Welcome, New Boilermakers!

Meeting with your Academic Advisor--Information for You to Know

We All Work Together

Pre-Professional Advising works along with your Academic Advisor, Honors Advisor, etc. to help you navigate meeting requirements for your major, for the University, and for professional school. 

Inform Your Academic Advisor of Your Interests

Please make sure you tell your academic/honors advisors about your interest in a professional field. You can also ask them to "Tag" your interest in BoilerConnect so that all of your advisors can see that you have that interest.

Planning Your Fall Semester

Your academic advisor is well prepared for helping you determine which courses to take. Ideally you will take at least one course that is a requirement for your chosen field in the fall semester, but follow your advisors guidance as they understand your major requirements and they can help you interpret what factors contribute to student success during your first semester.

Is There a "Best" Major for Your Field?

Many students ask us if they are in the best major for whatever field they are interested in. There really is no best major. You take the prerequisite courses required by your field along with your major. You can find those courses in the Careers section of this website. Professional programs are open to students from all majors.

Admissions Requirements

Each field has courses they typically require (law has skill sets rather than courses). These can be found in the Careers section of this website. Some majors include more of these requirements than others, but typically you can work in the requirements from most majors.

Course Load

Students typically take 15 credit hours per semester. Professional programs expect to see that during most semesters you are taking a full course load. For healthcare fields, they also like to see you taking more than one lab class at a time in several semesters. 

Making Use of AP, IB, CLEP Credits 

While AP, IB, and CLEP credits may be used to meet undergraduate degree requirements, they can sometimes be problematic for satisfying professional school prerequisites. Some professional schools may limit the amount or type of AP, IB or CLEP credit used to satisfy their program prerequisites or not accept any at all. These courses provide significant preparation for college but using these credits when applying to professional school means you have credits instead of grades. This can present a problem for professional schools.

Your Options and Making Informed Decisions about AP, IB, and CLEP 

You have options and need to consider which will be the best for you and your plan of study. This is something to discuss with your academic advisor. You can also clarify information with Pre-Professional Advising if needed. It will also be something you need to be aware of as you research schools where you want to apply for professional programs. 

Consider the courses you are required to take for your major, the prerequisite courses for your healthcare field, and which courses you thrive in when deciding what your course of action.

Option 1: Choose not to use your earned AP credits to satisfy your prerequisite courses. Take those classes at Purdue.

• Pro: No issues with satisfying professional school requirements
• Pro: Course content will include more review leading to (hopefully) a strong grade
• Con: Less new knowledge gained

Option 2: Use your AP credit to satisfy your prerequisite requirements for schools that accept AP. Take upper-level courses in those same subject areas to demonstrate advanced understanding of the subject.

• Pro: Demonstrate advanced understanding of subject while satisfying schools that do not accept AP
• Pro: Upper level courses may be part of your major
• Pro: Advanced study may benefit you on an admission test and once you start in a program
• Con: If not in your major, consider your anticipated performance in that field of study

Option 3: Assume AP courses will satisfy prerequisite courses and do not take additional upper-level courses in the same subject area.

• Pro: Be content applying only to schools that accept AP credit to satisfy prerequisite courses
• Pro: Take any additional courses needed during junior and senior year
• Con: Possible knowledge loss. National admission exams will cover material from certain AP courses taken 3-4 years prior while in high school.

Option 4: Research school admission requirements. Attend our Health Programs Expo and talk to school representativies to ask about AP credit.

• Pro: Take time to make the right decision for yourself
• Pro: Use the Health Programs Expo and direct contact with schools on your own to learn individual school policies to inform your decision
• Con: May still need to take additional courses if schools you want to consider won't accept AP

AP, IB, CLEP Resources

• AP College Credit at Purdue
• IB College Credit at Purdue
• MD Program Policies on AP, IB, and Community College Credit (also shows required courses for MD programs)

Dual Credit & Community College Courses

Making Use of Dual Credit Courses

Professional schools will typically accept dual credit to satisfy their prerequisite courses as long as you submit the original college transcript with grades when applying to professional school.

Community College Courses

Some professional schools will not accept community college credits or are somewhat biased against these courses. When possible, it is better to take all required courses (especially science) at a 4-year bachelor’s degree granting institution. When in doubt, discuss the competitiveness of this option with professional programs where you will apply before taking these courses.

What Does Pre-Professional Mean?

This can be a little confusing on Purdue's campus since the terms "pre-professional" and "professional" student are used by other offices on campus in different ways. In our case, we are basically referring to students who are:

• Pre-Med
• Pre-Vet
• Pre-Health (including pre-dental, pre-optometry, pre-occupational therapy, pre-physical therapy, pre-physician assistant, pre-chiropractic medicine, pre-pharmacy, pre-audiology, pre-speech language pathology, pre-genetic counseling, etc).
• Pre-Law

Pre-Professional students come from all colleges on campus and are often taking required classes (prerequisite courses) for their future application into a professional field along with courses for their major(s).

You do NOT have to declare yourself as a pre-professional student. If you are working toward a professional field, you are pre-professional and are welcome to use our services.

We do recommend, however, that you tell your academic advisor what your professional goal is so that they can provide you with the best assistance possible.

Pre-Professional Advising

About Pre-Professional Advising

• Watch a short video about the services we offer.
• We provide more specialized advising beyond what your academic advisor provides. We are members of national organizations for law and health advising and attend conferences for those areas and are trained by admissions professionals at law schools and health care programs and the people who run the application services through which you will eventually apply. We can provide you information about what schools are looking for, what makes a competitive applicant, and how to apply.

Where to Find PPA

• Pre-Professional Advising (PPA) is part of the Center for Career Opportunities (CCO) and is located in Young Hall (YONG on campus maps). Young is behind the Daniels School of Business which is directly across Mitch Daniels Boulevard from the Union. Our offices are on the second floor of YONG.
• During the school year we also hold drop-in hours around campus. No appointment needed.

Appointments with PPA

• We typically provide virtual appointments. We do this because much of what you need to learn about are the online resources you will be using as you prepare for professional school. Virtual meetings allow you to save these resources into your own computer. We can meet in person if needed.
• Appointments are made through BoilerConnect.
• Really craving the face time? Come see us when we are providing Drop-Ins around campus.
• Don't know what you would even ask us in an appointment? Here are some ideas!
• We have 3 advisors--Amy Terstriep, Cristy Gosney, and Cara Hines-Pham. All of us cover all the health and law fields. You are not assigned to one of us so you can see any of us.

Our Courses

GS 49000 Law School Exploration is a 1 credit hour 10 week course offered in the fall and the spring. It provides information to help you decide if law school is the right fit for you and covers how to apply to law school. This course is open to all levels of students.

BIOL 39600 Pre-Medical/Pre-Health Planning Seminar is a 0 credit hour 10 week course offered in the fall and spring. It walks students through the complex application process to professional healthcare programs. This course is best for students sophomore and above.

Staying Up-To-Date as a Pre-Professional Student

How should you stay informed as a PPA student? 

Take these steps to stay in-the-know.

• Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter. We literally send it, at most, once a month and we don't share our distribution list so you won't be getting a lot of spam email from us.
• Check-in on the News section of our website on a regular basis. We update the Calendar regularly.
• Follow us on Instagram: @purdueppa
• Join a club that supports your pre-professional interests (Pre-Law Society, Genetic Counseling Club, Pre-Dental Club, etc)
  • Bonus points for inviting us to speak to your club!

Making an Appointment with PPA

Make appointments with us using BoilerConnect. This is the system used across campus to make appointments with advisors and a number of other offices on campus.

Conveniently, we use this too.

When you go to BoilerConnect, take these steps to schedule your appointment

1. Select a Care Unit: Career/Pre-Professional Advising
2. Location: CCO/Pre-Professional Advising
3. Service:
   • Health/Law Career Exploration
   • Health/Law Personal Statement
   • Health/Law Progress Check-In
   • Health/Law School Application
4. Advisor Selection: We all advise every field
   • Cristy Gosney, Caralynn (Cara) Hines-Pham, Amy Terstriep
5. Select Time

Note: It is very helpful for all of the people you will meet with if you fill in the section that tells us the purpose of the meeting. It allows us to do some advance preparation for the meeting. So PLEASE take a moment to type in your reason for making the appointment!

Another Note: You will not be able to schedule a same day appointment. Generally you can find an appointment for the same week other than during the busiest times of the semester. If you are having problems scheduling, please email preprofessional@purdue.edu and we will try to assist you.

Frequency of Visits with PPA

We recommend that you come in every semester.

• We want to be sure that you are staying on track with everything that needs to get done. Many of you will be applying for a professional program the summer between your junior and senior year. While it seems far away now, you will be surprised how quickly your junior year, which is application year, sneaks up on you.
• For your first appointment, we recommend giving yourself time to settle into the semester. Unless you have a burning question, start thinking about coming in for an appointment around October.
• In the meantime, consider signing up for our monthly e-newsletter, follow us on Instagram, explore this website, and you can always email a question to preprofessional@purdue.edu.
• As we learn about club callouts, we will list them in the Club Info section of our website as well.

Preparing to Meet with a PPA Advisor

Preparing for and applying to professional school is complicated and can be overwhelming. Not sure what to ask us at an appointment? Here are some common topics to help you prepare for an appointment with us.

How Pre-Professional Advisors Can Help You

• Make informed decisions about your career in law, human health fields, and animal health care
• Evaluate your strengths
• Identify gaps in your preparation
• Gain access to more information
• Connect with resources
• Strategize your application
• Prepare for interviews

Remember: While we encourage you to speak to us early and often (every semester), it's never too late to talk with a Pre-Professional Advisor!

Common Questions Students Ask

Questions about Careers

• Is the career I’m considering the best choice for me? Do I have the intellectual capacity to be successful in professional school and the career that follows?
• Have I narrowed my career choices too soon?
• I want to be sure I know what it’s really like to be in this field. What are its stresses and joys?
• How do professionals in this field handle the responsibilities and the “malpractice threat?” How they find the right measure of involvement with patients?
• What are the various opportunities within the career? Can one combine practice, research and teaching into one career?
• Can I actually build a career that has balance—family and practice? Will there be time for other interests?
• How do I make time for family? How do I have a personal life outside of my career?
• Is this career really worth all the time and sacrifice?
• What other fields might be a good fit for me?

Questions about Preparation

• What do I need to focus on as I prepare for a career in this area?
• What major should I pick?
• What are some volunteer opportunities?
• What are the best ways to use my summers?

Questions about the Professional School Admissions Process

• How do professional schools select candidates for admissions?
• How can I make myself as strong a candidate as possible?
• What are my chances of getting in?
• How important is my GPA? How important is my aptitude test? Will my C in this class really hurt my application?
• I’m having difficulty writing a personal statement for the application. Can you help?
• How do I prepare myself for interviews?
• How many schools should I apply to?
• How do I go about deciding which schools to apply to?
• How am I going to pay for my education?

Questions about Professional School

• What’s professional school and post graduate training really like?
• Can I have a personal life as a student in professional school?
• When is the best time to think about starting a family?

Questions about Not Being Accepted to Professional School

• Why wasn’t I accepted? Was it my grades? My scores? Something else?
• What can (should) I do next year?
• How can I add to my preparation, improve the quality of my application, and enhance my future chances of acceptance?
• Should I re-evaluate whether I have made the right career choice?

We can answer all these questions and more!

Where does PPA gather such useful information?

We train at conferences and through webinars with people who serve on admissions committees. We interact regularly with the staff in admissions offices and with the people who run the admission tests and the application services. That’s how we develop our expertise on the application process. 

Why don't all students visit PPA?

• Some students don’t know what questions to ask.
  • Now you do! We just provided quite a few questions as a starting place.
• Some students trust their peers for more accurate information.
  • We learn our jobs directly from professional school admissions professionals. So you can trust your friends if you want…
• Some students think the web has better information.
  • See above.
• Some students think someone in the profession can provide them with enough advice.
  • Many of the people in these fields applied a number of years ago. Application processes are constantly changing. These are great mentors to have, but please allow us to help you learn the current logistics of the application process.
• Some think applying is no big deal.
  • From the time you take your admission test, it is typically about a 15 month application process before you would start your program. Does that sound like no big deal?
• Some students are just motivated and self-reliant.
  • Well, yeah. You are. Use some of that motivation to come talk to us! What harm does it do to double-check and make sure you have everything right?
• Some students don’t want to announce they are interested because of a fear of failure.
  • We are your advocate in this process. We are not gatekeepers in the application process.
• Some students are concerned they are not competitive enough and that we will judge them.
  • We are here to help you figure out how to get from point A to point B. We may know of resources to help you develop a more competitive application. We can help you come up with a plan of action. We will give you our best advice based on our experience, but it is not a judgment. You might need to take extra steps to get there, but we believe in you.
• Some students have decided late in their academic studies to apply or even after graduation.
  • We can help with that. Whenever you consider this decision, we can help. Even if you have already graduated, we are happy to help you.

Remember that Pre-Professional Advising is here for you! We are your advocates in the application process. All you need to do is take the first step and make an appointment through BoilerConnect.

Preparing for Professional Programs

Professional programs in healthcare and law school are extremely competitive. As such, they ask a lot of you in preparation for their programs. Continue exploring the Learning Center of our website to learn more about preparing for your future application and as a professional.

What Does It Take?

• Experience—get to know the field you want to enter-learn all you can about it.
• Ideally, spend time observing/shadowing someone in the field.
• Reflect on what you learned from the experience and what it meant to you.
• It does not require a genius to work in these professional fields. It requires hard work, an open mind, and the ability to look at complex/difficult problems in new and creative ways.
• You need to be committed to life-long learning—from teachers, colleagues; texts, journals and continuing education courses; and from patients/clients.
• The best time to apply is when your application is the strongest. If you have major gaps in your preparation, consider applying when those gaps are filled.
• It’s not all about grades and test scores. Professional school admissions committees look beyond grades. They could fill their class with applicants who have perfect grades.
• Professional schools look for people with human qualities. Working in healthcare or law requires building relationships: between providers and clients and within and across professions.
• Professional schools also want applicants who can provide services to individuals and to the community. They look for those who have been in leadership roles. A good predictor of future altruism is past altruism.
• They look for excellence in your major—whatever that major is.
• They like to see scholarship beyond the classroom—research, for example.
• Professional schools look for evidence of depth and reflection. One of the best ways to demonstrate those qualities is to reflect on what you have learned from each of your important experiences. Beyond your grades, scores, and activities, what sort of a person are you?

Purdue Indianapolis Students

• Pre-Professional Advising is available to assist you as you prepare for professional school. You can make an appointment for a virtual appointment through BoilerConnect.
• Purdue University in Indianapolis continues to add more science course offerings, but for a time you may need to take a few courses either by commuting to the West Lafayette campus or through Indiana University Indianapolis. Your academic advisor can help you with determining your best options. Most, if not all, of your prerequisite courses for healthcare fields will be offered by Fall of 2027. 
• For pre-health students, consider joining the Purdue in Indianapolis Medical Association (learn more on BoilerLink).

Engineering Majors & Professional School

We hear from a lot of students during BGR that they don't think they can go into health or law fields because they are engineering students.

You can!

Actually quite a few of our engineering students do make their way to medical school, law school, veterinary school, physician assistant, physical therapy and other fields. It can be done.

If you are interested, please come see us.

Meet our Amazing Ambassadors

Pre-Professional Ambassadors are current students from various Colleges and majors at Purdue who all share a goal of entering professional school. Meet our Ambassadors and read their advice to pre-professional students.

Also check out our YouTube Channel to hear the advice of past and present PPA Ambassadors.

Preparing for Your First Year

Great clip on how to prepare for first year from Duke University professor Aaron Dinin