Adviser is clueless

[deleted276313]

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My adviser is a clinical psychologist and teaches in the graduate college in my university (the Psy.D. program). I told him that I was pre-med, and from what I have gathered, a few of his other students are also pre-med.

The issue is that he has no idea what he's talking about when we ask him what classes we should be taking to fufill the requirements for the pre-med program at my university.

He keeps telling us that we have to take zoology classes for 2 semesters, and other classes that aren't even in the pre-med curriculum (they post the curriculum online). He has also admitted that he doesn't know what he's doing when it comes to pre-med and that he has to talk with the psych professor that's on the pre-med advisory board.

This makes me a bit nervous, because he's the one who is advising me as to what classes I should take to meet both requirements for pre-med and my major (psych). I have emailed the professor in the psych department who is part of the pre-med advisory board and she gave me a list of classes to take next semester, but my adviser is telling me different things >.> . For example, she told me to take anatomy and physiology instead of Biology, but he is telling me that I should take 2 semesters of biology.

This is getting somewhat aggravating because I don't want to end up getting screwed over by him advising me to take classes that I don't actually need to take.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[loveoforganic]

Gen Chem 1/2 + Labs for each, 8 credit hours
Gen Bio 1/2 + Labs for each, 8 credit hours
Organic 1/2 + Lab, 8 credit hours (Edit: actually, I think you might just need the lab for Organic 1 for most schools)
Physics 1/2 + Labs for each, 8 credit hours

Some schools also require:

English, 6 credit hours
Biochem, 3 credit hours (one semester)
Calculus, not sure how much, pretty sure just calc 1
Various Humanities, Behavioral Sciences, etc.


At any rate, some advisers suck (mine happens to be the shizzle). SDN is typically golden. Just make sure to cross reference whatever you read - the above included.

 

[FlowRate]

What loveoforganic posted is essentially correct (math is often one year, but rarely 2 semesters of calc).


Something that's good to learn about college is that your advisor really won't do anything for you in terms of curriculum. The beauty is that there are often "suggested" routes, but you can do your own course planning to fit your own needs.

 

[deleted276313]

Gen Chem 1/2 + Labs for each, 8 credit hours
Gen Bio 1/2 + Labs for each, 8 credit hours
Organic 1/2 + Lab, 8 credit hours (Edit: actually, I think you might just need the lab for Organic 1 for most schools)
Physics 1/2 + Labs for each, 8 credit hours

Some schools also require:

English, 6 credit hours
Biochem, 3 credit hours (one semester)
Calculus, not sure how much, pretty sure just calc 1
Various Humanities, Behavioral Sciences, etc.

Yes, those are basically the requirements for my university, although I was advised to take anatomy and physiology instead of general biology; the professor I spoke to (who is on the pre-med board) said that overall it was more helpful to students to take that.

English isn't a requirement in my school; you can actually substitute other classes for it.

Something that's good to learn about college is that your advisor really won't do anything for you in terms of curriculum. The beauty is that there are often "suggested" routes, but you can do your own course planning to fit your own needs.

Ya, he can't make you take a class or not take a class, but rather only "suggest" what you should do with your schedule. Some of his suggestions have been rather flimsy, so I'm guessing that I'm going to ignore a few of them.

 

[loveoforganic]

I'd be wary of doing that. I'm not sure A&P would substitute for the biology prereq medical schools require. Also, as far as being helped in medical school, I've heard the only thing that really helps whatsoever is biochemistry, and that only to a very small extent. Everything else is supposedly so in depth and so much that there isn't really any preparing for it.

 

[deleted276313]

I'd be wary of doing that. I'm not sure A&P would substitute for the biology prereq medical schools require.

From what she says, it actually does (I was surprised). I'm going to have to research it more though. She got that advice from the head of the pre-med advisory board, who is a science professor.

 

[vman51]

I'd be wary of doing that. I'm not sure A&P would substitute for the biology prereq medical schools require. Also, as far as being helped in medical school, I've heard the only thing that really helps whatsoever is biochemistry, and that only to a very small extent. Everything else is supposedly so in depth and so much that there isn't really any preparing for it.

isnt general bio a pre-req for A&P?

either way, my pre-med advisor wasn't the greatest..I came here for pre-med advice, and as stated earlier, cross-checked info I found

as far as what to take to fulfill the requirements of your program, check your course bulletin, it should have the info there as to what is required

 

[schrizto]

I find it better when advisors aren't professors who advise in their spare time. Then advising is secondary to them to teaching/research. When a school has full-time advisors, their advice tends to be better because they do more digging on pre-professional tracks because it's their main job.

 

[slight365]

Essentials:

1 Year of Chem
1 Year of Physics
1 Year of Organic Chem
1 Year of Biology (do not substitute)
1 Year of Calculus

Basically, what they test you on in the MCAT is required.

English classes are part of the curriculum anyhow. Anatomy and Physio are good classes to take to build on the biology foundation.

 

[FluffyRabbit]

Checking the websites of medical schools or the MSAR is never a bad way to go.