Group Advising for Premed
and PA Students
Monday Evening
September 1, 2014
•
For those interested in medical school, an health careers advisor will present
information and answer questions at the following times and locations:
– Freshmen: 8:00-8:45 pm, There will be two simultaneous sessions in rooms
RMSC 122 (The Pit) and RMSC 121. Please bring your course schedules.
– Sophomores: 8:45-9:30 pm in RMSC 122.
– Juniors (and Seniors applying in Summer 2015): 9:30-10:15 pm in RMSC 121.
•
For those interested in Physician Assistant (PA) programs, meet with an advisor in
RMSC 121 at 8:45-9:30 pm (all years)
PREMED ADVISING
Freshmen:
Freshman Premed Advising
• What is premed?
• Ultimately, medical school admissions committees
want to know 3 things:
1. Can you handle the academic rigors of medical
school?
2. Why do you want to be a doctor… do you want
to be a doctor for the “right” reasons?
3. Do you have the diverse set of skills necessary
to be a good doctor?
Freshman Premed Advising
1. Can you handle the academic rigors of medical
school?
 GPA
 Academic Coursework
 MCAT
Freshman Premed Advising
• Courses and academic work:
– This Fall: Should be taking either BIO 150, CHEM 123, or PSY 150.
– For those who do well this semester there should be the opportunity to take BOTH
BIO or PSY 151 AND CHE 123 in spring.
– Courses to meet the standards of, and prepare for, the MCAT:
• Biology courses: we recommend a minimum of genetics, cell, and physiology for those
not majoring in biology
• 4 semesters of chemistry and 2 semesters of physics
• Biochemistry (CHE 302 Biochemistry or BIO 433 Cellular Biochemistry)
• Psychology/sociology courses for non-psych majors: recommend PSY 110 and SOC 210
• Summer school may be required to fit all of that in before MCAT (end of Jr year)
– Courses that are requirements for medical school admissions?
– Although not required for SC med schools, many require 2 semesters of college-level math;
we suggest 1 calc, 1 stats. Stats early on since this will help with courses and MCAT prep.
• Magic Number for GPA: 3.3
FYI:
• Wofford’s acceptance rate quite a bit higher than the national average.
• Since 1994, 78% of Wofford applicants in good academic standing were
accepted.
– Students were considered in good academic standing if they had at
least a 3.3 GPA and 25 MCAT
• Most go to home state schools. We currently have students going to
MUSC, USC, Cornell, Emory, and Wake Forest. We also have many
going to osteopathic schools, especially VCOM.
• Average ACCEPTED from Wofford last year:
– 3.67 BCPM GPA
– 3.71 overall GPA
– 30 MCAT (~78th percentile)
Freshman Premed Advising
1. Can you handle the academic rigors of medical
school?
2. Why do you want to be a doctor… do you want
to be a doctor for the “right” reasons?
3. Do you have the diverse set of skills necessary
to be a good doctor?
Freshman Premed Advising
• Ways to strengthen your application and allow admissions to answer the
questions 2 and 3:
• Faculty evaluations
• Recommendation letter written by a committee of all your science
professors
• Get to know faculty by active participation in lab and lecture, lab assisting,
doing research, some sort of thesis, etc.
• Clinical experience
• Recommend most of these acquired in Junior year. Why?
• “Set yourself apart”:
• Specialty area of study: computational science, medical humanities,
neuroscience program
• Study abroad
• Fluency in Spanish
• Research experience
• “Leadership” and service to the community
• It is more about depth of experiences not creating a long laundry list!!!
Freshman Premed Advising
If you have questions or need more information:
1) See the following website:
http://dept.wofford.edu/HealthCareers/
2) See one of the pre-med advisors
PREMED ADVISING
Sophomores
Sophomore Premed Advising
• Ultimately, medical school admissions committees
want to know 3 things:
1. Can you handle the academic rigors of medical
school?
2. Why do you want to be a doctor… do you want
to be a doctor for the “right” reasons?
3. Do you have the diverse set of skills necessary
to be a good doctor?
Sophomore Premed Advising
1. Can you handle the academic rigors of medical
school?
 GPA
 Academic Coursework
 MCAT
Sophomore Premed Advising
• Courses and academic work:
– Should be taking both BIO 212 and CHEM 123. If you’ve already taken one of
those, substitute organic or physics.
– Courses to meet the standards of, and prepare for, the MCAT:
• Biology courses: we recommend a minimum of genetics, cell, and physiology for those
not majoring in biology
• 4 semesters of chemistry and 2 semesters of physics
• Biochemistry (CHE 302 Biochemistry or BIO 433 Cellular Biochemistry)
• Psychology/sociology courses for non-psych majors: recommend PSY 110 AND SOC 210
• Summer school may be required to fit all of that in before MCAT (end of Jr year)
– Courses that are requirements for medical school admissions?
– Although not required for SC med schools, many require 2 semesters of college-level math;
we suggest 1 calc, 1 stats. Stats early on since this will help with courses and MCAT prep.
• Magic Number for GPA: 3.3
FYI:
• Wofford’s acceptance rate quite a bit higher than the national average.
• Since 1994, 78% of Wofford applicants in good academic standing were
accepted.
– Students were considered in good academic standing if they had at
least a 3.3 GPA and 25 MCAT
• Most go to home state schools. We currently have students going to
MUSC, USC, Cornell, Emory, and Wake Forest. We also have many
going to osteopathic schools, especially VCOM.
• Average ACCEPTED from Wofford last year:
– 3.67 BCPM GPA
– 3.71 overall GPA
– 30 MCAT (~78th percentile)
Sophomore Premed Advising
1. Can you handle the academic rigors of medical
school?
2. Why do you want to be a doctor… do you want
to be a doctor for the “right” reasons?
3. Do you have the diverse set of skills necessary
to be a good doctor?
Sophomore Premed Advising
• Ways to strengthen your application and allow admissions to answer the
questions 2 and 3:
• Faculty evaluations
• Recommendation letter written by a committee of all your science
professors
• Get to know faculty by active participation in lab and lecture, lab assisting,
doing research, some sort of thesis, etc.
• Clinical experience
• Recommend most of these acquired in Junior year. Why?
• “Set yourself apart”:
• Specialty area of study: computational science, medical humanities,
neuroscience program
• Study abroad-NEED TO PLAN AHEAD!!!
• Fluency in Spanish
• Research experience
• “Leadership” and service to the community
• It is more about depth of experiences not creating a long laundry list!!!
Sophomore Premed Advising
If you have questions or need more information:
1) See the following website:
http://dept.wofford.edu/HealthCareers/
2) See one of the pre-med advisors
PREMED ADVISING
Juniors
Junior Premed Advising
• Courses and academic work:
– Should be taking both BIO 212 and CHEM 123. If you’ve already taken one of
those, substitute organic or physics.
– Courses to meet the standards of, and prepare for, the MCAT:
• Biology courses: we recommend a minimum of genetics, cell, and physiology for those
not majoring in biology
• 4 semesters of chemistry and 2 semesters of physics
• Biochemistry (CHE 302 Biochemistry or BIO 433 Cellular Biochemistry)
• Psychology/sociology courses for non-psych majors: recommend PSY 110 AND SOC 210
– Neither has a lab and both have openings this semester.
• Summer school may be required to fit all of that in before MCAT (end of Jr year)
– Courses that are requirements for medical school admissions?
– Although not required for SC med schools, many require 2 semesters of college-level math;
we suggest 1 calc, 1 stats. Stats early on since this will help with courses and MCAT prep.
• Magic Number for GPA: 3.3
Junior Premed Advising
• Ultimately admissions committees want to know 3
things:
1. Can you handle the academic rigors of medical
school?
2. Why do you want to be a doctor… do you want
to be a doctor for the “right” reasons?
3. Do you have the diverse set of skills necessary
to be a good doctor?
Junior Premed Advising
• Other things that strengthen your application and allow admissions to
answer the questions above:
• Clinical experience
– Recommend most of these acquired in Junior year
– Interim
– Document: “clinical evaluation forms” on web site
• “Leadership” and service to the community
• Faculty evaluations
• Get to know faculty by lab assisting; doing research; some sort of thesis.
• “Set yourself apart”:
• Specialty area of study: computational science, medical humanities,
neuroscience program
• Study abroad
• Fluency in Spanish
• Research experience
• It is more about depth of experiences not creating a long laundry list!!!
FYI:
• Wofford’s acceptance rate quite a bit higher than the national average.
• Since 1994, 78% of Wofford applicants in good academic standing were
accepted.
– Students were considered in good academic standing if they had at
least a 3.3 GPA and 25 MCAT
• Most go to home state schools. We currently have students going to
MUSC, USC, Cornell, Emory, and Wake Forest. We also have many
going to osteopathic schools, especially VCOM.
• Average ACCEPTED from Wofford last year:
– 3.67 BCPM GPA
– 3.71 overall GPA
– 30 MCAT (~78th percentile)
HELL BEGINS DECEMBER 15…..
•
•
•
•
•
Importance of that MCAT!
Average getting into SC = 29-30.
Kaplan?
Interim
COME DECEMBER 15, THE MCAT NEEDS TO BE YOUR TOP
PRIORITY. PERIOD.
• COME DECEMBER 15, THE MCAT NEEDS TO BE YOUR TOP
PRIORITY. PERIOD.
• COME DECEMBER 15, THE MCAT NEEDS TO BE YOUR TOP
PRIORITY. PERIOD.
• ‘B+’ and ‘A-’ examples…
• AAMC will now report scores, confident intervals, and percentiles
• Scores on the 4 individual exams will range from 118 to 132.
• The confidence interval will give test evaluators (medical school
admissions) a range of what an individual score likely represents.
• Current average Wofford MCAT 2014 score of 30 (out of 45) is equivalent
to the 78th percentile.
Junior Premed Advising
If you have questions or need more information:
1) See the following website:
http://dept.wofford.edu/HealthCareers/
2) See one of the pre-med advisors
3) Make copy of “Premed Advising Letter” and
become aware of schedule and deadlines