The answer is yes, but it’s annoying and will put you at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>If you pay attention to discussions of various how-good-is-this-college boards on this forum, you’ll notice that many schools seem to have an “index disparity”. As has been commonly noted, Duke students who get admitted to a given medical school tend to have worse numbers than the Berkeley students who get admitted to the same medical schools, a statistic which is in fact the REVERSE of what grade inflation is supposed to imply.</p>
<p>Why? Do Duke students do more extracurriculars? Almost certainly. But much of the answer lies in the fact that Duke simply has better advising.</p>
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<p>1.) Every school has a different deadline for each of several different things. Keeping track of the deadlines alone is a nightmare. This is only one representation. When do you expect secondaries? What should you write on them? How do school’s interviews vary? Yes, these are all things you could keep track of on your own - and, for the most part, you’ll have to know at least a little bit about them in each case - but it eases your burden considerably. Applying to medical school is a four stage process (primary, secondary, interview, selection), and keeping track of every deadline and facet of each school can be a logistical nightmare. A good advising team will give you a single deadline and prepare you for the paperwork ahead with mock applications, mock interviews, and personal statement feedback. Knowing what’s ahead of you allows you to prepare and thus perform better - because how you perform on the process itself, not just your academic career, matters a great deal.</p>
<p>2.) Every school requires different letters of recommendation UNLESS you have an advising team that sends off the letters for you. In my case, I had to ask for four letters, which were sent to every school. In other cases, one might have to ask for as many as nine letters because each school requires something slightly different. You are then in charge of tracking down the addresses and pre-assembling packages for each of your letter-writers. A good advising office handles all of this internally.</p>
<p>3.) Your premed office writes you a letter of recommendation. This is required by medical schools - neither you nor your undergraduate institution has a choice in the matter, which tells you how important this is. Some undergraduate schools don’t have this option at all, which will - given how important MS’s seem to think it is - will put you at a disadvantage. Some schools with bad advising will write you useless letters. Schools with a long track record of accurate letters of recommendation have letters that can carry a great deal of weight. My school’s advisors work to craft an accurate letter that doesn’t just speak positively of us, but also works specifically to tell medical schools what kind of student I am. Not all medical schools are the same; not all medical students ought to be the same; I don’t fit equally well at every school. Singer & Co. try to help schools get a feel for how good a student I am, but also what kind of student I am.</p>
<p>4.) Your premed officer simply knows more than you possibly can. Baylor, for example, has high numbers (GPA and MCAT scores) from their incoming students, higher than many schools that might be considered equally prestigious. Is this a new trend? Is this because Baylor places more weight on the numbers? Or is it because Baylor applicants tend to be nerdier people in the first place? How seriously does UCLA take its Spanish requirement? What are my chances, not just of getting into Wash U, but of winning scholarships that they won’t announce until May? Which of the UC’s pay attention to state residency, and how much? Does my rejection from Northwestern mean I did poorly in their teamwork-based interview, or could it mean something else? Am I expected to carry a full course load in my final semester? These are questions that only experience can answer for you.</p>
<p>5.) Finally, your premed advisors have a reputation. Those undergraduates with strong advising will notice that, when traveling the interview circuits, the admissions committees are very familiar with your premed advisors. A school with a strong reputation for good advising - a school where your advisor can tell a committee that the professor who gave you a C- in evolution and diversity really is insane and have them believe her - is invaluable. Of course students think their applications make sense - but if your advisor, who knows med schools and knows your undergraduate institution - agrees, then med schools will consider that carefully.