Premed Advisors get it wrong, a lot. And it’s a shame because students trust them, almost to a fault
This truth might be uncomfortable but it’s important to learn early.
Premed advisors are not necessarily the right people to help you during your premed journey. Not only that, but the generic advice people are getting is wildly misleading.
I keep seeing posts, DMs, and comments from students who followed “standard” premed advice to the letter and ended up confused, delayed, or discouraged. If you’re feeling that way, you’re not alone.
You should be very cautious about taking career-defining advice from someone who has never actually done the thing you’re trying to do.
Most premed advisors are not physicians. Many have never applied to medical school, never navigated the MCAT, never balanced prereqs with GPA risk, and never faced the real tradeoffs involved in accelerated or non-traditional pathways, especially those who are advising high school or early undergrad students, which is the most sensitive time for acceleration pathways.
If someone has never successfully navigated medical admissions, especially on an accelerated timeline, their advice should be taken with a grain of salt.
I learned this the hard way.
Early on, I was steered completely off course by my premed advisor. Within two sessions, it became clear that if I followed her advice, I would not only delay my timeline, I might never get into medical school at all. I stopped going to her and threw away all her advice. The result? I graduated with me MD at 23 years of age from a highly competitive BA/MD program and now I am a surgical subspecialty attending.
The problem with many advising offices is structural. Advisors rely heavily on historical averages, institutional statistics, and risk avoidance. They are trained to protect acceptance percentages, not your personal timeline.
If you apply and do not get in, that reflects poorly on their metrics. So the default advice becomes “wait,” “add a gap year,” or “you’re not ready yet,” even when a student may be very competitive. That risk aversion benefits the institution, not necessarily you.
There is also a deeper issue. Because they have never personally done this process, advisors lean on consensus advice and gut feeling. Listening to it blindly can be devastating, especially for students aiming to optimize time and cost.
The generic consensus advice given on premed forums and by premed advisors can really derail your timeline: Be careful what you are reading online.
So who should you actually be getting advice from?
First, find someone who is 1-2 years ahead of you on the exact path you want. For example, a student who just got into the BS/MD program you’re targeting, a graduate from your high school who is now a sophomore at the university you want, or a senior who has just finished their application cycle. These people are current, relatable, and accurate.
Second, find someone who is ten years ahead of you and already has the career, specialty, or lifestyle you want. They give you the bird’s eye view perspective and the hindsight you don’t yet have. If you are interested in accelerated timelines, combined programs, or surgical subspecialties, I can be that person. That’s why this newsletter exists.
Third, find someone who attempted your path and ended up pivoting. Former premeds who became dentists, PAs, or PhDs. Medical students who aimed for one specialty and matched into another. You can learn from their paths too. These mentors are invaluable for identifying pitfalls and helping you course-correct early.
These three groups should form your core mentoring circle.
You still need concrete information. Application timelines. Prerequisites. Backup pathways. That information should be based on primary sources like the AAMC, AACOM, and individual program websites, not hearsay. It is all publicly available, just use trusted verified sources.
And one more thing.
Be very careful with anonymous advice online. It is astonishing how confidently students in the same grade will give each other guidance as if they already have the answers, when they have not yet been accepted themselves.
Trust yourself. Be honest about your stats and your goals. And if an advisor tells you that you should not apply, even though your application is strong and your instincts say otherwise, seek another opinion.
This path is too long and too expensive to listen to someone else blindly.
What students and parents are saying about Fast Track to MD:
“Your blogs are very informative. Thanks for spreading this awareness and clearing some misconceptions”
“This is very helpful. I have noticed students…taking gap years during med school - may be due to late decisions. That is one disadvantage if they don't have enough opportunities/exposure during pre-med/early years of med school.”
“Your clarification means a lot since number of students [online] get misguided and steered away…for the sake of prestige that means little in the long run.”
“After completing under graduation, many students recognize the intense competition for becoming a doctor and regret not taking the opportunities that were more easily available at an earlier stage.”
“There are many unsubstantiated comments [online], but nobody to take accountability for the decisions students make based on them”
“Thank you for taking the time to do this for everyone”
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