Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Admissions Straight Talk
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside UMass Chan: How Wellness, Community, and Leadership Shape Future Physicians [Episode 611] | 13 Nov 2025 | 00:24:12 | |
In this inspiring episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Dr. Tracy Kedian, professor of family medicine and associate dean of admissions at UMass Chan Medical School. Together, they explore how UMass Chan fosters not only academic excellence but also personal growth, leadership, and wellness among its medical students. Dr. Kedian discusses how programs such as WIN (“what I need”) Week and the Vista Curriculum create a supportive environment where students learn to lead with compassion and resilience. She also highlights the school’s emphasis on community engagement—from the Worcester campus to the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) track in Springfield—and the critical importance of understanding the diverse communities physicians serve. Listeners will gain insight into how UMass Chan’s holistic approach prepares future doctors to thrive in medicine while maintaining their well-being and purpose. Whether you’re an aspiring physician or advising premed students, this episode offers an authentic look at a medical school that truly “walks the talk” of student support and community-driven medicine. Related Resources Related Admissions Straight Talk Episodes
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| Stanford's MCiM Degree: Where Healthcare Meets Technology [Episode 610] | 30 Oct 2025 | 00:21:35 | |
What happens when you combine medicine, business, and technology? The cross-disciplinary Master of Science in Clinical Informatics Management degree at Stanford University combines all three of these disciplines. Over the course of just 12 months, students gain the skills to implement cutting-edge technologies, strengthen core business and leadership capabilities, and apply innovative solutions to mee the needs of diverse populations. In this episode of the Admissions Straight Talk podcast, Accepted medical school expert Dr. Valerie Wherley is joined by Dr. Kevin Schulman, Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and program director, to discuss the Stanford MCIM program. Dr. Wherley and Dr. Schulman they talk about tackling big problems in healthcare, why the MCiM degree was created, who the program is right for, and the options MCIM students have for their capstone project. Related Resources
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| Navigating Admissions at the University of Washington School of Medicine [Episode 601] | 11 Feb 2025 | 00:58:43 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham interviews Dr. LeeAnna Muzquiz, Associate Dean for Admissions at the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM). Dr. Muzquiz, a graduate of UWSOM and a family physician with ties to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, discusses the unique five-state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) curriculum, which allows students to complete their foundational training in their home states. Follow Us | |||
| How to Get into Physician Assistant Programs | 14 Mar 2023 | 00:43:42 | |
Dr. Valerie Wherley, Accepted consultant and past Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, and former Director of Pre-Health Advisement and Director of the Pre-Health Postbac Certificate Program at Sacred Heart University, speaks in depth about the path to becoming a physician assistant. [Show Summary]Healthcare is a field that is growing, but what areas are really booming? According to US News citing Bureau of Labor Statics’ projections, between 2021 and 2031 “an estimated 38,400 jobs should open up” for physician assistants. Sound good? Let’s learn more about becoming a physician assistant.Interview with Dr. Valerie Wherley, Accepted consultant. Dr. Wherley earned her BS and MS at the University of Maine in kinesiology and her PhD in higher education administration from the University of Connecticut. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 515th episode of AdmissionsStraight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. This interview is all about getting accepted to PA school and giving you tips on how you can do it. In addition to listening to today's interview, I invite you to download Accepted's free guide, 10 Tips For Acceptance to a Physician Assistant Program. Grab your free guide for advice on selecting the best PA programs for you, writing your personal statement, interviewing effectively and simply presenting the best application you possibly can.Over the last 20 years, she has served as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, director of pre-health post-bacc certificate program at Sacred Heart University, and the director of the pre-health advisement also at Sacred Heart University. In those roles and before joining Accepted earlier this year, she advised thousands of students in the following pre-health tracks: pre-med, pre-PA, pre-vet, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-PT, pre-OT, pre-accelerated nursing and pre-optometry, as well as applicants to master's programs in exercise science, biomedical sciences, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, athletic training, public health, and applied nutrition. That's her breadth. Right now, we're going to go in depth and we're going to focus on physician assistant admissions. Dr. Wherley, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:32]Thank you for having me.What do physician assistants do? [2:36]Sure. Great question. So a physician assistant or PA, which I may use during this podcast is a licensed medical professional, first and foremost, who holds an advanced degree beyond their undergrad, which is typically a master's degree, and they're licensed to provide direct patient care. So if you've ever received care from a PA, it's important to know they are fully qualified and fully trained, and their scope of practice really encompasses quite a bit. And so their scope of practice starts with the ability to take medical histories, to conduct physical exams, to diagnose and treat illnesses.They can also develop treatment plans and order and interpret tests. They can prescribe medication, which sometimes people may or may not know. They can counsel on preventative care, they can perform certain procedures that's very specific. They can assist in surgeries. They are not the primary care provider in surgeries, but they can assist. They can make rounds in hospitals and nursing homes, and they can also do clinical research. So while that is a long list of their scope of practice, I'm sure it's not exhaustive, but PAs are certainly a team player and a welcome provider on a healthcare team.What Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Into Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Program | 07 Mar 2023 | 00:42:42 | |
Shortcuts to Key Insights from this EpisodeAn overview of both Georgetown's MBA programs and the MS in Environmental and Sustainability Management or the ESM.What distinguishes Georgetown's program in Environment and Sustainability Management from other similar programs.Where graduates of Georgetown's MBA program and the MS-ESM program find jobs.The types of academic backgrounds Georgetown is looking for in applicants to the MBA and MS-ESM programs.What an interviewee can expect if they’re lucky enough to get an invitation.A key piece of advice from Shelly Heinrich to all applicants.A common - but avoidable mistake - seen on resumes.Shelly Heinrich, Associate Dean for MBA and MS-ESM admissions, and Director of Marketing at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business, discusses everything applicants need to know about getting into Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program. [Show Summary]Are you interested in sustainability? Also considering an MBA? Well Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business offers and outstanding MBA program AND an MS in Environmental and Sustainability Management. And today’s interview is with the associate dean of admissions for both programs. Pull up a chair. Interview with Shelly Heinrich, Associate Dean for MBA and MS-ESM admissions, and Director of Marketing at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. [Show Notes]Are you interested in sustainability? Are you also considering an MBA? Well, Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business offers an outstanding MBA program and an MS in Environmental and Sustainable Management. And today's interview is with the Associate Dean of Admissions for both programs. Pull up a chair.Welcome to the 512th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to give you a gift, Accepted's free download, Fitting In & Standing Out. This guide will help you navigate the paradox at the heart of admissions. Realize that you need to show in your application simultaneously that you fit in at your target schools, and that you stand out in the applicant pool. It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk Shelly Heinrich, Associate Dean for MBA and MS-ESM admissions, and Director of Marketing at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. Shelly has been leading Georgetown's admissions efforts since 2014 and became Associate Dean in 2017. She earned her BBA from Texas Christian University, her Master's in Educational Administration from UT Austin, and her Executive MBA from Georgetown. Shelly, welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:52]It's wonderful to be back. Thanks, Linda, for having me.Can you provide an overview of both Georgetown's MBA programs and the MS in Environment and Sustainability Management or the ESM? [2:01]Yeah. Absolutely. I'll start it with the MBA. The good news is our three MBAs are the same in that we have a full-time, a flex in-person for working professionals, and a flex online for working professionals.They are all 54 credits. You get the same degree, and you have access to the same experience at Georgetown McDonough, so it makes it very easy to talk about. Full-time is 20 months, like a normal full-time two-year program would be, and then the two flex programs are anywhere between two-and-a-half years to five years. But you're taking the same classes. You have the same core for the first half of the program, and then you get to choose from electives in the second half of the program.At Georgetown, we don't require you to choose a concentration. We really feel that Follow Us | |||
| Casper, A Situational Judgment Test: All You Need to Know | 28 Feb 2023 | 00:54:40 | |
Shortcuts to Key Insights from this EpisodeHow to prepare and practice for the Casper.A detailed explanation on how the subjective test is scored.The most recent development in making Casper more equitable across all demographics.What happens if raters identify a red flag.Will Casper spread to other fields such as social work and law?Common misconceptions about Casper.Relevant Links and Related ShowsDo you have to take the CASPer for at least some of the programs you are applying to? Are you concerned about? This interview with the co-founder of Acuity Insights, the folks who provide the Casper, is for you! [Show Summary]Dr. Dore discusses everything applicants need to know about taking the Casper and what it truly tests.Interview with Dr. Kelly Dore, Co-Founder & VP of Science and Innovation at Acuity Insights and Adjunct Professor at McMaster University at McMaster University. [Show Notes]Do you need to take the Casper for at least some of the programs you are applying to, are you concerned about it? Well, this interview with the co-founder of Acuity Insights, the folks that bring us the Casper, is for you.Welcome to the 513th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your Dream Medical Schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/med-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Again, take the quiz at accepted.com/med-quiz to obtain your free assessment.Our guest today is Dr. Kelly Dore, co-founder and vice President of Science and Innovation at Acuity Insights, and also adjunct professor at McMaster University. Dr. Dore, welcome to Admission Straight Talk.Can you give an overview of the Casper exam and its structure? What can applicants expect? [1:31]Sure. So the exam most people who are familiar with from Acuity is Casper. Casper is an online situational judgment test. A situational judgment test, it's different than a behavioral interview question you might have. If people are familiar with doing interviews where you say, tell me about a time you managed multiple responsibilities at once. Instead, an SJT presents a scenario in the case of Casper. The majority of those are video scenarios too; you're watching a 60 to 90-second video. You have a role in it that we tell you at the beginning, and you watch that video and then you get a series of questions after it. So you watch the scenario, see what's going on, and there's then three follow up questions talking about what you would do and why you would take that course of action.The total exam takes around 90 minutes, and during that time, there's opportunity for breaks. There's the chance to just reflect, so you'll watch the video. There's a chance to have a reflection period before you go into typing your response or recording your response, depending on the moment In Casper. Now Casper broadly is intended to measure social intelligence and professionalism in applicants. It was developed so that we could get a more holistic picture of applicants supporting that holistic selection process and the Casper exam. We'll go into more detail about it, but it is something that we hope supports the application process.When can applicants take it? I know it's online. Can they take it at six in the morning, wherever they are? Can they take it at 10 o'clock at night? [3:01]Absolutely. So because it is online, and I always say we were onli Follow Us | |||
| Get Accepted to the Medical College of Wisconsin | 21 Feb 2023 | 00:40:39 | |
Exciting changes to the curriculum at the Medical College of Wisconsin. [Show Summary]Dr. Jane Machi, Assistant Dean, Admissions and Recruitment at the Medical College of Wisconsin, explores the MCW Fusion Curriculum – and completing med school in three years.Interview with Dr. Jane Machi, Associate Dean for Admissions at the Medical College of Wisconsin. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 511th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to Accepted.com/medquiz. Complete the quiz and you'll not only get an assessment of your chances, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. And it's all free. Again, use a calculator at Accepted.com/medquiz to obtain your free assessment and those tips that I just mentioned.Our guest today is Dr. Jane Machi, Associate Dean of Admissions and Recruitment at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Machi earned her MD at the Medical College of Wisconsin and is a proud alum, as you'll hear shortly. In her clinical practice she specializes in pediatric emergency medicine, in addition to serving at MCW as an associate professor and associate dean of admissions. Dr. Machi, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:43]Thank you.Can you give an overview of MCW's MD program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:53]Sure. The Medical College of Wisconsin has a campus in Milwaukee, and we have two regional campuses, one in Central Wisconsin in a city called Wausau, and then we have a campus in Green Bay. We're a private institution. Our Milwaukee campus has 50% of our students from Wisconsin and 50% are out of state. And then our regional campuses are really geared towards replenishing the physician shortage that everyone is facing. We're not unique in that regard, and the regional campuses were opened with the hopes that the students that we train there when they complete the residencies will return to Wisconsin.Predominantly, those campuses are geared towards Wisconsin residents, so close to 80% on each campus come from Wisconsin. I think one of the most unique things about our curriculum in particular, which our students rave about all the time, is our scholarly pathways. On the Milwaukee campus, they have opportunities to dive deep into a topic that they're really passionate about. Some examples are we have an urban and community health pathway. We have a global health pathway. We have a patient safety and quality improvement pathway. We have research pathways. The students can choose.They go through a series of orientations to each of the pathways, and they choose and they do a scholarly project typically in their first two years. And then on the regional campuses, they also participate in a scholarly pathway, but there is one, and that is the physician in the community pathway. I should say that our Milwaukee campus is a four-year campus, so our students spend four years with us. The regional campuses are three-year campuses, so you get out of medical school one year earlier. The target specialties for those campuses are really primary care and psychiatry oriented, and those are the types of students that we try and recruit.We know very well that students may change their mind once they get into medical school. They may find another field that they're more intrigued by and want to spend more time in. There is an option for them to do a fourth year if it's necessary, depending on the special Follow Us | |||
| CMU Tepper’s MS in Business Analytics: All You Need to Know | 14 Feb 2023 | 00:39:16 | |
Drawing on her knowledge as the Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, Kari Calvario shares everything students should know about CMU Temper’s MS in Business Analytics program. [Show Summary]Welcome to the 510th episode of Admission Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me.Before we dive into today's episode, I want to mention a resource at Accepted that can help you prepare your statement of purpose to masters programs in business analytics and data science. Download Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose to learn how to avoid the five most common mistakes we see in graduate school statements of purpose, as well as how to write a statement of purpose that makes your story memorable and highlights your qualifications for your target programs.Our guest today is Kari Calvario. She is the Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. She earned her bachelor's in English literature and a masters in education. She joined Tepper in 2014 and has been there ever since. [Show Notes]Thank you for having me. I'm excited to speak with you.We're going to focus on the masters in business analytics programs at CMU Tepper. What are they? Can you provide an overview of both the full-time in-person option and the part-time online option? [2:02]Yeah, happy to. Thanks for that first question. The Tepper School, as any school, is always looking to diversify. We're looking to grow. Our MBA program has been our flagship program, but I think one of the really great things about Tepper is we're always looking to innovate. We're always looking for what's relevant. With lots of conversations with employers, with alums, we found that there was this need for professionals who have not only advanced analytical skills, but then the ability to combine that with a business sense and be able to communicate those business needs, to be able to convince about business needs. The Master of Science in Business Analytics program was initially born as our part-time online version, which still exists to this day, but it was born out of that need of wanting to provide students with analytical skills and be able to combine it with the leadership and business skills that they would need. As that program continued to grow over the last several years, it evolved and kind of branched also into our full-time MS Business Analytics program. Now we carry both of them. They are both really successful programs. It started with this need several years ago after the feedback that we got from employers, industry professionals, alums, and has now grown into two really successful programs.Is AI becoming a more important part in the curriculum? I find it fascinating that it's a program that really seems to combine left brain, right brain, that you're highly statistical and quantitative, but it also is very much about communications. With all the publicity about ChatGPT, AI, et cetera, is it becoming a more important part of the program? [3:39]I don't know that it's a more important part, but certainly it's an integral part of it. We wouldn't be CMU if it wasn't something that was a part of our program. I think the lens that our curriculum is taught from even something like a communication class is all taught from this analytical lens, which of course, lends itself to AI, to machine learning. When we talk about this intelligent future, this background that I have, we talk about data informed, but human decisions. Data can't make decisions, but it's such an important part of it.It's data informe Follow Us | |||
| LSAT and Law School News | 07 Feb 2023 | 00:27:58 | |
Test optionality seems to be coming to law school admissions. Top schools have withdrawn mostly from the US News rankings. What does it all mean? We ask a law school admissions expert for his input. [Show Summary]Welcome to the 509th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we meet our guests, I'd like to highlight the featured resource for today's show. It is the Accepted Law School Admissions Quiz.Interview with Steve Schwartz from LSAT Unplugged podcast and YouTube channel [Show Notes]Are you ready to apply to your dream law school? Are you competitive at your target programs? Acceptance Law School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/law-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but actionable tips on how to improve your qualifications, plus it's all free. Again, use the calculator at accept.com/law-quiz to obtain your complimentary assessment.Our guest today is Steve Schwartz of the LSAT Blog and the LSAT Unplugged podcast and YouTube channel, which we are going to link to from the show notes at accepted.com/209.Steve graduated from Columbia University in 2008. In high school and college, he tutored students in a variety of subjects and also helped prep test takers for standardized tests, including the LSAT. However, he really began to focus on the LSAT when he was applying for law school. He founded the LSAT blog in 2008 and never looked back. Today, 15 years later, he has helped thousands master the LSAT, get into law school, and sometimes secure scholarships worth tens of thousands of dollars.So Steve, thanks for coming back to Admissions Straight Talk. You've been on the show several times before, and I’m glad you could come back. [1:58]Thanks so much for having me on, Linda. It's great to be back as well.Okay, great. Now let's start first with the changes on the LSAT specifically. The ABA in November moved closer, and it keeps moving closer, to making entrance exams optional for law school accreditation, which means that law schools will be able to choose whether to require the LSAT, GMAT, GRE or any other exam from applicants basically before making an admissions decision. Can you go into that change a little bit more, and what can we expect? [2:07]Yeah, sure, of course, Linda. So there has been a big test optional movement in higher education, of course, for quite a while now, and the legal profession tends to move a bit more slowly than others, a bit more bureaucratic, perhaps, and so it took this long for it to finally reach the LSAT and law schools and the American Bar Association.There have been a few attempts, or at least a few proposals in the past to remove the so-called LSAT requirement, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's ever made it this far, and at this point, we're giving it the full rubber stamp to remove that requirement. At this point, it's largely a formality, so we can expect they will remove that requirement in February 2023.It will go into effect when? [3:10]That's a great question. A lot of folks are confused about this. There was a last minute amendment added to the proposed revisions stating that their changes, if they go through, will not go into effect until the fall of 2025. So this is all a rather drawn out process now.Okay, and when it goes into effect, assuming it happens, which is likely, although you said it's going to go into effect until2025, but when it goes into effect, how will law school admissions be affected, and do you think they're perhaps even being affected now or in 2024 an Follow Us | |||
| How a Non-Traditional Applicant Gets Into UCLA Law | 31 Jan 2023 | 00:20:33 | |
Everyone has challenges when applying to top law schools. But combine non-traditional work experience, a low stat or two, and a growing family, and this applicant faced significantly more than the usual hurdles. He overcame them all and got into his top choice program. Let’s find out how he did it, and how he’s doing now. [Show summary]Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining me for this the 507th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Are you ready to apply to your dream law school? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's law school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check and not only that reality check, but an assessment and tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. You can use the calculator at accepted.com/law-quiz, to obtain your complimentary assessment. Again, that's accepted.com/law-quiz Grew up here in LA. Went to school in New York, Yeshiva University. I met my wife and we got married in LA, but we lived in New York for a couple of years and then the weather was just too much. And you can't compete with the weather out here, so we moved back where our families are.to obtain your complimentary assessment.I'd like to welcome to Admissions Straight Talk, Yitzy Frankel, who is a 1L at UCLA law. Yitzy earned his bachelor's in psychology from Yeshiva University in 2013 and a master's in marketing from Sy Syms School of Business in 2018. Before joining Sy Syms, he worked as the marketing and social media manager for fencing in the schools, and that's fencing as in the sword stuff, not the stuff around your backyard. And while fencing in the schools, he managed fencing programs in 10 states. After earning his masters, he worked at a Jewish boy' high school in Los Angeles as Director of Admissions and Marketing, and he did that from 2017 to 2022, when he left to join UCLA Law. Yitzy, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk.Can you tell us a little bit about your background, where did you grow up, that kind of thing? [2:11]Grew up here in LA. Went to school in New York, Yeshiva University. I met my wife and we got married in LA, but we lived in New York for a couple of years and then the weather was just too much. And you can't compete with the weather out here, so we moved back where our families are.Before we get into the admissions and law school stuff, what do you like to do for fun? Just a little background. [2:33]I guess I have three main hobbies. Fencing, obviously.Okay. [2:41]I still fence competitively. Having a little bit of time with COVID and studying for the LSAT, but I still consider myself a fencer. I love biking and I'm a Van Gogh enthusiast.Wow. [2:54]My goal is to see every Van Gogh painting in the world.There was a big Van Gogh exhibit here last year, wasn't there, or two years ago? [2:57]There was one in Santa Barbara recently. And actually, for my break, I'm flying to Detroit for a couple of days with my oldest daughter. We're going to go see a Van Gogh exhibit there.Now let's get to law school stuff. How did you get interested in becoming a lawyer? It's quite a change from psychology and marketing or being an admissions director at a high school. [3:12]It's something that I was interested in when I was 16 in high school and then kind of came back. I'm 34 now. So definitely kind of a second career. But basically, I had a teacher, Mr. Wasserman in high school that gave me a John Grisham book, and I fell in love with it. And at the time, I think there were 16 or 17, and I read all of them in two months.Oh, wow. [3:42]Yeah, I know. Since then, I Follow Us | |||
| What Does 2022 Mean for Applicants in 2023 | 17 Jan 2023 | 00:17:34 | |
Reflecting on trends that impacted graduate admissions in 2022, Linda Abraham shares her predictions for 2023 and offers an action plan for those planning to apply in the new year. [Show Summary]Thanks for joining me for today's solo show. I'm going to review a few trends from 2022 and also attempt to inspire you for the upcoming year. You can email me at ast@accepted.com when my predictions prove wrong in the course of the year.Predictions: More law schools will withdraw from U.S. News rankings [1:16]I predict that more law schools will withdraw from U.S. News rankings. Will the rankings influence end with the withdrawal of these schools? I actually don't think so. U.S. News will use publicly available data and still rank programs. Its rankings will continue to influence admissions, recruiting, and applicant decisions. But are they going to hold as much sway as they have in the past? I don't know. That's hard to say. I don't think the U.S. News is going to just stop ranking schools. I don't think applicants are going to stop looking at rankings, and I don't really think schools are going to stop being influenced by rankings. Perhaps a little less so in the past, but I think you're going to see changes on the margins in that segment. What about other segments of the higher education market?I don't think medical schools are going to stop ranking or participating in the U.S. News ranking. I also think that the rankings are a little bit less influential in the med school arena than they are in law schools or business schools. It'll be really interesting to see if business schools withdraw from the rankings. Certainly, the admissions directors there have no greater love of rankings than the law school admissions directors and deans.I think if you see the M7 schools withdraw, you might see a trend very similar to what you've seen in the law school market, where it's the elite programs that have largely withdrawn, and the lower-down ones are not withdrawing yet. There are some that have but not that many.We'll link to posts that Accepted has on the withdrawal of specific schools from the U.S. News rankings.Prediction: More experimentation with test options and waivers [3:05]What about test optionality? That has been a trend that's been growing and increasing over the last several years. It really took off with COVID. I don't think you're going to see much change in the law school space this year. I think you will see it if, as anticipated, the ABA approves making tests optional for its accredited programs. I think you're going to see more experimentation in the grad and MBA market with test optionality. And you may also see, throughout the graduate and undergraduate arenas, acceptance for a larger variety of tests.Many law schools are accepting the GRE in addition to the LSAT. In the business school world, you're seeing widespread acceptance of the GRE or the GMAT to the extent that the test is required. You're seeing more waivers. You're also seeing greater acceptance of the Executive Assessment, which was originally designed for Executive MBA programs. And at some schools, you're seeing them basically saying, whatever has an alphabet soup in it is fine.I think you're going to see more and more experimentation. You'll see more waiver options and there's been a lot of experimentation with that in the B school market. I'm not sure you're going to see wholesale test optionality at the elite programs. I think med schools will stick with the MCAT. It has some correlation to performance on the USMLE, which is obviously the test that doc Follow Us | |||
| How Can You Prepare for Your Post-MBA Career Before You’re Accepted | 20 Dec 2022 | 00:37:55 | |
Learn what you can do to prepare for your future employment [Show Summary]Diana Economy, former Head of Admissions at Michigan Ross and Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at Vail Resorts, offers her unique perspective on how students can prepare for future employment even while applying to or completing an MBA program. Interview with Diana Economy, former Head of Admissions at Michigan Ross and Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at Vail Resorts [Show Notes]Welcome to the 501st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for listening. I hope you tuned into our very special 500th episode last week. If not, you can still catch it.You've seen the stats that most people have a great return on their MBA investment, but what about you? Are you going to see that kind of return? How much will it be? How much can you anticipate? We've created a tool that will help you assess whether the MBA is going to be a good investment for you. Just go to accepted.com/mbaroicalc, complete the brief questionnaire, and you'll not only get an assessment but also the opportunity to calculate different scenarios. And it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Diana Economy, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager - Programs and International for Vail Resorts, and formerly the Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions at Michigan Ross. After graduating with a BA in Organization Studies from the University of Michigan, Diana worked in talent management for companies like Kearney and Kirkland & Ellis. She returned to Ross and earned her MBA in 2010, and then again worked for Kirkland & Ellis and BCG before returning to Ross as Associate Director of Admissions. She was the Director of Admissions for the Michigan Ross Full-Time MBA program from 2017 until just this past July when Diana joined Vail Resort. Before we get into the interview, I have to ask how's the skiing? [2:35]Oh my gosh, Linda, I have never thought so much about snow. It's going well so far. It's always kind of fun to hear as the resorts are beginning to get the snow and opening. Especially in the work that we do with talent acquisition, a lot of folks are starting over the course of the next month. It's a really exciting time in the industry.What is the common thread between recruiting MBA students and recruiting talent for Vail Resorts? [3:16]It's really interesting, given the cyclical nature of the admissions cycle and, of course, the cyclical nature of the ski season. A lot of our resorts are open through the summer as well, but no question that we're hitting the Super Bowl timeframe of the operations. As I think about what I learned from my time in admissions, as well as working in talent acquisition and the kinds of things that we look for in our employees, I really find that people who have a good sense of who they are and how they can contribute, those qualities translate both to admissions committees and to our guests.If any of you have been to ski resorts or resorts in general and you think about the people that you interact with, whether it's somebody who's running the lift or doing these other things, they're very engaging, they're very natural in doing that. Of course, an MBA is doing a very different type of work and a different skill set is required to get into the MBA program. But there's something to be said about those who thrive in an MBA program and their ability to build those connections and have the ability to impact and influence those around them that I see as very fluid between both the MBA admissions and recruiting that I did and what we l Follow Us | |||
| The Questions You SHOULD Be Asking - ANSWERED! | 13 Dec 2022 | 01:10:24 | |
Invaluable insights into all aspects of the graduate admissions process [Show Summary]In celebration of Admissions Straight Talk’s 500th episode, Linda Abraham invites Accepted consultants to pose and answer the questions that students should be asking – and frequently don’t ask. This conversation is filled with invaluable insights that will benefit anybody preparing for graduate school. Accepted consultants share invaluable insights into the questions that students should be asking [Show Notes]Welcome to the 500th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. This is a very special episode. It's the 500th, and I am very proud of that. We've been working hard to present a particularly informative show. I've invited different Accepted consultants over the course of the past few weeks to respond to one question that each one believes applicants should ask and know the answer to. And they frequently don't ask and, therefore, never learn the answer. So this is a collection of clips with different consultants – all experienced experts in their area of admissions – addressing different issues. I think you'll find it invaluable as you apply. I've been finding it very interesting to hear what they're asking and also what they're answering.I'm going to start with a question right now. What is the paradox at the heart of graduate admissions? I'll tell you, you need to fit in and stand out. You can learn how to master that paradox by downloading Accepted’s free guide, Fitting In and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions.____________________________________________Let's start with our first guest, Cydney Foote, who is one of Accepted’s most experienced and, consequently, most beloved consultants. Before joining Accepted in 2001, Cydney was an administrator at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She has also written three ebooks on med school admissions, and she's guided hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants to acceptance, mostly in the healthcare field. The question for Cydney is: What's a useful tool that applicants can and should use no matter what stage of the application process they're in? [2:57][Cydney Foote] I think one of the most useful things that someone can do before they even start to write their application materials is to keep a journal. It sounds very simple. It sounds like something a little kid would do, but so many people will sit down to write their first question and they don't know what to write about. If you keep a journal for the months, or even the years, before you start writing [applications], you can flip back through it and see what you've done. Often, you'll see patterns arising from things that you enjoyed and things that you did well. It’s kind of the way that the universe is nudging you towards a certain area. A lot of that can just slip by you in your daily life as you're running from one event to the next. If you'll write it down just five minutes a day, then you'll have a whole wealth of material to go back on and look through later. Another really good reason to journal is that it helps you support your claims. This is one of the most severe flaws that I see in a lot of people's writing in their first drafts is they will make claims about things that they did like, “I am a great team player,” “I'm a great leader,” or “I am a great communicator,” but without the examples to support that, there's nothing that will help the person who's reading the application believe that you are that. It's not that they necessarily disbelieve you, but they don't have anything Follow Us | |||
| Inside Geisinger Med School Admissions with Dr. Michelle Schmude [Episode 600] | 07 Jan 2025 | 00:38:47 | |
Welcome to the 600th episode of Admissions Straight Talk! In this milestone episode, host Linda Abraham sits down with Dr. Michelle Schmude, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Professor of Medical Education at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, to explore the innovative and comprehensive Total Health Curriculum. Dr. Schmude shares how this evidence-based program prepares medical students for the complexities of 21st-century healthcare through early clinical experiences, team-based learning, and a focus on systems-based and humanistic medicine. Listeners will also learn about exciting updates at Geisinger, including the evolution to Geisinger College of Health Sciences and its impact on healthcare education, as well as details on the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program, which allows students to graduate debt-free in exchange for service in underserved areas.
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| Bonus Episode: USN Rankings, LSAT, and Laid-off Workers: What Does it All Mean? | 09 Dec 2022 | 00:15:46 | |
Find out the latest admissions news and what it all means [Show Summary]It was a very newsy November and in this episode, Linda Abraham is covering the most notable updates in the graduate admissions world: law school test waivers, top school withdrawals from US News rankings, accommodations for laid-off workers, and more!In this bonus episode, Linda Abraham, Accepted founder and CEO, talks about the latest admissions news and what impact this can have on applicants [Show Notes]Thanks for joining me for this bonus episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Last month was indeed a very newsy November. It was full of admissions news and I just decided I'd be remiss if I didn’t touch on it for Admission Straight Talk listeners. Hence this bonus episode.In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or feedback for me on this episode or any other episode, feel free to email me at ast@accepted.com.American Bar Association Ceases Requiring Admissions Tests From Law Schools [0:55]All right, the first news item that I'd like to touch on is the American Bar Association. It looks like it will cease requiring that law schools require admissions tests which would mostly be the LSAT and the GRE. (A couple of schools accept the GMAT) And they're going to do that as of 2025. If this change is finally approved, as is very likely, law schools can individually choose whether to require an admissions test or not. Based on the experience of business schools that have gone with a lot of test optionality, most law schools will either require it of all incoming applicants, or they will require the test, but offer applicants the opportunity to apply for a waiver. Or they might say, "Those who meet certain requirements can automatically get a waiver."How will this apply to you? If you have good grades and tend not to test well, optionality is fantastic news for you, because you won't have to take the test if you apply to schools where the test is optional after 2025. However, schools do want to know that you can do the work. If your academic record leaves something to be desired or doesn't convey your abilities adequately, it would probably still be wise to prepare for and take the test so that it will better show your abilities.It's too early to tell, but in the business school realm, I think it's true that a high test score can enhance somebody's chances of getting a scholarship. As I indicated, it's my gut feeling in the B-school world, and it may become true in the law school world as well.If a scholarship is important to you, even if you have the grades, and particularly if you test well, it may make sense for you to take the test, even if it is optional. Whatever it is, just keep in mind that schools want to admit people they believe can thrive in their programs. Make sure that somehow, you're providing them that confidence.Top Schools Withdrawing From US News Rankings [3:08]Newsy November item number two is that top-15 law schools are withdrawing, with two exceptions, from the US News rankings. It all started when Yale and Harvard withdrew from the US News rankings on November 16th. They were followed by Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Penn, University of Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown, UC Davis, and UC Irvine. Today I read about the University of Washington, and there may be more by the time we get this recording posted. The University of Chicago and Cornell Law announced that they currently intend to stay in the rankings.For the schools that decided to withdraw, what's their motivation? They say that the rankings simply don't jive with their Follow Us | |||
| MD/PA/NP/DO/DDS/MPH: What Do They Require? | 06 Dec 2022 | 00:37:15 | |
Discover the differences between and how to get accepted to common healthcare admissions tracks [Show Summary]Accepted consultant Dr. Valerie Wherley has an impressive and extensive background in pre-health, having advised thousands of students to acceptance at their dream schools and programs. In this highly informative podcast interview, she distinguishes the differences between common healthcare admissions tracks and shares how to craft a compelling application for each one.Interview with Dr. Valerie Wherley, Accepted admissions consultant and former post-bac program director & pre-health advisor [Show Notes]Welcome to the 499th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. We have lots of resources, articles, guides, and podcast episodes that can help you get accepted to the graduate healthcare programs of your choice. Go to accepted.com/healthcare to explore the library of free resources there.Today is all about healthcare, and our guest is Dr. Valerie Wherley, an Accepted consultant. Dr. Wherley earned her BS and MS at the University of Maine in Kinesiology and her Ph.D. in Higher Education/Higher Education Administration from the University of Connecticut. Over the last 20 years, she has served as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, Director of the Pre-Health Post-bac Certification program at Sacred Heart University, and the Director of Pre-health Advisement Sacred Heart University.In those roles, and before joining Accepted earlier this year, she advised thousands of students in the following pre-health tracks: pre-med, pre-PA, pre-vet, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-PT, pre-OT, pre-accelerated nursing, and pre-optometry as well as applicants to master's programs in Exercise Science, Biomedical Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Athletic Training, Public Health, and Applied Nutrition. Let's tap into that amazingly broad and notable experience.What should all applicants in healthcare fields have if they want to apply successfully? What are the common requirements? [2:27]Great question. As you said, I have worked with a variety of pre-health fields during the time I worked at Sacred Heart and at the Beaumont School of Medicine. The commonality that students need to have in their academics is a demonstration of mastery of those prerequisite courses. They need a very strong academic transcript and whatever those prerequisite courses are for their intended path. Typically, that's the sciences. A lot of those pre-health tracks have common courses such as biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and anatomy, with some nuances depending on the track. There's just no way around saying you have to demonstrate competency and mastery of those foundational concepts on your academic transcript. You have to be strong there.From an experience perspective, my suggestion is to demonstrate that you have exposure to your intended career path. Exposure comes from observing, shadowing, and interviewing the people who are doing the work you want to be doing in the future. It's not enough if you have a family member who has said to you, "You'll make a great dentist one day," that's lovely. However, you have to have been in the trenches seeing the work and still know that it is your calling. You can demonstrate that in your personal statement and in your interview when you are applying to graduate school.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXTzQJw5PqcIs shadowing enough? [4:31]Shadowing is the first place to start. When I worked with undergraduate stud Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Accepted to MIT Sloan MBA | 29 Nov 2022 | 00:29:36 | |
Discover all you need to know about MIT Sloan's MBA program [Show Summary]MIT Sloan is one of the magic M7 MBA programs, and its Assistant Dean, Dawna Levenson, shares everything applicants aiming for acceptance should know. Interview with Dawna Levenson, Assistant Dean at MIT Sloan School of Management [Show Notes]Welcome to the 498th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/mbaquiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but also tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Dawna Levenson, Assistant Dean at MIT Sloan School of Management. Dawna earned her bachelor's and master's in Management Science at MIT Sloan, became a partner at Accenture, and then returned to MIT Sloan in 2007 as Associate Director of Academic Programs. She moved into Admissions in 2012 and became Director of Admissions in 2013 and Assistant Dean in 2018. Can you give us an overview of the MIT Sloan Full-Time MBA program for those listeners who aren't that familiar with it? [2:07]Absolutely. I think I would begin with class size. Our two-year MBA has a class size of roughly 410. You may have some friends who just graduated in the past year or so, and their class size was slightly bigger. That’s a result of the pandemic when there was a fair amount of uncertainty, and we actually grew the class size in 2020. However, it was never intended for that to be permanent, and so we have slowly worked our way back down. Fundamentally, the class that just matriculated, and moving forward, will be approximately 410. We have a one-semester core and then three semesters to really shape the curriculum as you see fit based on your interests. As much as you as a student have flexibility in terms of your classes and shaping that, our faculty have a lot of flexibility, too, in terms of how they teach. Your classes will be a combination of traditional lectures and problem sets, as well as a lot of project-based classes.We have a subset of these project-based classes that are called our Action Learning labs, where you are either on a particular subject matter or focused on a certain geography and working as part of a team to solve a real problem for a real company and make recommendations to them at the end of the project. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '9bb31be0-3cf6-45f0-be3d-3791cc1bd9bd', {}); Are you seeing any trends in terms of hiring? Where do MIT Sloan MBA grads get jobs? [3:42]We just recently published our 2022-2023 employment report, so these numbers are right off of that. For students who graduated in 2022 seeking employment, 31.2% of them went into consulting, 22.6% went into finance, and 22.6% went into technology. An additional 6.8% went into pharma, healthcare, and biotech. It’s a good spread.What's a little misleading is some may have gone into consulting, but they’re focused on the tech industry. So, keep that in mind.Can you explain the optional core electives? [5:02]Our two-year MBA students spend their first semester taking core classes. You’re actually part of a cohort of somewhere between 65 and 70 students who you're taking all of your classes with. You're also assigned to be part of a core team of six or seven people where you're actually doing all of your work together. In addition to your core set of classes, you also have the opt Follow Us | |||
| Encore: An Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions Dean | 22 Nov 2022 | 00:50:03 | |
Welcome to the 497th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me.It’s Thanksgiving week! I want to take this opportunity to thank you again for joining me. Because of the holiday I decided to air one of the most popular shows of 2022: An Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions DeanI chose this interview with Dr. Jacob Ufberg not only because of its popularity, but because Dean Ufberg gave wonderful insight into Temple Katz’ medical school, its integrated approach to teaching medicine and its tight ties to the community that it serves. If you haven’t tuned in for this interview, please do so. And if you listened already, it might be worth a second listen.Also a quick announcement. If you have parents who are curious about the medical school application process or maybe a little anxious about it. Tell them about the Parents of Preprofessional Applicant Facebook group. They can join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/preprofessionalparents/.If you like this episode and want to test out whether you are competitive at your target medical schools, take the free Medical School Admissions Quiz at accepted.com/medquiz. It’s a brief assessment that will give you valuable information into your competitiveness as well as suggestions for improving your qualifications and competitiveness. Take it today at accepted.com/medquiz.Thanks as always for listening to Admissions Straight Talk.Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’ll talk to you again next week! In the meantime, here is An Interview with the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions Dean.For the complete show notes, check out the original blog post.Related links:Temple University – Lewis Katz School of MedicineMed School Essentials Video CourseTemple Katz Secondary Essay TipsAccepted’s Medical School Admissions ConsultingRelated shows:NYMC: How to Get InDeep Dive into Penn Perelman School of Medicine: An Interview with Dr. Neha Vapiwala, Dean for AdmissionsTulane School of Medicine: How to Get InAll You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s AdmissionsTemple University’s Postbac Programs: A Plethora of Possibilities4 Steps for Showing Fit in Your Application hbspt.cta.load(58291, '6f21f36c-c988-4e9c-b947-0b9d4af1557f', {"region":"na1"}); Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Accepted to UNC Kenan-Flagler Full-Time MBA Program | 15 Nov 2022 | 00:29:30 | |
Discover all you need to know about UNC Kenan-Flagler's MBA program [Show Summary]UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School is a leading MBA program located in North Carolina, an emerging business hotspot. Danielle Richie, UNC’s MBA Admissions Director, describes the qualities that make up the dynamic student body and shares her tips on how to get in.Interview with Danielle Richie, Dir. of Full-Time MBA Admissions and Student Recruitment at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School [Show Notes]Welcome to the 496th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we get to our wonderful guest, you're invited to take the free six-question quiz at accepted.com/mapmba to see how prepared you are to actually apply. You'll also gain access to relevant other resources, both free and paid, that can help you develop an application strategy for acceptance. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk Danielle Richie, Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions and Student Recruitment at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Danielle earned her Bachelor's in Public Relations at Oswego and her Master's in Communications at Syracuse University. She has worked in higher ed admissions and administration at Utica College, Syracuse University, Bentley University, and of course, UNC Kenan-Flagler, where she moved to in 2018 as Senior Associate Director for MBA Admissions and Recruiting. In November 2021, almost exactly a year ago, she became Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions and Recruiting. Can you give an overview of UNC Kenan-Flagler's full-time MBA program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:27]UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We are a two-year MBA program at 62 credits. There are 15 core classes where candidates get the breadth of business. We have 12 concentrations that students can select from to gain more in-depth knowledge. These vary from business analytics to consulting, marketing, healthcare, real estate, and so on and so forth. You really get to create your own journey, if you will, with an MBA from Kenan-Flagler. We are STEM-designated, and it does not matter which concentration you pursue. You actually don't even have to, and about 20% of our students will just do a general MBA and they'll pick and choose from over 125 different electives to make up their program. We do require an internship between year one and year two. A lot of our students will do a "traditional internship" where they will apply and go on to work six to eight weeks in the summer with a company.What's new at Kenan-Flagler? [3:41]There are a lot of exciting things going on at Kenan-Flagler. We had our groundbreaking ceremony in September for a new building that will open up in 2024. We're very excited about that. We're not looking to expand the MBA program, but the building that we're in currently was opened in 1997. We do want to grow our undergrad business program by doubling it, so we are building that facility. Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan Chase came and was one of our guest speakers. We also just launched our Charlotte MBA Executive Program, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It's about two hours from Chapel Hill and is an executive format that working professionals can use to earn their MBA. That’s in-person and is targeted to applicants from North Carolina as well as South Carolina because Charlotte is close to the South Carolina border. As Charlotte continues to grow, especially in the financial space, we saw that it was a great opportunity to offer the Charlotte MBA, a Follow Us | |||
| Stride Funding: Where Your Education is an Investment and not a Debt | 08 Nov 2022 | 00:26:45 | |
Find out how you can benefit from Stride Funding [Show Summary]Tess Michaels shares what’s new at Stride Funding, the innovative educational financing company she founded, and reflects on the impact that her Harvard Business School MBA has had on her impressive success today.Interview with Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Stride Funding [Show Notes]Welcome to the 495th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. I don't usually plug Accepted services on this podcast, but Accepted is having a fantastic special, the last one of 2022, and I would be remiss if I didn't share this news with Admissions Straight Talk's listeners. You can save up to $1,000 on Accepted services between now and November 14th. You premeds looking to next year, now is your opportunity to lock in a package at this very special rate AND start your application early. For those of you with December and January deadlines interested in a few hours of invaluable editing and advising, you too can save. Go to accepted.com, choose the type of service that's best for you, and use coupon code SAVENOW. This special ends November 14th. I'd like to welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Stride Funding. Tess graduated from Penn with a Bachelor's in Applied Science and another Bachelor's from the Wharton School in Global Impact Investing and Operations Management. While at Penn, she founded SOCEANA, a platform to democratize giving and promote corporate volunteerism, which was acquired in 2018. After graduating and being accepted to Harvard's 2+2 program, she worked at Goldman Sachs as an analyst for two years, and then at Vista Equity Partners as a private equity associate. As soon as she arrived at Harvard Business School, she founded Stride Funding, which we're going to learn a lot more about in today’s show. Can you give us an overview of Stride Funding's approach to student financing and how it differs from traditional student loans? [2:20]Absolutely. As you mentioned, I was actually inspired by my own experience as a student when founding Stride. I was part of the 2+2 program at Harvard. I knew I was going to pursue my MBA, and candidly went through the back and forth of the question, “Is it worth it to go back to school?” That sticker price is just so hefty, and I realized a lot of my peers were in the same boat. I was even asking everyone, "If you could solve one thing, what would it be?" and everyone kept saying, "I want to go back to school, but the costs are prohibitive and I have no guarantee around the outcomes." I became really fascinated with two concepts. One, how do we actually structure products to align incentives and naturally tie into the outcomes that students receive?And secondly, how do we increase access? I found it so backward that despite going to a great school and great program, almost every lender asks for students to have co-signers. In fact, 92% of private loans require a co-signer which really just means being backed up by a wealthy parent or family member who has a clean credit score and can guarantee your loan. To me, that felt like such a backward system because the whole point of going to school is to do better than your family and to create future potential in your growth. I'm happy to walk through the ways that we've addressed this with Stride's products, but that was really where we started.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkoM2kAG-fMCan you describe Stride Funding's three products? [4:08]We have three products on the market and are continuing to grow our product set. They range on th Follow Us | |||
| Active Learn and Admissions at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine | 01 Nov 2022 | 00:43:51 | |
All About UVM’s Larner School of Medicine [Show Summary]The University of Vermont’s Larner School of Medicine’s new Associate Dean for Admissions, Leila Amiri, shares the hallmarks of the program, including its active learning curriculum and mission centered around respect, kindness, and cultural humility.Interview with Dr. Leila Amiri, Associate Dean for Admissions at UVM Larner School of Medicine [Show Notes]Welcome to the 494th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's medical school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/medquiz and complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Dr. Leila Amiri, UVM Larner's new, as of June 2022, Associate Dean for Admissions, comes to Larner from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, where she was Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment. Previously, she was Director of Admissions and Financial Aid for the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She holds a Ph.D. from North Central University and an MA and BS degree from the University of South Florida. Amiri is a member of the Association of American Colleges Advancing Holistic Review and Alignment Working Group, National Chair of the AAMC BA/MD Affiliate Group and National Chair for the Committee on AAMC Professional Development Initiative. Dr. Amiri was also a guest last year in her previous role, and it's a pleasure to have her back on Admissions Straight Talk.Can you give us an overview of UVM Larner's College of Medicine's program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:12]I'll be happy to. At Larner College of Medicine, we have a big history of training medical students. We're actually celebrating our bicentennial, so the class that's meeting for 2023 will be the 200th class that we've seated. We've come a long way in terms of the educational model. We're most known for our active learning model. Students are really at the center of our learning model and its active, student-centered learning all based on educational pedagogy and adult learning principles. There’s a lot of community engagement with our students here and at our clinical sites which are in Vermont and in Connecticut.What does active learning mean in practical terms? [3:11]When you look at educational philosophy and pedagogy, adult learners need to really be invested in what they're learning. Not only do they need to be invested in what they're learning, but they also have to find meaning and value in it. They have to be at the center of constructing the information. There's very little lecturing that happens here for our students. There's time that they spend on their own before they come to class. Think of a flipped classroom model. They spend a lot of time on their own looking at basic information and then when they join us in the classroom setting, there’s a lot of group activity, engaging with their peers, and working through problems. It's not completely problem-based learning, but there's problem-based learning, case-based learning, and team-based learning. We have all of these different models where students are not sitting there just as recipients of information, but really they're constructing the information with each other as they're going through the different phases of their learning.They're getting cases, they're getting problems, and they're working in teams. When you thi Follow Us | |||
| What was it like to be an ER doctor at the beginning of COVID? | 25 Oct 2022 | 00:52:01 | |
ER Physician, filmmaker, popular speaker and travel company founder. Here how it all comes together [Show Summary]Dr. Calvin Sun is an emergency room physician, known for his blog-turned-travel company. During the pandemic, his travel content quickly shifted to real-time COVID updates as he chronicled his experience as an emergency room doctor in Manhattan. He has gathered all of these experiences into his newly released book, The Monsoon Diaries: A Doctor’s Journey of Hope and Healing from the ER Frontlines to the Far Reaches of the World.Interview with Dr. Calvin Sun, Founder and CEO, The Monsoon Diaries [Show Notes]Welcome for the 493rd episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for joining me. Given the time of year, I'd like to highlight for today's listeners a wonderful resource if and when you're invited to a medical school interview, Accepted’s free download called The Ultimate Guide to Medical School Interview Success. In the guide, you learn how to prepare for interviews, including the difficult questions, how to make sure your body language matches your intent, and what is proper follow-up after your interview. Grab your free copy at accepted.com/ultimatemediv and enhance your chance of acceptance.It's really hard to summarize Dr. Calvin Sun's bio, but I'll try anyway. Calvin graduated from Columbia in 2008 and in 2014, he graduated from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and then began his residency in emergency medicine at Montefiore and Jacobi Medical Centers. He also was the director of Resident Wellness at Jacobi.In his non-existent spare time during medical school, he somehow managed to found and now runs The Monsoon Diaries, which he describes as a blog-turned-travel company. The Monsoon Diaries organizes flexible budget trips and has gone to over 128 countries in the past six years. He's also a filmmaker, popular speaker and activist in the Asian American community emergency room physician, and, at one time at least, was a clinical assistant professor of Emergency Medicine.Listeners, I invite you to listen to accepted.com/254 for the incredible story of how Calvin Sun became Dr. Sun, founded Monsoon Diaries, the travel company, and portrays his experience as an emergency room physician in Manhattan, the corona pandemic’s epicenter in 2020.To start, I'd like to ask you how you came to write your just-released book, The Monsoon Diaries: A Doctor’s Journey of Hope and Healing from the ER Frontlines to the Far Reaches of the World. What's the story behind the book? [3:12]The story is my life in a nutshell, in a show-don't-tell fashion. It can also be seen as a love letter of gratitude because it's being released at the tail end of what we hope to be the worst or the end of the pandemic. I was approached by a literary agent two years ago. It was a totally cold approach in January 2021, and they asked if I'd be interested in writing a book. I think I had mentioned to you in our prior podcast, episode 254, that I have this habit of writing, which is what caused my Monsoon Diaries blog to turn into a community. I was writing live and blogging live on my travels while I was a full-time medical student. People started following along and it turned itself into a community. During the pandemic, I did the same thing. We couldn't travel during the pandemic. It was not ethical, so I worked all the time, and I blogged about it in the same way I would on a trip because it was all new territory and new frontiers. That's the only thing I knew how to do to keep myself alive when I couldn't travel. It was the Follow Us | |||
| How an MBA Can Help Entrepreneurs | 19 Oct 2022 | 00:33:14 | |
Do you need an MBA as an entrepreneur? [Show Summary]What does it take to become an entrepreneur who drives impact and change? Is an MBA necessary? Inge Kerkloh-Devif, Senior Executive Director and Senior Vice President of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, shares her thoughts.Interview with Inge Kerkloh-Devif, Sr. Exec. Dir. & Sr. Vice President of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center [Show Notes]Welcome to the 492nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Are you trying to figure out how you should approach the four to eight applications that you're planning to submit when applying to an MBA program? You can get tips and answers by taking Accepted's free, short quiz – just six questions – at accepted.com/mapmba. By taking the quiz, you'll get a sense of how well you're approaching this critical process and gain access to relevant resources, both free and paid, that will provide you with an effective and efficient strategy for your MBA application effort. Our guest today, Inge Kerkloh-Devif, earned her masters in Marketing and Communications at HEC Paris in 2006. Since then, she worked in business in Paris and then became Executive Vice President of HEC Paris's Executive Education Program, focusing on Global Business Development. In 2019, she moved into her current role as Senior Executive Director and Senior Vice President of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. In 2021, she added to her responsibilities the role of Co-Site Lead Executive at the Creative Destruction Lab in Paris in partnership with the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '9bb31be0-3cf6-45f0-be3d-3791cc1bd9bd', {}); Can you tell us a little bit about both HEC's Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center and the Creative Destruction Lab in Paris? [2:11]Of course. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center is the whole ecosystem we have built as a school around innovators and entrepreneurs. As we say, we think, we teach, and we act around innovation and entrepreneurship. That means we do research on innovation and entrepreneurship. We have more than 20 programs we are teaching at the school to teach innovation and entrepreneurship to our students. And we have all of our incubator acceleration programs, so students are learning by doing. Entrepreneurship is really part of the DNA of the school. The Creative Destruction Lab, or CDL, was founded 10 years ago in Toronto, Canada at the Rotman Management School. They're now partnering with 12 universities all over the world to offer this objective-based program from massively scalable, seed-stage science and technology-based companies. It's really an acceleration program for deep tech. The program has an intake from more than 600 companies per year. We have one lab in Paris, we have one lab on climate, and one lab on space.What's the difference between deep tech and tech? [4:15]Very good question. I think I can give 10 different answers to this. For us, we can see this really emerging more and more in engineering and scientific projects. Those are really long-term projects. We are working with scientists and engineers to get these projects to grow. For us, it's specifically based on scientific and engineering projects to give this deep tech long-term projects. When I say we are working with scientists and engineers, they're coming out of the laboratories. It's very research-based. If I have a business idea, or maybe I don't yet have a business idea, but I know that I want to be an entrepreneur at some point in my career, how can an MBA hel Follow Us | |||
| Encore: All You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s Admissions | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:33:00 | |
Welcome to the 491st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me.I am taking a week off for family time this week. As a result, I decided to air an encore of one of our most popular shows of 2022: All You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s Admissions.I chose this interview with Dr. Ellen Dugan, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at Georgetown University School of Medicine not only because of its popularity, but because Dean Dugan gave wonderful insight not only into Georgetown’s admissions process, but into what many schools seek through their admission process.If you like this episode and want to test out whether you are competitive at your target medical schools, take the free Medical School Admissions Quiz at accepted.com/medquiz. It’s a brief assessment that will give you valuable information into your competitiveness as well as suggestions for improving your qualifications and competitiveness. Take it today at accepted.com/medquiz. Thanks as always for listening to Admissions Straight Talk. I’ll talk to you again next week! In the meantime, here is All You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s Admissions with Dean Ellen Dugan.For the complete show notes, check out the original blog post.Related links:Georgetown University School of MedicineMed School Admissions Quiz Are you competitive?Georgetown University School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay TipsAccepted’s Med School Admissions Consulting ServicesRelated shows:How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. LouisAn Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions DeanU Penn Perelman School of Medicine: Interview with Admissions Dean, Dr. Neha VapiwalaUW School of Medicine: Interview with Admissions Dean, Dr. LeeAnna MuzquizAre You Rushing to Attend Rush Medical CollegeWhat Med School Applicants Must Know About Johns HopkinsDeep Dive Into Duke Medical: An Interview With Dr. Linton Yee, Associate Dean of Admissions hbspt.cta.load(58291, '6f21f36c-c988-4e9c-b947-0b9d4af1557f', {"region":"na1"}); Follow Us | |||
| Accepted: Your Guide to CU School of Medicine [Episode 599] | 10 Dec 2024 | 00:44:47 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham interviews Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo, Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. They discuss the unique aspects of the Colorado medical curriculum, including the new Trek curriculum, the importance of longitudinal integrated clerkships, and the various tracks available for students. Dr. SooHoo also shares insights into the secondary application process, the role of the CASPER test, and the criteria for interview invitations. The conversation highlights common mistakes applicants make, the importance of research experience, and the support systems in place for medical students. Dr. SooHoo emphasizes the competitive nature of medical school admissions and the holistic review process used to evaluate applicants. Takeaways:
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| The Only Online Ivy League Executive MBA Program | 04 Oct 2022 | 00:32:58 | |
Find out what's new at Wharton's Global EMBA program [Show Summary]Wharton’s first-ever online Global MBA Program for Executives is here and Dean Peggy Bishop Lane is diving into everything this exciting program has to offer for students across the globe.Interview with Peggy Bishop Lane, Vice Dean of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives [Show Notes]Welcome to the 490th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Before I dive into today's interview, I want to invite you to download Ace the EMBA: Expert Advice for the Rising Executive. This free guide will complement today's podcast and give you suggestions on how to choose the right Executive MBA program, differentiate yourself from your competition in a positive way, and present yourself effectively as a future business leader who will bring credit to any program lucky enough to have you. Download Ace the EMBA at accepted.com/aceemba.It gives me great pleasure to have, for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Peggy Bishop Lane, the Vice Dean of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives. Dean Bishop Lane earned her PhD in Accounting from Northwestern University. She started her professorial career at NYU Stern and then moved to Wharton in 1997. She has been the Vice Dean for the MBA Program for Executives and an Adjunct Professor of Accounting since 2012.To start, can you give an overview of the Wharton Global Executive MBA program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:14]Absolutely. I think the main thing to know is that we intend for this global cohort to look very much like our existing Philadelphia and San Francisco cohorts. It's going to be the same curriculum with essentially the same faculty and the same admissions requirements. I hope that it's actually more similar to what people already know about our program than it is different. Of course, what's unique is that you don't have to be in-person every other weekend as you do in Philadelphia and San Francisco. What we've created is a remote opportunity to do our program. With that said, it's very important to us that it's not fully remote because we know how important an in-person experience can be to the student experience. The truly unique part for us is the residential factor here, and we've got six different residential weeks that we've incorporated into the program. The first two are purposely very close together because we want the students to create some relationships and then solidify them very shortly after. Right now, our Philadelphia and San Francisco cohorts start together in Philadelphia and we're going to start our Global cohort with them. So all three groups will start at the same time for about a week in Philadelphia, and our Global cohort will stay on a little bit longer to give them that opportunity to really get to know each other well. Then about three months later, we'll bring them back together in San Francisco. They'll get to see that campus and feel the connection to our group out in San Francisco for about a week as well. The third week to cap off their first year together will probably be in some location outside of the United State, but it’s still to be determined. Then we'll have three more residential weeks in the second year so that they can keep those bonds really alive. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '088cf431-34b3-4030-9c1e-432eee48f613', {}); Are the last three residential weeks intended to be in Philadelphia, San Francisco, or somewhere else? [4:29]The first one will be another one where they get to interact with our Philadelphia and San Francisco Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Into Georgetown Law | 28 Sep 2022 | 00:49:12 | |
Dreaming of a spot at Georgetown Law? Here's all you need to know [Show Summary]It’s hard to get a law education any closer to the heartbeat of policy and legal action than at Washington D.C.’s Georgetown Law School, labeled by the Washington Post as “the country’s most popular law school.” Andrew Cornblatt, the Dean of Admissions explains exactly what it takes to get accepted to this top-ranked and highly competitive program.Interview with Andrew Cornblatt, Dean of Admissions at Georgetown Law [Show Notes]Thanks for joining me for the 489th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you applying to law school this cycle? Are you planning ahead to apply to law school next year or perhaps later? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Law School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/law-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus it's all free. For today's interview, I'm delighted to have Andrew Cornblatt, Metta and Keith Krach Dean of Admissions and Associate Vice President of Graduate Admissions and Enrollment at Georgetown Law. A graduate of Harvard University and Boston College School of Law, Dean Cornblatt has been a member of the Georgetown community since 1980. He became Dean of Admissions at Georgetown Law in 1991 and served as Dean of Admissions at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, now the McCourt School of Public Policy from 2002 to 2016. It's hard to find someone with more experience in admissions.Can you give an overview of the more distinctive elements of the Georgetown Law School JD program? [2:36]I think the two things that are most unique about Georgetown are its size and its location. Georgetown Law is a large law school. I think it's among the largest in the United States, with 575 entering students. Even though it’s a big law school, we work very hard to make it a big law school with a small law school feel. These are small classes and the campus is beautiful. It's like a small college with lots of different buildings. We pay particular attention to individual students and their needs. We have big programs, but we have individual people who deserve individual attention and that's what we focus on. As far as location goes, we’re right at the heart of Washington D.C. in the center of law in the USA. This is where everything gets made, interpreted, enforced, and implemented. That all happens within a 10-block radius of where I'm sitting right now in my office. When you have that as a resource, and that's available to you, it enhances the electricity of what you're studying. It's hands-on stuff, but it allows Georgetown to be at the crossroads of theory and practice.When I went to law school all those years ago, and when people go to law school now, so much of it is about the theory of law and what happened way back then and cases from the 1800s. All of that's important. I'm not saying it isn't. But this generation of law students is hands-on. They watch it happen on video. They stay attuned to every development every 10th of a second through social media and all of the alerts they get. This is a place that's right at the center of all of that. That's part of our course structure too. The plus side of being at a big law school is you have that many more courses from which to choose. But if you want to know where the heart is beating, it's right outside my window. I think that's what excites students when they come here.What are some of the programs that are unique to Georgeto Follow Us | |||
| Approaching Your MBA Application | 20 Sep 2022 | 00:19:07 | |
Expert tips on how to approach your MBA application [Show Summary]What’s the right way to approach an MBA application? Like a productivity challenge? A jigsaw puzzle? A to-do list? Linda Abraham weighs in and shares her expert tips to master this process. Linda Abraham, Founder and CEO of Accepted, shares her insights into how best to approach your MBA application [Show Notes]Welcome to the 487th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Today is going to be a solo show where I answer common questions while also providing information on how to approach your MBA application. If you're not applying for an MBA, there's still going to be a lot for you to learn from this episode, specifically from its strategic approach to the application process and its focus on using every element of the application to your advantage, not to mention thinking about where you want to end up after you get the degree.For you, MBAs, when you finish listening to this episode, you're invited to take a free six-question quiz at Accepted.com/MapMBA to see how well you've absorbed the lessons in this show. You'll also gain access to other relevant resources, both free and paid, that you can use as you attempt to incorporate the advice contained in this podcast into your strategy for a successful MBA application. I realize it is an enormous effort to apply successfully to an MBA program, especially if you're applying to top MBA programs with acceptance rates like 6%, 10%, and 20%. That means they reject the overwhelming majority of applicants who submit applications.Indeed, the elite programs reject many, if not most, admissible candidates. You have a challenge, even if you have good stats, and that challenge is even greater if you don't. Actually, it's really a few challenges:How can you make your application as impressive as possible?How are you going to tell your story and effectively present the non-statistical elements of your application, specifically the essays and, when necessary, a video?How can you make the process efficient?Those are the questions I'm going to address. Listen in. There's a lot to cover here.How to choose the right schools [2:47]The foundation of any effective application process is choosing the right schools to apply to. In order to determine what those schools are, you must have professional direction, defined for MBAs as having a preferred industry in which you want to work and a function you would like to perform. Note that this is not necessarily what you want to study. It's different. The basic question is, where do you want to end up? What's your goal for the MBA? Because that goal, or direction, becomes your north star in the application process and when you arrive on campus.You also need competitive academic qualifications. You're going to have to show through your application that you can handle both the communications and quantitative demands of a top MBA program. These qualifications are usually revealed via your transcript and your test score, but they can also be revealed via certifications and work experience, your application itself, your writing, and your interview. The third thing you're going to need is a sense of what's important to you in an MBA program. It might be location. This can also be a part of your professional direction. For example, you may want to work in London or you might want to work on Wall Street or you might want to work in Silicon Valley. Those are more professional, goal-oriented location questions. What I'm talking about is just personal preference. Do you prefer being in Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Accepted to Cornell Johnson MBA | 13 Sep 2022 | 00:47:32 | |
Tune in to hear all that Cornell Johnson's dynamic MBA program has to offer, and more [Show Summary]Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, dives into this dynamic program that equips students for careers in finance, tech, healthcare, and more. Interview with Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management [Show Notes]Welcome to the 488th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Before we speak with our wonderful guest, I want to invite you to take advantage of a fantastic tool at Accepted, the MBA Admissions Quiz. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at those programs? Accepted's MBA Admissions Quiz can not only give you a quick reality check, but also tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. Use the calculator at accepted.com/mbaquiz.It gives me great pleasure to have, for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management. Eddie earned his bachelor's in communications from the University at Buffalo and a masters from SUNY Buffalo in Student Personnel Administration. Between his undergraduate and graduate degrees, he worked at SUNY Buffalo and while in grad school, he served as an Admissions Advisor at the University of Buffalo. He joined the Johnson School in 2012 as an Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid and became the Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship in June 2021. Can you give an overview of the Cornell Johnson full-time MBA program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:16]We're located in Ithaca, New York, which is in central New York. Our MBA program is a general management MBA program that allows our students to really get the basic business fundamentals while also expanding personally and professionally throughout their career goals. We are known for elements of our program, such as our immersion learning program, which gives our students the opportunity to immerse themselves in their particular career paths. This happens in the spring semester of their first year. It gives students that hands-on experience while taking advanced level courses in their particular immersions so they can ultimately be able to hit the ground running with the internship itself.We also have Cornell Tech, MBA program located in New York City. If you are looking for a residential two-year program, there are opportunities for our program to collaborate with the Cornell Tech campus in New York City. There are a lot of other great features like flexibility in the program to work with other departments. Our program really gives you the opportunity to customize the program the way you best see fit. We understand it's a business school, but we also understand the direction that our students are going into spans so many different industries, whether it is hospitality, healthcare, tech, or anything else. We have some great programs here at Cornell that allow students to be able to tap into other areas.Is there anything new at Cornell Johnson that you'd like to highlight? [4:49]I will say that within my time here at Johnson, we've done a pretty good job of making sure that we stay relevant with what's happening and changes to our curriculum. One of the new exciting things that I would like to share is the opportunity to do a 1+1 program, which is a full year here in Ithaca, along with a full year at Corne Follow Us | |||
| How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. Louis | 30 Aug 2022 | 00:46:44 | |
What's new at Washington University School of Medicine? [Show Summary]Dr. Valerie Ratts, Associate Dean for Admissions at Washington University School of Medicine, shares what's new in the program, including the Gateway Curriculum and the virtual interview experience. Interview with Dr. Valerie Ratts, Associate Dean for Admissions at Washington University School of Medicine [Show Notes]Welcome to the 485th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/medquiz, complete the quiz, and you will not only get an assessment, but also tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Today's guest, Dr. Valerie Ratts, earned her MD at Johns Hopkins, where she also did her residency in obstetrics and gynecology as well as a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology. She joined the Washington University faculty in 1994 and currently serves as Associate Dean for Admissions and a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine. Can you give us an overview of the WashU School of Medicine program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:52]Well, actually, our curriculum has changed since I last spoke to you. We're very excited about it. It's called the Gateway Curriculum. We're reimagining how we should best be educating medical students for the future and we deliver that in three phases.In phase one, we concentrate on the fundamentals and foundational modules in medicine. But we're integrating it the entire time. When you're getting basic science courses, we're integrating clinical problems, social sciences, health equity, and justice. All of those things come up during phase one. We also have clinical immersions during that period where students go into the clinical spaces for three weeks at three times during phase one. They’ll go to inpatient, outpatient, and peri-procedural spaces. The goal is not to be the physician. Yes, you get some clinical skills. Yes, you see how the different units work. But the goal is to get a perspective of how all the other healthcare providers in that space, including social workers, nurses, and pharmacists, work together. We think that medical students, at that point in their education, haven't quite learned all the bad habits that physicians get. They have a very unique perspective. We have small group sessions where the medical students will meet with other medical students and their professors to talk about the things that they observed in those spaces, good and bad. The thought is that when they become the physician down the road, they can reflect upon that period of time, and it will hopefully make them better doctors in the future. That's one of the things that we're doing in phase one, getting them very quickly into the clinical spaces and using that unique perspective that an early medical student has. Then we have phase two. This is the gateway to clinical medicine. This is when students rotate through the six big specialties in medicine, OB/GYN, medicine, surgery, neurology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. All medical schools require you to rotate through these clinical services. You're basically trying on all the hats to learn what type of medicine you really enjoy. What we do uniquely in this phase of the curriculum is we have the clerkship start with bookends. In the beginning, we review foundational modules and science that w Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Accepted to UCLA Anderson | 23 Aug 2022 | 00:43:34 | |
Everything you need to know about the UCLA Anderson MBA program [Show Summary]Alex Lawrence, UCLA Anderson’s Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions explores the hallmarks of the program and discusses what makes a competitive application. Interview with Alex Lawrence, Asst. Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA Anderson School of Management [Show Notes]Welcome to the 484th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Before we get to our wonderful guest, I want to invite you to take advantage of a fantastic tool at Accepted, the MBA Admissions Quiz. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at those programs? Accepted's MBA Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just complete the quiz, which should only take about five minutes, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to actually improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. hbspt.cta.load(58291, 'a7004604-d7d1-4d1f-98ef-a0ec53d7e590', {}); It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk Alex Lawrence, Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA Anderson School of Management, which just happens to be where I earned my MBA. Alex is a fellow Anderson alum who earned his MBA in 1999. Prior to that, he earned a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. After earning his MBA, he worked in management consulting for four years and then returned to UCLA Anderson as Director of the Riordan Program. In 2012, he became first the director and then the Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions. Can you give an overview of the Anderson full-time MBA program for those listeners who aren't that familiar with it, focusing on its more distinctive element? [2:15]The UCLA Anderson MBA is obviously near and dear to my heart, being an alumnus of the program and now running the admission side of things. My relationship with the school goes back over 25 years.It’s a two-year program that balances the opportunity to go through the traditional core elements while also taking what you learn in the classroom to actually participate in a number of different experiential or practicum types of activities. We actually started school yesterday and today is day two for the class of 2024. One of the things I think shows how we're always innovating in our program is that beyond traditional summer internships, more and more of our students are doing academic internships. Part of the graduation requirements is to satisfy a global requirement. Our students have been taking on some of those different opportunities for almost 10 years now, where they do a consulting project with a global company or perhaps they travel overseas. We're a smallish class size of around 330 students. We don't necessarily look at students with just a business background. It's really diverse domestically, internationally, and across genders also career interests as well. We have students who go to a lot of different areas, not just consulting and finance, but real estate, entertainment, and more.We're always trying to push the envelope, and we added a course in ethics to the core classes students need to take in order to graduate. Students have to participate in that. In our career services, there's a required class as well that our students have to take. There are a lot of different elements. Once you peel back the layers and learn more about Anderson, there's a lot to find out. I hope we'll get a chance to talk about a lot of that and more.How does the Anderson course in ethics differ from traditional corporate socia Follow Us | |||
| University of Michigan's Ross MBA program: Everything You Need to Know | 16 Aug 2022 | 00:28:12 | |
What’s new at Michigan Ross? [Show Summary]Taya Sapp, Senior Associate Director of Admissions, shares all of the latest updates including a new dean, new testing policy, and a new essay question.Interview with Taya Sapp, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Michigan Ross School of Business [Show Notes]Welcome to the 479th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for listening. You've seen the stats that most people have a great return on their MBA investment, but what about you? Are you going to see that return? And how much will it be? We've created a tool that will help you assess whether the MBA is likely to be a good investment for you individually. Just go to accepted.com/mbaroicalc, complete the brief questionnaire, and you will not only get an assessment but also the opportunity to calculate different scenarios. And it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have on Admissions Straight Talk for the first time Taya Sapp, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Michigan Ross School of Business. Taya practically bleeds Michigan blue. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in American Culture in 2003 and then worked as an Admissions Counselor at another college for several years before returning to Michigan. She joined the admissions staff at Michigan Ross in 2011, rose through the ranks, and today is the Senior Associate Director of Admissions. Could you start with a basic overview of Ross's full-time MBA program for listeners who may not be that familiar with it, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:09]I think the one thing that we are really known for is learning by doing. I always like to tell people if you learn best by doing, there's no better place to be than Michigan Ross. I can give a couple of examples of that. The cornerstone is MAP which stands for Multidisciplinary Action Projects. It's a seven-week consulting project that every single student does at the end of their first year at Ross. This past year we had projects with Blue Origin, a social responsibility project with Amazon, and we also had nonprofit students analyzing data sets to help design fundraising campaigns. There’s a pretty big variety in the projects. It's a huge differentiator for us because students spend a full seven weeks doing it and then get to do their internship. A lot of times, people think of it as almost two internships. It's also a great opportunity for travel. We did start sending people internationally again this year, and the nice thing is the sponsor covers all travel expenses.Can you tell us a little more about what's new in the Ross MBA program? [3:33]We have a new Dean starting on August 1st. We are really excited to have her come to Ross and see her vision for leading our community here. There are a few other things I'm excited about. We started something called the Business+Tech initiative this past year which is a hub for everything tech. They launched a tech literacy week, which is basically a bunch of workshops to help people orient themselves to different areas of tech. It covers everything from how a lack of diversity can impact artificial intelligence to boot camps and machine learning and different programs like Python and Blockchain. They’re really helping prepare students for not just the recruiting aspect but also the actual knowledge in tech.We have seven different student investment funds at Ross, and the newest one just started this year. It's called the Michigan Clean Venture, and it's focused on clean tech investments. I think it’s really exciting that our st Follow Us | |||
| An Inside Look at The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine | 09 Aug 2022 | 00:44:08 | |
Wondering if you're a good fit for the Geisinger Commonwealth SOM? [Show Summary]Dr. Michelle Schmude, Associate Dean of Admissions at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, shares everything that’s new in the program, including a revised curriculum and a unique opportunity that allows students to graduate debt free. Interview with Dr. Michelle Schmude, Associate Dean of Admissions at Geisinger Commonwealth SOM [Show Notes]Welcome to the 482nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Do you know how to get accepted to medical school? Well, Dr. Suzi Schweikert does, and she shares her knowledge and insight in Accepted's free guide, Med School Admissions: What You Need to Know to Get Accepted. Download your free copy at accepted.com/482download.Today's guest, Dr. Michelle Schmude, has spent her career in higher ed administration and med school admissions. After earning her BA in History and Business, she went on to earn an MBA and then a Doctorate in Education from Wilkes University. Since 1996, she has worked in admissions, first as Dean of Full-Time Admissions at Point Park University, then at Kings College, and since 2015, as Director and then as Associate Dean of Admissions, Enrollment Management and Financial Aid at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. She's also an Associate Professor of Medical Education at Geisinger. Now that you know a little bit about Dr. Schmude, let's find out about Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and its admissions policies. Can you give us an overview of the Geisinger Commonwealth Med School program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:57]Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine offers the MD degree, which is the Doctorate of Medicine, and we are an allopathic medical school. We are located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and we were founded in 2008 as the Commonwealth Medical College, which transformed into Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in 2017.Right now, we enroll 115 students in each medical school class. Our MD curriculum is known as the Total Health Curriculum, and it is divided into three phases. The first phase prepares our students in terms of the principles of medical sciences and practices. The second phase would be our core clinical immersion. And the last phase is our career differentiation and exploration, which prepares students for the transition to residency.Also, highlighted within our MD curriculum and our Total Health curriculum, we have six longitudinal themes, where our students are immersed in Health Equity and Justice, Personal and Professional Development, Health System Citizenship, Primary Care, Community Immersion, and Population Health. These themes are interwoven throughout the four years of our medical school program in both our basic sciences as well as our clinical sciences.Are the themes something that a student chooses to focus on or does everybody cover all six themes through the three stages? [3:44]That's a great question. All of our students participate in the six themes. Additionally, our students participate in active learning sessions. In our medical school curriculum, along with the six themes, we do not have any lectures. So our students prepare ahead of time and they come to class as active participants in their learning experiences. They’ll engage in small groups, workshops, reflection, and case-based learning. They also engage in early clinical experiences, and those experiences do have the six themes woven throughout.It sounds like it's very much of a flipped classroom kind of experience. [4:39]It abso Follow Us | |||
| Ace the Executive Assessment | 02 Aug 2022 | 00:37:20 | |
Tune in to hear all you need to know about the Executive Assessment [Show Summary]Who is the Executive Assessment for? What is it? And how to prepare for it? Introduced by GMAC a few years ago, for the Executive MBA, the “EA” has gained credibility and acceptability for a variety of MBA programs. Brett Ethridge, test prep expert, weighs in and answers all these questions in this informative interview. Interview with Brett Ethridge, founder and president of Dominate Test Prep [Show Notes]Welcome to the 483rd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for listening. You've seen the stats that most people have a great return on their MBA investment. But what about you? Are you going to see that return? How much could it be? We've created a tool that will help you assess whether the MBA is likely to be a good investment for you individually. Just go to accepted.com/mbaroicalc, complete the brief questionnaire, and you’ll not only get an assessment but also the opportunity to calculate different scenarios. And it's all free. Try the MBA ROI Calculator!It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Brett Ethridge, founder and president of Dominate Test Prep. Brett earned his Bachelor's in Public Policy Studies from Duke in 2000 and then joined the Peace Corps for two years where he worked in Madagascar. He then earned a Master's in International Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration from the University of Denver. In 2010, he founded Dominate the GMAT, which became Dominate Test Prep. Today, Dominate Test Prep provides test preparation for the GMAT, the GRE, SAT, ACT, LSAT, and most importantly for today's conversation, GMAC's Executive Assessment. The Executive Assessment is accepted by many Executive MBA programs, an increasing number of part-time MBA programs, and even several highly ranked full-time MBA programs, including Columbia, Darden, Duke Fuqua, Georgetown, NYU Stern, UT McCombs, and Vanderbilt. Let's learn all about the Executive Assessment. Let's start with a basic question. What is the Executive Assessment? [2:42]It's a standardized test used as part of the admissions process for a wide range of primarily Executive MBA programs in the United States, but also overseas. It’s also being used by an increasing number of online MBA programs, part-time MBA programs, and full-time MBA programs. It's very similar in a lot of ways to the GMAT exam, which is the widely used entrance exam for business school, but different in distinct ways as well. In short, it's a standardized test that a lot of students are taking right now to get into various MBA programs.Why did GMAC develop the Executive Assessment if it already had the GMAT? [3:32]Because they were asked to (if the story is correct). I actually first learned about the Executive Assessment myself at a forum that the GMAC hosted at their headquarters in Ruston, Virginia back in 2018. I think the Executive Assessment had been around for maybe a year or so at that point. It's a fairly new exam at four or five years old. It was my first time really learning about the exam. At that point, only a couple dozen schools were even using it. The story they told us, so this is straight from the GMAC's mouth, is that the admissions directors at a lot of the top executive MBA programs came to them and said, "Look, we love the GMAT. We're currently asking applicants for our Executive MBA programs to take the GMAT. But it's a really steep hurdle in the application process for a demographic of applicants who are in their forties, sometimes fifties. These people have bee Follow Us | |||
| How to Prep for the MCAT | 26 Jul 2022 | 00:25:15 | |
Expert tips for MCAT success [Show Summary]Todd Bennett, co-founder of The Berkeley Review and expert MCAT instructor, shares his best tips for preparing for and taking the test. Todd Bennett, co-founder of The Berkeley Review and expert MCAT instructor [Show Notes]Welcome to the 480th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, thanks for joining me. Before I introduce our guest today, I'd like to invite you to take Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz. Ask yourself, "Am I ready to apply to my dream medical schools? Am I competitive at my target programs?" Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check, just go to accepted.com/medquiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also actionable tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '6f21f36c-c988-4e9c-b947-0b9d4af1557f', {"region":"na1"}); Our guest today is Todd Bennett, whom I met many years ago. He was, at the time, the CEO of the Berkeley Review, and for the entire time, since I met him those many moons ago, he's been an expert MCAT instructor, both for the Berkeley Review and on his own. Is there anything new in terms of the MCAT and the MCAT prep world since we last spoke about a year ago? [1:55]Well, the biggest thing is that COVID restrictions have basically simmered away and it's no longer the same concern it was. The content hasn't seemed to change much, but the delivery and all the stress and weird times looks like it's just going to go back to the regular shot. So that's the biggest thing. There are still some basic protocols, but it's so much less stressful than it was during the pandemic.How do you recommend students prepare for the MCAT? [2:42]The biggest thing at the very start is to look at what you're studying. The only company that puts out realistic questions that have been on the MCAT, or are very similar, is the AAMC. It’s the company that is responsible for the test. Start with their materials. They have an MCAT guide that's the best thing on the market. All these people with “super secrets” are pretty much just people who've read that book from start to finish.They're pretty straightforward in what percentages of the questions they give, how they ask their questions, and what they're looking for. If you start there and really analyze and break that down, you will realize that you don't have to know the material at the same level you studied for college. It's not that it's harder or easier. It's different in that you have to apply it.I'll take physics, for instance. It’s one of the topics I taught for many years. In college, people memorize equations, learn to do problems, show their work, box their answer, and pray for partial credit. That's physics in a nutshell. On the MCAT, they're going to talk about some experiment they do in biochemistry with some machine that uses an electric field, and they'll want to know, "What's true of this electric field if we turn up the voltage", or, "What's true if we move the plates further apart or closer together?" Suddenly you have to take that physics, and apply it to a bio experiment. Getting used to that is the hardest thing I find people have to do. They spend so much time memorizing facts that they never take time to get used to what the questions and passages are like, and they get shocked when they start doing AAMC materials. It’s the number one reason why people postpone or have to repeat. My best advice is to start with the real deal, analyze it, learn what you can from it, and then start your study.How much time sho Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Into Yale SOM 2025 [Episode 598] | 12 Nov 2024 | 00:37:25 | |
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| How to Get Into Duke Law | 19 Jul 2022 | 00:48:51 | |
Hear about possible changes to the law admissions process and how to get accepted [Show Summary]Mark Hill, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law, has worked in admissions for twenty years. In this episode, he shares his thoughts on how law schools will be affected by a potential recession and the possible elimination of a test requirement. Mark explores how applicants, especially those hoping to get accepted to Duke, should handle the shifting landscape. (Please note: Between the recording and publication of our interview, Mark Hill was promoted to Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law. The recording has his old title; the show notes reflect his new title.)Interview with Mark Hill, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law [Show Notes]Thanks for joining me for the 481st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you applying to law school this cycle? Are you planning ahead to apply to law school next year or later? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Law School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/law-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to improve your qualifications and your chances of acceptance. And it's all free. I'm delighted to have an Admissions Straight Talk, Mark Hill, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law. Mark earned his bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology from Duke, and then later earned a master's in Higher Ed from Northwestern, where he also served as Assistant Director of Admissions. In 2002, joined Duke Law as an Admissions officer. Since 2013, he has served Duke Law as Senior Director/Assistant Dean of Admissions. Can you give us an overview of the more distinctive elements of the Duke Law School JD program? [2:21]The way that I think about it, there are two elements that characterize Duke. One is that we're among a handful of really top-tier national law schools with students who come from all over and have really great job prospects all across the country. Most of our grads don't stay in North Carolina. They're looking elsewhere. There's a handful of law schools like that. The other thing that makes us distinctive is that we have a relatively small class size. We're in a smaller city and so we’re a smaller school. We can really give individual attention to students. We help everybody who comes here craft their own course through the opportunities at Duke to get to where they want to end up.Because it's a smaller school and a smaller city, we really attract folks who are intending to be full-time law students. They're focused on engaging with one another and with their professors. I suppose it's not for everybody, but for people who want that kind of full-on focused experience, it can be really great. I've often mentioned a couple of distinctive dual degrees. We have two JD/LLM degrees that can be completed in the three years that it would take to do a JD so they don't add any additional time. You can get a really good concentration and an LLM focusing either on international and comparative law and all the spectrum of the things that means from public law to finance and corporate transactions. The other one focuses on law and entrepreneurship. Maybe you want to be a lawyer who works in the startup space or who works with venture capital. Maybe you have entrepreneurial ideas of your own. Maybe you just want to work for law firms that help provide legal services to those kinds of companies. The JD/LLM in law and entrepreneurship is a great thing there. Those are Duke-specific dual degrees. Of c Follow Us | |||
| How to Get Accepted to the University of Colorado School of Medicine | 12 Jul 2022 | 00:41:24 | |
Find out what's new to the U. of Colorado SOM curriculum [Show Summary]The University of Colorado School of Medicine has introduced a new curriculum that includes clinical training starting in year two and a longitudinal approach to patient care. Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo, the Assistant Dean for Admissions explains everything applicants will want to know about these changes and gives the inside scoop on how to get accepted.Interview with Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo, Assistant Dean for Admissions, U. of Colorado SOM [Show Notes]Welcome to the 478th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Do you know how to get accepted to medical school? Accepted's Dr. Suzi Schweikert does and she shares her knowledge and insight in Accepted's free guide, Med School Admissions: What You Need to Know to Get Accepted. Download your free copy!Also, thank you and a shoutout to Nareg Keshisian who left a five-star review for Admissions Straight Talk on Apple Podcasts. He wrote:"Linda does a great job answering many of the questions that are on students' minds. These podcasts give greater insight into what schools are looking for in applicants that would be otherwise difficult to find elsewhere. I would highly recommend them to other applicants who are looking for more information about the admissions process for particular schools."Thank you again, Nareg. Your feedback is deeply appreciated. Giving insight to applicants into what schools are looking for is exactly the goal of Admissions Straight Talk. Your words are high praise.The next step in achieving Admissions Straight Talk’s goal is introducing today's guest, Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo. After attending Boston College as an undergrad, Dr. SooHoo earned his MD at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in 2009. He did his residency at the University of Colorado in Ophthalmology and a fellowship in glaucoma, also at the University of Colorado. He has been Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of Colorado School of Medicine since 2020. The University of Colorado School of Medicine introduced a new curriculum almost exactly a year ago. Can you walk us through it, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:14]Absolutely. Our new curriculum is called the Trek Curriculum and all the different elements are named after elements of a hike in Colorado. It was named by our students. You start out in the Plains and progress to the Foothills followed by the Alpine and finally the Summit.There's a number of things that I'll point out as being unique features of the curriculum. I think the biggest change is the move of the core clinical year from the third year of training to the second year of training. That decreases our core preclinical time from two years in the classroom to just one. A question I get often is, "Dean SooHoo, do you now expect me to learn two years of material in one year?" And the answer to that is no. We thought really critically about the elements of our preclinical curriculum and what needed to be in there to prepare you to be a clinical student. I think there was a lot of in those first two years that, while interesting and maybe relevant to medicine in some way, didn't necessarily need to be learned during the time before you went out into the clinical space.Students are eager to get into the clinical space. We also think it's better for learning for them to have clinical experiences earlier because it allows them to think more about the science behind the medicine. It also gives them a human framework in which to place that knowledge. Then they ask better questions because they say, Follow Us | |||
| Get Into NYU Stern’s MSBAi aka Masters of Business Analytics and AI [Episode 597] | 29 Oct 2024 | 00:27:29 | |
The NYU Stern Masters of Business Analytics and AI (MSBAAI) program is a one-year specialized degree program that trains students to make data-driven decisions. Dr. Anindya Ghose, Heinz Riehl Chair Professor of Technology and Marketing at New York University's Leonard Stern School of Business and Director of the Masters of Business Analytics and AI Program at Stern discusses everything applicants need to know. He shares the core aim of the program which is to impart cross-functional skills that can be applied across industries. Additionally, Dr. Ghose highlights the career path for graduates of the program. Show Links:
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| Mastering MIT Sloan MBA Admissions: Insights and Tips [Episode 596] | 15 Oct 2024 | 00:26:09 | |
Dawna Levenson, Assistant Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management, provides a thorough examination into the MIT Sloan School of Management's full-time MBA program, which is mission-driven, focused on identifying and solving the world's biggest and most complex problems. The program offers flexibility with a one-semester core and three semesters of electives, allowing students to pursue seven different certificates or concentrations. Dawna discusses the comprehensive application process, which includes a cover letter, one-page resume, 60-second video, and a behavioral video interview. She shares her tips on how to successfully approach the application. Dawna also highlights the early admission program for current college students and graduate students. Related Admissions Straight Talk Episodes
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| Get Accepted to the Washington University School of Medicine [Episode 595] | 01 Oct 2024 | 00:56:18 | |
In this episode, Dr. Valerie Ratts, the Associate Dean for Admissions at The Washington University School of Medicine, offers an overview of the unique program. She describes the "Gateway Curriculum" which provides early clinical exposure and flexibility for students to explore different areas of medicine, including research, innovation, advocacy, and education. Dr. Ratts overviews Wash U’s holistic approach to admissions and the multi-step interview process. Listeners will also learn about the school’s robust student success program, with faculty coaches to provide personalized guidance and support throughout medical school. Relevant Links: Related Admission Straight Talk Episodes
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| The Write Stuff: How to Create Successful MBA Applications [Episode 594] | 24 Sep 2024 | 00:26:49 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham shares a strategic framework for a successful MBA application, with tips that can benefit applicants to any program. She discusses how to choose the right schools to apply to, demonstrate your knowledge of the programs you are applying to, effectively present yourself throughout the application, and review the application materials before submission. Follow Us | |||
| Deep Dive into Duke Medical: An Interview with Dr. Linton Yee, Associate Dean of Admissions [Episode 593] | 17 Sep 2024 | 00:46:34 | |
Dr. Linton Yee, Associate Dean for Admissions at Duke University School of Medicine joins us to discuss how applicants can earn a spot in this highly competitive program. Dr. Yee walks listeners through the unique curriculum which focuses on integrating basic science and clinical experiences from the first year. In addition to strong academic performance, Duke looks for clinical and research experiences, as well as a vision for the future in medicine. Dr. Yee gives an inside look at what applicants can expect from the MMI interviews. Relevant Links: Related Admissions Straight Talk Episodes:
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| How to Get Accepted to UCLA Anderson [Episode 592] | 10 Sep 2024 | 00:45:37 | |
Alex Lawrence, Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA Anderson School of Management, describes the program’s offerings. Students are offered a customizable curriculum with a wide range of elective courses and specializations. The program also includes a capstone project and focuses on developing leadership skills. The summer quarter provides students with foundational elements and an opportunity to get acclimated to the program. The program also offers a business creation program for students with an entrepreneurial mindset and an applied management research project for students to work on real business challenges. Alex discusses the flexible testing policy and shares who should take the test. Alex also highlights the program’s values and how applicants can demonstrate them in resumes, letters of recommendation, and interviews.
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| From Med School Reapplicant to Current M1 Student [Episode 609] | 16 Oct 2025 | 00:14:02 | |
If you are a medical school reapplicant, tune in for today's episode of the Admissions Straight Talk podcast! Accepted medical school expert Dr. Valerie Wherley is joined by Mory Gould, current M1 medical student and former Accepted client who worked with Valerie when reapplying to medical school. Mory discusses the med school application process, the weaknesses he identified in his profile after not receiving any acceptances, and how he and Valerie made his second application cycle a success. If you are applying to med school -- for the first time OR the second time -- this episode is full of valuable advice. Related Resources
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| How To Get Accepted To Duke’s Physician Assistant Program [Episode 591] | 03 Sep 2024 | 00:34:13 | |
Dr. April Stouder, Associate Program Director and Director of Admissions at the Duke Physician Assistant Program, discusses what it takes to gain a spot in the competitive program. She discusses Duke PA program’s emphasis on community service, particularly in underserved communities and healthcare roles. April highlights the value of non-clinical volunteering, especially in healthcare or with underserved populations. She explains the admissions process, including the CASPA application and the GPA and GRE requirements. April walks us through the interview process, which is designed to assess both cognitive and non-cognitive attributes like maturity and resilience.
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| Get Accepted to Cornell School of Law [Episode 590] | 27 Aug 2024 | 00:41:22 | |
This week, Linda Abraham welcomes Dean Shane Cooper, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions, Financial Aid and Student Services at Cornell School of Law. Dean Cooper shares insights into the admissions process at Cornell Law School, emphasizing the mutual goal of finding the right fit between the school and the applicant. We discuss the benefits of small class sizes, close faculty interaction, and strong international programs. Despite its Ithaca location, the school offers abundant opportunities for experiential learning. Dean Cooper explains that Cornell accepts LSAT, GRE, or GMAT scores without preference, with financial aid linked to the strength of these scores. He highlights the importance of diverse experiences and well-rounded characters in applicants, and we explore how interviews, re-applicant growth, and the Why Cornell essay play significant roles in the admissions process. Dean Cooper underscores Cornell Law’s commitment to opening doors for students and making a positive impact on the legal community.
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| How to Get a U.S. Student Visa – Even When There Are Complications [Episode 589] | 20 Aug 2024 | 00:42:07 | |
This week, we hear from Marla Schechter, a US immigration lawyer with 20+ years of experience. Marla shares her expertise on various topics related to obtaining a visa for studying in the United States. She covers the process of obtaining an F-1 visa, the advantages of studying in a STEM-certified program, the H-1B visa for working in the US, and the Green Card process. She also highlights common mistakes made by student applicants and the potential challenges of obtaining a visa for individuals with criminal records. Relevant Links: Relevant Admission Straight Talk Episodes:
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| How to Prepare for the Shorter GRE and GMAT Focus [Episode 588] | 13 Aug 2024 | 00:33:40 | |
Bara Sapir joins Admissions Straight Talk to discuss the benefits and challenges of the GRE and GMAT exams. She delves into the structure and length of the exams and also discusses the challenges unique to each one. Bara shares her expert tips on how to overcome these challenges, including being an active participant in test preparation and developing test-taking strategies. Bara and Linda have a discussion on the value of these exams and the importance of reframing the test-taking experience. Relevant Links:
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| How To Get Into UVA Darden’s MBA Program [Episode 587] | 06 Aug 2024 | 00:49:42 | |
Dawna Clarke, Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions at UVA Darden, returns to Admissions Straight Talk to discuss various aspects of the Darden MBA program, including experiential learning opportunities, global study opportunities, the use of AI in the program, the application process, and common mistakes made by applicants. Dawna emphasizes the importance of authenticity in the application and provides examples of successful essays. She also discusses the interview process and suggests that applicants ask thoughtful and probing questions to demonstrate their research and interest in the program. Relevant Links: Relevant shows:
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