Getting Your Spouse into Med School? Forum

[ScarryBakhtin]

A friend of mine, who went to HLS, told me that Michigan made him an offer to accept his spouse to their med school if he would go to their law school. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

[fatduck]

Note to self: make sure doctor didn't go to Michigan.

[MrPapagiorgio]

A friend of mine, who went to HLS, told me that Michigan made him an offer to accept his spouse to their med school if he would go to their law school. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

Your friend is full of it. This is too stupid to even consider it as true for even a second. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure the adcomms for the med school and law school are entirely different. And I doubt they communicate enough to make such an offer. If they were dumb enough to even come up with something like that in the first place.

EDIT: I am hoping this thread will die quickly.

[ScarryBakhtin]

FWIW, his wife is in a top 40 med school, not one as good as Michigan, though (maybe that helped?)

[Renzo]

FWIW, his wife is in a top 40 med school, not one as good as Michigan, though (maybe that helped?)

If she was a borderline case, and it sounds like she was, this isn't crazy. I've heard rumors of LS transfers being given extra consideration because a spouse was in another program at the school; so I don't know why it wouldn't work the other way as well. Besides, Med school is not as strictly prestige and numbers-driven as law school; much more gets based on "soft" factors among people who had the numbers to get in.

[nygrrrl]

Your friend is full of it. This is too stupid to even consider it as true for even a second.

[Renzo]

Your friend is full of it. This is too stupid to even consider it as true for even a second.

I still disagree. It might be stupid, but not so stupid as not to consider for a second. Med school admissions are nothing like lawl school.

[tea_drinker]

Your friend is full of it. This is too stupid to even consider it as true for even a second.

I still disagree. It might be stupid, but not so stupid as not to consider for a second. Med school admissions are nothing like lawl school.

You maybe right because everyone can get in to Harvard Medical School and Stanford Med School with a 30 MCAT and a 3.5 GPA.

[Renzo]

Your friend is full of it. This is too stupid to even consider it as true for even a second.

I still disagree. It might be stupid, but not so stupid as not to consider for a second. Med school admissions are nothing like lawl school.

You maybe right because everyone can get in to Harvard Medical School and Stanford Med School with a 30 MCAT and a 3.5 GPA.

Ah, you got me there. Thanks for completely mischaracterizing my argument, then refuting that argument I didn't make.

[tea_drinker]

Ah, you got me there. Thanks for completely mischaracterizing my argument, then refuting that argument I didn't make.

Sure, you're welcome.

[Hey-O]

Ah, you got me there. Thanks for completely mischaracterizing my argument, then refuting that argument I didn't make.

Sure, you're welcome.

This is what I love about being on a law school forum. The level of argumentation is so high.

[Renzo]

Ah, you got me there. Thanks for completely mischaracterizing my argument, then refuting that argument I didn't make.

Sure, you're welcome.

This is what I love about being on a law school forum. The level of argumentation is so high.

Usually I get all kinds of pissed when people start arguing about arguing.

[schrizto]

Your friend's either making shit up or misinterpreted the situation. Medical school admissions is ridiculously competitive and the top med schools have so many qualified applicants they don't need to try and bargain their way to get people to matriculate.

Michigan med is way harder to get into than Michigan law. To get into a top med school like Mich's you need the whole package: high MCAT and gpa (think maybe 33+ MCAT and 3.7+ gpa), ECs, research, good recs, interview well. As for their law school, you'd only need to get your LSAT and gpa over their medians to get in. If anything, it's more likely that they'd offer the spot in law school based on the medical school acceptance rather than the other way around.

FWIW, his wife is in a top 40 med school, not one as good as Michigan, though (maybe that helped?)

Med schools aren't as rankings-driven as law schools. If you're pre-med, it's about getting into _a_ med school not necessarily the very top ones.

[Arbiter213]

My pre-law adviser has mentioned this to me on multiple occasions (specifically the story she tells is about Michigan as well). So it's possible.

[Renzo]

FWIW, his wife is in a top 40 med school, not one as good as Michigan, though (maybe that helped?)

Med schools aren't as rankings-driven as law schools. If you're pre-med, it's about getting into _a_ med school not necessarily the very top ones.

This is what I was trying to say. If she got in to other good programs, it's plausible that she had the numbers to get in to UMich, and it was only because some near-identical candidate had something in common with an interviewer that she got passed over. It's not like law school. So if that was the case, I could see the schools admitting them both so they would both enroll. I can't say it did happen, or even that it's likely, just that it's not crazy.

[Gatorbull84]

Your friend lied. For starters med school admissions are way more selective than law school admissions and the med schools do not share info about their applicants with other schools within the university.

Also, med school are not ranked driven like law schools. The rule with med school is if you get into a US MD you go. Ranking does not matter

[ItsMyTimeBoston]

If anything, it would be the other way around, the med school student getting their spouse into the law school. And that would be unlikely.

[TheFactor]

Your friend is full of it. This is too stupid to even consider it as true for even a second.

I still disagree. It might be stupid, but not so stupid as not to consider for a second. Med school admissions are nothing like lawl school.

You maybe right because everyone can get in to Harvard Medical School and Stanford Med School with a 30 MCAT and a 3.5 GPA.

Reading comp, bro.

[edgarfigaro]

The rule with med school is if you get into a US MD you go. Ranking does not matter

Incorrect, unless your only ambition is peds or family practice. Rankings matter a lot for the sought after residencies.

[unc0mm0n1]

Don't know about the whole med/law school thing but I know a married couple who both got into a good law school (she had the numbers, he was a marginal candidate at best) he was wait listed and didn't get off the wl till he pulled the wife card.

[PhilEconCS]

My pre-law adviser has mentioned this to me on multiple occasions (specifically the story she tells is about Michigan as well). So it's possible.

So just because your pre-law advisor said it, it definitely happened that way? It's still a second or third hand account at best.

[flcath]

Your friend is full of it. This is too stupid to even consider it as true for even a second.

[Jaeger]

The rule with med school is if you get into a US MD you go. Ranking does not matter

Incorrect, unless your only ambition is peds or family practice. Rankings matter a lot for the sought after residencies.

Also, incorrect. While your med school matters quite a bit, your board scores allow you to have the "pick of the litter" when it comes to most residencies.

Anecdotal evidence: Bro-in-law goes to a DO school not in top 100 med schools. Killed his boards, could choose practically any residency he wanted.


Also, I don't think the OP is as far-fetched as some claim. He may well have mentioned his motivation for wanting to attend Mich in his PS...something having to do with wanting to go because his wife also wants to, etc. They may have considered that. If he goes to HLS he was obviously an attractive candidate and I can see an admissions director making a call.

Edit: Off-topic, but I find it funny that while he will be graduating from Harvard Law his wife will still most likely end up making more than him (at least at first) going to whatever med school (fml wish I was sciencey and could go to med school).

[Doorkeeper]

FWIW, his wife is in a top 40 med school, not one as good as Michigan, though (maybe that helped?)

Unless his wife wants to be a medical researcher, and not a clinical physician, which medical school she goes to is basically irrelevant.

The man should stay at HLS and the wife should stick to the top 40 med school.