I am not talking about general things to consider when you write a college essay. Instead, I am discussing the specifics you need to consider as a BS/MD applicant. When writing the college essay, remember what is important for admissions to BS/MD programs.  The programs are looking for students with a long standing passion for medicine as well as students who have leadership abilities, maturity and compassion.

Your college essay does not need to talk directly about the number of years you have wanted to become a physician but it should address at least one of the topics that are important to the BS/MD programs.  If you founded a business club and a club to find volunteers for the local nursing home, write about the nursing home club.  Or write about some volunteer activity that shows the compassion you have for others.  Do you have experience with medical care in another country? That might make an interesting essay.

The bottom line for the college essay is to keep the focus on something important to the BS/MD program. Next post I will be talking about the medical school essay for the BS/MD program.

Here are all of the articles in the series on BS/MD programs.

BS/MD Programs

BA/MD or BS/MD

Admissions to BS/MD Programs

BS/MD Admission Requirements

Applying to BS/MD Programs

Interviews for BS/MD Programs

BS/MD Programs and Financial Aid

BS/DO Programs

BS/MD Programs for International Students

BS/MD Programs for College Students

Summer Activities for BS/MD Applicants

6 Steps to Make Yourself the Best BS/MD Candidate

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College Essays for BS/MD Applicants

This is very good, if not somewhat surprising, news. With all of the losses sustained by college endowments in the past few years, colleges have been looking at reducing their generosity, not increasing it.  Williams College, for instance, recently decided to reverse their no loan policy for financial aid packages.  Williams is still need blind and meets the full need of all admitted students.  But Hamilton has a much smaller endowment than Williams.

Unfortunately, the new policy will not extend to transfer students and international students but given the resources Hamilton has, I think they are being very good stewards of their money.

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Hamilton College Goes Need Blind for Admissions

Step 1, get good grades. At a minimum, you need to be in the top 10% of your class and to be the most competitive, you should be in the top 1 or 2% of your class.

Step 2, take the right classes. You need to take the most challenging courses available to you at your high school. You also need to make sure that you take a class in biology, chemistry and physics if they are available to you. If there are advanced classes in these science courses you should be taking those advanced classes.

Step 3, prepare early for the SAT and SAT subject tests. For most students it does not make a difference if you take the SAT or ACT. However, a few of the BS/MD programs require the SAT so that would be the preferred test. If you do better on the ACT, just understand that there may be a few schools that you will not be able to apply to.

For the SAT subject tests, you should plan on taking a subject test in Math, preferably Math II, as well as the subject test for Chemistry.

Step 4, arrange to do some physician shadowing.  Ideally, the shadowing should last for a least several days and preferably occur with several different physicians.

Step 5, volunteer at health related facilities. It does not matter what type of health related facility you volunteer at but you need to have some volunteer activities.  The more time you spend in your volunteer activity, the better.

Step 6, try to arrange to do research in some science or health related field at a local college or business. Most competitive students will have engaged in scientific research at some time before their senior year in high school.

There you have it, the 6 steps to get you ready to be a competitive candidate for the BS/MD programs.  Of course, these are just the first steps toward a acceptance into a BS/MD programs.   It is still critical to choose to apply to the most appropriate programs for you and then to prepare your essays as part of the application process. But without these first steps, your chances of acceptance into a BS/MD program are unlikely.

Here are all of the articles in the series on BS/MD programs.

BS/MD Programs

BA/MD or BS/MD

Admissions to BS/MD Programs

BS/MD Admission Requirements

Applying to BS/MD Programs

Interviews for BS/MD Programs

BS/MD Programs and Financial Aid

BS/DO Programs

BS/MD Programs for International Students

BS/MD Programs for College Students

Summer Activities for BS/MD Applicants

6 Steps to Make Yourself the Best BS/MD Candidate

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6 Steps to Make Yourself the Best BS/MD Candidate

The survey involved 614 people between the ages of 22 and 30 who had at least some college education. The people in the survey were asked a number of questions regarding their experiences with their high school guidance counselors and the degree of help they received in their search for the right college.

67% of the people in the survey gave their high school counselor a fair or pair rating for help in deciding which college to attend, while 59% gave fair to poor ratings for help in finding ways to pay for college. 54% gave their counselors fair to poor ratings for help with the application process.

One of the problems with relying on high school counselors is that they receive no training in the college admissions or financial aid process during their education. Most also don’t have the time or resources to get more than basic on the job training.

Don’t get me wrong. There are some very good high school counselors that actually understand the college admissions process.  But they are not the norm.

Even those that do understand how college admissions and financial aid works often don’t have the time to really help students because of their other duties.  According to a report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the average high school counselor spends 38 minutes a year on each students search for the right college.

As the Public Agenda article points out, the school counselor association recommends a ratio of 100 students to 1 counselor but the national counselor to student ratio averages 265 students per counselor. In some states, the ratio is much higher.  In California, the ratio is almost 1,000 students per counselor and even in states like Arizona, Minnesota Utah and the District of Columbia the ratio is 700 to 1.

As a private college admissions counselor I can’t imagine how I could help 100 students a year with anything more than basic college counseling.  The search for the right college is not something that takes 38 minutes.  And if you are hoping to get financial aid to help pay for college, you need to spend much more time.

It is an unfortunate truth that the vast majority of students can not rely on their high school counselors for real help in finding the best college for their needs. That means you have two options: spend the time to try to find colleges or hire someone like me to help you with the college admissions process.

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The Limitations of High School Counselors for College Admissions

This book is a great place to start if you are just starting to look for the best college for you. Unlike most books on college admissions this is not a “how to” book. Instead, it provides short quotes from college counselors that get to the heart of finding the best college.

The first few chapters give you an idea of the type of advice made available in the book. Chapter One is “What is the one college tip that nobody ever seems to know?” Chapter Two is “What is the first piece of advice you would give to your own child about getting into college?” The other chapters offer similar types of practical advice.

The book can be easily read in an hour. But that is why the book works. There are no wasted extras in the book; just good solid advice. I also like the book because it provides good information for students considering the most selective colleges as well as those looking at less selective colleges.

The book is not a replacement for one of the many books or websites that discuss the college admissions process.  Rather, it is a good way to start the process to understand some of the basics in a short, simple to understand, format.

Eric Yaverbaum is the father of Cole who is currently a high school senior going through the process of finding the right college. This book was compiled to help other families through this process.

I recommend the book if you are just starting the college admissions process.

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Book Review-Life’s Little College Admissions Insights

For Tufts optional essay, they allowed students to write on 7 different topics.  But they also had a creative option that allowed students to create something out of a piece of paper or submit a one-minute video on YouTube. About 1,000 people choose to submit video.

Many people in the admissions world are lamenting the end of the world as we know it because of Tufts video option. Personally, I think it is great.  Tufts did not require students to make a video. You can’t afford the equipment to make a video? No problem, do one of the other optional essays or actions. But student who wished to show their creativity that way could do so.

The director of Tufts undergraduate admissions, Lee Coffin, unfortunately made the comment after watching one of the videos that he was ready to admit the student without seeing the rest of the student’s application.  OK, maybe he was overstating a bit. But should Tufts be willing to consider admitting a student with slightly lower grades or test scores who is incredibly creative? I think they should.

Creativity should not replace hard work and good grades in deciding who to admit to highly selective colleges like Tufts.  But to use creativity as part of the consideration of who to accept is a good thing.  The University of Chicago has done it for years with many of their essays.  No one has suggested that Chicago is any the worse for doing so.

Not everyone is at their best in writing a creative essay. Some have strengths in more visual media, like video. Video is here to stay. Why shouldn’t it be allowed as one possible consideration in the college admissions decision making process?

Good for Tufts for letting those students shine.

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Videos for College Admissions

Thanks Mark for the thoughtful article on college class size.

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Is Average Class Size Important to Consider for College Admissions

First, start by understanding that college admissions is a process.  In other words, there are specific steps to take to get through the process. If you skip one of the steps, the result won’t be as good as it could be.

Second, help your student figure out what it is that they want from a college. Big, small, sports oriented or academically oriented. Here is a list of some of the factors that students should consider in looking for the right college.  Your student doesn’t know what they want? No problem, plan some college visits.

This is also the time to start understanding how college financial aid works if you have an interest in getting money for college. One of the biggest mistakes people make is waiting until the end of the process to try and understand financial aid. At that point, it is too late and you may have left thousands of dollars on the table without even realizing it.

Third, understand what colleges are looking for in deciding which students to admit. Your child may fall in love with super selective big name university but if they have a 2.0 GPA, odds for admissions aren’t in their favor.  If you understand what colleges are looking for it is much easier to match a student with an appropriate college.

Fourth, find colleges that meet the needs of your student. Here are three good websites to get started in the search for the right college.  Put in to these search engines the information your student is looking for and then compare results. If the same colleges come up then these are probably ones they should investigate further.  While search engines are helpful, there is no substitute to actually having been on a college campus. If you can, visit as many of the colleges as possible that your student is considering.

Fifth, apply to the colleges your student has identified as the most appropriate. Applying to a college involves another process that you will also need to understand. Here is a summary of the things that you need to understand about the college application process.

Sixth, apply for financial aid if that is an issue for your family.  Again, applying for financial aid and understanding financial aid are two separate issues.

There you have it. Six basic steps to help your student find the best college for their needs.

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How to Start the College Admissions Process

If you have planned ahead, you should be scheduled to go on a tour of the college.  The tour will give you some basic information about the college but you can get much more from the tour. How? Talk with the tour guide.

Most students on a tour will not ask any questions of the tour guide. Some of those that do ask questions will ask stupid questions. Yes, you can ask a stupid question during a tour. How many students go here? What majors do you have? These are questions that anyone who has done any research will already know.

But you have prepared for your visit so you can ask good questions. Not sure what a good question is? Here is a list of possible questions you might consider while visiting a college.

After the college tour there will often be an informational session. These can often sound similar from college to college but you can ask questions of admissions counselors during the informational session so use this opportunity to get answers to more of your questions.

After the formal tour and informational session, wander around campus. Talk to students you see. Ask them questions. Look at areas where students have posted information about what is going on around campus. Do these sound like the sound of activities you would enjoy?

Visit the department of any potential major you are considering. See what sort of information the department has posted. Research opportunities? Graduate school options? This can tell you something about the focus of this department.  If there is a professor in an office with an open door, introduce your self and see if they are willing to tell you something about the department.

Visit the library. Is it being used? If not, the school is probably not very academically focused. Are there adequate computer facilities in the library and around campus?

Eat in the cafeteria. Is the food good? It may sound like a trivial thing, but after 4 years of eating the same food, it will not sound so trivial.  Also, while in the cafeteria, listen to what the students are talking about.  Are they talking about what they were just discussing in class? Are they talking about the big game on Saturday? Are they talking about the big party Tuesday night?  There discussions will give you more of a feel for what the college is like.

If you follow this advice, you will learn more about what the college is really like and will be in a great position to decide if this is a good college choice for you.

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What to Do on a College Visit

First, decide when you are going to visit the college. Many students visit colleges during the summer. However, the best time to visit is when the students are on campus. Colleges have a very different feel during the summer or during breaks when there are few students on campus. If the only time you can visit is during the summer, that is better than no visit but try to visit your top choice colleges when the students are on campus.

Second, call the admissions office at the college and let them know when you are coming. This is important to make sure that you receive a tour of the college and possibly have the chance to attend an informational session. This is also a great time to ask if you can meet with a professor who teaches a subject in which you have an interest.  If you are interested in playing sports in college, now is the time to talk with a coach.

Third, do some research on the college before going on your visit. If you know some of the basics before visiting the college, you can ask better questions to see if this college would be a good choice for you.

Next time I will talk about what to do once you get on campus for the visit.

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Planning a College Visit