What do you talk about with pre-med advisors?

[WSUCougar2012]

I'm an incoming freshman at a medium - large state school and I have an appointment with a pre-med advisor. What do I talk about?

What do you guys normally talk about with pre-med advisors? She seems like a really nice person and she wants to help me (there aren't many pre-meds at my school) so she'll remember me and I don't want to go in looking like an idiot.

Any tips or suggestions? Thanks! 🙂

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[Terpskins99]

I'm an incoming freshman at a medium - large state school and I have an appointment with a pre-med advisor. What do I talk about?

What do you guys normally talk about with pre-med advisors? She seems like a really nice person and she wants to help me (there aren't many pre-meds at my school) so she'll remember me and I don't want to go in looking like an idiot.

Any tips or suggestions? Thanks! 🙂

Well, she knows you're an incoming freshman so don't worry so much. Be honest with her. Ask for advice. It might be a good idea to ask her what pitfalls to avoid that typically road-block students from getting into med school. Usually its common sense, but having someone actually telling it to you can really hammer the message home.

 

[Tired]

What do you guys normally talk about with pre-med advisors?

Nothing. Do not speak with them. Do not join the premed club.

Read the SDN guide, do some fun stuff while you're in college, get good grades, and take the MCAT.

Premed advisors give you unnecessary stress, and their input is frequently questionable or downright false.

Think about it, why would you take advice from a "pre-med advisor" who never went to medical school?

 

[Bacchus]

While I agree that some pre-med advisors are "useless," if this person is going to help the student then its best to make a positive relationship. In my experience, which isn't unique, but isn't too common, I have to have a relationship with my pre-med advisor because she is also the sole member on the committee and she has the responsibility of compiling my "committee" letter from the 6 letters submitted by faculty members.

 

[Terpskins99]

Nothing. Do not speak with them. Do not join the premed club.

Read the SDN guide, do some fun stuff while you're in college, get good grades, and take the MCAT.

Premed advisors give you unnecessary stress, and their input is frequently questionable or downright false.

Think about it, why would you take advice from a "pre-med advisor" who never went to medical school?

I don't think it hurts to talk to them. Talking to hundreds of other pre-meds gives them some idea of what you're up against. Just don't make them your only reference source (e.g. check again with SDN).

The one thing I didn't appreciate about my pre-med adviser was his attempting to discourage me from pursuing medicine (which I felt was entirely inappropriate). If something like that happens, then you should consider seeking alternative advice.

 

[deleted74029]

Pre-med advisors usually either really suck or are really awesome. From my random sampling I've found that about 90% are in the suckage category.

 

[engineeredout]

Premed advisors are worthless. The one I spoke too didn't know ANYTHING about DO schools.

The only reason I deal with them at all is because med schools require that premed committee letter.

 

[HurricaneKatt]

I Love my premed advisor. He's given me pretty good advice so far (advice that thus far has been seconded by the majority on SDN). And Premed club is fun and a great way to get involved and a way to interact with fellow premeds and see what they're doing.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Mine absolutely sucked. I wouldn't communicate much outside of letting them know what you have been up to, what classes you are taking, and any shadowing/EC's/volunteering you have been doing. Outside of that, nothing. I only say mention those things so that person can actually put stuff down in the committee letter. Outside of that use SDN and take the MCAT, as Tired mentioned above.

 

[ylrebmik]

Nothing. Do not speak with them. Do not join the premed club.

Read the SDN guide, do some fun stuff while you're in college, get good grades, and take the MCAT.

Premed advisors give you unnecessary stress, and their input is frequently questionable or downright false.

Think about it, why would you take advice from a "pre-med advisor" who never went to medical school?

whats wrong with pre-med club?

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

whats wrong with pre-med club?

The most useless club you can ever join, also a lame one while at it.


Doesn't score you any points outside of dropping a some cash.

 

[Caesar]

I'm an incoming freshman at a medium - large state school and I have an appointment with a pre-med advisor. What do I talk about?

What do you guys normally talk about with pre-med advisors? She seems like a really nice person and she wants to help me (there aren't many pre-meds at my school) so she'll remember me and I don't want to go in looking like an idiot.

Any tips or suggestions? Thanks! 🙂

Tell her what you want to do and ask her what she thinks you need to do. Keep in mind that ultimately it is your responsibility and not hers, many premeds make that mistake. They can guide you and answer questions. I do recommend the SDN Pre Med guide. Maybe you should ask her if the school has one and if not tell her they should look into it.

Premed advisors are worthless. The one I spoke too didn't know ANYTHING about DO schools.

The only reason I deal with them at all is because med schools require that premed committee letter.

All Premed advisers are not represented by this one. Some are terrible, some are awesome. Figure out what yours is like and prepare accordingly.

The most useless club you can ever join, also a lame one while at it.


Doesn't score you any points outside of dropping a some cash.

Ours visits med schools and hosts visits from directors of admissions, allowing students to talk with them one on one. I'd say that's a bit more than dropping some cash. Others may be different than the one you heard about in college.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Tell her what you want to do and ask her what she thinks you need to do. Keep in mind that ultimately it is your responsibility and not hers, many premeds make that mistake. They can guide you and answer questions. I do recommend the SDN Pre Med guide. Maybe you should ask her if the school has one and if not tell her they should look into it.



All Premed advisers are not represented by this one. Some are terrible, some are awesome. Figure out what yours is like and prepare accordingly.



Ours visits med schools and hosts visits from directors of admissions, allowing students to talk with them one on one. I'd say that's a bit more than dropping some cash. Others may be different than the one you heard about in college.

Even if your college premed club did that, you wouldn't have to be a paid member to partake in that.

 

[Caesar]

Even if your college premed club did that, you wouldn't have to be a paid member to partake in that.

No the dues pay for the food at the events/ meetings, and the transportation costs for visiting schools.

 

[WSUCougar2012]

How do you figure out if they suck or not? I talked to mine at orientation and she seemed really nice and knowledgeable. Am I buying into the first impression too much?

 

[DrYoda]

How do you figure out if they suck or not? I talked to mine at orientation and she seemed really nice and knowledgeable. Am I buying into the first impression too much?

She very well may know what she is talking about, but my advice for dealing with anyone in life is to take their advice and then check into it for yourself to be sure.

 

[Winged Scapula]

How do you figure out if they suck or not? I talked to mine at orientation and she seemed really nice and knowledgeable. Am I buying into the first impression too much?

She may very well be knowledgeable. Niceness and knowledge are not mutually exclusive.

Its tempting to place trust in authority figures but it can be misplaced sometimes (having listened to my HS guidance counselor which left me 10 years off track before I realized he was wrong).

You figure out if she knows what she's talking about by verifying what she says. If she tells you that, for example, you can't get loans for medical school because your parents make too much (what my counselor told me) you check here on SDN, you read other resources and use the multiple sources to make up your mind as to the veracity of what she tells you. See if you feel comfortable with the answers to your questions. But like most things in life, you can never have too much information, so keep asking, keep looking. You'll soon learn as to whether or not she's nice AND knowledgeable.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Agreed.

I wish I had heard of SDN prior to applying for med school -- honestly, I had no idea what SDN was before then. A lot of you college freshmen are ahead of the ball game, as this is a great site for information. What's scary is HS'ers are on this site, what's next -- junior high kids asking for the best prep schools in the country?

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

No the dues pay for the food at the events/ meetings, and the transportation costs for visiting schools.

Again, let the others pay. Doesn't mean you necessarily have to.

We never got food. I got hosed 🙁

 

[ylrebmik]

Agreed.

I wish I had heard of SDN prior to applying for med school -- honestly, I had no idea what SDN was before then. A lot of you college freshmen are ahead of the ball game, as this is a great site for information. What's scary is HS'ers are on this site, what's next -- junior high kids asking for the best prep schools in the country?

Thats funny because I am a high school senior and I worry that junior high kids will get just as obsessive and looking at things like this. haha but I finally have a reason... I'm finally applying to undergrad. working on my essays right now.

I joined uhh last year I think? but I was actually searching for a high school forum with aspiring vet students or looking for people on the same track as me because there's really nothing at my school and I was just looking for something like that. But I found SDN instead and I love it here. Out of any forum for pre-vet, vet med, etc this was my favorite because everyone here is so much more sincere and helpful. 🙂

Anyways, I don't like my high school counceller. He knows nothing about what I want to do. It's my senior year and he's trying to get me to take chorus, art, and foods. 1. I suck at singing and the only time I do is when my music is so loud it doesn't matter. 2. I'm not good at art no matter how hard I try. 3. Don't try my cooking. it kills. My parents and him conspired against me and they dropped both of my AP classes this year and replaced it with computer classes. But since enrollment is getting so large- I have a new councellor so I'm trying to make an appoinment to add US history but I don't know if I can work it in my crappy schedule 🙁 But he hasn't helped... at all.

 

[lemoncurry]

back to the original question about what you should ask...

Now, I'm not pre-med, but I'm sure some of the questions would be similar. Ask what classes you should take. Sounds like a no-brainer, and you should have an idea what classes med schools require, but maybe, if your advisor is good, she might have some recommendations for other really beneficial classes that perhaps you didn't think of. Also get an idea of when you should take those classes (i.e. a schedule).

Ask about what sorts of extracurriculars you should look into, in addition to shadowing. Perhaps they will have a good recommendation for whom you can shadow.

Ask if there's anything else you can do to better prepare yourself to be an outstanding applicant.

If you're not sure, ask about the application procedure and timeline.

Just some ideas...

 

[45408]

Nothing. Do not speak with them. Do not join the premed club.

Read the SDN guide, do some fun stuff while you're in college, get good grades, and take the MCAT.

Premed advisors give you unnecessary stress, and their input is frequently questionable or downright false.

Think about it, why would you take advice from a "pre-med advisor" who never went to medical school?

Why would a pre-med take advice from someone who hasn't applied to med school in 6-10 years? My advisor was actually really good, and she gave me a lot of good info. I actually stopped by her office a few days ago just to say hi, because we get along well. I'd recommend seeing the pre-med advisor and then asking SDN about some of the advice, but it's nice to have an advisor at your school, because s/he is familiar with your degree requirements, individual professors, etc.

And despite the significant amount of time I spent/wasted on pre-med club activities, it was actually the first pre-med club meeting I went to that really set me on the right track.

 

[45408]

The most useless club you can ever join, also a lame one while at it.


Doesn't score you any points outside of dropping a some cash.

You'll only get out of it what you put in. In hindsight, I put more into it than I should have, but I got a free trip to a few conferences, one of which basically amounted to a free 4-day vacation to Washington DC with two of my friends (fellow officers). I think we went to one of the actual seminars for about an hour before we headed out to see the sights.

 

[Tired]

Why would a pre-med take advice from someone who hasn't applied to med school in 6-10 years?

Because I was actually a successful applicant.

Also, given the other posters here (and the plethora of threads on this in pre-allo) your experience seems to be the exception, rather than the rule.

 

[SocialistMD]

I never met with a premed advisor until I found out it was required for my application. They were pretty worthless. They also had a habit of writing terrible letters that screwed a couple of my friends. I'd do the bare minimum that is required and do your own thing.

 

[Caesar]

Because I was actually a successful applicant.

Also, given the other posters here (and the plethora of threads on this in pre-allo) your experience seems to be the exception, rather than the rule.

In all fairness, who is going to start a "My adviser is completely satisfactory" thread? Complainers are just loud.