Pre-Health Professions Advising Students who hope to attend a health professional school after graduating from Fordham benefit from early and frequent advising.  The competition to gain acceptance to these programs (medical, dental, veterinary, and optometry) is quite high and future applicants need to become knowledgeable of the factors that will contribute to a successful application. Most pre-health freshmen begin their science coursework with chemistry and biology, regardless of their specific interest.  Even the strongest pre-health students require advising from their freshman year to be successful with a health professional school application.  Students who are participants in Fordham’s pre-health professions program receive both individual and group advising from the pre-health program advisor during their freshman through senior years.  Freshman pre-health students are enrolled in Pre-Health Symposium so that they have weekly access to the Pre-Health Advisor.  Group advising sessions are class specific (freshman, sophomore, junior) and are scheduled to help students plan for significant upcoming events, such as taking the MCAT.  Students are also encouraged to meet individually with the pre-health program advisor to discuss their progress in attaining acceptance into a health-professional program.