Pre Med Advisors

[jsnuka]

Does anyone use them on their campus or if you have been out of school for a while who do you go to for advice on the application process?

Do you find your Pre Med advisor to be helpful?

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[Zuerst]

I find it most convenient to just search or post right here.

 

[jsnuka]

I find it most convenient to just search or post right here.

I was waiting for some one to say that, but what about these folx who are making money (from your tuition) for doing nothing?

 

[Jeru]

Do you find your Pre Med advisor to be helpful?

I certainly find mine to be very helpful and encouraging. The first day I met her I explained that I was married, had a 2 year old child, had been out of school for three years since I quit college to get married and that I now wanted to finish my four year degree as an RN while taking pre-med and an English minor. Now that would include (to my previous experience) about seven or more objections or points of discouragement for a student to not pursue medical school…. She didn’t even bat an eye.

She has been a huge help to me in planning my schedule, dealing with difficult classes, proctoring full-length practice Mcat tests, mock interviews, and even the occasional hug on a bad day. But in all honesty it’s not the fact that she’s a pre-med advisor that makes her so helpful, all of the professors at my school are like this. Its part of what you pay for when you choose a private education, I think. My experiences at state schools and community colleges have been vastly different.

My suggestion would be that you get to know your pre-med advisor a little better and find out for yourself just how helpful they are. Every professor and person is different and I don’t think it would be fair to generalize all pre-med advisors as either always helpful or as never helpful.

Good Luck!

 

[Zuerst]

I was waiting for some one to say that, but what about these folx who are making money (from your tuition) for doing nothing?

I generally found my university health advisors helpful. But since my university is HUGE, you have to schedule an appointment to talk to them in person.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Does anyone use them on their campus or if you have been out of school for a while who do you go to for advice on the application process?

Do you find your Pre Med advisor to be helpful?

I would avoid them at all costs. They are generally discouraging and give poor advice.

 

[Wookey]

I would avoid them at all costs. They are generally discouraging and give poor advice.

I second that. I might have mentioned this before on another thread but my advisor told me Osteopathic medicine treats bones exclusively

Of course not all advisors are the same. It wouldn't hurt to give the ones at your school a try. But I think med students are more knowledgeable than pre-med advisors because advisors don't really know the finer details of the process, so your best resource is SDN.

 

[Punkn]

Yeah, it entirely depends on your school and the individual advisor. You may want to talk to some junior or senior pre-meds and see what they think about your advisors. My school has one (we're a small college), and she's really great. She's also a professor, though, so it's not like she gets paid only to advise pre-health students.

 

[remo]

A traditional student can probably get all the advice they need right here on SDN. Non-trads usually have a more complicated situation and an advisor can really be helpful (even the ones you have to pay). Even though you have to pay them a few hundred dollars they could save you from years of wasted effort by taking the wrong classes, applying to the wrong schools, having unrealistic expectations, etc...

 

[Wookey]

A traditional student can probably get all the advice they need right here on SDN. Non-trads usually have a more complicated situation and an advisor can really be helpful (even the ones you have to pay). Even though you have to pay them a few hundred dollars they could save you from years of wasted effort by taking the wrong classes, applying to the wrong schools, having unrealistic expectations, etc...

That's a good point. School pre-med advisors are still a good resource for helping to plan your classes.

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

Mine is fantastic.

 

[OSUdoc08]

That's a good point. School pre-med advisors are still a good resource for helping to plan your classes.

Yeah. Kinda like mine, who told me that I am required to take a freshman biology course and promptly signed up for it.

I later learned that I had community college credit through concurrent enrollment with AP Biology in high school, and completely wasted my year and 8 hours of private school tuition.

They also told me that I shouldn't apply to medical school the year that I did.

Yeah. Very helpful.

 

[notdeadyet]

I find it most convenient to just search or post right here.

I use Judy Colwell, and she's been a great help.

SDN is great fun and helpful for the sort of stuff you put your toe in the water for. But I'd never base an important decision based on the advice you get from folks here. You get as much bad or wrong advice as you do good stuff.

 

[thinknofu3]

At my school, the advisors were pretty much useless. When I was a freshman the pre-med advisor's office put out sheets of what basic requirements were, and that was helpful at the beginning. But basically everything I did came from researching on my own (MSAR was very helpful) and talking to other people I know who had gone through the process. By the time I met with an advisor individually at the end of my junior year, the advisor told me I already had everything in place and as I needed it to be. So it can be done without them

 

[mshheaddoc]

I would go and talk with them but be you're own advisor as well. Know what classes you need from schools. Everyone knows teh basic prereqs, also biochem, genetics, calculus, could be required. Most say having microbiology, physiology, and upper level classes like the such are a great help to just having a basis for med school. Others say its not worth it. Find out what you want to take.

Also, some people like Judy do know what they are talking about so if you want an extra umph, go for a private advisor.

 

[JohnnyOU]

My advisor at OU got arrested & fired a few months ago for stealing funds from the minorities premed club.

Before that, she and the others that "advised" me were not useful. I already knew what classes I was going to take before ever walking into their office. They basically just signed off on my decisions.

Johnny
ps...premed clubs are about as useful as advisors