Pre-Professional & Pre-Graduate School Advising

Who should I contact for information as an intended business major?

School of Business website: http://business.wfu.edu/undergraduate-programs/

Advice for First-Year Students

• Register for ECN 150 or MTH 111 & 105L (or MTH 112 for Mathematical Business majors). It is encouraged to take one of these courses in the fall and the other in the spring. Both courses are offered each term. While AP and IB credit can be used for the purpose of admission, please be advised that it does not add value to one’s prerequisite GPA.
• Register for Handshake and visit the Office of Professional and Career Development to start getting linked into career information.
• Consider registering for EDU 120 (Career Exploration). This course is useful in helping students figure out which major within the School of Business they would like to pursue based on their strengths, weaknesses, interests, and career goals.
• Build a strong resume: job shadow, join clubs, and attend career panels. A resume is required for admission to the School of Business and will be necessary for obtaining an internship.
• Study effectively! The field is competitive.

Advice for Second-Year Students

• Register for ACC 111 for the fall semester
• Register for BEM 201 for the spring semester
• Those intending to pursue Mathematical Business should plan to complete MTH 112 (P – MTH 111 or AP/IB credit) and STA 112 (P – STA 111 or AP/IB credit) prior to the spring of their sophomore year
• Consider registering for EDU 220 (Options in the World of Work). This will further solidify major and career choices.
• Continue to build a strong resume: gain exposure to careers, attend industry boot camps, secure an internship
• Attend the Sophomore Admissions Event in September (details will be emailed to all ACC 111 students) and apply!
• Study effectively! The field is competitive.

The Pre-Wall Street Career Track will provide early and focused professional preparation for qualified Wake Forest students intending to pursue careers in investment banking, asset management, sales & trading, and private equity on a global basis.
Visit the Pre-Wall Street Career Track website for more information.

For the majority of inquiries and long-term planning advice regarding pre-health requirements, thoroughly review:

• http://college.wfu.edu/prehealth/
• Pre-Health Student Handbook 2020-2021

Who should I contact for further guidance?

Please visit the Office of Academic Advising to speak with an academic counselor for guidance related to pre-health advising. If further questions remain, you are encouraged to contact the advisors below:

Dr. John Tomlinson – Pre-Med  (All Second-Year Students -Graduates) To make an appointment with Dr. Tomlinson: https://john-tomlinson.youcanbook.me  

Dr. Fred Salsbury – Pre-Med (All First-Year Students and First-Gen Students) To make an appointment with Dr. Salsbury, e-mail salsbufr@wfu.edu

All Health Professions Advisors

There are a variety of health professions, each of which plays a vital role in meeting healthcare needs here and throughout the world. The Pre-Health website contains information about what you should do as an undergraduate at Wake Forest University (WFU) to prepare for a career in any of these fields.

Which health profession to pursue often seems a straightforward choice at first, but as students become more familiar with the differences between them and the requirements for each, they may become interested in an alternate career path. If you would like to meet with Dr. Rebecca Permar (Postdoctoral Fellow in Pre-Health) and discuss this further, you can Schedule an Appointment here.

As soon as students arrive at Wake Forest, sign up for the pre-health listserv. They will be informed of programming that will help in choosing the career option that best suits their interests and skills. Events include panel discussions on career choices, workshops on how to be a competitive applicant, writing a personal statement, and finding an internship or shadowing opportunity.

The Health Professions Program at Wake Forest University is designed to ensure that students are aware of what it takes to be a competitive applicant in the health professions program. *We cannot make students competitive applicants; only they can do that. We will provide information and guidance but the rest is up to the individual. The Health Professions Handbook is provided as a first step to educate students in the process. The Handbook provides everything to know in order to pursue a career in health professions. Please read it carefully!

At Wake Forest University, students will be assigned a lower-division academic advisor for the first two years, until they declare a major. However, in addition to an academic advisor, students can and should meet with the appropriate health profession advisor for questions about preparation for a specific health professions career.

Who should I contact for information on the Pre-Engineering/Engineering Program?

For Engineering Majors:

Dr. Michael Gross
Department Chair, Professor
grossmd@wfu.edu
http://college.wfu.edu/engineering/

For 3+2 and 4+2 Majors at Wake Forest:

Dr. Daniel Kim-Shapiro
shapiro@wfu.edu
http://www.wfu.edu/physics/engineering

Department of Engineering

The mission of the engineering major is to educate students in an engineering curriculum that embraces and supports the unique culture of Wake Forest by combining the liberal arts core, innovative entrepreneurship, and engineering. The program provides an undergraduate engineering education that embodies the teacher-scholar ideal, emphasizing the close faculty-student engagement that is the hallmark of the Wake Forest community. Our goal is to attract enthusiastic students from around the US and the world who will make important contributions to solving society’s most pressing problems, fulfilling the Pro Humanitate motto of Wake Forest University.

Program

Within a newly formed Department of Engineering that resides in Division V (Mathematics and Natural Sciences), the program will be conducted jointly on Wake Forest University’s Reynolda Campus and in the new initiative location in downtown Winston-Salem, called Wake Downtown. Wake Downtown is a new effort to establish a set of programs in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering in new facilities being established at the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter. The major will educate students in engineering principles resulting in a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree. Currently, there are four engineering faculty in the founding team. By 2021, we expect the Department of Engineering to have eight to ten full-time faculty members.

Rollout of the Major

The establishment of the Department of Engineering and the Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree program will phase in over four years, beginning in the fall of 2017. The first graduating class of majors is planned for the class of 2021. Faculty, staff, students, and courses will be gradually established over the four-year period 2017-2021.

For information about courses to take to be prepared for declaring an Engineering major, see the Engineering Department guide for first-year students.

Who should I contact for information about Pre-Law advising?

Dr. Ellrod joined the team in the Summer of 2022 through a partnership with the Program for Leadership and Character. At Wake, he conducts one-on-one pre-law advising sessions, vocational discernment cohorts, and interest groups about questions of law and justice. Dr. Ellrod also teaches HMN 374: “Humanities and Law” in the Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities.

Students interested in Pre-Law advising can reach Dr. Ellrod by email
(ellrodb@wfu.edu) or by phone (336-758-4734)!

What other campus offices should I be aware of?

Meetings with the OPCD may also provide students with a better understanding of how their majors and minors will assist them in pursuing the study of law.

Career coaches in the Office of Personal & Career Development are available by appointment. Students can sign up for an appointment through the OPCD Handshake system.

First and Second-Year Tips

• Set up an advising meeting with Dr. Ellrod to discuss your goals and the path to law school.
• Inform your academic advisor and/or major advisor of interest in pre-law, so that he or she can advise accordingly.
• Focus on making excellent grades, undergraduate GPA is a key factor in law school admissions.
• Take challenging courses that help develop critical reading, critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and writing skills. View a list of basic courses that may be of interest to pre-law students.
• Get to know your professors. Take advantage of their office hours, participate in class discussions, etc. Students will need their Letters of Recommendation eventually, and they know the students, the more they can comment on more than just grades.
• Begin the process of investigating careers in the law. There are several resources listed here, and the OPCD career counselors can direct you to other helpful resources
• Become involved in extra-curricular activities of interest. Of special note are a couple of activities that are specifically law-related, such as the Mock Trial Program. However, don’t feel that every activity must be law-related.
• When the time comes, declare an enjoyable major that presents a challenge. It need not be a major that is “law-related.” (Law schools care more about the performance in chosen areas of study than they do about what those areas are.)
• Introduce yourself to your faculty and peers who have either completed or are in the process of applying to law school.

Please visit the Pre-Graduate website for specific details on applying to graduate school, GRE, and contact information for department individual advisor liaisons.