Admitting for luck

[Call_Me_Konrad]

In the Larry Niven Ringworld science fiction series of novels, human population pressures have forced the imposition of Birthright lotteries for the right to reproduce.

 

An alien race, the Puppeteers, conclude that humans are breeding for luck.

 

Given the many comments on this forum on the medical school admissions process as a lottery, and the obvious advantages of being lucky to a doctor and his/her patients, do you think the adcoms are subconsciously admitting for luck?

[UTPEOPLE]

In the Larry Niven Ringworld science fiction series of novels, human population pressures have forced the imposition of Birthright lotteries for the right to reproduce.

 

An alien race, the Puppeteers, conclude that humans are breeding for luck.

 

Given the many comments on this forum on the medical school admissions process as a lottery, and the obvious advantages of being lucky to a doctor and his/her patients, do you think the adcoms are subconsciously admitting for luck?

 

There is a group of people at the very top of med school who do not need luck. By any standard, they outshine other applicants. For those around the cutoff point, sure, why not, select away for luck. But in the end, i dont think people should imply that med school is a lottery, that would invalidate the hard work and achievements of those who do make it into med

[Dongzhuo]

In the Larry Niven Ringworld science fiction series of novels, human population pressures have forced the imposition of Birthright lotteries for the right to reproduce.

 

An alien race, the Puppeteers, conclude that humans are breeding for luck.

 

Given the many comments on this forum on the medical school admissions process as a lottery, and the obvious advantages of being lucky to a doctor and his/her patients, do you think the adcoms are subconsciously admitting for luck?

 

Post of the year

[DOC_Ma]

There is a group of people at the very top of med school who do not need luck. By any standard, they outshine other applicants. For those around the cutoff point, sure, why not, select away for luck. But in the end, i dont think people should imply that med school is a lottery, that would invalidate the hard work and achievements of those who do make it into med

 

Like UTPEOPLE said I agree to his point.

 

Luck's importance depends on how good your stats are really. The better the stats the less luck you need. An extreme example would be an applicant with 4.0 GPA 45T MCAT + tons of volunteer. Even though the person might not get into every single school he/she applies to but probably no matter how unlucky the person is, the person will get into at least 1 med school (so luck is not important to this person). People with borderline stats needs some luck people with "not so competitive stats" need more luck. Average applicant like myself need some luck too.

[ploughboy]

In the Larry Niven Ringworld science fiction series of novels, human population pressures have forced the imposition of Birthright lotteries for the right to reproduce.

 

An alien race, the Puppeteers, conclude that humans are breeding for luck.

 

My memory may be hazy, but didn't the Puppeteers influence the rules/setup of the Birthright lotteries so that a "lucky" human like Teela Brown would be produced?

 

I suppose if we could encourage medical students to reproduce with each other (not that they need much encouragement) a similar outcome could happen...

[Leon]

 

I suppose if we could encourage medical students to reproduce with each other (not that they need much encouragement) a similar outcome could happen...

 

[RiceWine]

Like UTPEOPLE said I agree to his point.

 

Luck's importance depends on how good your stats are really. The better the stats the less luck you need. An extreme example would be an applicant with 4.0 GPA 45T MCAT + tons of volunteer. Even though the person might not get into every single school he/she applies to but probably no matter how unlucky the person is, the person will get into at least 1 med school (so luck is not important to this person). People with borderline stats needs some luck people with "not so competitive stats" need more luck. Average applicant like myself need some luck too.

 

 

getting 4.0 AND 45T MCAT ----------> LUCKY

[UTPEOPLE]

getting 4.0 AND 45T MCAT ----------> LUCKY

 

I can do that with my eyes closed... actually, I can do that ONLY when my eyes are closed