It’s summer, and parents are calling us about BS/MD admissions for their children. But the children are rising seniors!
Many parents wait until the rising senior year, or senior year to inquire about BS/MD programs and application help. Some have already hired independent educational consultants who are generalist and have discovered that they now need to hire a BS/MD Admissions specialist. Some have attempted the process without guidance.
In our initial discussion, these parents reveal that their child usually has a 4.5/4.0 weighted GPA (indicating that they aced several AP classes), shadowed multiple doctors, are involved in research, volunteered to help the poor, plays violin or piano, dance, achieved high SAT or ACT scores and have a 2-3 page resume.
On paper, the child sounds astonishing and amazing, and they are….on paper! But in reality, the applicant sounds just like the 97% of students who have a high probability of being rejected! Yes! It’s that competitive. In our experience (we have been BS/MD Admissions experts for 21 years), many of the parents inquiring are from similar cultural and ethnic backgrounds. At this point, since BS/MD programs are seeking socio-economical and ethnic diversity – this further adds to the hyper-competition.
In our experience, the fact that these parents have intentionally procrastinated to seek an expert increases the probability of rejection or in other words increase their chances of NOT standing out.
As a physician-scientist who understands and has studied statistics and probability, I wonder why these highly-educated parents who are scientists, doctors, engineers, bankers, entrepreneurs, accountants, financial advisors, technologist (after their hard work and their child’s sacrifice) would wait until the last minute to hire an admissions specialist, thereby increasing the risk of rejection. Scientifically and “parentally” it’s illogical.
Here are my 5 assumptions as to why these highly educated parents make the mistake of waiting until the senior year to hire a BS/MD admissions expert/specialist:
- Parents assume that they understand the BS/MD admissions process.
- Parents who call us, at that time, believe that that have the same collective expertise as a team of full-time BS MD advisors with 21 years of experience.
- Parents believe that their professional skill sets make them experts. After all, anyone can be a BS/MD admissions advisor!
- Parents honestly believe that their children standout (with the above-mentioned criteria) after they review the same information as everyone else.
- Parents honestly believe that by waiting until the senior year, a BS/MD advisor will charge less. There is a cost to unravel mistakes and to help a student who sounds just like everyone else to stand out – in 2-4 months!
We hear about the disasters from many of these parents in the Spring: BS/MD applicants who were rejected from BS/MD programs, Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities and yes, their perceived “safety schools”. A common statement that we hear: “Our daughter (or son) is a gifted and talented student. We can’t understand why they were rejected from most of their top-choice colleges and all BS/MD programs”
If you are considering hiring a team of BS/MD Admissions Advisors for your child, don’t wait until the last minute. Your timely decision statistically and mathematically INCREASES the probability of acceptance by having time to avoid costly mistakes that will result in rejections.
Of course, there are many roads to obtaining an MD. But with a BS/MD application, you have just one chance to achieve this goal. It seems logical and prudent to receive the best guidance to achieve that goal.
“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe
“We provide our clients access to our specialized knowledge!” – Dr. Paul Lowe
Dr. Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director of Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group network. He and his team of admissions advisors, through the admissions affiliate, BS/MD Admissions Advisors, help high school students get accepted to BS/MD programs. Summer Camp: BS/MD Application Boot Camp
Dr. Paul Lowe - Admissions Expert 