Interview with Dr. Rona Woldenberg, Associate Dean for Admissions at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell [Show Summary]

We interviewed today’s guest almost three years ago about Hofstra/Northwell’s fairly new medical school. A lot has changed since then and Dean of Admissions, Dr. Rona Woldenberg, bring us up to date on what’s new at the Zucker Medical School at Hofstra/Northwell, while also sharing gems on medical school admissions in general and Zucker in particular.

Dr. Woldenberg discusses recent changes at Zucker, and offers tips for med school applicants [Show Notes]

Today’s guest is Dr. Rona Woldenberg, Associate Dean for Admissions at Zucker Medical. Dr. Woldenberg earned her MD at the University of Pennsylvania. She is board certified in diagnostic radiology and neuroradiology. In addition to her duties as Associate Dean for Admissions, she is also a Professor at Zucker School of Medicine.

For those listeners who may not be familiar with Hofstra/Northwell Medical, what would be the first thing you would want applicants and potential future physicians to know about Zucker SOM? [2:06]

There are a few guiding principles that are different. We are learner-focused as opposed to teacher-focused. The education is driven by the learner which is critical. Student learning is also very much action-focused. We don’t believe in a passive learning process. Students are engaged from day 1 in clinical medicine with our EMT curriculum, which they do for the first nine weeks of med school, and they all become licensed EMTs in New York state. Getting that certification allows them to build a team-based approach and to be an active learner.

Can you provide an example of how being learner-based as opposed to teacher-based is reflected in a particular subject? [3:32]

It allows us to fully integrate the curriculum. It allows the learner to have a comprehensive approach to a patient where they can learn in an integrated fashion – learning biochem of the liver while dissecting a liver in anatomy of lab, while looking at liver slides, while looking at physiology of the liver. Learning is dictated by the need of the student, not the need of the faculty member teaching the course.

Since we spoke almost three years ago, the Hofstra/Northwell Medical School became the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Hofstra Northwell University. Can you tell us about the gift that triggered that name change? [5:23]

Donald and Barbara Zucker gave a $60M gift of which $50M is dedicated specifically to scholarship. We are in a time now where schools are trying to go loan free, tuition free, with the primary focus of making the education as affordable as possible. We are proud that our students tend to be in the lower third of loans needed after medical school. We meet with each student one-on-one to help with financial planning.

Let’s look at the Zucker Medical application process. Any tips for the Zucker secondary? [7:01]

Ours is fact-based. We don’t make you write 5-6 additional essays. We do ask about an obstacle overcome and how you addressed it, which speaks to resilience, an attribute a physician needs. You have to be able to accept your failures, be resilient, and be an effective medical student.

Interview with Kenton Kivestu, CEO of RocketBlocks [Show Summary]

Kenton Kivestu is CEO of RocketBlocks, a firm that provides tools to help you prepare for and nail your Product Manager interviews at high tech firms. In today’s episode, he and Linda discuss the unique challenges of breaking into a product management career in high tech, and how to overcome them. He provides the inside scoop on big name companies like Amazon and Google.

Kenton Kivestu describes the role of a product manager, and offers insight on how to break into this exciting field [Show Notes]

I’d like to welcome back to AST Kenton Kivestu, who was previously a guest on Admissions Straight Talk in episode 188 a little over two years ago. Kenton graduated from UVA with a BA in economics and history in 2006. Upon graduating he joined Google in product development and worked there for 3 years until he moved to Hanover New Hampshire to attend the Tuck School of Business and earn his MBA. He interned at BCG, but returned to mobile product development when he graduated from Tuck in 2011, working in product management at both Zynga and Flurry following his MBA. For the last several years, he has been full-time CEO of RocketBlocks, which has helped applicants land consulting jobs and has expanded into prepping applicants for product management positions.

Since our last interview focused on landing a consulting job, this show is going to focus on product management positions in high tech.

What are the key qualifications in terms of work experience and personal qualities that high tech companies are looking for in PM candidates? [2:32]

Candidates for a PM role tend to run the gamut – could be someone with a computer science degree straight out of undergrad, or an English major coming into the role. Ultimately when you look at what tech companies like Google, Amazon, or Facebook want from a PM, they tend to look at the same set of skills. They want to know that people have a good product sense, and passion and excitement for a product. You need to be excited about what a product looks and feels like, and that you can think about deeply. Some level of tech fluency is important as well since you are working day in and day out with tech people - you need to be able to communicate effectively with them. Some firms like to hire people already with a tech background, but a lot of companies have realized that just because someone has a great tech background doesn’t necessarily mean they will be a great PM. You just need to be able to communicate effectively with software engineers. The third thing is similar to what a lot of companies are looking for. They want people who have strong leadership skills and know how to lead a team, and who can collaborate.

You had a degree in history. How did you prepare for this role? Did you take classes? [5:52]

The Project Manager role has really come into being in the last 20 years. If you did a study of job titles, a small amount would have been PM before then, but now there are thousands of PMs at places like Amazon or Google. I didn’t even know what a PM was until just before my 4th year at UVA - I found out about it from some friends. The job sounded incredible, and what I learned was that to get that job you needed to have a

Interview with Dr. Daniel Barron, MD/PhD, resident physician at Yale University and writer for Scientific American [Show Summary]

Dr. Daniel Barron is Chief Resident at Yale’s Neuroscience Research Training Program and Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit. In today’s episode he shares the various twists and turns in his med school education and career that helped him determine what he wanted to do. He also discusses his controversial article for Scientific American on where your med school tuition dollars really go.

Dr. Barron discusses his path to a career in neuroscience and shares his thoughts on the cost of medical education [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Dr. Daniel Barron. Dr. Barron grew up in Texas, and studied neuroscience and philosophy as an undergrad at UT. He then pursued his MD/PhD there. His research focuses on brain disease, and he is currently the Chief Resident at Yale’s Neuroscience Research Training Program and Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit.

Can you tell us about your background outside of medicine? Where you grew up? What do you like to do for fun? [2:00]

I grew up in many places, primarily in Texas, but also in Maryland and Utah, where I went to high school. I spent a lot of time in the countryside and really didn’t consider science until my sophomore year in high school. My biology teacher was a huge influence. I found the course really captivating and ended up doing well in it and then decided to pursue more science classes. As for what I like to do for fun, I have a two-year-old son and a hobby of mine is repairing old things. I recently fixed up an old sailboat, and we went on a sail yesterday. It was great.

You seem to have been attracted to neuroscience and been fairly directed all along in college. How did you select neuroscience and psychiatry? [4:35]

I remember my senior trip just after graduating high school, and I was reading a book that talked about a lot of neuroscience experiments. There was one in particular where monkeys would have nerves severed in their arms, but could eventually use their arms again. It was fascinating to me to know that by a matter of will these monkeys convinced neurons to grow. I was also interested in why people have the motivations, desires, and thoughts that they do. The first class I signed up for in college was neuroscience. It was taught by Michael Brown and was the hardest class I had ever taken. It was really difficult, but also really interesting. My first exam I got a low C which wasn’t very promising. I went to talk to him about it, and he gave me in retrospect some good therapy and then I went back at it. I started doing neuroscience research at the same time and really enjoyed it.

The decision to go into psychiatry wasn’t until my fourth year. I initially thought epilepsy was fascinating – seizure disorders, changes in consciousness, and looking for brain damage in epilepsy. I also thought I would go into neurosurgery when I studied in Bologna, and after observing I went all the way through to surgical intervention. I decided the lifestyle of a neurosurgeon wasn’t something I could endure. With psychiatry what I enjoyed in my rotation was a lot of exposure to patients whose world view was changed by treating specific symptoms in their cognition.

What was the hardest part of the med school and residency application process for you? [9:31]

I remember one conversation in particular with a guidance counselor in undergrad. I had real interest in research but also in intera...

Interview with Brigitte Suhr, international lawyer, former admissions reader and current Accepted law school admissions consultant [Show summary]

Accepted consultant Brigitte Suhr brings a wealth of law school admissions knowledge to today’s podcast. As an application reader at UVA School of Law, Brigitte read more than 2,500 applications, so she knows what works and what doesn’t. She shares her insight during this podcast.

Find out what a UVA law school application reader looks for [Show notes]

Our guest today, Brigitte Suhr, earned her BA from UT Austin and her JD from UVA. She then went on to travel the world as an international lawyer, working for Human Rights Watch, the International Criminal Court, and other foundations and NGOs. For approximately two years prior to joining Accepted, Brigitte worked as an application reader for her alma mater, UVA School of Law, and in that capacity reviewed over 2,500 applications. She was the one recommending admit or deny. Let’s find out how she made those recommendations.

You’ve had a fascinating career working in international and human rights law around the world, why did you decide to become an admissions reader at UVA? [2:04]

I had worked for many years at an international level and had to step back for family reasons. I started my own consulting company working with nonprofits and foundations. As I was building that up I had the opportunity to work with UVA and thought it sounded like fun and a great way to get back in touch with my alma mater. Now I am busier, but didn’t want to leave admissions completely behind, which is why I became an admissions counselor.

When you were reviewing applications for UVA Law, did you have a particular bucket of applicants that you reviewed? [2:53]

I typically reviewed applicants who were below the median in both GPA and LSAT or above in one and significantly below in the other.

When the numbers were low, what made you decide to say yes? [3:12]

That’s when other factors come in. The personal statement is really important, the reasons why (for example why was a GPA so low), and do they convince me that they are capable of doing well in law school and being a good lawyer.

How did you go through the application? Those that came to you were already behind the eight ball, right? [3:57]

Yes and no. When you think of a school as selective as UVA, it didn’t take much to be in my pile since the medians were so high - you could still be in the 90th percentile and be in my pile. I read the application from top to bottom, however it came from LSAC. Typically first was info on activities and service, then the personal statement, everything but the transcripts and LORs. The second attachment had those items. Essentially, I started building my impression from their own submissions, then I would go to the LORs.

What made a personal statement tell you that its author deserved your vote and recommendation? [6:01]

A personal statement could capt...

Interview with Andie Kaplan, Wharton MBA student and founder of ConnectEd [Show summary]

Andie Kaplan had an undergraduate degree in business, but knew she needed more formal training to successfully launch her own business, and one year into her MBA at Wharton, she has done just that! Andie shares her story of honing her business idea and working with Wharton professors and students to get it off the ground. Best part of her story: She saves international students money on their cell-phone bills!

Andie Kaplan discusses how and why she launched her business, ConnectEd, while at Wharton [Show notes]

Our guest today is Andie Kaplan, who graduated from UVA with a bachelors in Commerce and Math and minors in IT and Business Analytics. I guess she’s a numbers geek. Upon graduation she went to work for Bain for three years. In 2017 she joined Squarespace as a Data Scientist and later was promoted to Senior Data Scientist and Product Analytics Team Lead. She left Squarespace in 2018 to join Wharton’s class of 2020. And at Wharton she founded ConnectEd, which we’ll learn more about during the podcast, along with her story.

Can you tell us a little about your background? Where you grew up? [2:11]

I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I went to a large public high school and knew I wanted to study business in college which is what led me to look at undergrad business programs, and ultimately to UVA.

What was hardest part of the MBA app process for you? How did you handle that element? [2:59]

I wasn’t sure when I was first applying whether I wanted to go to school. People go to b-school for a host of different reasons. I had already studied business and wanted to make sure I was applying for the right reasons. A lot of the process you go through with applying is soul searching why you want to be at school, so for me the difficult part was checking the reasons why.

Your undergrad degree is in business and analytics. You worked at Bain for 3 years and then at Squarespace. What did you hope to learn at Wharton, given your extensive foundation in business? [4:01]

I was very fortunate to start at Bain where I was able to apply my skills in a variety of industries and fields, and at Squarespace applying my business analytics skills. For me I knew I wanted to start a company, and when I was in undergrad I was thinking more about leading an established company. Over the last few years I decided I wanted to start my own. A lot of entrepreneurs think if you have an idea, just go do it, but I wanted to put myself in an environment where I could flesh out an idea to take it from an idea to execution. I wanted to further my entrepreneurial skill set and be part of a community and network to make it a reality.

Has Wharton provided what you were looking for? [5:57]

I’m very excited to say we have launched ConnectEd. One of the reasons I chose Wharton is its very flexible curriculum and the ability to start right away. I was able to waive a lot of the core requirements which allowed me to flesh out the idea early on, and it’s been great to work with students and faculty on the idea.

What do you like best and what could be improved at Wharton? [6:50]

The best part is the people I’m surrounded by. I have so many talented and diverse classmates. The friendships,

Interview with Rachel Slutsky, Accepted admissions consultant [Show summary]

Want to know what makes for stupendous statements of purpose or impressive MBA essays? Our guest, and recent addition to Accepted’s team of consultants, is an expert at both. But, for some of you her main claim to fame may be her status as a Harvard PhD Student. In this podcast she discusses how she earned admission to Harvard for a fully funded PhD and what makes for great graduate school application essays. She has also worked with applicants coming from the military and discusses some of the challenges unique to that applicant cohort as well as how to overcome them.

Find out how to apply to grad school successfully from an admissions consultant and Harvard PhD student [Show notes]

Our guest today, Rachel Slutsky, earned her bachelors in English Lit and Jewish Studies from Yeshiva University, her masters in Judaic Studies from the University of Chicago, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Religion and Religious Studies at Harvard University. Since her days as an undergrad she has worked as a writing tutor and teacher, application essay editor and admissions consultant, and she has also edited for the prestigious Harvard Theological Review. Needless to say she knows a ton about the writing required of successful graduate school applicants and students, and she’s going to share that insight with us today.

Can you tell us about your background? Where you grew up? How did you come to pursue the academic path? [2:12]

As you mentioned, I am getting a PhD in religion. I am from the Boston area and had religious studies courses in high school, and my teacher really inspired me. I saw myself being her, and thought I would be a high school religious studies teacher, but when I was in my first year of college, I took a class with a professor who reminded me a lot of my high school teacher. I wrote to my high school teacher and wondered if this professor was at college when she was there, and in fact this professor had made HER want to teach. I switched my goal to teaching similar content but on a graduate school level.

You are in a fully funded PhD program in Religion and Religious Studies at Harvard. Getting into a Harvard PhD program is something many people would give their eye teeth for. How did you do it? [3:57]

I have to admit there is always some piece of luck to it. There is also persistence and actual skill. For persistence I applied to be a Harvard undergrad and did not get accepted. I was not too distraught about it at the time - I really felt like I could succeed there and could go there for another degree. They allow you to submit an application of any sort three times, so I decided for my masters not to apply to Harvard since I knew I wanted a PhD afterwards and wanted to try again then. The real skill thing was being able to honestly evaluate myself. Even though I look back now and think I would have been okay as a Harvard undergrad, I did not present an application that showed that at the time. I wasn’t thinking about the application in a complex way. It was only by the end of college that I felt I understood what it means to apply well somewhere.

In terms of skill, for the application specifically it involves tailoring. It cannot be a common application. You have to figure out a way to stand out. That is really important. It is a performance, and while not exaggerating, you have to put on your best outfit, your best face, and it is the time to show off.

I am taking a week off for family time this week. As a result I decided to air an encore of our most popular med podcast so far in 2019, and it is: Writing for Med School, which I presented at the end of January.

It’s an excellent time for this podcast. Many of you are knee-deep in secondaries. Others are starting to think about your personal statement for a 2020-2021 application, the cycle that starts in June. And beginning early, with self-reflection is a great way to start. AMCAS will begin processing applications right around June 1, and you want to be ready. And hopefully by this time next year, you may even have a few interview invitations in your hip pocket.

For those of you beyond secondaries, and either awaiting interview invitations or perhaps already having received an interview invitation, I’d like to invite you to Accepted’s next webinar, Ace the MMI, a live Q&A with 2 MMI Experts, Dr. Herman Gordon, former director of Admissions at the University of Arizona Medical School, and Dr. Barry Rothman, founder and former director of several post-bac programs at Cal State San Francisco. Today they are both Accepted consultants who bring their prior experience to bear as they guide our clients preparing for their interviews. And Drs. Gordon and Rothman are happy to share their expertise with you at the webinar on Sept. 17 at 5 PM PT/ 8 PM ET. They have decades of experience in med school admissions, and they will reveal what you can expect and how to prepare for a multiple mini interview, that intimidating MMI. We expect a packed house for the webinar so sign up today!

Whether applying this cycle or next, I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer And thanks for listening to Writing for Med School.

For the complete show notes, please check out the original blog post.

Related Links:

• Ace the MMI, upcoming webinar

• How to Create Successful Secondary Applications, an on-demand webinar

• Secondary Essay Questions and Tips Organized by School

• How to Write a Winning Med School Personal Statement

• 

Interview with Beta Ealy, creative director and Columbia EMBA student [Show Summary]

Think that if you aren’t a consultant, IT professional, or finance manager that you don’t have a shot in an EMBA program? Think again. Our guest this week is a creative director with little background in quant who conquered the GMAT and is now thriving in the Columbia EMBA program. Listen in as she shares her views on the program, and how to excel in the application process and in the program itself.

From Disney to Columbia Business School [Show Notes]

Today’s guest is Beta Ealy. Beta earned her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Cal State Long Beach in 2004 and worked as an art director prior to becoming manager of Creative and Product Development at Disney where she worked from 2004 – 2011. She then worked in similar areas for Mattel, and Discovery Communications where she was a Sr. Manager and Director respectively. Since April 2018, she has served as the Brand Creative Director for the City of Manhattan Beach and in January became a Columbia EMBA student.

Can you tell us about your background? Where did you grew up? What do you like to do for fun? [2:12]

I grew up near Moscow in Russia. Pretty much everyone in my family is a scientist. My dad got a job at UCLA in the 90s and we moved to Santa Monica. That was how I became a designer rather than a scientist - if we had stayed I definitely would have moved in that direction. Here I saw the opportunity to do something different. I went to Santa Monica High School, which has a great design program, and I worked on real projects with real companies, and that is how I ended up where I am today. In terms of fun, I love to travel, and often spontaneously go on road trips with my husband and dogs, but also love to travel internationally.

You started out in college studying art and design, when and how did the business bug bite you? [3:47]

After being a creative for a while I saw the industry shifting and the way design/creative was being utilized was very different. I felt a tectonic shift which was very exciting because suddenly product differentiation and design was considered important. Creative leaders all of the sudden had a seat at the table. However, I realized when invited to board meetings I didn’t have the vocabulary to speak to some of these people, and I couldn’t deliver the strategic functions expected of me.

When you were researching programs and applying, what appealed to you about the CBS EMBA program? [5:16]

I was so excited to find it because of what I was saying a bit earlier. I am coming from a unique background with the idea of creating a bridge between being a creative person and business leader. They teach an entrepreneurial mindset at Columbia which is leadership-based and focused on identifying opportunities and growing industries. Because I was wanting to do something unique and unorthodox that is why it was a good fit. Being located in NYC, with my interest in media, entertainment, and retail, was an added bonus, adding that to my existing LA network.

How did you do the research necessary considering you were on the west coast? [6:49]

It’s a well-known program, obviously, so that part was easy. Because I have worked with such big companies with a presence in both LA and New York, I already knew a bit about New York in general.

Interview with Darrel Nabers, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine [Show Summary]

Darrel Nabers, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, is our guest today, and he shares details about the differences between Stritch and other allopathic medical schools in Chicago, how Stritch winnowed their initial applicant pool of 15,000+ to a class of 170, what they are looking for in a successful candidate, and how the admissions process works. Listen in!

Get into Loyola Stritch School of Medicine [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Darrel Nabers, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Darrell earned his bachelors and masters degrees from Whittier College and Golden Gate University respectively. He then held various admissions positions from 2000 to 2005 before joining the University of Chicago’s admission staff, where he served in different roles until 2015. He joined Loyola Chicago Stritch in 2015 as Director of Admissions and became Assistant Dean for Admissions and Recruitment in February 2019.

What is distinctive about the Loyola Stritch approach to medical education? [2:15]

A Jesuit education is pretty rare, and we are the only one in Chicago, though there are five other allopathic schools in Chicago. Having been at another medical school what I think is different is the service orientation, with the program actively promoting service-related events, advocating for DACA students when no one else was admitting them. It becomes clear when you are here that students are positive and compassionate people, and receptive to insights of people from lots of different backgrounds and experiences. They also have global networks from conducting service each year. In terms of relationship with the community, students possess an effective sense of inquiry and love of learning, with students taking that inquisition and looking at society in very different ways with the aim of improving society, assistance, care, and empathy, especially with those on the margins of society.

Bioethics and ministry are also part of the foundation in the coursework. With the global health honors track the coursework is elective based, and you become a member of the bioethics team. With the ministry effort, it is a physician vocation program, an immersive track that is an elective and covers a different set of goals each year of the program, in order to achieve understanding of the Ignatian spiritual dynamism and focus on medicine and medical care.

Last year you received 15,015 applications per AAMC and you whittled it down to 165 students. How did you do it? [9:30]

We made a concerted effort to focus our recruiting on Jesuit undergraduate schools. We also are largely attracting students from out of state, so to find those students we focus on the west coast, southeast, and northeast. The largest number of students come from California. 1 out of every 4 people west of the Mississippi River lives in California, so with population dynamics, age, and the dearth of medical school programs on the west coast, we become an automatic consideration, as the next largest metro area going east is Chicago. We also utilize the MCAT registry as kind of a cold call.

Learn all about Kellogg’s MBA options from the inside [Show Summary]

Assistant Dean of Admissions Kate Smith discusses Kellogg’s rich menu of options as well as what Kellogg is looking for in applicants, changes to its MBA application, and how to get in.

Interview with Kate Smith, Assistant Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at the Kellogg School of Management [Show Notes]

Kate earned her own MBA at Kellogg in 1998 and then worked in marketing for leading brands including General Mills, Quaker Oats, and Pepsi. She returned to Kellogg in 2012 and assumed her current role as Assistant Dean, Admissions and Financial Aid at the Kellogg School of Management.

What makes Kellogg unique? [2:09]

We intentionally designed the Kellogg learning experience to grow you both personally and professionally. Between extensive global opportunities and the challenging experiential learning, as well as customized electives, the curriculum is shaped by real world business problems and dedicated to developing dynamic leaders to see possibilities that others can’t. In our innovative curriculum you will learn how to evaluate opportunities, catalyze teams, and engage with world-class faculty. Whether being advised by a venture capitalist on a start-up, joining a trek with thought leaders in industry sectors of interest, or participating in a fireside chat with a professor who served as a Fortune 500 CEO, we offer in-depth experiential learning with a collaborative culture and distinctive community.

Kellogg offers a range of full-time degree programs, and we hear consistently that many students who learn about them are very excited and weren’t aware of them before. All are designed to fit student interests. We have the two-year MBA (traditional program) that offers the opportunity to explore different interests, and often career pivots. We have a one-year MBA program and two joint, dual-degree programs. Our one-year program has existed for 56 years consecutively. It is for those who have completed some business coursework before attending so we qualify one-year applicants by the coursework taken. We give students credit for those courses. One-year (1Y) students start in the summer, and it’s a four-quarter program (June-June). There is an immersive first quarter for 1Y students, and then they join the second-year MBA class with electives, and they tailor their studies to their interest and professional goals.

Joint degrees include the MMM, which is a dual degree with the engineering school, and you get an MS in design innovation and MBA. It is very popular for students who are interested in design-centered thinking or product management. It’s a seven quarter program and integrates with the two-year program in the fall. Last is the JD/MBA program, with the curriculum designed to be completed in three years. Finally, our alumni network is very engaged and responsive, which impresses students and applicants. We have a pay it forward culture and mindset, which you see across the board.

What’s new at Kellogg in the last year? I know a lot has been happening. [14:03]

We are thrilled to welcome our new dean Francesca Cornelli. She will be on campus in a few weeks and joining us from LBS, bringing an immense amount of global perspective, and in particular expertise in private equity, innovation policy, and corporate governance. I personally am very proud it is our third consecutive female dean We are the only top business school with consistent female leadership.