What pre-med advising resources does Cornell offer undergraduates?

Cornell does offer solid pre-med support, but it is somewhat decentralized rather than built around a single pre-med major or one all-purpose office. The main resource for undergraduates pursuing medical or dental school is Cornell Health Careers Advising, which helps with course planning, timelines, letters of evaluation, interviewing, and the overall application process. Students can also use Cornell Career Services, faculty advising within their college, and department-specific mentors to build research and clinical experience.

Health Careers Advising is the most directly relevant office for pre-med students. It provides advising appointments, workshops, information sessions, and guidance on prerequisites, MCAT timing, personal statements, school lists, and application strategy. Cornell also maintains pre-health resources for students interested in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and related paths, so there is a fairly structured advising setup even though students major in many different fields.

For academics, your advising will usually come from your college and major in addition to pre-health advising. That matters at Cornell because students can be pre-med from Arts and Sciences, Human Ecology, CALS, Engineering, and other colleges, so course planning often involves both major requirements and med school prerequisites. In practice, that means you would likely use a combination of a faculty advisor, college advising office, and Health Careers Advising rather than relying on just one person.

For research, Cornell is especially strong because of its scale and undergraduate access to labs across biology, chemistry, biomedical engineering, psychology, neuroscience, and public health-related areas. Students often find opportunities through faculty labs, department websites, undergraduate research programs, and direct outreach to professors. For clinical exposure and service, students use advising offices, student organizations, local hospitals and clinics in the Ithaca area, and summer opportunities elsewhere.