Trying to determine how much assistance the pre health advisors offer at OSU? Does OSU offer free MCAT prep and physician shadowing during undergrad studies? Also, what research opportunities do undergrads have? Are they highly competitive?
No university to my knowledge offers free MCAT prep to its undergrads. Students are expected to do prep on their own.
The advising office may maintain a list of local physicians who are open to allowing students to shadow them, but finding shadowing opportunities is the responsibility of the student. Pre-med advising office will not make shadowing arrangements for students.
There are plentiful research opportunities at Ohio State, but again it’s up to the student to pursue them. They aren’t going to just fall into the student’s lap. If a student is willing to start out at a basic level and do grunt work, and if the student is willing to be open minded about the research area, they will be able to find a position. (However, many research labs prefer upperclassmen who have completed basic chem & bio labs and have lab-ready skills. They require less training and less supervision than freshmen. YMMV.)
What experience do you have with OSU pre-med?
It is the responsibility of the student to prepare for the MCAT, find shadowing opportunities and research opportunities irrespective of what college they attend. They need to be proactive and not expect opportunities to just fall in their lap. There are just too many premed students freshman year and most of them will not make it to senior year because they will not have a med school worthy gpa. A students success is dependent on their abilities, determination, and performance. If you want particulars for OSU I recommend you post on their forum where you will have a better chance of hearing from students already in the program.
It looks like you have D who will be a college freshman next year? I would suggest that she talk directly to the premed/ pre health advising office at OSU and other schools she is considering. When my D was visiting, many schools offered information sessions for premeds, and they gave specific information on what they did for their students. At a large state school with hundreds of premeds (maybe thousands?), it may be different, but at my Ds small LAC, they were a lot of help. They actually did facilitate shadowing and internship opportunities They had a relationship with the large hospital system nearby and students could sign up to shadow with the premed office rather than contacting the hospital. They even had on campus interviews with several PIs from the CDC and other offsite research facilities which culminated in several students a year doing a paid summer internship there. There were also other research opportunies both on and off campus like most schools, and as wowmom mentioned, these have to be sought out by the student.
Unless someone posts here who was a premed at OSU, you may not get the specifics you are looking for, and even then, experiences can vary. But the premed office there should be able to give you some answers to your questions.
@streakmom while I do not have direct experience with premed advising at OSU, my D attends a very strong public university and is deciding on whether to call herself “premed” or not. She met with an advisor and has taken most of the prerequisites etc for medical school…I will discuss her experience so that your D knows what to ask and you have some type of comparison.
- Her school does MCAT prep on campus but it is not free.
- She has plenty of opportunities for research and it is not hard to get. The ability to find research positions was very important to her when selecting schools. She needs to ask specifically at OSU.
- She has plenty of opportunities on campus and directly off campus.... to volunteer.
- She volunteers at the hospital but has not shadowed.
- Her premed advisor told her that the school does not set them up with shadowing... But....he gave her very specific instructions on how to start the process. So far it worked.... as during this break she shadowed two different doctors at home. Her friends at school who were accepted to med school or are currently there in med school...did shadow both on and off campus and explained to her how they went about it.
- She was assigned a medical student as a mentor, somebody to meet with and ask questions etc
She is still deciding, but if she does go the med school route I feel she is able to get everything she needs at her current school. Good luck to your daughter- hopefully my post sparked some questions to ask the advisor at OSU.
Thank you so much for this info. Great pointers to keep in mind.