.



From what I’ve seen, the Ivies basically give nothing but a positive committee letter to any premed who wants it.

But in any case, let’s not waste time arguing about this point. Instead, let’s nominate one or more Ivies and together, we can write a joint email to the premed office at those Ivy and ask what the procedure is for a premed to obtain a certification letter, and whether it is comparable to the JHU procedure. Then whatever reply we get from them, we will reprint it here. That will get us a far better answer than relying on either of our anecdotes.



While it does not state JHU full supports said applicant, it in no way shape or form discredits the applicant’s abilities strictly based on his/her academic credentials. While some may argue it is a negative rec based on the potential positive views of the applicant such a letter precludes, it is still a “neutral” rec



But as I said, it should be up to the applicants whether they wants to use that rec or not. If that applicant, for whatever reason, feels that the rec is a negative one, or not as positive as it needs to be, or whatever you want to call it, then the applicant should be free to choose not to use it. In other words, the applicant should be free to construct the best possible application he/she can.

Look, let’s talk frankly here. You know and I know that the application process has a lot to do with self-marketing and self-promotion. It’s like advertising. Advertisers try to present their product in the best possible light, showcasing the product’s best features. Advertising is basically about making your product look as good as it possibly can without lying. We both know that the same sort of thing happens in an admissions process. Applicants try to present themselves in the best possible light -i.e. getting recs from only their favorite teachers (and not from teachers who didn’t like them), writing essay answers that highlight your best features, highlighting what makes you different from other candidates, giving interview answers that put you in the best possible light, etc. In other words, self-promotion and self-marketing are inherent parts of the admissions process. You are trying to make yourself look as good as you can to the admissions committee. That’s part of the game.

In fact, I think we can agree that self-promotion and self-marketing played a role in undergrad admssions at JHU. Those high school seniors that put together an application that really marketed and showcased them well had a increased chance of getting admitted to JHU.

So the point is that I believe applicants should be free to pick and choose whatever he wants to market himself in the manner he sees fit in order to maximize his chances of getting into med-school. JHU should not be making extra mandatory rules. If med-schools do not require a recommendation from Fishbein, then JHU should not force everybody to get one. An applicant should be able to choose to get a rec from Fishbein, but the applicant should also be free to not get a rec from Fishbein. As a high school senior, you were allowed to choose who was going to write your rec’s. The school didn’t force everybody to get a rec from a specific person or a specific committee. You had the freedom to choose whose rec’s you were going to use, so that you could market yourself in the best possible light. I don’t see why JHU premeds should be denied that same freedom. Let them construct an application that puts them in the best possible light.