“If the goal is med school, it is not necessary to do a BA MD program or even major in a science or other med-related field. That was my main point. " - it is NOT necessary at all, but it was very very helpful for my D. When you know that you do not have to have absolutely top notch stats, it actually helps a lot to obtain them. Knowing that she needed only 27 on her MCAT, had helped my D. to obtain a score of 35. Going to medical school interviews while knowing that she already have a spot is all different ball game. It made my D’s college years and her medical school application cycle (which was completely optional for her, she was the only one who applied out of her bs/md program) much more relaxing than it would be otherwise.
There is definitely " no need to aim for prestigious schools either”. However, attending at more prestigious medical schools if having a selective specialty in mind will help.
" since admission to med school is often more geared to GPA." - I would say, not “often” but “always”
good luck, please let us know how it works out for you. also, I think there is a pre-med forum here and other places on the web where you may find other people that have worked with them. Just out of curiosity, do they refund any part of the fee if your S doesn’t get into the program?
I don’t know anything about these advising programs but…I don’t understand this sentence in your post:
The admit rate for Brown’s PLME program is under 5%. About 90 students are admitted each year. https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/prospective-students/prospective-students
So what exactly is the claim? Is the company claiming that it coached 20% of the SUCCESSFUL applicants? . How many of the UNSUCCESSFUL applicants did it work with? That’s a serious question.
@compmom similar to what @MiamiDAP said, my S also doesn’t want to have to stress with the whole traditional med school application process. I think this route will actually save us some money in the long run (believe it or not) but more importantly, having a guaranteed admissions option without having to do the MCAT or interviews down the road is what he’s hoping for. Prestige is arbitrary in medicine in the sense that there are medical schools that are not “brand” name but yet are prestigious in academic circles for residencies. I was told an example was UMiami, great med school with a combined program and one of the most prestigious derm residency programs in the country.
thanks for all your help so far everyone!
@quietdesperation yes, the fee is fully refunded if he doesn’t get into their program.
Prestige in medical circles is no different than in any other profession. U Missouri at Rolla has one of the top Mechanical Engineering faculty in the country. The average Joe at your dry cleaners couldn’t find it on a map unless he lived in Missouri.
OP- it is too early for your son to be even THINKING about residency programs. Take a deep breath. Sometimes the stress of traditional med school applications is a GOOD thing. Students realize during the marathon that they are more interested in something else- biostatistics, or public health, or epidemiology, or PhD/pharma research, or genetic counseling. That’s not a bad outcome- that’s a good outcome. Nothing worse than a kid realizing part way through med school that he or she does NOT want to be a physician. And it happens.
I guess my post reflects a feeling that it is not always good to be locked in to a career choice too early, but of course there are exceptions.
@jonri I got that information from their website and yes they claim that over 20% of successful applicants received help from them. They state 14+ APE students got in and only 1 didn’t https://www.apetest.org/us/latest-news/2016-brown-plme-results/
I asked how they define an “APE student” and was told any student with a valid @apetest.org email or any student without an apetest.org e-mail address who used pay-as you go services with an APE mentor and followed through with all the necessary suggestions made by their mentor. Under this definition, I guess if you didn’t stick it through with them then you were not counted, but it’s encouraging to see how many of applicants who stuck it through ultimately got in, considering as you mentioned, the Brown PLME program traditionally has an admit rate of less than 5% !!!
@kkfields, who did you end up ultimately going with if you don’t mind sharing? I paid the $1,000 APE program application fee and now we’re waiting to hear back from them to see if she is accepted. Their first round of offers are going out in a few days on July 8th.
@jessapen we ended up going with APE Advisor Prep. My son’s mentor said they had over 40 ppl apply this year for only 15 spots!!! So far we’re very impressed with how things are going. I hope your son/daughter made it in as well.
Update: 3/23/2017.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this thread back in the summer. A quick update on my DS’ progress as we are nearing the end.
He has done far better than we had expected, despite having less than stellar stats. Multiple acceptances at BS/MD programs and we are still waiting to hear back from a few before we decide. We are so relived and happy!
Have learned so much from the process and as parents (both in non medical fields) we are definitely glad we asked for help early on !!!
@kkfields: Congratulations ! Glad to hear that the APE Advisor service was beneficial to your son. Which service did you take from APE Advisor (Director, Application, Interview etc) ? Did you start with them summer prior to your son’s senior year?
@urfriend we are very thankful for their help! I sent you a message directly. good luck.
I have no problem if parents want to pay for college coaching, especially if there is a component that helps students hone in on areas of interest. However this statement sent up some warning bells for me… “we’ve always paid for private tutoring”. If a student needed tutoring in high school, he may find college rigor to be a shock. (I realize there are a few high schools that a uber intense, so tutoring is normal. But if that’s not the case here… think carefully before chasing the most intense schools.)
@colorado_mom in our experience, there’s been a noticeable difference in the quality of support when we’ve paid for it directly because in the process we can pick and choose who we want to hire and support our family. I understand it may not be an option or the right option for many families, but it works well for us!
Hi,
Congratulations to your son, hope he is really enjoying what he is doing.
I would like to chat with you about your experience with ADE Advisor prep as my daughter (currently sophomore) is also really interested in BS/MD program. Really appreciate your input as we are looking for college counselling and also the best SAT prep place.
Thanks a lot