Admissions Straight Talk

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.

Interview with Jennifer Welch, Associate Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at SUNY Upstate Medical University [Show Summary]

In today’s episode we talk with Jennifer Welch, Associate Dean of Admissions and Chief Enrollment Officer at SUNY Upstate Medical. Jennifer shares information on the new curriculum, as well as what students can expect in the application process and who SUNY Upstate wants in their program.

Find out what's new at SUNY Upstate Medical University [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Jennifer Welch, Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid and Chief Enrollment Officer. Jennifer arrived at SUNY as Director of Admissions at SUNY Upstate Medical in 1994 and became Associate Dean of Admissions in 2013. She is also no stranger to Admissions Straight Talk or Accepted. She participated in Accepted’s old chats and was a guest on AST’s episodes 87 and 168. However, that was a while ago, and it’s time to catch up with Jennifer and what’s happening at SUNY Upstate.

SUNY Upstate has spent much time and energy over the last five years in a curriculum overhaul, with the basic goal of better integrating clinical and basic science instruction. How is that going? [2:28]

Students don’t learn anymore in a large lecture hall. The new curriculum is called the Up Curriculum and has done a wonderful job of integrating a more small group dynamic. All coursework is also taped so students can learn on their own. The basic idea is they get the chance to collaborate with one another to learn concepts. We are also offering flipped classrooms with problem-based learning. These changes were slow in coming but the committee did a fabulous job in terms of figuring out what students needed. Students served on the committee also which was really helpful. At this point we are fully integrated in the first and second year. Students are in class most mornings and then in small group discussions on cases relevant to what they are learning in the classroom. We are also going to be live with simulations this fall. For now the third year is still very much the rotations, the fourth year AIs and electives. There is discussion about doing a three year curriculum – 18 months of basic sciences and then going right into clinical years.

I noticed that SUNY Upstate is requiring the CASPer. When do you recommend that applicants take it and what are you learning from it? [7:29]

Last year was the first year we required it, but did not use it in the admissions process. We looked at how students performed in CASPer and how they performed in the interviews, and there was a very strong correlation. We had a retreat a few weeks ago to show the correlation, and we’ll be using it a little more in the screening process. It will be part of the evaluation when students are starting to look a lot alike – when we have few interview slots left, applicants have similar schools/grades/MCAT scores. Students need it for their application to be complete, so I am encouraging people to take it in June/July/August. We will not consider an application until we have the CASPer score.

Interview with Dr. Kenny Lin, family practitioner, medical school faculty-member and blogger [Show Summary]

Dr. Kenny Lin is a graduate of Harvard, NYU Medical, and Johns Hopkins, and today is on faculty at Georgetown Medical, Johns Hopkins, and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. In today’s episode Dr. Lin shares his thoughts on medical school, public health, a critique of medical school rankings, and more!

Dr. Kenny Lin shares his thoughts on primary care, academic medicine and medical school rankings [Show Notes]

Now I’m thrilled to introduce our guest, Dr Kenny Lin. Dr. Lin earned his bachelors in history and science from Harvard and then went on to NYU to earn his MD and to Johns Hopkins a little later for an MPH. Today he is a family practitioner, professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Johns Hopkins. He also has a blog where he writes about health and medicine and in one post med school rankings. We’ll be talking about that a little later.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background and where you grew up. [1:55]

I grew up in suburban Maryland and both my parents are immigrants from Taiwan. I don’t actually live far from where I grew up now. I come from a family where there were already a few doctors on my mom’s side. My mom is a pharmacist, but two of her siblings are doctors and my grandfather was a fairly prestigious neurologist in Taiwan, and consulted for Chiang Kai Shek before the revolution in China.

How did you get interested in medicine? [3:33]

When I was in high school I did some volunteering at the local hospital where my mom worked. I worked in the post-op recovery room, bringing patients drinks and stuff like that. The other volunteering job I had there probably foreshadowed my dual career, which was working in the PR department, designing ads, promoting the hospital, writing news blurbs and so forth, which I found really enjoyable.

I was a history major at Harvard and wanted to stay away from the traditional premed path like biology, as I wanted to get a more varied experience. In the short term doing that made me feel a bit out of my league starting first year med school, but long term I feel like it really helped, as I can relate to my patients better, feeling comfortable talking with them about politics, history, and other things that are not science-based.

Why did you pursue an MPH in addition to the MD? [6:29]

Part of it was I had a period where I worked for the federal government with people interested in public health, but also in my practice I realized that it is less efficient to change things one-on-one than it is to change things overall. For example, you can council an individual to lose weight, but if the environment they are living in has less nutritious foods available, and no place to exercise safely that is not practical. What I was hoping to do was promote health via policy. At the time I was doing this it was when the ACA was being debated and there was a lot of excitement about that, with calorie labeling and things like that. So it was about public health and benefitting patients in total.

Can you tell us about your blog and why you decided to write it? [9:06]

I started it because I took a science writing class and people asked why I took it. I had a mentor who had a medical advice column many years prior,

Interview with Matt Clemons, Director of Admissions for the Harvard Kennedy School of Government [Show Summary]

Matt Clemons is the Director of Admissions for the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and he shares what the school is looking for in its applicants, what to expect while in the program, and some of the exciting things current students and alumni are doing to make an impact on society. If you are driven to solve the problems of public policy and society, take a closer look at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

The Harvard Kennedy School of Government: Everything You Need to Know [Show Notes]

It’s been almost three years since we last had on Admissions Straight Talk, Matt Clemons, Director of Admission, Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Matt entered the admissions field at Manhattan School of Music and subsequently served for five years as Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. He joined HKS in 2011 as Director of Admissions and has been there for the last roughly eight years.

Can you please give an overview of the HKS MPP program for those listeners who may not be so familiar with it? [2:10]

The MPP can be framed against MBA and JD programs, in that they all are teaching you to engage in professional issues. The MPP is teaching a skillset to help people solve problems, and is not traditionally academic (being concerned with theory and research), rather learning those skills to solve problems. In many ways the program is similar to business school – you learn negotiations, management, quant analysis, leadership, persuasion, communications, etc. – but the case studies, internships, and work people engage in will focus on how public policy impacts peoples’ lives, in the private, non for profit or government sectors.

How do the MPP, the Master's of Public Administration, and the MPAID (MPA Int’l Dev) differ? [3:31]

One of the things policy schools didn’t do is come up with one acronym used across the industry like business schools did with the MBA. I don’t want people to get confused across acronyms, but the MPAID program takes quant analysis to a deeper level, specifically to help figure out how developing economies can be managed in a way to integrate them into the global economy. Graduates tend to work for multilateral organizations like the IFC, World Bank, or IMF. 75% of the students are outside of the US, and the program is constructed with that in mind. It has uniquely rigorous quant – the first year is similar to what a first year PhD in economics would be studying.

The MPA is typically for people who have either already been to graduate school or been admitted to a partner school. Since students are pursuing a concurrent or dual business degree, many go on to careers in the private sector to figure out how businesses can have a positive influence on society.

What is the Mason Program or cohort in the Mid-Career MPA? [6:30]

The Mid-Career MPA is a one-year program for individuals in developed economies. The Mason Program has essentially the same curriculum, but is for people from developing economies. The Mason Program students spend an extra two weeks on campus at the beginning in sort of a boot camp, as many may not have studied in an environment like HKS before, but the only real difference in programs is citizenship.

What is the difference between joint, concurrent, and dual degree options? HKS offers all 3. [7:30]

The joint degree programs are only within Harvard (with the

Interview with Ben Worthington, Creator of IELTSPodcast [Show Summary]

Ben Worthington is an IELTS master, and he talks in great detail about the various sections of the test and how to prepare for them, as well as what to do if you can’t seem to break out of the score slump you are in. He also shares some details about his IELTS Podcast.

All About the IELTS [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Ben Worthington. Ben hails from northern England, but has lived in different parts of the globe. In 2006, he started teaching English as a second language. In 2012 he launched the IELTS Podcast to help students ace that exam. Today the IELTS Podcast provides free resources and three different levels of paid courses. Let’s learn more about the IELTS Podcast and get some expert tips on how to succeed with the IELTS exam. That score is critical if you are applying to English language universities and graduate programs, and you’re worried that English fluency, or the lack of it, could prevent your acceptance.

How did you get into IELTS prep? [2:00]

I used to be an English tutor in Spain, and then drifted into teaching English there. I started off doing classes with teenagers and then did business students, but eventually I found my niche with IELTS. I enjoy preparing students for that – it’s more of a challenge and there are more motivated students.

Can you give us an overview of the IELTS exam? [3:16]

It stands for the International English Language Testing System and was developed in Australia in the 1970s to test students’ English abilities. The British Council got involved and it became the IELTS test and now is used not only for getting into university in Australia, the UK, and Canada (also being more accepted in the US), but can also be used on visa applications as well.

There are four parts to the IELTS - speaking, listening, reading, and writing. On the listening and reading sections you can get between 0-40 points. There are 40 questions there, and you are either ticking the boxes, completing the sentence, or answering a multiple choice question. The speaking and writing sections are marked by an examiner – the speaking portion is in front of another person in three parts – part 1 is softer questions to get the student relaxed to give the best illustration of their ability. In part 2 you get a cue card with a prompt like, “Describe a childhood friend” - how you met them, what you liked to do with them, etc. You have two minutes to prepare your talk and then you talk about the points on the cue cards. Part 3 is follow up questions from the examiner to that, like, “Why do you think friendship is important?” - more abstract. For writing there is a general test and academic test. For the general portion in task 1 you have to write a letter – maybe a cover letter, letter to a friend, etc. For task 1 in the academic piece you have to describe something like a flow chart. Part 2 for both tests is taking a side or arguing both sides of an issue like democracy or climate change, which can be a real challenge. The test looks at skills beyond just the language.

Who should take the IELTS, the TOEFL or the PTE? [10:41]

Do some practice tests on each one and go for the one that resonates with you the most.

Can you tell us about the scoring? What is a good band? [11:54]

Generally speaking most places are looking for a 7, however if Canada needs a lot of computer engineers they might ...

Advice for the MCAT from an MCAT expert [Show Summary]

The MCAT is one really tough exam, and must be approached with careful and deliberate preparation. In this episode, Megan Galvin, National Director of the MCAT for Examkrackers for the last 12 years, takes you through everything from how much time you need to prep, to the way you should prep, and how you know when you are ready to take the MCAT.

Megan Galvin of Examkrackers lays out her tips for crushing the MCAT [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Megan Galvin, who since 2007 has served as the National Director of the MCAT for Examkrackers, one of the most respected MCAT prep companies around. There are few people who know more about the MCAT and prepping for it than Megan. I’m rather embarrassed to admit that it’s been around 5 years since Megan was last on Admissions Straight Talk, but I’m very happy she can join us today.

Megan, we last spoke a little over 5 years ago way back at episode 47, which aired on March 27, 2014. How has MCAT prep evolved since the introduction of what was then something very new and scary: MCAT 15, which is now old hat. [2:29]

Overall it is a much better test and students are earning much higher scores. I absolutely feel it is hitting a lot of areas students will do well in, so I am very excited about it. Students are scoring 35-45% higher than prior to 15, which allows me to work with them with much more ease. A range of 508-512 is what I am seeing now.

Let’s turn to the MCAT itself and how Examkrackers recommends that students prepare for it. When should pre-meds plan to take the MCAT? [4:20]

I like to talk to students around sophomore year so they can anticipate what is on the horizon. When all pre-reqs are completed that is an indicator they are ready and should start preparing. If there are students who don’t want to take a gap year then definitely they should take the test in their junior year. Every student is different, but what I do is offer an assessment of each person coming in, which gives me an opportunity to talk about their individual circumstances. I see students who are freshmen at conferences all the time, which is great, but earlier on with freshmen/sophomores, I advise them to do really well in their classes, get a strong GPA, take on leadership roles, in the summer do shadowing/scribe work and build their resume. After pre-reqs are complete, then focus on the MCAT.

How much time should students allow for MCAT prep? [9:01]

A normal student needs between 10-14 weeks that is exclusively for test prep, so 5-6 days a week and 3-4 hours a day. I don’t believe it should be all content for several weeks and then start doing practice exams – you should be doing the practice exams throughout. We do a diagnostic with students when they start because they need to know how the language of the test feels, and when they have a meltdown or a brain freeze. I have people do 2-4 chapters of reading a week in order to retain content. I also have them do 30 minute mini practice exams and then review to understand what they get wrong, and then do full length practice exams every other weekend. I also want students to do several different chapters each day – don’t focus on just one topic.

OK. Let’s say I’ve taken a course and studied or prepared on my own. How do I know I’m ready?

Interview with Marco De Novellis, editor at BusinessBecause [Show Summary]

In today’s podcast, we hear from Marco De Novellis, the editor of BusinessBecause, a company that takes seriously the approaching of being a “champion of applicants,” educating them about everything they need to know about the MBA application process and how to approach it. Marco shares his unique insights into the state of MBA education outside the U.S., as well as his feelings about rankings. Along the way he shares tips on how to present yourself as an applicant and the trends happening in business education.

BusinessBecause: Free information and advice for b-school applicants [Show Notes]

We have today a keen observer of the bschool scene since our guest, Marco De Novellis, is the editor of BusinessBecause. After graduating from the University of Leeds, Marco joined BusinessBecause as a Journalist and Community Manager in 2015, where he has worked ever since. Since 2017 he has been the Editor at BusinessBecause and more recently the host of The Business School Question podcast. Along the way he also wrote a book about alumni of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing and wrote for QS, TopMBA.com and AACSB.

Marco, how did you get your start on the bschool beat? [1:57]

I sort of fell into it. I studied history so writing has always been a passion of mine. In university I wrote for the school paper and then did freelance. When I graduated I interviewed with a small startup in Central London and I was lucky enough to get the job. It was quite a small business when I started, having begun in 2009. There were 4-5 people when I joined and now it is 15 of us. It has been great to be on this journey which has developed my career, as I am now the editor. I grew into the role and got to know the business school industry from there. We are dedicated to graduate management education, so writing content for anybody looking at business school. There are loads of options for stories to cover, since practically everything links back to business education.

You have also written extensively about China, specifically a book about alumni at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) in Beijing. How did that book come about? [5:03]

CKGSB is China’s leading business school (the founder of Alibaba is an alum), but not many people know about it outside of China. I saw a statistic that graduates collectively lead 1/5 of China’s biggest brands. They really wanted to do more than the standard brochure to show the benefits of studying in China for international students. They approached me and asked me to write it which was an honor but also a big task. I interviewed about 25 alums from the school and some I met in person, delving into their personal stories, why they decided to go to China, and what they learned from it.

What are some of the challenges that Chinese business schools face that European or U.S. business schools don’t face? [8:12]

The biggest one is the struggle to attract internationals. The U.S. is experiencing that now to a certain extent with the current political climate, but this is a constant issue for Chinese schools. In some cases it is as simple as a communications issue,