Should I use an admissions service?

[Gummydinosaur]

Hey everyone,

So I'm looking to apply for the 3rd time now in the 2021-2022 application cycle. Although I had medical school interviews the second time I did not get off the waitlist so I decided I want to go all out this time around. I'm taking Altius's test prep program (to boost my lowish MCAT score), and I've been looking into different services to review my application (review of ps, activites, secondaries, etc...).

Has anyone tries Altius's admissions service or recommend another service that they felt served them well? Do any adcoms feel paying for a review service has been beneficial to past applicants?

Thank you!!!

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[Goro]

You can get great advice here on SDN for free.

For starters, work on interview skills.

 

[Gummydinosaur]

You can get great advice here on SDN for free.

For starters, work on interview skills.

Thank you!

I've seen some great advice on here for how to write prompts and what to talk about. However, I haven't seen people post their essays on here for proofreading, I assumed addcoms might reverse search and think that you plagiarized.

I've done some mock interviews through my university, but is there nay general advice you would give for students during interviews?

 

[theconfusedapplicant]

I don't have any experience with those programs but I wouldn't really recommend them. There are a plethora of free resources on reddit or here on SDN that you can use to help you out with your application. For MCAT resources, I'd recommend you visit reddit. There are a ton of premade anki decks, flashcards, etc., and advice and schedules about how to study. I'm sure there are some on here too, but that's where I learned about the MCAT process. Also, make sure you're doing practice problems: UWorld most importantly, and then maybe some other 3rd party stuff like Kaplan tests. For essay reviewing, I would post on here or reddit or private message already-admitted medical students for advice/feedback. One of the medical students I messaged gave me INCREDIBLE feedback for my personal statement which really helped me out this cycle.

As for other general application advice, find Dr. Ryan Gray on youtube and watch whichever videos you'd like to learn more about. He's been really helpful to me.

 

[KnightDoc]

Hey everyone,

So I'm looking to apply for the 3rd time now in the 2021-2022 application cycle. Although I had medical school interviews the second time I did not get off the waitlist so I decided I want to go all out this time around. I'm taking Altius's test prep program (to boost my lowish MCAT score), and I've been looking into different services to review my application (review of ps, activites, secondaries, etc...).

Has anyone tries Altius's admissions service or recommend another service that they felt served them well? Do any adcoms feel paying for a review service has been beneficial to past applicants?

Thank you!!!

Honestly, this probably isn't the place to solicit unbiased opinions on the value of paid coaching, and adcoms would be the last people to advocate for a resource that not all applicants can afford. SDN prides itself on providing all the free advice anyone needs, and thousands of people each year have successful cycles without outside paid assistance.

On the other hand, there is clearly a place in the market for paid help, since so many providers exist, and at least a few of them are highly successful. Good luck with this. My feeling, based on limited observations and speaking with many people at my local AMSA chapter as well as taking in all the wisdom on SDN, is that, for any given service, you will find people insisting it's a waste of money and others crediting any success they have to it.

There really is no correct answer here. If you've already had two unsuccessful cycles, feel it will help, and can afford it, you don't need anyone's permission and should go for it. Worst case, you are throwing away still more money in pursuit of this expensive endeavor. If I were going to go this route, though, I'd do a lot of research and not rely on opinions or advice from anonymous strangers, and certainly not on a free forum designed to provide free advice!

 

[Gummydinosaur]

I don't have any experience with those programs but I wouldn't really recommend them. There are a plethora of free resources on reddit or here on SDN that you can use to help you out with your application. For MCAT resources, I'd recommend you visit reddit. There are a ton of premade anki decks, flashcards, etc., and advice and schedules about how to study. I'm sure there are some on here too, but that's where I learned about the MCAT process. Also, make sure you're doing practice problems: UWorld most importantly, and then maybe some other 3rd party stuff like Kaplan tests. For essay reviewing, I would post on here or reddit or private message already-admitted medical students for advice/feedback. One of the medical students I messaged gave me INCREDIBLE feedback for my personal statement which really helped me out this cycle.

As for other general application advice, find Dr. Ryan Gray on youtube and watch whichever videos you'd like to learn more about. He's been really helpful to me.

Thank you for the advice! I'm already enrolled in an MCAT prep course because I feel I really need the help and accountability that comes along with it. But the YouTube videos and the tip on private messaging people other users for help with reviewing is a great idea! I really appreciate the advice.

 

[Gummydinosaur]

Honestly, this probably isn't the place to solicit unbiased opinions on the value of paid coaching, and adcoms would be the last people to advocate for a resource that not all applicants can afford. SDN prides itself on providing all the free advice anyone needs, and thousands of people each year have successful cycles without outside paid assistance.

On the other hand, there is clearly a place in the market for paid help, since so many providers exist, and at least a few of them are highly successful. Good luck with this. My feeling, based on limited observations and speaking with many people at my local AMSA chapter as well as taking in all the wisdom on SDN, is that, for any given service, you will find people insisting it's a waste of money and others crediting any success they have to it.

There really is no correct answer here. If you've already had two unsuccessful cycles, feel it will help, and can afford it, you don't need anyone's permission and should go for it. Worst case, you are throwing away still more money in pursuit of this expensive endeavor. If I were going to go this route, though, I'd do a lot of research and not rely on opinions or advice from anonymous strangers, and certainly not on a free forum designed to provide free advice!

I completely understand. SDN is a great resource! The first two times I applied I didnt use any paid prep programs and relied on the help of counselors, teachers, and others for advice and proofreading because I was already working 2 jobs and in school so I didn't have any available funds.

Since graduating I've been working full time and saving so that lack of money isn't an issue when it comes to application fees or paying for anything else that might help my chances. Paying for services is probably the easy way out, I just want to do everything I can to be a competitive applicant.

 

[KnightDoc]

I completely understand. SDN is a great resource! The first two times I applied I didnt use any paid prep programs and relied on the help of counselors, teachers, and others for advice and proofreading because I was already working 2 jobs and in school so I didn't have any available funds.

Since graduating I've been working full time and saving so that lack of money isn't an issue when it comes to application fees or paying for anything else that might help my chances. Paying for services is probably the easy way out, I just want to do everything I can to be a competitive applicant.

I totally get it -- that's why I tried to recognize both sides. Paid coaching clearly has a place, otherwise there wouldn't be enough demand to support an industry.

My only experience so far (next cycle is going to be my first, and hopefully only! ) has been with MCAT prep. All the online advice was to not pay for it, because everything you need is available online and through books. On the other hand, I didn't want to deny myself an advantage just to save some money.

Ultimately, after talking with people at my school, my premed advisor, friends at AMSA and reps from Kaplan and TPR (I was even considering doing their summer long boot camp for like $10K including room and board -- they sold that pretty hard at the center I visited), I decided that I didn't need the structure or discipline and that having to stick to a fixed schedule rather than having the freedom to focus on my weaknesses would actually be counterproductive as well as expensive, so I did it on my own. No regrets.

I see how coaching could be helpful, but I feel like I've learned enough in the past two years that I would really just be paying for a cheerleader to tell me things I already know. I might very well feel differently after a failed cycle or two, so I definitely see the possible attraction and would not presume to tell anyone else what to do.

Easy way out has nothing to do with anything -- this isn't supposed to be about how hard anyone makes it on him or herself. It's just that the community sourced self help forum is not really the best place to solicit advice on outside paid help, other than, of course, from the few contributors who actually do that for a living and use to site to passively solicit business. A place to start might be to look on the other SDN forums and see who identifies as a vendor who might be selling what you are looking for. I know they are around because I've seen them!!

Advising and Admissions Services & Discounts

Looking for school admissions and advising services? This is where to find verified and approved school admissions consulting and advising services, who are offering discounts for SDN members.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[Goro]

Thank you!

I've seen some great advice on here for how to write prompts and what to talk about. However, I haven't seen people post their essays on here for proofreading, I assumed addcoms might reverse search and think that you plagiarized.

I've done some mock interviews through my university, but is there nay general advice you would give for students during interviews?

Read this:

• Goro's Guide to Interviews

There are kind people on SDN who will read your essays via PM. I'm NOT one of them

 

[Sky138]

I completely understand. SDN is a great resource! The first two times I applied I didnt use any paid prep programs and relied on the help of counselors, teachers, and others for advice and proofreading because I was already working 2 jobs and in school so I didn't have any available funds.

Since graduating I've been working full time and saving so that lack of money isn't an issue when it comes to application fees or paying for anything else that might help my chances. Paying for services is probably the easy way out, I just want to do everything I can to be a competitive applicant.

If you choose to use an application service pick one that not only provides interview prep but also a guarantee of acceptance or your money back. They’re expensive as hell but it beats paying someone money for info you can find on sdn. Also at this point they won’t be doing anything to make you a competitive applicant, not really since you already did all the work. If anything they’d be polishing what you already have.

 

[Rachapkis]

I completely understand. SDN is a great resource! The first two times I applied I didnt use any paid prep programs and relied on the help of counselors, teachers, and others for advice and proofreading because I was already working 2 jobs and in school so I didn't have any available funds.

Since graduating I've been working full time and saving so that lack of money isn't an issue when it comes to application fees or paying for anything else that might help my chances. Paying for services is probably the easy way out, I just want to do everything I can to be a competitive applicant.

If you want to PM me your PS, I will review it. If you don’t value my input, you can always disregard it.

 

[Osteosaur]

I think something to consider is if you're a non-trad and don't have access to a premed advisor you might need a service like this provided its reputable, and not just english majors editing your essays.

 

[LunaOri]

There's a thread here on SDN listing medical students and faculty who are willing to review PS and essays. I forget the name of it, but you should be able to find it.

 

[butidontwantto]

I did one application cycle without paid help, and one with paid help. As others have mentioned there is a lot of free help around the internet, but there are a few reasons that getting the extra help might be worth it. I'm a nontrad, and didn't have access to a premed advisor. There were also some things I needed to address in my application that were somewhat delicate without oversharing. Ultimately I justified the cost by looking it kind of like a communications class to help me figure out how to talk about some of this stuff in a way that is appropriate to the application process. For me, it was worth it, because every time I found myself churning and stuck on an essay I had a person I could send it to for review. (And I definitely churned. It really sucks having to talk about one of your worst, most vulnerable moments with an anonymous board with decision making power over your future, but I digress.) I worked with MedSchoolCoach and had a really positive experience. They at least used to offer a lower-cost application review for a failed cycle application, which, to be clear, is absolutely a foot in the door sales tactic, but it might be useful if you're unsure where to go next. If you have a relatively traditional path to medicine, can find a reviewer you trust who doesn't cost anything, and just need to retake the MCAT I'd say it's probably not worth it though.

 

[r2med]

SDN will give you general, anonymous advice (other than things like college lists and WAMC). If you are looking for specific help with writing, interviewing etc - you may need someone who has the time and patience and not anonymous (you and them). Would they really help? My case was an absolute waste of money. Only help I can think of is keeping me on time to pre-write secondaries which I may not have done due to busy college and other works. So, in typical general advice style - YMMV.

 

[HopeP]

There's a thread here on SDN listing medical students and faculty who are willing to review PS and essays. I forget the name of it, but you should be able to find it.

Can someone guide me to that thread please, I tried to search through unsuccessfully. I must be not looking correctly.

 

[gyngyn]

I'm always surprised when angry parents tell us that their application was "perfect" because they paid $4,000 for it.

 

[r2med]

I'm always surprised when angry parents tell us that their application was "perfect" because they paid $4,000 for it.

On the other hand, in my case, we were all on the same page that there was absolutely no value-added.

 

[HopeP]

Curious, what kind of $ value that industry is!

 

[LunaOri]

Can someone guide me to that thread please, I tried to search through unsuccessfully. I must be not looking correctly.

I don’t know how to post the link from my phone, but it’s PapaGuava’s thread called “Official Reader List”

 

[HopeP]

I don’t know how to post the link from my phone, but it’s PapaGuava’s thread called “Official Reader List”

Thanks found it.

 

[Talldoctor96]

A warning about Altius: all the garbage they advertise about score promises and averages is total bull****. But that’s a story for another day lol