To my advisees:

Thank you for taking the time to read this information before coming to see me for an advising appointment!  I genuinely hope that the things I present to you here will be useful as you plan your future and work toward your academic goals.  If you have ideas that can help me improve the quality of this page, please let me know and I will consider making changes to better serve future students.

The advising I do for students is of the Academic type.  Of course the decisions you make about college will affect your personal life.  I’m happy to help you explore those issues insofar as they connect to your classes. 

The reason I am asked to advise you is that I have expertise in the academic area you are studying.  If you are an exploratory student who has not named a major field of study, then I am considered qualified because I’ve been around colleges a lot and know generally how to help you get what you need from them.

At the end of the day, I believe the advising process should empower you to make your own decisions.  The more you take control of the process, the better the results will be.  If I ask you to do some research on your own, this is important work for you that you should take seriously. 

 Most of my advisees fall into one of these categories:  the exploratory student, the science student, and the student who wants to work in a health care profession.  I address each of these groups separately, below.  If one of these descriptions fits you, please read the appropriate section.

Exploratory students who think they will transfer and complete a 4-year degree

Do you know you want to earn a 4-year degree?  Do you know where you would like to get this degree? 

If the answer to these questions is “yes,” go to the web and look over their general education requirements.  Sometimes these are called core requirements.  If the school is part of the Oregon University System, our AAOT degree will satisfy all of the core requirements for that school and should be your primary goal.  If the school is not part of the Oregon University System, the AAOT is not going to serve that purpose for you.  Instead you will want to match your coursework here to their requirements, as closely as possible.

If you don’t feel very sure about completing that Bachelor degree, then the AAOT also is going to be important for you.  It can serve as evidence that you are academically capable but just haven’t finished out your 4-year degree.  Look at the requirements for this degree in the College Catalog, and try to find courses that will move you from where you are now to a place that is a little bit closer to the completion of that degree.

Do you have a dream job?  Even if the job seems far away from where you are now, having the dream can help you figure out what kind of work you would like to do.  As an example, if you think it would be cool to be an astronaut, maybe you have interests in science.  If you don’t like science all that much, the adventure aspect of being an astronaut might be part of the appeal.  In that case you might find another area that also involves some adventure, like Outdoor Leadership.  The more you get in touch with your own motivations, the better you will understand how to choose an academic path that will lead you toward happiness. 

If you can’t think of a dream job, think seriously about your hobbies or interests and try to figure out why you like doing those things.  Again, this will help you make choices that are right for you.

Once you have a job in mind, find out what people need to do to prepare themselves to do that job.  The best thing to do is to talk to someone who is in the position you find interesting.  If you can’t do this, then you can look for information on the web.  If you want to be employable when you’re finishing school, the best place to learn how to be employable is from somebody who has managed to find employment.  Learning from the admissions departments at schools is trickier, because even though they may claim to prepare you for a job, you don’t always know how successfully they place people.

Allow yourself to make these choices and do this research imperfectly.  Sometimes I encounter students who are so involved with picking an exactly, completely perfect job for them that they never get around to doing anything.  It’s an awful experience for them, full of hand-wringing and sleepless nights.  You almost always can go partway down an academic track and then shift course without losing a lot of time.  The experience you gain along the way almost always turns out to be valuable.

When you come to see me I will probably ask you questions about what sort of degree you want to earn, etc..  I will be testing the depth of your knowledge about college in general—not because I want you to feel tested, but because I want to tailor our conversation to your needs.  I hope you will feel comfortable as we talk about these things.  They really aren’t mysterious once you see how they work.

Students majoring in the Sciences (Chemistry, Biology, Physics), looking for a B.S., B.A. or higher degree

No matter which degree you earn or which institution you get it from, your time at COCC will be spent taking courses that must eventually be accepted for a degree granted at the Bachelor Degree granting institution.  If you know what institution that will be, do some research now on the program requirements for that institution and start matching course names and numbers to ours to ensure a smooth transfer. 

In the state of Oregon, most institutions use identical course numbers for many courses in the sciences.  Others will be similar but not identical.  In chemistry, the course names are quite reliable as a guide.

If you earn the Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer (AAOT) degree at COCC  you will not need to concern yourself with general education or core requirements at the institution to which you transfer, provided that institution is part of the Oregon University System.  You are still responsible for getting the courses you need for your major.  The AAOT is always a good goal but should not impede your progress within your major discipline if there is a conflict.  In other words, if you are a chemistry major take General Chemistry now even if it means you won’t get the AAOT before you transfer.

The details begin to get specific at this point, so please bring me your plans in writing so I can go over them carefully.  Come to my office with the name and web address of the program to which you are going to transfer, along with any questions you have about how courses transfer.  Try to decide whether you see the AAOT as an important goal before you meet with me.

If you know that you want to earn the B.S. in General Science locally, contact the University of Oregon-Central Oregon Programs at 383-4660 right away.  Make an appointment to speak to an advisor for this degree and figure out what you need to do.  It's never too early to start working with them.

If you expect to end up at a private school or out of state, do not concern yourself with the AAOT unless you want to have that degree in your hand as a fall-back.  You should consult the college catalog for the institution where you are likely to go and try to match our courses to theirs—both within the major and for general education requirements—because they will transfer your coursework into their institution and grant you a degree under their terms.  Bring your specific questions to me, but please also bring some basic information about the college and the web address of their college catalog.

Pre-professional health students (Pre-Med, Pre-Dental, Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Optometry, Pre-Veterinarian, Physician Assistant)

Professional health programs all have specific requirements for admission, with some common themes.  You will generally need a Bachelor (4-year) degree with a major or significant coursework in Science.  You will also need to perform well on an admissions test.  For Medical School this is the MCAT.  Pre-dental is the DAT.  You also will need to present yourself for admission by completing paperwork including a personal statement and multiple letters of recommendation.  You are likely to need significant work or volunteer experience in the field.  If you get interviews you will be expected to travel to the Colleges interviewing you in order to go through that process, at your own expense. 

It’s a harrowing process, and what I have described above is simply the minimum required just to earn consideration for a position in their programs.  Don’t go down this path unless you want to practice in the professional field you choose.  To figure this out you really need to understand the profession by spending time with people who are practicing in it.  You also need to reckon with the fact that you will incur serious debt along the way, unless you have access to money in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Financing will be available to you, in most cases, but you spend a lot of money before you earn a healthy salary.

In order to get in, you will need to be selected from among all applicants to these professional programs.  They will all be good students who have also met the requirements for admission, so meeting the minimum requirements is not enough.  To excel academically you will need drive and persistence.  To get good supportive letters you must cultivate certain characteristics in yourself and demonstrate them regularly.  Learn to be flexible, risk-tolerant, willing to fail and learn from failure, curious, hard-working and resourceful. 

You should go to Student Doctor.net to get a feel for your chosen health profession.  It is the source of great information and first-hand accounts of the process, from beginning to end, of entering and working in these professions.  Look it over before you come see me.

Each of these professions also have professional societies that are great sources of information on school requirements and working conditions in those fields.  Find out what these are for your chosen profession and look at their web pages. 

Details on pre-professional admission exams such as the MCAT can be found on the web, but ask me if you want additional information.  Most students take these exams in the year preceeding the granting of their Bachelor degree.  Letters of Recommendation come from both professional and academic references and will include reference to your academic ability and characteristics as a learner.

Most professional health programs are 3 to 4 years long beyond the Bachelor degree.  A portion of this time will be spent in clinical settings, putting the theory you learn in the classroom into practice.  In the case of medical programs you then progress into Residency, which varies in length according to your specialty.  You earn a modest salary during residency and afterword look for work as a staff physician.

It is never too early to spend some time deliberately watching someone who does the job you want to do.  If you call their office and inquire about "job shadowing" you may be welcomed into the office for a day or two.  If this happens, thank them profusely by providing a small token of your gratitude to the doc or staff at the office.

Volunteering is another way to learn what clinical work is like.  In Bend, Volunteers In Medicine has provided some very valuable experiences for students.  If you are working with medical volunteers, they often are less pressed for time so that they can provide you with quality mentoring.

Anyone who is pursuing one of these professional tracks is doing themselves a favor by also generating a Plan B, in case they are unable to get into their profession.  It can happen for a variety of reasons, some of which are beyond your control.  Make sure that if your progress must stop that you have a way to make a living.

I’m happy to discuss all of this in more detail when we meet personally.