PRE-MED ADVISORS

I noticed someone recently posted a comment about pre-med advisors at times being less than helpful, perhaps even harmful. I’m curious if this is across the board? Or are the chances better of getting helpful/accurate advising if the school has a designated pre-med advisor? The 4-year university I’ll be attending in the spring supplies the majority of the students to the state medical school (all part of the same university system). So I’m hoping the pre-med advisor that I’ll be meeting with should be on top of things? Or is there still cause for caution?

  • FutureMilitaryDoctor Said:
He then said to me "Whats for lunch cookie"? I have never been so angry in my entire life.



How ironic, I just watched this movie this past weekend for inspiration and to remind me of how much easier I have it today, even though what I'm doing isn't easy!!

Even funnier, is that I guess the so called advisor forgot how the story ended!

My premed "advisors" over the past few years are/have been adcom members. Personally, I don't see how you can get ANY better than that!

Generally, from the many students and pre-med advisers that I have spoken to they are not helpful as one could hope for. I think that is for 3 reasons:

  1. they are overworked/overwhelmed. Often they have many students all needing the committee letters, essays, etc at the same time and just seem swamped.

  2. many are not that experienced/knowledgeable as they should be. Example, the school where I am doing my post-bacc, the long-time premed adviser left and the job fell to a PhD in plant biology who self-admittedly had no experience or training in the area.

  3. many are cynical from the many students who do not have the grades, motivation, or more importantly, a clue to what they are doing.


    Add to this a lack of experience in dealing with the issue of non-trads and often the advisier is less than helpful.


    Having said all that, there are experienced and knowledgeable people out there. Part of the what OPM provides is a base of info that you can use when working with an adviser. Additionally, if the school has adviser who belongs to NAAHP, that may be a indicator of a higher level of knowledge and experience.





    http://www.naahp.org/prof_links.htm


    Lastly, there are private advisers and companies that assist in this process. Some like “our” Judy Colwell have experience in both premed as well as medical admissions. Also she somewhat specializes in non-trads. Some are good, some are not. Some do only specific items like edit essays. Be careful and comfortable before you decide to spend significant money on them.

I’m not sure there’s a clear answer to this question. My experience has been curiously mixed. When I first started my post-bacc, the Pre-Med advisor at my school was condescending just when I thought I needed encouragement the most. I thought that was as bad as it would get until I had to meet with an Arts and Sciences advisor. This one was encouraging but completely clueless. She didn’t even know what courses I needed for my program.


The next semester, everything began changing. I was assigned to a masters degreed Zoology advisor who happened to be married to my Organic professor. She has been my sergent at arms, making sure I got the courses I wanted regardless of closings, over-enrollment, whatever. About the same time I noticed the Pre-Med Advisor coming around.


I don’t know if she had an epiphany or just noticed that I was seriously making progress. Now that I’m in the application process, she is a devoted advocate. The same advisor who said, in not so many words, that I was wasting my time two years ago seems certain that acceptance is just a matter of time and determination now. BTW She is an NAAHP member. I understand that they not only have standards but also provide a network of resources for their members.

  • gonnif Said:
Generally, from the many students and pre-med advisers that I have spoken to they are not helpful as one could hope for. I think that is for 3 reasons:

1) they are overworked/overwhelmed. Often they have many students all needing the committee letters, essays, etc at the same time and just seem swamped.

2) many are not that experienced/knowledgeable as they should be. Example, the school where I am doing my post-bacc, the long-time premed adviser left and the job fell to a PhD in plant biology who self-admittedly had no experience or training in the area.

3) many are cynical from the many students who do not have the grades, motivation, or more importantly, a clue to what they are doing.

Add to this a lack of experience in dealing with the issue of non-trads and often the advisier is less than helpful.

Having said all that, there are experienced and knowledgeable people out there. Part of the what OPM provides is a base of info that you can use when working with an adviser. Additionally, if the school has adviser who belongs to NAAHP, that may be a indicator of a higher level of knowledge and experience.



http://www.naahp.org/prof_links.htm





Let me address the issue about good advisors being members of NAAHP. Well, most all pre-med advisors who are associated with an undergraduate institution are members of NAAHP. It goes with the territory. But, some of them can be pretty inexperienced.

As for working with your college advisor, let me share some of my situation. Most of you know my Admissions history. What many may not know is that I do pre-med advising at Stanford virtually every September/October during part of the week. I help out the two very busy full-time pre-med advisors. My schedule looks like this: a different student just about every 1/2 hr. It's exhausting and exhilarating both. When I'm doing mock interview with students, I get them for 45 minutes. It's better than nothing, but I'd like to have more time.

For schools with tons of pre-med students, it's very difficult to book on-going time with a pre-med advisor. There are just too many students to try to see. But these folks are doing the best they can within the constraints of the school budget and the number of students they need to help through the process.

And most college advisors just don't know what to do with a seriously non-traditional applicant.

Cheers,

Judy

… and this prompts me to recall my mom’s maxim, “God helps those who help themselves.” I certainly got the impression that a lot of pre-meds go in to the advisor’s office hoping that someone would tell them what to do, how to do it, when to do it, etc. etc.


As with any other relationship, you’re more likely to get something OUT of it if you put a lot INTO it. So I suggest that OPMs help themselves – collect data here and elsewhere, and go to your pre-med advisor with specific questions and goals. Some of them will still be clueless and still not have the first idea of how to help you, but others will take a cue from your efforts and help you more, because you’ve started the process and you’ve demonstrated to them that you are proactive.


I know, it’s not going to work for everyone in every situation but it certainly can’t hurt.


Mary

I can’t agree more with Mary! Being a non-trad, most of us have experience working in the “real world” - where nothing is given to us free. We have experience in going out there and getting what we want, so why should that change in something as important as going back to school to fulfill your dreams?


I would try to contact the school(s) of your choice and use their counselors. For example, the D.O. school I eventually plan on attending assigns counselors to students, based on their last names. I went to meet with my counselor and she was amazing - completely different from what I heard from my own ugrad pre-med advisor. Also - don’t take something from one person as the LAW. That means anyone: pre-med counselor, cousin: Dr. so-and-so, friend from any chat forum like this. Be smart when soliciting advice. This is your FUTURE… you have to make this most of it. That means carefully researching all aspects of what anyone “says” you SHOULD do!


Hope that helps…