Advising Health and Legal Professions Students

This column examines common misperceptions about pre-health, pre-med, and pre-law students.

Advising Pre-Health Students

by Christine Richmond

The freshmen are here!  Where did the summer go? While students were off studying abroad, doing internships, or taking classes, we were all busy with Preview presentations, catching up on our to-do lists, and preparing for fall.  The freshmen are here and, as always, there are a few thousand who dream of a career in the health professions. We love their enthusiasm, their eager faces, and their excitement of being a Gator.  But with freshmen come questions, and lots of them.  One of the most common questions we get during Preview is “What is the best major for pre-health?”  It’s funny how many different misconceptions are out there.  Some students think they have to be a biology major to have the “best chance,” while others think they need something out-of-the-box so they stand out to admission committees and don’t “look like everyone else.”  So what’s the truth?  What a student majors in really does NOT matter.  Statistically speaking, there is no greater chance of admission for science majors, humanities majors, or social science majors.  These all have roughly the same admission rates based on the number of applicants.

Still, we do have some advice for pre-health freshmen who are deciding on a major.   If they choose a science major, it’s important for them to have a well-rounded curriculum that includes some non-science courses.  I tell students every day that medicine is a lot more than science -- there’s a social side, a humanistic side, and an ethical side to health care. They need to prepare themselves to work with diverse groups of people who will be their future patients.  So courses that teach them about different cultures, religions, languages, or societal issues can be valuable. If you want some ideas to share with your students, see our handout of pre-health course suggestions.  Conversely, if they are non-science majors, we recommend that they take some upper-division science courses beyond the prerequisites if they can.  Students should ask themselves:  What am I truly interested in learning?  What would I major in if I weren’t pre-health?  What might fit in with a back-up plan if I change my mind about going into healthcare? 

We all know students tend to do better in course work that interests them, so encourage them to explore the wide variety of options UF has to offer and find a major that they’ll love. Also, please encourage any pre-health freshmen you see to watch or attend the Pre-Health 101 and MCAT 2015 workshops. These contain important information that they all should be aware of. Students can now register for and view workshops on the pre-health website from the comfort of their own room.

Did you know?

We have a new Pre-Health advisor on our team!  Mandi Santos joined the AAC in the spring and has been busy training to see pre-health students all year. She’s now fully on-board and is seeing all levels of pre-health students. We’re so excited to have her!

Advising Pre-Law Students:  A Peek into the LSAT

by Sara Mock

It’s very common for students to think that they need to pursue a variety of law-related courses during their undergraduate years to effectively prepare for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), the half-day standardized test which must be taken for admission to most law schools; however, the LSAT is not like a mini bar exam; in fact, it requires no legal knowledge.  Instead, the test measures logical analysis and analytical reasoning skills considered important for the study of law.  It’s composed of five 35 minute multiple-choice sections (although one section is experimental and not counted for scoring purposes). The test sections are divided into reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning. There is also a required writing sample that isn’t scored; however, copies of this sample are sent to the law schools that the student applies to.

Would you like to take a peek at the LSAT to see why it is, for many students, such an anxiety-inducing component of the law school application process?  If so, visit the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) website for some sample questions with answers and detailed explanations.  The website also provides additional tips to help students prepare for the LSAT.  As always, please let anyone on our pre-law advising team (Liz Kazungu, Sara Mock, Nick Mrozinske, and Lou Powers) know if you have any questions.  We’re happy to help!

Advising Health and Legal Professions Students

by Christine Richmond

The “Advising Health and Legal Professions Students” column examines common misperceptions about pre-health and pre-med students.

Christine Richmond

Pre-Health Myth #2:  All that students need to get into medical school (or dental, veterinary, etc.) is a good GPA and a high test score.

Professional schools look for a lot more than just a good test score and GPA.  Most schools use a holistic review of applicants that looks at everything from how they’ve demonstrated their motivation for the profession, to letters of recommendation, and personal characteristics.  Students often like to ask the question “What looks good?”  When they ask, we try to have them to take a different perspective.  Rather than ask what looks good, they should ask how they can prepare themselves as an undergraduate student to be a better health professional in the future.  Everything they think they “have” to do, has a purpose.  Shadowing exposes them to different settings and specialties within healthcare and can confirm that they’ve made the right choice of profession.  Volunteering exposes them to the patient and caretaker’s perspectives, allows them to work with different kinds of people, develops their cultural competency, and helps them discover what their own strengths and weaknesses may be.  Research can help them develop valuable critical thinking skills and an awareness of research methodologies they may use to evaluate medical literature.  

These activities are valued by professional schools for a reason.  It’s the student’s job to demonstrate their passions, interests, and dedication to their future career through the activities they choose to participate in.  It’s often easy to spot the application of a student who is simply checking off boxes as they go through their undergraduate experience as opposed to one who is truly invested in what they’re doing.  Many of you work with pre-health students, especially incoming students who are eager to do whatever they think they should do to be a competitive applicant. The next time one of them asks “What looks good?” encourage them to think about how they can demonstrate their interests, strengths, and preparation for the profession through their activities rather than just check off boxes.  Academic preparation is important, but that alone is not enough. Remind them that admission to a professional school is a short term goal, while practicing as an excellent professional is the long term, lifelong goal.

Did you know?

The UF College of Medicine offers a new early admission program for students interested in Rural and Urban Medicine (RUUM).  The goal of the program is to recruit and enroll undergraduate juniors who are academically excellent and who can demonstrate a sincere interest in rural or urban medicine and in practicing medicine to underserved populations.  RUUM is a 4/4 (eight year) BS or BA/MD degree program that will enroll up to six new students per year. If accepted, a student secures a place in medical school as long as program requirements are completed and academic standards and Honor Code policies are maintained.  Those accepted do not have to take the MCAT.  See the UF College of Medicine's website for further information.

Advising Health and Legal Professions Students

Pre-Health Advising

by Christine Richmond

Did you know the MCAT, the entrance exam that most medical schools require, is changing its content effective Spring 2015?  Current freshmen who decide to take the MCAT in their senior year, and the majority of next year’s incoming class, will take this new exam.  For that reason, advisors should encourage pre-med students to take SYG2000, PSY2012, STA2023, and BCH4024 or CHM3218 (biochemistry). Since these are not necessarily prerequisites for medical schools, there may be other ways students can gain competency in these areas (i.e. self-study, research, etc.). If you have any questions about the new recommendations, please contact Christine Richmond or Bobbi Knickerbocker.

So, we thought it might be fun to use this forum to take a look at some common misperceptions about pre-health students.

Pre-Health Myth #1:  Most freshmen who come to UF as pre-health students will probably change their minds after a year or two.

How many of you have said “Sure.  This student says he or she is pre-med, but how long will that last?”  It’s true, a lot of students come to Preview thinking they’re going to be doctors or dentists and, after one semester of chemistry, quickly change their minds. But did you know that last year we had over 2,300 current or former UF students apply to graduate health profession programs? That’s almost a third of our typical freshman class. Of the 2,300 applicants, over 800 applied to medical school and almost 1,500 applied to programs like dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or veterinary medicine.  So it’s important to realize that we have many, many students who continue on to become our doctors, dentists, or physical therapists.

As advisors, the best thing we can do for pre-health students is to acknowledge their interests and encourage them to explore all health care career options and to volunteer or shadow so that they can really figure out if this is what they want to do. Personally, I think it’s amazing that so many of our students come to UF genuinely wanting a “helping” career. So try not to fall into the trap of thinking these students just want to make a lot of money or are being pressured by their parents.  Surely some fall into that category, but many are genuinely interested in this career field.

Pre-Law Advising

by Sara Mock

Did you know that there are currently 200 American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law schools in the country?  And that for over five years now, UF has been the top applicant feeder school to ABA-approved law schools in the country, joining other peer institutions such as UCLA, UT-Austin, UC-Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, which are also near the top of that annual list?

 

So, how many UF students actually apply to law school each year?  Annually, an average of 1,150-1,200 UF undergraduates/alumni apply to ABA-approved law schools.  In a typical year, this consists of approximately 550 seniors, 425 recent alumni who apply one to three years after undergraduate graduation, and 225 more seasoned alumni who applied three or more years after undergraduate graduation.  On average, our students/alumni apply to seven law schools and receive an average of three offers of admission.  Each year, approximately 980 UF students/alumni are admitted to at least one law school, and roughly 830 of those applicants enroll in law school each year. 

In future articles, we’ll take a look at trends within law school admission as well as the legal job market in an effort to help our students make well-informed decisions regarding their aspirations to pursue graduate degrees and careers in the legal field.  As always, please let anyone on our pre-law advising team (Nick Mrozinske, Lou Powers, Liz Kazungu, and Sara Mock) know if you have any questions.  We’d be happy to help!