Interested in hearing any of your experiences with premed advising services

[stevevilicious]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello,

Aside from using sdn and all the numerous premed sites for premed advice, I was wondering if any of you could share any positive or negative experiences workng with premed advising services. Specifically, which ones are best or worst or even their cost. Thanks.

 

[UNMC2006]

Honestly, I think that you have all the resources that you need. Your school should have someone who can act as a day-to-day advisor for you, and if that fails then SDN should suffice. Personally, with all of the knowledge, experience, and willingness to share on SDN, I think you should have no problem getting your questions answered. Plus, people on this site have been in the "trenches". I am not very familiar with adivsing services, but I think that your money could be better spent on something fun like beer🙂 Good luck

 

[sdnsdn]

Since I did not attend a university during the application cycle, I had to use a pre-med counseling service. In the end I was grateful that I did. Dumb luck led me to Judy Colwell. You can find her on the web if you do a search. While you can get help on the forum, a personal counselor can help you view you application in its entirety and be honest about your weaknesses without squashing your spirit. I liked having another party that did not know me and had experience with admissions to read my essays before I spent the fifty million dollars on secondaries. It allowed me to express myself with more confidence that my message was clear and my intent was obvious. If you tend to think outside the box or have a different kind of background, I would highly recommend getting a counselor (my only experience was with Judy, so I can only comment on her but she has my highest recommendation). Even if you are a traditional pre-med, a counselor can show you how special you are (each of us is very special indeed). When you consider the cost of the primary application, the secondaries, the interviews, and most importantly your time and peace of mind, the amount you spend on a counselor is miniscule. Sdn is good for kicks, but I needed something more personal.

 

[Sophie]

Originally posted by UNMC2006
Honestly, I think that you have all the resources that you need. Your school should have someone who can act as a day-to-day advisor for you..

Not to knock UCDavis, but there's no way I'd ever rely on their advisors for accurate info. Admittedly I only went once, but that once was enough to convince me that that "advising" would do me more harm than good. I was assured that the counselor I was meeting with (an undergrad, btw) was "the best" they had, and extremely knowledgeable, but on every question I asked him he knew less than I did (thanks to SDN and internet research), and often gave me answers I knew to be wrong.

I'm already planning to hire an advisor about a year or so before I apply, so they can determine any weak points I have and make recommendations for what to do during that year to improve, and will keep the advisor as long as necessary (probably until after secondaries are finished). I think hiring an outside advisor is an excellent idea, and as sdnsdn noted it will give you more confidence and peace of mind since someone will be double-checking what you do.

 

[ironey]

You really don't NEED an advisor if you know how to use the internet - you can do your own research. In your heart, you know where you need to improve, you know your strengths, and you can research the stats to see where your numbers line up.

Am I an enigma or did anyone else skip the idiot advisors and do it on his/her own? I'll admit that I met once with some guy at ______ State Universtiy and was unimpressed. It seemed like his entire job was to discourage pre-meds and fill up the allied med classes. After that experience, I went to websites for schools that I was interested in, looked at their academic requirements, looked at THEIR advice to potential applicants and sent in my own damned MCAT registration when the time came.

I even managed to get into a couple of schools this year. 😛

 

[cracker69]

take everything, and i mean everything you hear from a college pre-med advisor with a grain of salt. they are a college advisor making 30K a year and usually havent the slightest clue about what is going on. at least that has been my experience.

69