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: 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: 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 = Kaplan? Interim 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: 2)See one of the pre-med advisors 3)Make copy of “Premed Advising Letter” andPremed Advising Letter become aware of schedule and deadlines