Your BS/MD Admissions Game Plan: College Application Essays

August 9, 2020August 11, 2020 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

“Your BS/MD Admissions Game Plan” is a blog series created by Dr. Paul Lowe that discusses BS/MD Admissions. With such a competitive environment and the immeasurable value and benefits of BS/MD programs, the need for an admissions game plan is ESSENTIAL.

At BS/ MD Admissions, we discern that many students and parents are clueless about what to do, when to do it, where to do it, who to contact, and why do it. They fail to discover what they are doing that’s wrong, or they discover what they’ve been doing is wrong when it’s too late!

COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAYS

When we review and perform an in-depth student profile analysis of clients’ college application-essay drafts that they submit to us, we ALWAYS find mistakes that can result in rejections! This is unfortunate because essays can tip the scales when colleges and BS/MD programs are trying to decide between two otherwise equally qualified applicants. We find that students (even with high GPAs, great extracurricular activities and high SAT/ACT scores and excellent “manufactured” personas) don’t put much thought into their essays. Or when they do, they overlook key points in their essays. These are big mistakes because essays are crucial.

Applications for competitive colleges and BS/MD Programs ask the applicant to write a reasonably significant and compelling essay (in the 500-750 words range) about what is seemingly a broad topic. What admissions officers (there are usually two or more readers) are looking for in the essay is an insight into how well the applicant thinks, how well they can articulate a point or view, how the applicant is unique, the applicant’s emotional and cultural intelligence, what matters to the applicant, and most importantly the applicant’s character, personality and honesty.

Essays should be successfully written so that they leave a lasting positive impression on the admissions committee. When reading essays, admissions officers strive to gain a reasonably complete picture of student – strengths, achievements and aspirations as well as challenges they face and how they overcome them. At Ivy League and highly selective schools, and especially BS/MD programs, admissions officers look at every essay from every applicant, and for students who reach the level of serious consideration, essays may end up being read multiple times.

Through our years of experience, we know that the main requirement for writing a convincing, compelling, memorable and winning essays, aside from a command of the English language, grammar, coherency, optimal tone, readability, structure and flow, is to convey who you really are. Find your “voice”. We help our clients find their unique voice during our numerous in-depth interview questions and student profile analysis. Your voice is that writing style that lets your admissions officers “hear” who you are.

Competitive colleges and BS/MD program also require applicants to write several corresponding supplemental essays and short answers on a variety of topics. These essays are interconnected and interrelated. A 150-character answer as well as a 250-word essay is as important as the main essay. Naturally, your essays should not be repetitive, but should present a consistent image of the applicant. We know that a well-coordinated essay set has a synergistic effect on the admissions committee: It provides a 360-degree view of the candidate on both a professional and personal level.

Our analogy to an essay is music: We help you revise your lyrics using our knowledge of you, your character and activities so that the admissions officers can happily sing your songs – your essays!

Dr. Lowe and his team of admissions advisors provide advice to make your essays personable, enlightening, energetic, harmonious and memorable to admissions officers. We suggest content improvement and help you develop admissions-effective essays. Our goal is to make our clients standout from the crowd and pass that all-important final cut!

Our over 20 years of advisory admissions experience and long-standing professional relationships with admissions officers provide us with the tool-kit of strategies and knowledge to help our clients successfully navigate the BS/MD Admissions process in the COVID-19 landscape.

Our BS/MD Admissions practice is specialized: Dr. Lowe and his team only work with parents who understand that the BS/MD admissions process is competitive, who desire help from an admissions expert and who see the value and investment in paying for expert advice through a detailed and ongoing comprehensive admissions advisory service for their child’s dream of becoming a doctor. He also specializes in helping international students in the BS/MD process. BS/MD Admissions Advisors – 2020 Acceptances. Parents who chose to use our services want to call their son or daughter – “Doctor” when they are seniors in high school.

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.

Your BS/MD Admissions Game Plan: Choosing the Best Advice

August 2, 2020August 4, 2020 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

When considering a BS/MD program, we advise our clients to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN, and then re-PLAN. Early planning and goal-setting are important in the long run for admissions success!

If you’re parent of a high school student looking for BS/MD admissions guidance, you’re probably overwhelmed in finding the best and meaningful advice that increases their chances of acceptance into a BS/MD program. You can complement their years of hard work by seeking the correct advice that gets them noticed by admissions officers.

While high school counselors provide college counseling, based on our interaction with our clients, high school counselors do not specialize in BS/MD admissions advising nor have the school-specific knowledge of BS/MD programs.
Books and guides are wonderful to give you a general overview of applying to BS/MD programs. However, they are not student-specific or school-specific. They tell about the general “how-to’s”, but these strategies are not specific to an individual student profile and character. Furthermore, from the time of manuscript completion to publication, sometimes 1 to 3 years, the BS/ MD admissions landscape changes. Take, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic. This has disrupted the conventional BS/MD application process.
Free college-planning websites – There is a saying: “You get what you pay for!”
Many independent educational consultants are experts in college admissions counseling, but do not have our unparalleled knowledge of BS/MD programs and knowledge of BS/MD programs as it relates to international students and H4 students. Additionally, as experienced BS/MD Admissions Advisors, we know and understand what it takes to be a successful BS/MD applicant.

WHAT TO DO: Seek an BS/MD Admissions Advisor who has had experience and expertise in admissions strategies to BS/MD programs for U.S. as well as international students. Choose an admissions advisor, who specializes in BS/MD admissions, who is not doing it part-time, who understands the medical school journey and or is a BS/MD graduate and who has admissions success.

OUR GAME PLAN STRATEGY: We have dedicated advisors for our BS/MD Admissions Advisory services. It’s one of the reasons that parents hire us to help them develop a strategic admissions plan to increase their child’s chances of acceptance. Our dedicated medical-school-specific knowledge and expertise WORKS!

With a lot at stake, in a short period of time, in such a competitive environment, BS/MD applicants need a winning BS/MD Admissions Game Plan that works in the COVID-19 environment.

Our over 20 years of admissions advisory experience and proprietary admissions strategies provides the basis for our methods and knowledge to help our clients successfully navigate the BS/MD Admissions process in any and all environments, including the COVID-19 landscape.

Your BS/MD Admissions Game Plan: Extracurricular Activities

July 7, 2020August 4, 2020 ~ drpaulloweadmissionsexpert

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

When considering a BS/MD program, we advise our clients to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN, and then re-PLAN. Early planning and goal-setting are important in the long run for admissions success!

Here is what we advise our clients regarding extracurricular activities:

Extracurricular Activities demonstrate your passion, character and personality.
Extracurricular activities must be profound, meaningful and innovative.
Extracurricular activities must have a direct relationship with who you are.
Extracurricular activities must foster positive relationships and true interconnections.
BS/MD admissions officers are looking for highly motivated BS/MD candidates (high school seniors) who invest their time and effort in their passions, not just students who do extracurricular activities just because they might look good on college and BS/MD applications.

CORONAVIRUS EFFECT: Even with the pandemic, the foundations for college admissions, specifically with regard to extracurricular activities, still apply and remain unchanged. With regard to extracurricular activities: commitment, achievement, depth, impact still matter. There are still ways to achieve the above, but it has to be unique to YOU! You must make the most of the opportunities available to you. You should also underscore the best activity for you that makes you stand out. We always ask our clients: “How does an extracurricular activity apply to your unique student profile?”

Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities, and specifically BS/MD programs, are seeking a diverse student body made up of specialists who can share their passions and achievements collaboratively. They are not looking for the typical BS/MD candidate who has the sort of Jack-of-all-activities or have the typical fluff “BS/MD I want to be a doctor from high school” activities. Quality supersedes quantity! The quality has to be student-specific. We encourage and guide our clients to pursue meaningful activities.

There are lots of “how-to” books and guides to getting into BS/MD programs out there but all were published pre-COVID; now their strategies are obsolete and outdated. With a lot at stake, in a short period of time, in such a competitive environment, BS/MD applicants (and their parents) need a winning BS/MD Admissions Game Plan that works in the COVID-19 environment.