stuck with the unsupportive grad advisor

[mommy2three]

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i am sooo freaking mad i could spit.
i guess maybe i should have seen this coming since when i talked to the man in nov about the program (i was applying for spring semester admission) he basically attempted to talk me out of going into med school 🙄 now whether it is because i am a mommy, i am older or i am a woman or a combination of all three it does not matter but he made it perfectly clear that he felt med school was not an option for me 😡
i was angry enough to begin looking into the other specialization offered by the school (in bioinformatics) and was seriously considering applying for fall admission. as it turned out one of my lor's came in late for the spring app cycle so it was not complete. i figured i would have to resubmit an app come spring for fall admission......imagine my suprise when i called to double check that everything was there last month and i was told that i had been admitted to the program in anatomical sciences for summer😎.
so i immediately emailed him to figure out the schedule for the next year plus summers since i only have 6 courses left (one of which is independent study and one of which is a seminar) so it should be very doable in 2 semesters + 2 summers...and of course he is out of the office until june 1st. finally i get an email from him today telling me that it is impossible to complete the remainder of my coursework in a year 😕😕 so he obviously is not going to help me in any way shape or forum finish in any sort of timely fashion 👎(
after talking with my ugrad premed advisor (who i trust implicitly) i have emailed the other program director for bioinformatics to see if it would be doable to complete their program requirements in the upcoming academic year (including summers if needed). i guess i will go from there and see if i cans witch to get into that program...the only sticking point could be the app dealine which of course was june 1st🙄 i am hoping when they hear what i am dealing with they will let me switch
so any positive thoughts or fingers crossed i woudl deeply appreciate it.

 

[VALSALVA]

i am sooo freaking mad i could spit.
i guess maybe i should have seen this coming since when i talked to the man in nov about the program (i was applying for spring semester admission) he basically attempted to talk me out of going into med school 🙄 now whether it is because i am a mommy, i am older or i am a woman or a combination of all three it does not matter but he made it perfectly clear that he felt med school was not an option for me 😡
i was angry enough to begin looking into the other specialization offered by the school (in bioinformatics) and was seriously considering applying for fall admission. as it turned out one of my lor's came in late for the spring app cycle so it was not complete. i figured i would have to resubmit an app come spring for fall admission......imagine my suprise when i called to double check that everything was there last month and i was told that i had been admitted to the program in anatomical sciences for summer😎.
so i immediately emailed him to figure out the schedule for the next year plus summers since i only have 6 courses left (one of which is independent study and one of which is a seminar) so it should be very doable in 2 semesters + 2 summers...and of course he is out of the office until june 1st. finally i get an email from him today telling me that it is impossible to complete the remainder of my coursework in a year 😕😕 so he obviously is not going to help me in any way shape or forum finish in any sort of timely fashion 👎(
after talking with my ugrad premed advisor (who i trust implicitly) i have emailed the other program director for bioinformatics to see if it would be doable to complete their program requirements in the upcoming academic year (including summers if needed). i guess i will go from there and see if i cans witch to get into that program...the only sticking point could be the app dealine which of course was june 1st🙄 i am hoping when they hear what i am dealing with they will let me switch
so any positive thoughts or fingers crossed i woudl deeply appreciate it.

There are tons of women, older women, and mommies in medical school. I'm sorry about your rough go at things thus far. Just out of curiosity, why do YOU think you're not being accepted up to this point? You can PM me if you like...or you can not reply at all...I was just curious.

 

[mommy2three]

There are tons of women, older women, and mommies in medical school. I'm sorry about your rough go at things thus far. Just out of curiosity, why do YOU think you're not being accepted up to this point? You can PM me if you like...or you can not reply at all...I was just curious.

i think my main problem in med school admission can be summed up in one word (or should i say acronym)....MCAT.

that an i was stupid about 11 yrs ago and have three semesters of failing grades in a radio-television major 🙄that drag my cum gpa down...my transcripts look very strange....a's and b's.....c's and f's.....then back to a's and b's

if you want the full story i would be more than happy to tell it to you but trust me when i say it is L-O-N-G....lol

 

[mommy2three]

and the advisor i am speaking with made many points when i first talked to him about how i could secure a well paying job with the degree i would earn here and how it would be less stress on my family. apparently from talking to him he made the choice of family over med school...so i think he is projecting a bit of his choices onto me. but i am me and am not him and should be able to make my own choices based on my own set of criteria and what support i have available.

 

[DrMidlife]

This sounds very frantic and harried and crazy-making to me. You've probably discussed this elsewhere, but is this program worth it? Are you doing it to improve your med school app? Are you sure it'll do that?

It sounds like you're trying to shoehorn a regular masters into an SMP schedule. True? Did you look at SMPs? Maybe Loyola still has some room...

Hang in there.

 

[Omashu]

I am getting p!st off too😡😡😡. This "man" (sounds like an advisor??? of some sort) should just keep his mouth shut up. I'm also hesitant about speaking to people about my plans, because I rather not hear their stupid oppinions. Ignore these A-holes

 

[Beau Geste]

mommy,

I have a similar background academically. My first two years of college had lots of Cs, a few Bs and even one D. I've worked my butt off to raise my GPA and have to somewhere in the 3.3-3.4 range (I'll know what AMCAS and AACOMAS give me the "official" word).

Anyway, early last year I went to talk to some admissions directors in IL. One school in particular on the south side of Chicago, a very well-respected, big name, had very positive things to say about my resume and application info. MCAT scores were all that were lacking (I just took them) and that was the only iffy part.

So, my point is, I'm in my 30's and this guy was very open to me. Sounds like your advisor is a jerk. Maybe you could talk to one of your professors in the program and use him/her as an advisor!

 

[mommy2three]

This sounds very frantic and harried and crazy-making to me. You've probably discussed this elsewhere, but is this program worth it? Are you doing it to improve your med school app? Are you sure it'll do that?

It sounds like you're trying to shoehorn a regular masters into an SMP schedule. True? Did you look at SMPs? Maybe Loyola still has some room...

Hang in there.

i have been taking classes for a year as a grad student at large so i have already completed some of the requirements...which is why i have so few left.
i am also transferring some classes as i did the smp at rfu and missed the darn gpa cutoff by one question on the biochem final. due to that i had (before last yr) a 2.88 grad gpa which was not competitive at all and needed to be raised above a 3.0.

 

[mommy2three]

mommy,

I have a similar background academically. My first two years of college had lots of Cs, a few Bs and even one D. I've worked my butt off to raise my GPA and have to somewhere in the 3.3-3.4 range (I'll know what AMCAS and AACOMAS give me the "official" word).

Anyway, early last year I went to talk to some admissions directors in IL. One school in particular on the south side of Chicago, a very well-respected, big name, had very positive things to say about my resume and application info. MCAT scores were all that were lacking (I just took them) and that was the only iffy part.

So, my point is, I'm in my 30's and this guy was very open to me. Sounds like your advisor is a jerk. Maybe you could talk to one of your professors in the program and use him/her as an advisor!

i wish i could use someone else...unfortunately this man is the head of the program so it is him or bust 🙁
i am waiting to hear from the head of the bioinformatics program so we shall see if i can transfer....i am hoping i can.

 

[sehnsucht]

I agree. In academics and clinical medicine, there will always be a lot of difficult people. Lord knows I have had to deal with a few people that really tested my patience and belief in my desire to pursue medicine. Thankfully, these difficult people are not representative of the larger body of people that will support and guide you in becoming a great doctor. I suggest that you seek out the advice of other people that can offer a much more constructive evaluation of your potential.

I had the opportunity to meet with an adcom last year at a well respected university while I was looking for a job. He had some very positive things to say about my application, background and potential to be part of the entering class at his university's medical school. Even though he didn't give me a job at his lab, I found his input to be very encouraging because his reason was that I may very well not stick around long enough at his lab to work since I was applying to med school the same year. Although I didn't get a job, I got a great eval of what an adcom at his university might look for in an admission because I was really not sure if I was even competitive as an applicant.

Aren't there any other professors that can vouch for you? I know he is the program chair but there should be someone else who is as influential. Since chairs rotate every so often, maybe someone who held the seat previously?

 

[Beau Geste]

i wish i could use someone else...unfortunately this man is the head of the program so it is him or bust 🙁
i am waiting to hear from the head of the bioinformatics program so we shall see if i can transfer....i am hoping i can.

I'm sorry 🙁

I've come across a few jerks in my time, too. Anatomical sciences might help you with the anatomy/cadaver portion of med school, but I think bioinformatics will help you more in the long run in a career in medicine, especially with the genome.

 

[Beau Geste]

i wish i could use someone else...unfortunately this man is the head of the program so it is him or bust 🙁
i am waiting to hear from the head of the bioinformatics program so we shall see if i can transfer....i am hoping i can.

BTW - does your advisor have the initials MJ? I think I know what program you're talking about (I'm in IL too)

 

[mommy2three]

BTW - does your advisor have the initials MJ? I think I know what program you're talking about (I'm in IL too)

mj is the advisor of the bioinformatic program and he seems to be really cool.
the guy i am talking about is the director of the anatomical sciences program...last name starts with h.

btw i spent two yrs at siu in radio-television.....that was a long time ago. *sigh* but to this day i still miss maryann's biscuits and gravy......😍

 

[mommy2three]

Aren't there any other professors that can vouch for you? I know he is the program chair but there should be someone else who is as influential. Since chairs rotate every so often, maybe someone who held the seat previously?

it is not as much vouching for me as i know i can count on a few of my other profs i had to get solid lor's.
it is the fact that he seems as if he is going to make it virtually impossible for me to even attempt to complete the program.....if you do something like this and eed to work with someone on a project then you need them in your corner and he has made it clear that he will not be in my corner.

 

[Beau Geste]

mj is the advisor of the bioinformatic program and he seems to be really cool.
the guy i am talking about is the director of the anatomical sciences program...last name starts with h.

btw i spent two yrs at siu in radio-television.....that was a long time ago. *sigh* but to this day i still miss maryann's biscuits and gravy......😍

Mary Lou passed away December of last year 🙁 But her restaurant is still open. I've been lucky to get down there a couple times already this year (my brother is at SIU, my best friend in Murphysboro and my parents live about 45 minutes from C'dale).

Oh yes, I know what professor you are referring to. I took Genetics at that university with Polans and I loved his class. I heard gossip among the other students about some of the other professors and kept mental note if I decided to take more upper-level courses later on.

 

[mommy2three]

Mary Lou passed away December of last year 🙁 But her restaurant is still open. I've been lucky to get down there a couple times already this year (my brother is at SIU, my best friend in Murphysboro and my parents live about 45 minutes from C'dale).

Oh yes, I know what professor you are referring to. I took Genetics at that university with Polans and I loved his class. I heard gossip among the other students about some of the other professors and kept mental note if I decided to take more upper-level courses later on.

i am sorry to hear she passed away 🙁 i have many a fond memory of being there on a sunday morning eating breakfast with my buds. glad to hear the restaurant is still open though...it is an institution there on campus practically.

i'm off to pm you for other info

 

[Beau Geste]

LOL - yeah the Daily Egyptian did an article on Parent's Day at SIU and joked about how the students all take their parents there since it's such an SIU institution.

The biscuits and gravy rock, and the coffee is great!

 

[mommy2three]

yahoo!!👍
i can request that my major be transferred....yipee!!!

now off to figure out which classes i will be registering for in the fall

 

[Beau Geste]

Awesome!

Got your PM - I think the bioinformatics will work well for you. It seems interesting enough for me but I'm not very adept at computer languages 😳

It's something I looked over in the event I don't get into med school.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

now whether it is because i am a mommy, i am older or i am a woman or a combination of all three it does not matter but he made it perfectly clear that he felt med school was not an option for me

It's nice that you assume it is one of these three things and not potentially something else that you may be overlooking...

 

[Beau Geste]

DKM, I can vouch for knowing who she's talking about and the attitude.

Be nice!

 

[DropkickMurphy]

DKM, I can vouch for knowing who she's talking about and the attitude.

Be nice!

OK, I was just making sure she wasn't reading more into the situation.....I was NOT trying to be nasty or spiteful. I've just seen way too many people who immediately cry discriminationwhen they don't get the warm and fuzzy response they were expecting.

 

[Beau Geste]

I know what you're saying - especially on SDN 😉

Finally one case that's justified!

 

[mommy2three]

It's nice that you assume it is one of these three things and not potentially something else that you may be overlooking...

i do not whine very often nor do i complain very often (as i know is all to common here on sdn)
but if you could have been in the room and heard the tone in which he spoke to me when he proported the "good salary" i could make as a community college teacher of anatomy and how in demand i would be.....
or if you heard the things he said to me about how i needed to consider my familya nd what i would be putting them through to go to med school (something which trust me has been discussed at my household ad nauseum) without knowing my situation then you would come to the same conclusions.

 

[biopsychmajor]

I totally feel your frustration. I am going through the same thing except in my case, it's my pre-med advisor. I also don't know why he seems to have so little faith my making it to medical school and when I broach the subject, he skates around the issue. He's knows about my bad GPA over 20 years ago when I started college fresh out of high school but doesn't know how bad. I ahve talked to advisors at both osteopathic and allopathic schools who say I still have a good shot at getting in as long as my other grades are pretty good and my MCAT is pretty good as well (~30 or above). This makes me even madder with my advisor because instead of being able to use him for the resource he is supposed to be, I have to constantly email and call medical schools myself......but you do what you gotta to get what you want!

Good luck! I'm pretty sure you'll do well in your post-bacc AND get into the medical school of your choice!