Bad academic advisor?

[Neutropix]

Hey, everyone.

My university pre-med advisor is strongly pushing me to minor in psychology due to the MCAT changes. Personally, I don't want to minor in psych because it will take an extra semester and 101 was boring.

Will the MCAT prep books give me all the information I will need to excel in the social science sections of the MCAT? Is a psych minor superfluous?

Also, I'm in a pickle because my advisor may be offended at my decision to not pursue the minor. I'm weary to take his advice because if it were his way I'd volunteer for only 6 months, shadow 2 months, and not work any medically related job until my cycle; much of what he states is in contrast with the unspoken, holy SDN tenants of what makes a good applicant.

PS: He told me to take an extra science class (non-major req) this fall on top of three other hard sciences to "prove" to medical schools I can handle the rigors. He says this course load will prep me for medical school. What of that, ya'll?

PSS: Basically, I'm thinking about dropping psych minor, not taking that extra class, continuing to volunteer and scribe, continuing to get good grades, and start researching when I transfer to university.

Any advice or criticisms will be appreciated,

-Ahab

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[einsteinm]

Never took the new MCAT, but you are right. You don't need a psych minor to do well on that part of the MCAT. I'm sure there will be more than enough supplementary material. You could even take 1 other psych class if you really wanted to. No one cares if you take an extra class on top of your other classes, they only care that you do well in all the classes you do take. Don't really know what your advisor is thinking…

Just continue to get good grades.

SDN > your advisor

 

[deleted577188]

Couple people on here who took the new MCAT said it wasn't hard at all and they had some time to spare. To each his/her own, though.

 

[Lawpy]

Small pet peeve: it's PPS (for post postscript), not PSS (though people may disagree)

With that said, no one cares what premed advisers say since they are usually (and traigically) misninformed. And the new MCAT remains a mystery that's being cleared up, so the prep books and the MCAT Discussion Forums are the way to go.

 

[Catalystik]

PS: He told me to take an extra science class (non-major req) this fall on top of three other hard sciences to "prove" to medical schools I can handle the rigors. He says this course load will prep me for medical school. What of that, ya'll?

Sounds like a recipe for a drop in GPA. What are the three science classes you plan to take and how many have a lab? What is the fourth add-on class your advisor suggests?

 

[Goro]

Find a new advisor!

 

[The Buff OP]

Are university pre-med advisors ex trolls of SDN that didn't get into medical school?

 

[HopesandDreams]

PSS: Basically, I'm thinking about dropping psych minor, not taking that extra class, continuing to volunteer and scribe, continuing to get good grades, and start researching when I transfer to university.

Do EXACTLY this. You either play the system, or the system plays you.

Having been through this whole thing, let me tell you the crowd-sourced advice you can get on SDN is as good or better than even the very best advisor. It's compiling the experiences of thousands of people (many of whom are ultimately accepted) vs the experience of a single person who him or herself is often not a physician.

 

[House D.O.]

Don't listen to your advisor, honestly they don't know much. My advisor has no idea what she is doing and from all the stuff I have read on sdn I could replace her and do 5x better. Do minor in psychology, books will be enough. And no one cares how heavy ur course load was if u didn't get A's in most of ur classes. Class load is not an excuse for bad grades (which will result if u kill urself with hard sciences)

 

[tiedyeddog]

Are university pre-med advisors ex trolls of SDN that didn't get into medical school?

At my undergrad the advisors literally are failed premeds.

I went to my advisor twice as a freshman. I stopped going when she told me MD/PhD programs do not exist.

And thus tiedyeddog was born on SDN.

 

[Ailleurs]

Sigh, I understand how you feel completely! Don't do the minor in psych and although I see what your adviser is saying by taking 4 hard science classes, only do it if you can handle it!

 

[NachoPlatter]

Like everyone else has said-- you do what you want and follow SDN for advice. Advisors seem to be the misinformed armpit fungus of the university staff that serves no purpose but are always there.

My advisor tried to tell me the volunteering I did wasn't good enough for medical school (working as an on-cal rape victim advocate/counselor in the ER for victims brought in for sexual assault exams/ staffing a 24 hour crisis line) because she'd never heard of it so medical schools wouldn't get it. It was almost 100% that experience that landed me multiple MD interviews. She also didn't know DO programs existed.

 

[Tintinnabula]

I had a bad advice experience with a premed advisor and continue to struggle with Occam's Razor about it. Please learn from my experience and listen to more than just one undergrad-school-sourced font of information on this pathway. Folks here are giving you useful information. AdCom members are telling you that this person is giving you bad advice. I'll add to their voices and tell you to look further into it. You sound like you have an idea about what you should do, as well.

I will say that I took Psych 101 and Developmental Psych and found them to be useful for more than just the purposes of the MCAT trial section I took for the Amazon gift card. I didn't have to be a major (ETA: or have a minor in them) to take them. I don't understand why your advisor thinks that the MCAT changes are so sharp that they demand a shift like that unless maybe your current major is Underwater Basket Weaving for Manatees. Sounds like a real over-reaction.

 

[The Buff OP]

At my undergrad the advisors literally are failed premeds.

I went to my advisor twice as a freshman. I stopped going when she told me MD/PhD programs do not exist.

And thus tiedyeddog was born on SDN.

Hahaha, even my academic advisors are dumb. I had this one transfer advisor tell me I should major in genetics because "that's what medical schools look for." Good thing back then I had already found SDN and did my own research.

 

[IlDestriero]

Hey, everyone.

My university pre-med advisor is strongly pushing me to minor in psychology due to the MCAT changes. Personally, I don't want to minor in psych because it will take an extra semester and 101 was boring.

Will the MCAT prep books give me all the information I will need to excel in the social science sections of the MCAT? Is a psych minor superfluous?

Also, I'm in a pickle because my advisor may be offended at my decision to not pursue the minor. I'm weary to take his advice because if it were his way I'd volunteer for only 6 months, shadow 2 months, and not work any medically related job until my cycle; much of what he states is in contrast with the unspoken, holy SDN tenants of what makes a good applicant.

PS: He told me to take an extra science class (non-major req) this fall on top of three other hard sciences to "prove" to medical schools I can handle the rigors. He says this course load will prep me for medical school. What of that, ya'll?

PSS: Basically, I'm thinking about dropping psych minor, not taking that extra class, continuing to volunteer and scribe, continuing to get good grades, and start researching when I transfer to university.

Any advice or criticisms will be appreciated,

-Ahab

Who gives a damn what the advisor thinks? You won't even remember their name in 2 years time.
You don't need a minor in anything to do well on the MCAT. That's just stupid. Do you need a minor in chemistry? Physics? Nonsense!
Don't take any extra science classes unless you want to. That's also foolish and taking one during a challenging semester just sets you up for misery at best or possibly lower grades. Also stupid advice.
If my friend and I followed the advice of our old pre med advisor, and at a top private university with experience and significant success placing people in medical school, we would both be dentists. He went to a top 5 school, with scholarship money, and I went to a top 20 on a full ride. Her advice was less than worthless, as is your advisor's.
One of many reasons that I don't donate to their annual fundraiser.

 

[IlDestriero]

Small pet peeve: it's PPS (for post postscript), not PSS (though people may disagree)

Who would disagree? It's not up for debate.

 

[NeuResurgens]

If you don't want to minor in Psych, don't minor in Psych. Suggesting a minor because of one subject on the MCAT is terrible advice. IMO you're fine to study from review materials here, since the basic psych on the MCAT doesn't look all that difficult.

You're better off using that extra time for ECs and actually studying for the MCAT.

 

[DokterMom]

Thank your advisor sincerely for his/her "excellent" advice!

Then ignore it and follow SDN

 

[Donald Juan]

Ha, I'm always surprised to hear how many people get bad advice from their advisers, because I went to a no name state school, my adviser wasn't even considered one of the "pre-med" people, and I heard generally good advice. The school had a 5-6 page document about what to do for pre-med and how you should make yourself a good applicant, and they had a pre-med track that covered all the appropriate courses. All of it was pretty sound.

But yeah, OP, I'm 99% sure you don't need a psych minor for the new mcat. You didn't need a physics or chemistry or biology minor for the old mcat, so I can't imagine you would have to do anything drastic like go get a minor in psych and sociology. Also, I think 3 science courses is plenty for a schedule if you think the 4th is too much.

 

[Neutropix]

Thanks for all the advice ya'll. I really appreciate it!!

 

[ZedsDed]

Your "advisor" is an idiot.

 

[Holmwood]

Hey, everyone.

My university pre-med advisor is strongly pushing me to minor in psychology due to the MCAT changes. Personally, I don't want to minor in psych because it will take an extra semester and 101 was boring.

Will the MCAT prep books give me all the information I will need to excel in the social science sections of the MCAT? Is a psych minor superfluous?

Also, I'm in a pickle because my advisor may be offended at my decision to not pursue the minor. I'm weary to take his advice because if it were his way I'd volunteer for only 6 months, shadow 2 months, and not work any medically related job until my cycle; much of what he states is in contrast with the unspoken, holy SDN tenants of what makes a good applicant.

PS: He told me to take an extra science class (non-major req) this fall on top of three other hard sciences to "prove" to medical schools I can handle the rigors. He says this course load will prep me for medical school. What of that, ya'll?

PSS: Basically, I'm thinking about dropping psych minor, not taking that extra class, continuing to volunteer and scribe, continuing to get good grades, and start researching when I transfer to university.

Any advice or criticisms will be appreciated,

-Ahab

-AP psych/soc book is sufficient. Minor is entirely unnecessary unless you're planning on fluffing your GPA or you need full time units for financial aid.

-Volunteer as much as you can and accomplish as much as you can. Significant involvement can lead to leadership opportunities as well.

-Rigor? GPA and MCAT score is first priority. Rigor only comes into play when your sGPA is terrible and you're opting for upper division science courses instead of retaking introductory courses you did poorly on.

- Talk to college adviser only if you have specific educational needs that SDN is not able to address. You do not ask for advice about MCAT from someone who has never even taken the MCAT, lol. Taking a minor isn't a terrible suggestion... but it's not very economical. Although, an upper division research methods coursework in psych/soc isn't too shabby for tackling research design passages, I guess. Go to khan academy's social passages practice tests to see what I mean.

 

[IlDestriero]

I wondered if my school, though the advice sucked, had a very high acceptance rate because the advisor was premed and dental only. Other pre health fields were covered by someone else. What they lacked in advice, they made up for in established shadowing and research programs. My shadowing plan consisted of telling them I wanted to shadow some physicians and I was given a list of names of people accepting students that semester. Same with research, though I knew many of the professors already. Summer programs, etc. the same.