calling up adcoms to ask for advice

[Blondnuttyboy]

---

Members don't see this ad.

How do you go about doing this? Go to the website, finding admissions office phone number, and telling your story and asking what you should do?

Sounds a bit trivial and if it is, why doesnt everyone do it?

 

[deleted50541]

After I was rejected the first time around, I called the schools I interviewed at for advice. Nobody would give me any answers and one person outright refused to even refer me to someone who could help.

I don't know if things have changed much in two years.

 

[PlAnEjaNe]

When I transferred schools I emailed the dean of Stanford medical school (yes I was a little precocious but I figured if he thought I was a wack or a loon it wouldn't matter because I knew that I would never have a prayer of getting into that school so the probability of our paths ever crossing prior to admission to med-school was essentially nil).

Anyhow, he was probably the kindest person I had ever talked to, in the email he gave me his phone number and we talked on the phone for roughly 30-40 min. He addressed all of my concerns and answered a lot of questions (and also killed a lot of myths) about medical school and the application process. By the time the conversation had ended I really was glad that I took the 'risk'.

Also, I made an appointment with the dean of admissions at the medical school where I went to for ugrad. We talked for, again, about 30-40 min. She went over my transcripts MCAT scores, extra curriculars, and offered some really solid advice about how I should approach the entire process. I was afraid she would say I didn't have a chance in Hell, but I think she saw my sincerity and passion for what I was doing and was really supportive.

The key is don't sound desperate (it will give off a bad vibe), secondly sound adamant about what you want, if you are wishy-washy (well, I want to be a physician but...) they can't offer you any solid advice until you project to them that this is what you are going to do with or without their advice. Also, and most importantly, be sincere and honest. If you aren't honest with them i.e. don't be afraid to disclose past failures, you will never fully benefit from their advice. You need to paint them a complete picture. I basically told them what my grades/scores were, my extracurriculars and absolutely stressed that I was willing to do whatever it took to get to medical school because that is what I knew I wanted to do.

Don't ever be afraid to ask for help or advice from the people that write the books on admissions...they are human too!!

-PlAnEjaNe

 

[RxnMan]

As a part of forum decorum, generally folks will post subsequent, related questions in the same thread, instead of starting a new one.

Yes, you can call them up, just as you described. As I advised someone else in a recent thread, they may not want to take Dean of Admission's promise to "get them in if they apply early admission" too seriously. But for checking out how they handle grad gpa, that's probably ok. They won't tell you "One grad GPA unit correlates to X ugrad GPA units," but they can give you a rough idea.

 

[Giddyup5]

im meeting with the dean today of a school im waitlisted at. I plan on updating all my grades and current status. I hope showing my genuine interest bumps me up on the waiting list. Any specific suggestions on what else to talk about/avoid?
Thanks

 

[PHD_2007]

Call!!!!! I did it... it works!!! Good Luck!!!!!! 🙂

 

[Surf Rx]

did you just call the admissions office of the schools and ask to speak to someone about your application, or do you have to schedule a phone meeting?

 

[PHD_2007]

I called the admissions offices and scheduled an appointment to speak with the director of admissions......usually they will ask if you want a phone appointment or if you want to come in. 🙂

 

[Dr2Bee]

It depends on what you're asking for.

 

[t33sg1rl]

Schedule it in-person if you can. It'll be much easier to make a good impression.