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Cornell University

Health Professions Advising Center

Meet with HPAC

Expectations and Policies- please review before scheduling an appointment

Expectations: 

  • Please send any materials relevant to the meeting (and that are uploaded to Canvas) via email to the advisor you’re meeting with at least 2 business days in advance.  Please send materials in pdf or word doc format (please do not Google share). We may need to cancel your meeting if materials are not sent in advance.
  • Applicants seeking feedback on secondary essays: please email the advisor 2-3 secondary essays in advance; We will discuss strategies that you can implement for the rest of your essays. We ask that you meet with HPAC about secondary essays no more than 2-3 times total so we can support as many applicants as possible.
  • Appointments may only be scheduled up to two weeks in advance. If the calendar appears full, please check back regularly, as new appointments open each day.

Scheduling Policies

  • First-Year students should meet with their home college/school and major advisors in their first year. They are also encouraged to attend weekly Office Hours to meet with HPAC.
  • You may only hold one appointment HPAC at a time. Please do not schedule an appointment with HPAC if you have an appointment already scheduled. Duplicate appointments will be canceled.
  • HPAC staff work remotely on Fridays and after 5pm; all appointments booked for Fridays and after 5pm will be held virtually.
  • You will receive an email reminder from HPAC before your appointment. Please be sure to check your spam folder in case an email is sent there.
  • ALUMNI: please continue using netID to make Bookings appointments in all places that ask for your email. GMAIL is no longer supported for netIDs, however, netIDs will remain active  You may use Outlook to access your Cornell emails. Please use your netID so that your appointment can be confirmed and a Zoom link generated.  Please contact CIT if you have questions or need assistance with troubleshooting.
  • Cancelling your appointment: Please cancel at least 48 hours in advance. If you must cancel within 48 hours, please send an email to prehealthadvising@cornell.edu or directly to the advisor you are scheduled to meet with.

Individual Appointments available to Second-Year and Transfer Students, Juniors, Seniors, Graduate Students, and Alumni.

Appointment Types

20 min appointment on pre-health topics/questions:

  • Academic concerns impacting pre-health pathway
  • Bridge Time/Gap year(s)
  • Co-curricular Activities
  • Health Profession Exploration
  • Interview Strategies/Preparation (not a mock interview); please book at least 3-5 days in advance of scheduled interview to allow time for feedback, reflection, and implementation.
  • Pre-Application Appointment Follow-Up (must have completed a Pre-Application Appointment to be eligible. Appointment will be canceled if eligibility is not met)
  • Standardized Entrance Exams

20-minute appointment on questions and topics related to physician pathways including MD and DO school.

20-minute appointment on questions and topics related to the pathway to dental school.

20-minute appointment on questions and topics related to the pathway to physician assistant/associate (PA) school.

20-minute appointment on questions and topics related to the pathway to veterinary school.

20 min appointment on getting started on research opportunities in specifically pre-health contexts.

20 min appointment on dual degrees in MD/PhD, DO/PhD, DDS/PhD, DMD/PhD, DVM/PhD, OD/PhD, DPM/PhD.

HPAC support for dual degrees combining health career professions and MBAs, MPHs, JDs, etc. is forthcoming.

For re-applicants only.

Please send previous application materials via email to the advisor you’re meeting with at least 2 business days in advance.

Please send materials in pdf or word doc format (please do not Google share).

We may need to cancel your meeting if materials are not sent in advance. These appointments are limited to one per person per cycle. 

 

Office Hours

We encourage first-year students to use these times to converse with HPAC advisors in a group setting. All are welcome to attend.

Pre-Health Office Hours
Short appointments designed for quick questions with Pre-Health Advisors in HPAC in a group setting.
  • Mondays, 3:30-5:00pm, CALS Zone (Mann Library 112).
  • Registration encouraged- Register Here
  • No appointment necessary, drop ins welcome!
Pre-Health Peer Leader Office Hours
Drop-in to chat and ask questions to Pre-Health Peer Leaders.
No appointment necessary.
  • Tuesdays, 5:00-7:00pm, CALS Zone (Mann Library 112).

For First Year/Incoming students: 

Ways to Connect with HPAC:

  • Attend Pre-Health Office Hours & Pre-Health Peer Leader Office Hours
  • Work through the “Getting Started” module in the Pre-Health Guide, developed specifically for first year students and those beginning to explore health careers.
  • Learn about what resources we offer and when you should utilize them in your pre-health journey.
  • Explore health professions, including course and program requirements, length of training, cost of education, etc. 
  • Familiarize yourself with the Pre-Professional Competencies.
  • For help with selecting pre-requisite courses, visit our academic preparation page. 
    • We recommend meeting with your home college/school to determine how to fit these courses into your schedule to meet major, distribution, college, and graduation requirements. These vary across colleges/schools, so please meet directly with your academic/major advisor.
  • Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on events, opportunities, and other relevant information.
  • Stay up to date on events here.
  • Follow us on Instagram!
  • Begin preparing to become an interesting applicant. Find more information on how here.

The first year is a time to settle into Cornell and explore. 

When you’re ready to engage in experiential preparation, visit our page here.