Did you have a horrible pre-med advisor? Post a stupid thing they said

[Epicurusall]

"Don't go on SDN"

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[Epicurusall]

"DO does just as well in the match as MD"

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

"Don't go on SDN"

This one just pisses me off. "Dont utilize the best resource which houses at least 3 medical school adcoms and instead rely on our help, the people who have never actually went through the process or in general know what we are talking about."
Ive heard it and it just boggles my mind every time.

 

[freak7]

"Don't go on SDN"

This one just pisses me off. "Dont utilize the best resource which houses at least 3 medical school adcoms and instead rely on our help, the people who have never actually went through the process or in general know what we are talking about."
Ive heard it and it just boggles my mind every time.

They just know that if everyone uses SDN then their jobs will be obsolete

 

[Astra]

They just know that if everyone uses SDN then their jobs will be obsolete

Gotta love unnecessary administrators wasting our tax dollars

 

[Marcion]

"Don't pre-write secondaries; they change them every year"

 

[Promethean]

You know those people totally browse SDN regularly. I hate when people pretend not to know what SDN is or downplay its effectiveness.

LOL. My classmates "catch" me on SDN all the time. Far past just being a tool to get into med school, this place is one of my favorite online communities. Why would I walk away from it just because I managed to get past the first hurdle? And what about reaching back and helping the next set of people up?

But, to stay on topic, the worst advice any pre-med advisor gave me was that I wouldn't be accepted anywhere because I took my pre-reqs at a community college. And that I shouldn't bother applying anyway, because the absolute age cut-off for getting into medical school is 35. She said that like it was a national law or something. Like there were no exceptions, just turn 35 and you were done, your application automatically goes into the trash.

 

[sliceofbread136]

LOL. My classmates "catch" me on SDN all the time. Far past just being a tool to get into med school, this place is one of my favorite online communities. Why would I walk away from it just because I managed to get past the first hurdle? And what about reaching back and helping the next set of people up?

But, to stay on topic, the worst advice any pre-med advisor gave me was that I wouldn't be accepted anywhere because I took my pre-reqs at a community college. And that I shouldn't bother applying anyway, because the absolute age cut-off for getting into medical school is 35. She said that like it was a national law or something. Like there were no exceptions, just turn 35 and you were done, your application automatically goes into the trash.

I have classmates in their 40s. I would think if some was in their 50s they might wonder a bit more, but 35 is still pretty young lol

 

[Promethean]

I have classmates in their 40s. I would think if some was in their 50s they might wonder a bit more, but 35 is still pretty young lol

There is someone in the class above mine who is in her early 50s, who is pretty phenomenal and has contributed so much to her class and to the school generally that I can't imagine how much less awesome my own med school experience would have been if she hadn't been part of it.

Definitely an outlier, it is true. Most of my classmates are younger than my car.

 

[RogueBanana]

"Don't go on SDN"

"How did you get in my house?"

"Put that banana down!"

"I'm calling the police"


Man, advisors just say the darndest things huh?


but seriously,
When I was a sophomore considering the switch to pre med I was straight up told not to bother. That it wasn't worth my time or effort because my GPA was a little low (3.3)

4 years later here I am, 3.8 GPA, 512 MCAT, and 2 IIs. I may not get in this year but at least I didn't listen to her tell me I couldn't even try.

She also told me not to worry about non-clinical volunteering which is my app's only weakness right now

 

[pseud0]

0
but seriously,
When I was a sophomore considering the switch to pre med I was straight up told not to bother. That it wasn't worth my time or effort because my GPA was a little low (3.3)

even if you gpa remained a 3.3 it would still be possible to get into med school, especially DO schools. Your adviser was seriously ****.

 

[RogueBanana]

even if you gpa remained a 3.3 it would still be possible to get into med school, especially DO schools. Your adviser was seriously ****.

you're telling me.

 

[aalamruad]

This post doesn't really belong in this thread since it's from my health psychology professor, not my advisor, but he's been spewing asinine drivel and railing on doctors during lecture for the past twenty minutes so I need to get it off my chest before I explode with frustration:

1) He doesn't like the germ theory of disease, and thinks it claims that ALL diseases are caused by microorganisms

2) He thinks sepsis is called "septis"

3) He says the body is biochemical and physical whereas the brain is not

4) My favorite: "If someone's mind is sick, they go to a psychiatrist, but if their body is sick, they go to a physician"

And now he's making fun of a student for asking about superbugs caused by overuse of antibacterial soaps

 

[freak7]

And now he's making fun of a student for asking about superbugs caused by overuse of antibacterial soaps

Triggered

I did far too much evolutionary biology research to read that without punching a wall.

 

[zero0]

They just know that if everyone uses SDN then their jobs will be obsolete

Posts like this give me hope in the future generation

 

[jorjorswens]

This post doesn't really belong in this thread since it's from my health psychology professor, not my advisor, but he's been spewing asinine drivel and railing on doctors during lecture for the past twenty minutes so I need to get it off my chest before I explode with frustration:

1) He doesn't like the germ theory of disease, and thinks it claims that ALL diseases are caused by microorganisms

2) He thinks sepsis is called "septis"

3) He says the body is biochemical and physical whereas the brain is not

4) My favorite: "If someone's mind is sick, they go to a psychiatrist, but if their body is sick, they go to a physician"

And now he's making fun of a student for asking about superbugs caused by overuse of antibacterial soaps

Psychiatrist are MD or DO physicians. Maybe he is just trolling everyone.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[sammiesings]

.

 

[Lollygag]

Hahaha I like this thread, I got a good one!

I'm black, but I'm a little more light skinned than the average black person and I have hazel/green eyes which throws some people off sometimes about what nationality I am. So I asked a professor (who also serves as our pre-med advisor) how to join the minority association on campus for pre-health students. He told me I can't join because I'm not black. I laughed and said, no Sir I am in fact black, both my parents were borne in Jamaica. He then looked me up and down and blatantly responded, "no you're not."

I was like bruh...

 

[freak7]

Hahaha I like this thread, I got a good one!

I'm black, but I'm a little more light skinned than the average black person and I have hazel/green eyes which throws some people off sometimes about what nationality I am. So I asked a professor (who also serves as our pre-med advisor) how to join the minority association on campus for pre-health students. He told me I can't join because I'm not black. I laughed and said, no Sir I am in fact black, both my parents were borne in Jamaica. He then looked me up and down and blatantly responded, "no you're not."

I was like bruh...

Nah, trust me. I'm a pre med advisor and I know if you're black or not.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Hahaha I like this thread, I got a good one!

I'm black, but I'm a little more light skinned than the average black person and I have hazel/green eyes which throws some people off sometimes about what nationality I am. So I asked a professor (who also serves as our pre-med advisor) how to join the minority association on campus for pre-health students. He told me I can't join because I'm not black. I laughed and said, no Sir I am in fact black, both my parents were borne in Jamaica. He then looked me up and down and blatantly responded, "no you're not."

I was like bruh...

An equal opportunity complaint will set him straight real quick.

 

[freak7]

Plot twist: undergrad pre med advisors are all just former pre meds who didn't get in.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Plot twist: undergrad pre med advisors are all just former pre meds who didn't get in.

Or even worse, non-trad premed trying to lead others astray to make it better for themselves! *gasp*

 

[kraskadva]

When I was starting my post-bacc/2nd bacc to do some GPA repair and take the pre-reqs (1st degree was BA in Lib Arts), I sat down with the pre-health committee for a intro/advising meeting. Passed around my first transcript and CV to show them what I was starting with and then my planned course sequence for the next 2 years (which was 99% science classes).

One of the committee members (an English prof and not the main adviser, thankfully) looked at both of these then told me I should take some more humanities courses...
Trying to be polite, I asked her what she had in mind, and she suggested an English or Philosophy course, "because you want to have a well-rounded application, not just all sciences."
In my head: "Woman, did you not see the philosophy major/classics minor transcript and the CV with 5 years of English teaching experience I just handed you. Science is the rounding out I need to do"

Decided to ignore all committee advice from then on, if all they knew were generics and couldn't take 5 minutes to talk specifically to the person in front of them. Just talked to the main adviser enough to keep him updated and get the letter for my app.

 

[DoctorSwagger]

" you need a 4.0 to get into med school"
-advisor 2016


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[DoctorSwagger]

In one of my interviews, one of the interviewees played trumpet, and so did the Admissions Dean. She was thrilled. As far as pre med goes, I never had any kind of pre med advisor or committee.

Goals with he admissions counselor


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Diirez]

A couple things my old pre-med advisor said to me.

First was that as a first semester freshman I should take:
Gen Chem 1 + Lab
Bio 1 + Lab
Pre-Calculus
Russian 1

The problem is that all the classes were a weed out (except Russian), 50% failed my pre-calc class and 60% failed my Gen Chem 1 class (because it was a weed out for a competitive pharmacy program).

Next dumb thing was:
When I got a C in gen chem he told me that the class was easy and he's never heard of someone not doing well in gen chem and that if I couldn't get a 4.0 in my first semester then I should just drop out now because I can't handle it. Then proceeded to tell me about how he alone can decide if I go to medical school because if he gives me an endorsement then that means I will 100% go but if he doesn't, then I probably wouldn't stand a chance.

Stupid me listened to him and left pre-health and now I have to get my ass back on track.

 

[ratrat]

I'll start.

"You don't need clinical volunteering if you have non clinical volunteering. It's a waste of time"

 

[freak7]

Or even worse, non-trad premed trying to lead others astray to make it better for themselves! *gasp*

Working on the loooonnng con

 

[ScottTenorman54]

I can't remember a time when an advisor said something that was blatantly wrong or stupid. But what I hate most about some of the ones I've dealt with is that they'll never admit it when they don't know something. They'd rather say any half-assed thing other than "I don't know". It makes weighing their advice against other info you've gathered that much harder.

 

[Theseus]

"Are you sure you're cut out for medical school?"

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

I had an advisor tell me that students go international on mission trips and I need something like that to stand out. Otherwise I don't have a chance.

 

[Nomtastic]

This happened to someone I know.

New advisor at the school. Kid asks advisor about new MCAT. Advisor says "oh, well you only need to score above the 75th percentile" and proceeds to pull out a calculator and comes up with the score 501 as the 75th percentile score...

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

This happened to someone I know.

New advisor at the school. Kid asks advisor about new MCAT. Advisor says "oh, well you only need to score above the 75th percentile" and proceeds to pull out a calculator and comes up with the score 501 as the 75th percentile score...

She was probably trying to calculate 75% of the possible score range (60) plus the minimum score. She was wrong, nonetheless. 513 puts you at 75% of the possible points. It is, however, a very incorrect was of thinking about the exam.

 

[Turkishking]

Freshman year, my adviser was a cheerleader. She said, a C in gen chem 1 is acceptable.

 

[freak7]

.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I had a C in last quarter gen chem.

Also a C in All quarters of organic.

... also a C in advanced physiology

But math was fun!

Also I think my state university's grading scheme was broken because I still scored extremely well on the MCAT. I've talked with the ombudsman but it's... all politics up there

I got a C in advanced stats. It was an interesting class, but I had just had a baby and was working a lot. Didn't have the energy to put as much work into it as I should have.

Also, I never heard the term ombudsman until the Navy, so it's always weird to see it in other contexts.

 

[Stagg737]

I asked my advisor in June before my senior year (with my ~3.3 GPA and high 20's MCAT) what schools I should reasonably apply to and when I should have the apps done by. Her response was that I'd be competitive at most Mid-tier MD schools and that as long as I applied to MD schools by November and DO schools by January I should get in somewhere. Met with her again mid-November after finishing my MD apps to ask her how many DO schools she thinks I should apply to and she tells me that I shouldn't have bothered applying MD and that I was completely screwed at all DO schools. She then asked where I got my advice from and pretty much started screaming when I told her she gave me the advice. Somehow she's still the head pre-med advisor all these years later...

Also, she straight up lost the LOR's for 2 of my classmates and then tried to say they never turned them in/requested them. Another professor actually had to vouch for one of the students to the dean when the advisor said she didn't lose anything.

This post doesn't really belong in this thread since it's from my health psychology professor, not my advisor, but he's been spewing asinine drivel and railing on doctors during lecture for the past twenty minutes so I need to get it off my chest before I explode with frustration.

And now he's making fun of a student for asking about superbugs caused by overuse of antibacterial soaps

Honestly though, why on earth is that student asking a psych professor about microbiology? They might as well go ask a middle school kid to help with their differential equations homework...

This happened to someone I know.

New advisor at the school. Kid asks advisor about new MCAT. Advisor says "oh, well you only need to score above the 75th percentile" and proceeds to pull out a calculator and comes up with the score 501 as the 75th percentile score...

To be fair, a lot of med schools admissions committees weren't certain what they were looking for due to the new section and there was a lot of confusion the first year about how the conversion would actually work out. My (DO) school originally said they didn't want to consider any applicants with a score below a 505. Not sure what our school's cutoff is now, if there is one, but I'm guessing they don't just toss sub-505 scores in the reject pile. If that's the worst advice your friend got from a brand new advisor, I'd say he/she is actually pretty lucky.

 

[Theseus]

My advisor was a terrible person. She would verbally degrade pre-med students, give false advice, and would actively prefer students in her science class when writing Committee Letters. She would always talk about her life and what career options she has had, but settled to teach and "help" students get into a professional school. Truly an evil person.

 

[aalamruad]

Honestly though, why on earth is that student asking a psych professor about microbiology? They might as well go ask a middle school kid to help with their differential equations homework...

Because he kept blabbing about the importance of constantly using hand sanitizer and/or antibacterial soap, so it was actually a very relevant and important question that, in my opinion, he should be somewhat educated on. You don't really have to be a microbiologist to understand the basics of bacterial resistance.

 

[Incomparable]

My advisor also advised me to stay away from SDN.

There's also a poster for a Caribbean medical school in the waiting area of the advising office.

 

[freak7]

My advisor also advised me to stay away from SDN.

A classic.

Safe to say, I would not have gotten into any schools if not for this website

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Because he kept blabbing about the importance of constantly using hand sanitizer and/or antibacterial soap, so it was actually a very relevant and important question that, in my opinion, he should be somewhat educated on. You don't really have to be a microbiologist to understand the basics of bacterial resistance.

You realize hand sanitizer doesn't cause resistance, right?

 

[freak7]

You realize hand sanitizer doesn't cause resistance, right?

As long as it's alcohol-based and not antibiotic-based

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

As long as it's alcohol-based and not antibiotic-based

I've never seen hand sanitizer that wasn't alcohol based. They make that?

 

[freak7]

I've never seen hand sanitizer that wasn't alcohol based. They make that?

Not anymore in the US a/o September IIRC since the FDA effectively banned triclosan in liquid sanitizers. I'm sure you could still find some old bottles lying around grandma's house though.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Not anymore in the US a/o September IIRC since the FDA effectively banned triclosan in liquid sanitizers. I'm sure you could still find some old bottles lying around grandma's house though.

I've seen antibiotic hand wipes before. Not sure why those are even still made.

 

[freak7]

I've seen antibiotic hand wipes before. Not sure why those are even still made.

The FDA rule doesn't apply to those. Ah, bureaucracy...

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The FDA rule doesn't apply to those. Ah, bureaucracy...

Yup. We'll get there eventually. Maybe.

 

[NeuResurgens]

My advisor also advised me to stay away from SDN.

There's also a poster for a Caribbean medical school in the waiting area of the advising office.

We have ads for Carib schools in our science buildings. Drives me nuts. If there was ever terrible pre-med advice, even allowing the thought of carib schools in the minds of pre-meds is it.

 

[Epicurusall]

We have ads for Carib schools in our science buildings. Drives me nuts. If there was ever terrible pre-med advice, even allowing the thought of carib schools in the minds of pre-meds is it.

You two aren't the only ones... We had posters and presentations and our premed advisor advocated for Caribbean schools being equally as good... Maybe we went to the same undergrad though?