Happy Friday OPMs!
A few questions for anyone who has successfully engaged the Adcoms at prospective schools…
How did you gain audience?
Today, I called my current #1 choice and carefully explained that I am a non-traditional prospective applicant seeking more information about the school and requested an appointment for admissions counseling to get a read on my plan for pre-reqs, LORs, etc. I was told that they don’t meet with prospective students and was promptly shuffled off to the pre-med advising department for the post-bacc program. I realize it’s application season and they’re busy, but I was taken aback by what felt like a brushoff. I went ahead an made a pre-med advising appointment, but I’m not confident I’ll get my questions answered.
Anyone have an experience like this?
Is this typical for a school with an associated post-bacc program?
At present, I have no other options besides a DIY post-bacc with some CC and online courses. I’d like to get a read from the school on my plan as I’ve read other OPMs have done.
I’d much appreciate any advice.
Have a blessed weekend!
Hello! And a happy Friday to you as well. 
I’ll try to help as much as I can, with what I know and have experienced in the last several years.
About getting that audience:
You’re right – it’s application season, and almost the start of the new school year too. These offices are VERY busy. No offense to you personally, but you are not their priority right now, not even close. Admissions office staff are trying to tie up loose ends with people who start medical school in a month, and soon start figuring out who to interview for the next time around. If you want to contact an admissions office, the best time (from what I was told) is sometime in the spring. I’m not sure what your timeline is … Maybe you could call the office back and explain that you know they’re busy, so when would be a better time (month/week of year) to talk to someone in the office?
Realize that they may not ever meet with you; the best you may get is a phone conversation with someone (at a future date). Many medical schools won’t officially meet with prospective students, period. Some won’t even give official tours (I ran into that when I wanted to visit Emory). Others will do both. It all depends on the school’s policies, which may depend on the school’s resources and budget. Or they may not.
Getting the go-ahead from your #1 on your pre-med plans is great, but it’s not always possible. And plus, your #1 may not be where you go–it certainly shouldn’t be the only place you apply. So your “plan” really should work for a number of schools.
Note: You mentioned online courses–some schools take issue with these (by not accepting them at all), so that is one thing you want to be especially careful and mindful of.
You should be able to get what you truly need from the MSAR (which, if you haven’t already purchased, you should! immediately!). The MSAR is the pre-med “bible,” with requirements and other critical information listed for all U.S. MD schools. DO schools have a similar document, although I am not familiar with it (you can Google it I’m sure). Also, school Websites are usually pretty comprehensive in terms of what they accept and/or don’t accept. If you do talk to someone in the admissions office, what you should really do is make sure you’ve done your homework (including what their requirements are) so that your questions are specific to you and your situation. You should avoid asking anything that you could find answered on their Website. This will just annoy them. And that’s the last thing you want!
My advice is this: take that post-bac pre-med advising appointment, if you can. It doesn’t hurt to hear what they have to say. If you don’t get your questions answered there, ask (while you have someone in front of you) who CAN answer your questions. Maybe the post-bac appointment will serve as your foot in the door to talking to someone in the medical school office, who knows? The worst they can do is say “no.” And if you don’t ask, they can’t say “yes.”
Good luck … keep us posted on how it goes!
I only gained an audience by attending an open house. Other than basic, single questions, I didn’t get much help from any admissions office. Some wouldn’t even respond to email questions. I think most people get their admissions counseling through their undergrad program. Since I didn’t have that opportunity, I turned heavily to OPM and leaned on my mentors.