Kaplan Med School Admissions Consulting

[Omni]

Hi, I'm considering whether or not I should buy a 3 hour package for $600 from Kaplan.
Has anyone else ever done this? Is it worth it? I can't find any reviews of it online.

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[sedaniel]

Hi, I'm considering whether or not I should buy a 3 hour package for $600 from Kaplan.
Has anyone else ever done this? Is it worth it? I can't find any reviews of it online.

Personally, I would not pay $600 for something like that because there are so many resources available online to learn about applying to med school. Plus since you are at UMich, you can always check out the Career Center, they have a lot of materials there for premeds and they have seminars every now and then about the basics of LORs, PS writing, AMCAS application, etc. This information is really helpful for figuring out the basics of applying to med school.

That being said, every time I have gone to specifically ask questions to their pre-med advisors, I've always gotten crappy advice (for example, they told me to wait until July to send in my AMCAS/AACOMAS applications for a really dumb reason, and clearly, I did not listen to them). So I guess the moral of the story would be to use your best judgment when it comes to the Career Center, because they do have some helpful information but some of their advisors might not be the greatest.

 

[TreeOfSouls]

I've found that MOST pre-med advisors seem to give questionable advice, I've often wondered what the training/qualifications for those positions are! Though SDN can be sometimes be brutal, stress-inducing, and yet often childish in terms of the maturity of some posts... the sections with information about the MCAT, application process, and info about specific schools are amazing- it's information and details you won't get elsewhere. The list of personal statement readers here is also extremely helpful!

So I guess the moral of the story would be to use your best judgment when it comes to the Career Center, because they do have some helpful information but some of their advisors might not be the greatest.

 

[Omni]

I guess in my first post I should have indicated where I am in this process. I took the MCAT in summer 2009, and right now, I've completed everything for my application. I've gotten my LORs uploaded, my transcript has been received by AMCAS, and all I'm looking to do is just pressing the "submit application" button. Although my PS has gone through a number of revisions by some pre-med advisers, I don't like the changes they've made to it. I don't know if it answers the question "why medicine?" anymore and I'm really confused. That's why I'm willing to dish out some money for a professional to read my application. More than half of the PS readers in the thread is unresponsive (yes, I've PMed most of them).

 

[TreeOfSouls]

Did you try starting at the *bottom* of the list of PS readers? The ones at the top tend to get asked a LOT.

I guess in my first post I should have indicated where I am in this process. I took the MCAT in summer 2009, and right now, I've completed everything for my application. I've gotten my LORs uploaded, my transcript has been received by AMCAS, and all I'm looking to do is just pressing the "submit application" button. Although my PS has gone through a number of revisions by some pre-med advisers, I don't like the changes they've made to it. I don't know if it answers the question "why medicine?" anymore and I'm really confused. That's why I'm willing to dish out some money for a professional to read my application. More than half of the PS readers in the thread is unresponsive (yes, I've PMed most of them).

 

[Grobe57214]

I've never been a big fan of having people completely overhaul one's personal statement. Ultimately, the essay should be your perspective, not another person's. Sure, there are tips that you should read about...things to exclude, things to include but overall, the thing should be written by you. Having someone else read the statement for grammar mistakes, well that's perfectly fine. When I gave my statement to other people to read, I personally got nervous when they told me that I should completely take something out or add something in because I felt that my whole "vision" or ultimate theme I was aiming for was being lost.

 

[sedaniel]

I guess in my first post I should have indicated where I am in this process. I took the MCAT in summer 2009, and right now, I've completed everything for my application. I've gotten my LORs uploaded, my transcript has been received by AMCAS, and all I'm looking to do is just pressing the "submit application" button. Although my PS has gone through a number of revisions by some pre-med advisers, I don't like the changes they've made to it. I don't know if it answers the question "why medicine?" anymore and I'm really confused. That's why I'm willing to dish out some money for a professional to read my application. More than half of the PS readers in the thread is unresponsive (yes, I've PMed most of them).

Try getting a doctor you know to read it, or if you are lucky enough to have connections to an adcomm, that's a great place to get advice. If you know anyone personally who's already gotten into med school they could read your PS too. An English major could read it for grammatical/spelling errors.

UMich Career Center told me to rewrite my entire essay, and I didn't do that either, instead I had 3 adcomm's read it and my dad (physician) and they all said it was great (unfortunately, yet another reason why I don't trust premed advisors anymore lol).

 

[NotAsking4Much]

I guess in my first post I should have indicated where I am in this process. I took the MCAT in summer 2009, and right now, I've completed everything for my application. I've gotten my LORs uploaded, my transcript has been received by AMCAS, and all I'm looking to do is just pressing the "submit application" button. Although my PS has gone through a number of revisions by some pre-med advisers, I don't like the changes they've made to it. I don't know if it answers the question "why medicine?" anymore and I'm really confused. That's why I'm willing to dish out some money for a professional to read my application. More than half of the PS readers in the thread is unresponsive (yes, I've PMed most of them).

I wouldn't pay for the services. Most of them have no idea what they're talking about, and only a handful of people out there actually have the experiences. The two best types of people who should read your app are...

#1) People who used or are on admission committees or
#2) People who braved through the process already, in medical school, and have an idea what works/does not work.

 

[nlax30]

Unless there's a really weak/sticking point in your application you are trying to get over and/or just have no other resource to go to I wouldn't spend $600 on that. Just a lot of money for 3hrs.

 

[Antibodies]

Just because someone got into med school doesn't make them an expert on reading personal statements. I always find that funny when people say "have a med student read your personal statement." Unless that med student is on the adcom, that student isn't any more of an expert than a pre-med student. How many PS has that med student read? 1? 2? No more than that. That med student might have gotten in because of an awesome MCAT, GPA, activities or life story. Not because of the majestic PS they wrote.

Also, physicians aren't any better at PS than pre-meds (unless that physician sits on an adcom of course).

If you want an expert to read your personal statement, look for someone who reads them for a living. Like an adcom member or a company that helps students prepare.
I heard (haven't tried) good things about Don at Inquarta.

 

[DrJosephKim]

Kaplan has an impressive list of physician and non-physician consultants. If you have personal connections to doctors who have served on medical school admission committees, then I'd recommend that you approach them first.

Qualified candidates really won't need much help from consultants.

Those who are not highly qualified or those who are borderline are the types of students who would really benefit from these types of services.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Just because someone got into med school doesn't make them an expert on reading personal statements. I always find that funny when people say "have a med student read your personal statement." Unless that med student is on the adcom, that student isn't any more of an expert than a pre-med student. How many PS has that med student read? 1? 2? No more than that. That med student might have gotten in because of an awesome MCAT, GPA, activities or life story. Not because of the majestic PS they wrote.

Also, physicians aren't any better at PS than pre-meds (unless that physician sits on an adcom of course).

If you want an expert to read your personal statement, look for someone who reads them for a living. Like an adcom member or a company that helps students prepare.
I heard (haven't tried) good things about Don at Inquarta.

I agree that being a medical student does not mean that you had a great PS or that you are a great PS reader. It does, however, likely mean that your PS was adequate. The fact of the matter is that most people aren't banking on their PS getting them into medical school, though we all naturally desire to write a really good one. At the very least, I would say most people would settle for some confirmation of adequacy and that is why many turn to medical students over pre-med. The other advantage of having a physician or medical student read your PS is that they can sometimes point out flaws in points being made in a PS which are due to lack of experience or assumptions about medicine that are due to not being in the thick of it yet (common ones I get include an overemphasis on interventional care as the primary way of extending and improving life and also the assumption that a doctor who cares enough can ensure patient compliance and health in patients that currently live unhealthy lifestyles.). As far as how many PS a medical student reads, I think SDN is the exception in this because many of us have read dozens or more of statements here. Not that this necessarily means we are any better at it