r/GeneticCounseling

Im planning on taking a gap year after i graduate in may ‘28 to gain some work experience, i was wondering if it wont be too late at that point to reach out to them. Also my school deactivates students emails after a year from graduation so im not too sure if i should just apply the year i graduate bc idk how to reach out to my profs after that

Hello all! I am a prospective applicant for the upcoming cycle. This fall, I am entering my senior year of undergraduate studies. This summer, I am doing the most I can to prepare for the application/match process. How early should I be reaching out to ask people for letters of recommendation? I know most program applications don't open until this fall, but I wondered if it is worthwhile to ask ahead of time. I don't know if this is a silly question, but I want to make sure that I am doing the most I can to be prepared when applications open. Additionally, I have plenty of GC shadowing, but all within oncology. Do I need to pursue other shadowing opportunities in other specialties? My location makes it extremely difficult for me to find nearby GCs to shadow, so any resources/advice would be appreciated.

Hi Everyone, I'm thinking of venturing into opening a private practice but I don't know where to start. Can anyone provide some mentorship/advice?

Background: I went to a program where I was able to do all of my rotations remotely and saw patients through telehealth. I felt like I was confident in counseling patients but didn't know anything about the administrative work behind the scenes like ordering tests, writing clinical notes, coordinating with doctors, etc. All my mentors said I don't have to worry about those things because each clinic is different, and that's something I'll learn on the job.

After I graduated, I got a job as a variant scientist, so I don't see any patients. I love my job and have no intentions of leaving, but also miss the clinical aspects of directly seeing patients. I want to avoid any conflicts of interest in working for different institutions, plus, most clinical positions are not full time. So, I wanted to start my own practice as a side hustle and I can see patients on my own time.

However, since I don't have any clinical experience as a GC, I don't really know how a clinic is run. Simple questions such as, 'how do you order genetic testing?' or 'what should go into clinic notes?' are basic knowledge to any practicing GC, but not me. I'm not sure where to start, and would love some mentorship/help/advice in this.

this is likely a very niche question but any advice is helpful!

i am a rising senior planning to apply this cycle and in researching grad schools i'm getting concerned about my prereqs. for some background, i took AP bio my sophomore year of high school and got a C one semester and a D the other due to lots of personal factors (my dad had just died unexpectedly, i had major surgery, moved schools, and it was the middle of the pandemic) as well as a truly horrible teacher. i was thankfully still able to get college credit for it. at the time, i was planning to pursue a totally different career path that biology wouldn't have been necessary for, so i just went with it. after my freshman year, i changed my major to genetics and realized i would need those intro bio credits. my advisor was able to override the prereq requirements after i told her the situation, and i have gotten straight A's in every single class since then.

some graduate schools require 1-2 semesters of biology with a C or higher. many of them don't specify what type of biology, but i'm worried that my credits won't count for the bio prerequisites even though i have had straight A's in all of the subsequent classes (including genetics, molecular biology, molecular genetics, microbiology, cell bio, evolutionary bio, etc.).

is this something i should be concerned about (like, concerned enough to re-take the classes at my university this school year?) for my application? or is it something that won't be as big of a deal as i feel like it is? i know when applying to undergrad there is often a space to explain any circumstances or anything that may make your grades/transcript not reflect your efforts or something along those lines; is that something that grad schools do also?

hopefully this post makes sense; just looking for some advice or feedback if anyone has been in a similar situation or has suggestions for what i should do!! thank you ◡̈

Hi! I am an applicant in the upcoming application cycle. I've been investing HOURS researching GC programs, using GC discord resource and establishing Excel sheet that lists out GC program (location, tuition, rotation start time, what's special and what's "less ideal" for me personally). However, I'm struggling finding a strategic and standardized way to evaluate each program - every program appears "similar" that they provide clinical rotations, offer classes, and some have LEND. Every program's student speaks highly of their program. I am not too specific with which cities I need to go, and I am okay with applying to more expensive schools if academics/fieldwork opportunities is better.

I would love to hear your advice! I also tried researching school alumni and where they end up - most ppl end up in clinics. People who graduated from big cities have a slightly higher portion of choosing a non-traditional GC path.

Thank you so much for everyone who takes time to read and reply. I appreciate it and hope you have a great day!!

I've had my heart set on being a genetic counselor for years now. Recently i've been thinking about it and i'm not sure I can do it. I only hear about how hard it is to get into schools, and how bad the job market is. I know the things I need and the steps I have to take (I think). I just feel not good enough. I've began to wonder what my backup plans are and when I should pivot to those and not even try. Despite my doubt, every time I look at different careers in genetics I know genetic counseling is what I want to do. I'm a rising Sophomore and I feel behind despite being far from it. I'm on track to graduate early but I planned on just taking classes to strengthen my resume, but despite being set up to do well I feel like I never had a chance. What are some backup plans if everything goes south? Is this healthy worry or am I overthinking it? I just need some guidance on how to be the most prepared as possible. I have no family that has ever pursued a career in science let alone a masters in anything, I feel like I have absolutely no clue what i'm getting into other than what i've read. Sorry for the long kinda frantic post, but i've decided it's time to ask rather than continue to worry.

hi!!! is this a great field for autistic people who already have their Bachelors (who are motivated to get their prereqs done that are missing to enter a MS in this?) I got my BA in psychology (but also attended school for Occupational Therapy beforehand) and what I learned is I can’t STAND to spend all day constantly meeting the emotional needs of other people and I don’t like math so hiding behind excel doing data science is out and this also excludes market research data analyst, really anything ending in data analyst… so no therapist job, no psychologist, no ABA therapist, no crisis counselor for SI, that’s just all way too intense for me!!!!! I’m hoping this is maybe more science than people? what do you think???

I need more CEUs for license renewal by the end of the month and just learned NSGC isn't selling online courses this month. Just my luck! I've only ever really gotten CEUs from my workplace and NSGC online, so I don't know any other reliable sources. Any recs? I saw one post mentioning a Udemy course on informed consent, so I'm starting that right away.

Hi guys, I’m a Syrian student who’s studying a bachelors in medical and molecular genetics in the UAE. My major goal and really my passion is genetic counseling, im a good academic student and I’ve done lots of volunteering here (red crescent, Cleveland clinic) but I’m worried that because all the good genetic counseling programs are abroad in countries where the visa process for Syrians is quite difficult, it’ll be hard for me to be accepted to enter a country where I can graduate with an accredited degree. Theres one program here in the uae but it’s only locally accredited and not internationally which worries me, any tips?

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Does anyone have good updated advice on what to do when you find out you have this mutation. Kind of freaking out here. Not asking for a specific medical plan, more just someone to talk me off the ledge so to speak.