I feel like they exaggerate the difficulty of getting into medical school. They often steer people away from medical school with their intimidating caveats. They did provide some useful information and statistics.
With all due respect, you ARE holding 5 acceptances, so you must have quite the stellar application; good for you, but this process isn't nearly as easy or kind to most as it has been to you 
Remember though that roughly 60% of all applicants will NOT get even one acceptance this cycle, and there are even more who WANT to apply but can't get the support of their pre-med committee or who accept that their app isn't competitive enough yet and so they hold off for a few years. For many people, getting into med school is a long, multi-year effort, and for some of these people they will never get an acceptance.
I think that a good pre-med adviser SHOULD make this process seem abnormally difficult to motivate their students to craft as competitive of an application as possible. Yes, the result will be some crazy 3.9/40 applicants going onto the WAMC forum to see how they stack up, but hopefully it saves us from people throwing away money on an application with a 3.3/25.
To actually answer your question, I'd say in general they're helpful; not amazing and definitely doesn't have all the info, but not useless either and at least gives you a good starting place. Also a good resource to find summer internships and whatnot.
Remember though that roughly 60% of all applicants will NOT get even one acceptance this cycle, and there are even more who WANT to apply but can't get the support of their pre-med committee or who accept that their app isn't competitive enough yet and so they hold off for a few years. For many people, getting into med school is a long, multi-year effort, and for some of these people they will never get an acceptance.I think that a good pre-med adviser SHOULD make this process seem abnormally difficult to motivate their students to craft as competitive of an application as possible. Yes, the result will be some crazy 3.9/40 applicants going onto the WAMC forum to see how they stack up, but hopefully it saves us from people throwing away money on an application with a 3.3/25.
To actually answer your question, I'd say in general they're helpful; not amazing and definitely doesn't have all the info, but not useless either and at least gives you a good starting place. Also a good resource to find summer internships and whatnot.
- Oct 15, 2007
- 4,197
- 34
- Status
- Medical Student
i've (unfortunately) attended many 4-year ugrad schools. from my experience, advisers suck. that being said, the advisers at my school are absolutely wonderful.
so it's school specific. but yeah, most advisers i've encountered are terrible. and the probability that an adviser is going to suck goes up if the school has a premed committee.
so it's school specific. but yeah, most advisers i've encountered are terrible. and the probability that an adviser is going to suck goes up if the school has a premed committee.
SDN is the best pre-med advisor I've come across.
My first pre-med advisor sucked. He thought that being in ADE was the key to getting into med school.
My second pre-med advisor was a drastic improvement, probably because he was actually a young physician and not an old bitter chem professor who knew nothing about getting into med school.
My first pre-med advisor sucked. He thought that being in ADE was the key to getting into med school.
My second pre-med advisor was a drastic improvement, probably because he was actually a young physician and not an old bitter chem professor who knew nothing about getting into med school.
Forget pre-med advisors. I've never even paid attention to my undergrad advisors; I'll make my own schedule thank you. There's so many horror stories of students having to go another semester or a summer to catch a class they needed when their advisors let them down.
I agree. I decided to apply after I'd already graduated and been out of school for a while so I didn't have access to an advisor. SDN is all I needed to be successful.
I've had crappy advisors since high school. I always had advisors (especially in high school) tell me I can't do it, and not to take certain classes because I wouldn't be able to handle it.
Finally I realized, I'm the only one that knows what I can and cannot handle so why am I listening to someone who does not know me and only sees me twice a year?
I found my own advisor for medical school. I have become close to a doctor at my school's college of medicine who has served on the admission's board in the past. Someone like that is the best pre-med advisor because they actually know what they're talking about.
Finally I realized, I'm the only one that knows what I can and cannot handle so why am I listening to someone who does not know me and only sees me twice a year?
I found my own advisor for medical school. I have become close to a doctor at my school's college of medicine who has served on the admission's board in the past. Someone like that is the best pre-med advisor because they actually know what they're talking about.
i was told, i would not get into medical school. that i should look into other career options. no help ever given. just negative feedback about how it was a waste of time. on 11/21 i received my first acceptance
Way to show them they don't know what they're talking about!i was told, i would not get into medical school. that i should look into other career options. no help ever given. just negative feedback about how it was a waste of time. on 11/21 i received my first acceptance
My pre-med advisor was not particularly helpful nor useless. She did write my committee letter though, so that counts for something, but most of the info I needed was found right here on SDN.
My advisor said that if there were any questions she could not answer refer to the website www.studentdoctor.net. Since she told me about this place I would say she was pretty helpful.
- Jun 23, 2008
- 736
- 5
- Status
- Medical Student
Awesome. I would send a letter 'thanking' your advisor for all the help.i was told, i would not get into medical school. that i should look into other career options. no help ever given. just negative feedback about how it was a waste of time. on 11/21 i received my first acceptance
My theory is that advisors deter all but the highly qualified so their institution can attract undergrad premeds (and thereby, tuition dollars) by claiming that "95% of all premeds applying are accepted to med school", or whatever.
On the positive side, if you weren't told that you'd fail, you wouldn't feel as triumphant, vindicated, and euphoric as you do now. Congratulations!i was told, i would not get into medical school. that i should look into other career options. no help ever given. just negative feedback about how it was a waste of time. on 11/21 i received my first acceptance
what about just sending them my acceptance letter
i agree, i wish i found SDN sooner before the application season began.
thanks for the nice comments guys! and yes mobius, it does feel real good
, does that make me bad? haha
bluesmd, congratulations, really, for sticking to it and going through with what you love, even when others told you to just give it up. If I were you, I'd go back to the advisor's office and just tell them where to stick that acceptance letter. But that's just me. I would advise you to tell them, though, that you got in. That way, they will think twice before telling the next student that there's no way in hell they'll get into med school. Because, let's face it, not everyone would've continued to apply and study for the MCATs like you did. SAVE THE NEXT WAVE OF FRESHIES!
I don't bother going to the advisors we have on campus. I don't know any pre-med student who actually does. The most help they ever did for me was to change my major (though it was their fault they had to change it in the first place). The level of help you get from your advisors all depends on how large the pre-med population is at your campus and how many advisors are available to service them.
I don't bother going to the advisors we have on campus. I don't know any pre-med student who actually does. The most help they ever did for me was to change my major (though it was their fault they had to change it in the first place). The level of help you get from your advisors all depends on how large the pre-med population is at your campus and how many advisors are available to service them.
I feel really good on your behalf, because I'm reminded of a time when I was told that I was worthless, yet I succeeded anyway. I really like the idea of educating your advisor to save future advisees from bad suggestions. It sorta takes the moral high ground, but still gets the point across.what about just sending them my acceptance letter
thanks for the nice comments guys! and yes mobius, it does feel real good
I went with "are helpful," but I get the impression most advisers will dump on you if you don't have exemplary numbers and experience. That's poor policy, in my opinion. Save the dumping for the true long-shots rather than the 3.5/30 crowd. I'm glad UNC had no pre-med adviser or committee. I'd rather do things like that on my own, anyway.
WOW GUYS, thanks so much for the support!!!
i didn't know if i could feel better than having an acceptance, but now i feel really good. thanks everyone.i am at a pretty big school. i don't feel like they would change their ways because of one pre-med with a lousy GPA, unfortunately
but i'm glad, i will get to do what i love, it is such a relief, to know that i have taken the first step towards my dreams. i hope that everyone's dreams will get realized too GOOD LUCK GUYS 
My adviser was pretty good. However, she did tell me last year that with my stats, I should be a shoe-in for most of the schools I applied to. I ended up with 1 interview, 1 wait-list, and 12 rejections.
To be fair, in a meeting with an adcom from one of the schools I was rejected from, I was told that I should have been a shoe-in for most of the schools I applied to and was stunned that I didn't get accepted anywhere, let alone the fact that I only had one interview.
To be fair, in a meeting with an adcom from one of the schools I was rejected from, I was told that I should have been a shoe-in for most of the schools I applied to and was stunned that I didn't get accepted anywhere, let alone the fact that I only had one interview.