Has anyone else run into pre-med advisors who dont seem to know what they are talking about that well? Besides, where did they learn what they are talking about? They aren't doctors did they ever apply to med school? If not, they must just have gotten their info from a book. It seems like when I starting asking hard questions (ie, not about what the gen reqs are or what months the mcats are offered in) they either give a wrong answer or no answer at all. A lot of times it seems like I could get better info on SDN or from the library. Are pre-med advisors just people who can't get any other job?
I agree, many of them do suck. At my school the pre-med advisors were professors that taught other subjects. One taught math, and he was replaced by a physics professor, who, if she knew any less about how to get into medical school, would be inspiration for a sitcom. When dealing with advisors, listen to their advice, smile, then walk out the room and do your best to erase what you just heard from your memory. SDN is the best place for advice because there's nothing better than experience. People here have already gone through the process and made all the mistakes (God knows I have). From them you can learn volumes.
Ha. A premed advisor told my friend that she didn't "need" to go to med school because her boyfriend at the time, now her husband, was in med school. ack!
I just had to respond to this b/c I have been so disappointed with the pre-med advising at my school. First of all, the advisors aren't really premed advisors, instead they are freshman advisors who deal with premeds once all the freshman are out of the way. So it is impossible to get an appointment at the beginning of a semester or during registration time. Secondly, the jr/sr advisor left at the beginning of my junior year so they brought in someone new who had never advised for premed before!! I felt like I knew more than she did, it was so frustrating at times. Grrrrr...anyway, sorry for the rant. At least I found other resources (such as SDN) to answer my premed questions!
The advisors at my undergrad college are either med students or residents, most of whom are extremely knowledgeable. Applying to med school is a long, torturous process, and I can't imagine doing it with someone who knows nothing about the process...
At my school it seems they let anyone become a pre-med advisor. Last year, my advisor was a junior undegrad pre-med student (who had never applied before)... I am a bit hesitant to get advice from someone who had yet to take the MCATS!
Our premed advisors at UHM are really good. They don't pretend to know everything, but they're willing to look things up for you. I think it depends on the personality of the advisor - sometimes professors get tired of premeds, etc, but if you're nice to them they'll really like you. I don't know that their job is really isn't to give you all the information you need; rather to point you in the right direction of where to find it. (ie SDN!!! )
wow you guys must have pretty crappy advisors. They don't know the dates for MCATS??? How bad is that?!
God, I feel for all you guys out there w/ crappy advisors, because ours at U of I is AWESOME! She knows so much about the process, what schools are looking for, etc - but she's also on a first name basis w/ most (if not almost all) the admissions officers and deans in the midwest. I'd probably be having a nervous breakdown, drooling in a corner somewhere if it weren't for her help!
Just thought I'd add to the conversation...... My Pre-Med advisor is knowledgable, but he is so rude! He is in complete control of the pre-med committe, if he doesn't want you to get a committe letter, no matter how great your stats, you won't get one. I am terrified to go and talk to him because I had a horrible freshman and sophmore year and my grades suffered. Although the rest of my record, ec's rest of my grades, etc are good, I am terrified to ask him for a committe letter. Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do if he refuses? My friend, who had a 3.9 and 40 MCAT recieved a c in his molecular bio class, and for that reason alone he refused to write her letter. I am terrified!!! Shouldn't your Pre-med advisor be your source of encouragement and support during this difficult process??? HELP!!! Michele
My pre-med advisor is actually quite knowledgeable. She's been doing this for several years now. Every year she puts on workshops on interviewing tips, filling out secondaries, reads our PS etc, and she invites med school students to come talk with us and answer questions. The only bad thing about her is that she's an ego deflater. Goodness, if you ever want to get the air knocked out of you, go see her. Nobody emphasizes that difficulty of med school acceptance like she does. She's very big on contigency plans. I suppose that she is just trying to paint a realistic picture, but occasional encouragement would be nice. BananaSplit
The advisor at my school told me there was no way I could even get an interview because my gpa was too low. Well, a few months later I have received 3 interview invites, 2 of which were from the state schools. And they have all been "early" interviews to boot. I am seriously thinking of calling her and saying "nah nah nah, told you so"
My advisor was good except for one mistake... He for some reason had me take Calculus. I suffered through that class just to find out I graduated with 2 math classes more than I needed.
i wouldn't trust everything the advisor says. just go out and ask questions to get different opinions. that's the best way to go.
