Graduate & Professional School Advising

The decision to undertake a course of graduate study - whether it be graduate school, medical, law or business school—requires careful consideration. Some students are ready to go directly from Brown to a graduate program, and others prefer to work first and return to school with clarity of focus and goals.

If you are considering applying to graduate or professional school we encourage you to seek advisors on campus, including the faculty, career counselors and academic deans in the Office of the Dean of the College. Brown's resources are geared toward helping you fully explore post-graduate options and timing, build strong applications, and make good decisions regarding steps toward your career goals.

Counselors at the Career Development Center are available to talk with you about the graduate school decision - including the right time to go, the process of selecting the program, and the application timeline. You are urged to speak with your faculty advisor and academic deans about these questions, and about the specifics of fit of programs with your interest area.

The Health Careers Office is available to students interested in becoming medical doctors. However, students interested in dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, nursing, public health, podiatry, and pharmacy are also welcome to use the office. Resources include individual advising, information about training programs, group information sessions, and publications about being a pre-medical/pre-health professions student at Brown. The Dean of Health Careers also assists students applying to medical or other health profession schools by providing the institutional letter of recommendation, strongly preferred by most medical schools and many other health programs.

Brown’s law school advising deans helps students and alumni decide whether to attend law school, when to attend, and how best to complete the application process. Students are encouraged to visit Room 213 in University Hall to look at guidebooks to law schools, to review GPA and LSAT data, and to learn where Brown alumni have attended law school. Individual meetings with pre-law deans are held on a walk-in basis during open office hours. Alumni are welcome to call in during these hours.