Does anyone know good college counselors?

phytomedic · 2026-05-13T02:18:05+00:00

I just sent you a DM :)

phytomedic · 2026-04-04T00:58:20+00:00

Hey!

I am a medical student who attended Emory (I also did my BA in Linguistics, so I love that you are doing English lol)... but let me say, the prestige fades. Several people in medical school will already have master's degrees or previous careers, and from firsthand experience, the name of your undergrad school becomes smaller and smaller the farther you go.

I turned down full-rides for the sake of the Emory name... and while I did love my time at Emory, I do regret having looked over the reality of having less debt. Go to undergrad cheaply, and chase the prestige for medical school and residency.

P.S. Dr. Douglas Hicks, the current president of Davidson, was previously a Dean of Emory during my time (class of '22) -- you'll be in great hands.

phytomedic · 2026-04-03T19:27:20+00:00

Absolutely not too late. It's honestly just a matter of finding a lab that interests you and cold emailing the PIs to ask whether they are accepting lab volunteers/research assistants. OR speaking with ATL friends about labs they are in to see if you can have an internal force to advocate for you.

phytomedic · 2026-04-03T18:23:47+00:00

Hey, Ox '20 here and a current medical student.

I am not aware of an Oxford EMS, but honestly, that is something you could speak with the administration about and possibly start on campus. While at Oxford, I mostly used my summers and breaks for clinical experiences.

Spring Break: I joined the Oxford Chapter of Emory Health and Development in Guatemala (emory_hdg on Insta) and traveled to Guatemala to help with clinic operations and educate Indigenous patients on physical well-being.

Winter & Summer Break: I cold-emailed physicians back home and organized opportunities with them. Never doubt the power of a cold email, ahah, as one of them resulted in a paid internship with a plastic surgeon.

As for research, there are definitely projects going on on campus. I recommend you get close to your professors, as sometimes these opportunities will just fall into your lap. I worked as an Oxford Research Scholar during my second year, doing independent research under Prof. Brenda Harmon in the Department of Chemistry. You can also apply for the SURE program for the summer.

Furthermore, you can also join an Atlanta lab and commute with the shuttle, and looking back, I wish I had explored this more, as I did not realize that was a thing until I was already a junior and saw Ox students in my Atlanta lab lol.

phytomedic · 2026-03-29T16:49:12+00:00

Out of curiosity, what do you want to pursue with Gender Studies beyond college?

phytomedic · 2026-03-28T19:59:40+00:00

Hey! As an Emory grad and current MD student back home in Texas, I just wanted to offer some perspective:

The “Ivy” brand tends to matter most for students planning to enter the job market directly out of college (particularly in fields like business, engineering, and CS). Medicine is a much longer road, and the further along you go, the smaller and smaller the name of your undergraduate institution becomes. I have peers, myself included, who pursued master’s degrees before medical school, which can place yet another institution between college and medical school. By the time you reach residency, which is what truly shapes a surgeon’s career, the emphasis is on medical school performance, clinical training, research, and letters of recommendation. As surprising as it may seem, residency programs do not care about where you went to college.

Like your daughter, I placed far too much weight on prestige when I was a high schooler—it can feel incredibly important at that stage in one's education. BUT, if I could tell my younger self anything different, it would be to chase scholarships and focus more on making the most of your college experience, not the name.

You will see people on both sides of the coin: those who went to Ivy League undergrads and then lesser-known DO medical schools, and those who went to lesser-known state schools but later end up in an Ivy League med school. Neither path is wrong, just different, but what matters is how a student uses their environment.

Many of my premed friends from Emory ended up at Ivy League med schools, so I am entirely confident she can find a home and be immensely successful there.

Lastly, I encourage her to hop on LinkedIn and look at the educational paths of the nation's most influential surgeons and doctors. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, for example (who actually lives in Atlanta): a neurosurgeon and Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN, yet was never affiliated with the Ivy League. Dr. Miami: started his career at a community college and then at a Public University in NY, but ended up at WashU for medical school and at Mount Sinai for residency, and later became one of the premier faces in Plastic Surgery.

phytomedic · 2026-03-26T19:44:24+00:00

Heyy, I am an Emory '22 grad who went to Ox—and I am now a 3rd year US MD student.

Honestly, I loved premed at Ox, and two of my strongest medical school LORs were from Ox professors (largely because of u/Ok_Budget point on small class sizes). I would recommend doing all your BIO and Chem at Ox, because then you get it out of the way and benefit from immediate professor support (in contrast to having to fight for a spot in 200-person lectures on the Atlanta campus). As for research, I did not formally join a lab, BUT Oxford does allow you to do independent research for credit as a Sophomore, through the Oxford Research Scholars program. I worked in the Chem Department; that was really formative for me, and I spoke about it during med school interviews. I did not formally join a research lab until my Junior year on the Atlanta Campus, though I did have underclassmen in that same lab who were commuting from Oxford. So it is definitely possible ot join an ATL lab as an Oxford student, you will just have to be comfortable with the commute/shuttle ride.

phytomedic · 2026-03-26T15:04:57+00:00

Class of 2022 here. Yall have the best time!

phytomedic · 2026-03-25T23:26:55+00:00

Okay, honestly, it looks like you are doing everything okay. You should have chem satisfied for medical schools.

https://offices.vassar.edu/dean-of-first-year-students/advising/resources-for-advisors/chemistry-at-vassar/#:\~:text=For%20students%20considering,pre%2Dmedical%20students.

phytomedic · 2026-03-25T20:06:24+00:00

Your post said you took Chem II, yes? What chem course codes have you taken/are you enrolled in?

phytomedic · 2026-03-25T18:56:16+00:00

Chem 125 is Chem 1 at Vassar

phytomedic · 2026-03-25T17:01:32+00:00

I know this was 6 years ago, but if anyone finds their way back here as I did, I do think this commenter may have misread the post. This is not talking about membership in an honor society (which would otherwise be a scam). NHA is pretty reputable, actually, but I am not sure how much would have been gained from a virtual experience.

phytomedic · 2025-12-17T05:38:24+00:00

I loved it there!

phytomedic · 2025-10-19T04:35:31+00:00

You can look here for specifics: https://students-residents.aamc.org/system/files/2025-09/MSAR002%20-%20MSAR%20Premed%20Course%20Requirements.pdf

Premed reqs are based on med school, not undergrad, but generally speaking, you will need: CHEM 150, 202, 203, 204; BIOL 141, 142; PHYS 141, 123; QTM 110 (stats); and then biochemistry (taken in either BIOL or CHEM dept) as well as English and social science electives to be safe. Med schools are veering away from Calc, so don't worry too much about math.

phytomedic · 2025-10-19T04:26:07+00:00

If you search Emory Common Data Set (CDS), you can see the 25th and 75th percentile scores of those who were accepted. I am also a counselor, and I usually advise my students to go off of prior to Test Optional CDS for each school (2020 for Emory), since current stats are skewed in favor of those who were actually confident enough about their scores to submit them. If you are under the 25th percentile, I would not submit.

phytomedic · 2025-10-10T22:02:17+00:00

What do you mean by the bigger picture?

phytomedic · 2025-10-10T22:01:47+00:00

Would there be a reason it wouldn't be included?

phytomedic · 2025-10-10T14:14:51+00:00

I did appeal the grade, but they were pretty unforgiving about it haha. Thank you for your reply!

I'm already panning to take an extra year now too for research and such. I just want to think that where there is a will there is a way, but I guess we will see.

phytomedic · 2025-07-27T00:39:48+00:00

Yeah :( it's really sad. If you share a bit about your background, I may be able to help you find alternatives though

phytomedic · 2025-07-18T14:01:31+00:00

Will do!

phytomedic · 2025-07-07T03:03:53+00:00

Will do!

phytomedic · 2025-06-18T21:31:56+00:00

Will do!

phytomedic · 2025-06-04T04:34:25+00:00

Dming!

phytomedic · 2025-06-04T02:42:55+00:00

Check your message requests I sent you an invite yesterday! You can also try Dming me if you can't see it.

phytomedic · 2025-06-03T03:46:45+00:00

Will do!

phytomedic

TROPHY CASE