College Admissions Consulting Alternative Path to Accelerated Medicine Programs, Plus Your Admissions & Finance Questions Written by Tova Javetzon May 18th, 2017 I began my career as both a tour guide and senior interviewer at my alma mater, Barnard, where I later joined the admissions team and read and reviewed applications from students applying from the northeastern, midwestern, and western regions of the United States, as well as Canada. A few years later, while pursuing my master’s degree, I briefly left admissions to be the director of student life at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Realizing I missed working closely with students on the high school side of college counseling, I joined the admissions team at Fordham University where I recruited and reviewed applicants applying to Fordham’s liberal arts and business colleges. My most recent experience at Montclair State helped me understand what the application process looks like outside of highly selective colleges and how to help students who may not be fully prepared for college-level work. One of my favorite past experiences was managing the athletic recruitment process at Fordham as well as a number of sports at Barnard. Understanding the inner workings of both the Ivy and Patriot athletic leagues meant I was able to guide students to find the best athletic matches as part of their college search. Learn More About Tova accelerated medical program, college admissions advice, college deposit, getting in, In last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, Beth Heaton was back in the host chair to talk about an alternative to the standard accelerated medical program and answer more of our listener questions. Alternative Path to Accelerated Medicine Programs: Bachelor of Science/Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Lots of high school students aspire to careers in medicine, and some hope to get on the fast track to being a doctor by applying to BS/MD programs. But many aren’t aware that there is another option that is slightly less selective, and therefore might be a bit easier to attain: BS/DO. College admissions expert Mary Sue Youn was back on the show this week to explain to Beth all about the differences between a traditional MD program (which is allopathic medicine—who knew?) and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or a DO. In addition to touching a little on the differences between the types of medicine, Mary Sue also explained the differences in the course work, specialties, training, and entry qualifications and exceptions. If becoming a doctor has been a dream of yours, listen to this segment to learn why there has been a 40% increase in applications to these types of programs and why it might be the right fit for you. Office Hours: College Finance and Admissions Listener Questions The remaining time on the show was spent addressing questions sent in by our listeners. Beth and Shannon Vasconcelos, former financial aid officer at Tufts University, tackled your questions together. Finance: We don’t qualify for any financial aid but we can’t afford to pay out of pocket, how do we get a student loan? We put deposits down at two schools. Once we make up our mind, can we get our money back from the other school? (Yikes, listen for both the answer and an explanation for why you should avoid this situation!) We have just submitted our deposit—when does the first actual bill arrive and what should we expect? Where can I find some scholarships to pay the upcoming fall tuition bill? How will our credit score impact our eligibility when borrowing to help pay for college? Admissions: When will we hear about final decisions from the waitlist at my first choice school, and is there anything we can do to influence a positive outcome? Do colleges likes Dartmouth and Tufts prefer to see AP classes or dual enrollment college courses? Our son has two exciting summer opportunities to choose between. One is an internship with a local real estate developer and the other is a spot in the prestigious Governor’s School. Which one should he choose? Can I drop foreign language senior year? What do Ivy League schools (and other highly selective schools) like to see students doing over the summer? For the answers to all of these great questions and more, be sure to download this week’s episode. Have a question you’d like to see answered in a future episode? Submit them here. Related Resources Read | Posted on April 16th, 2024 Understanding Direct Admission: A Pathway to Success Read | Posted on April 10th, 2024 Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld; Why You Should Fill out the FAFSA Read | Posted on April 9th, 2024 Community Colleges with Campus Housing
