My Experience with BeMo Academic Consulting

BeMo Reviews: Medical School Application

Student Success Story #1: Rishi

Watch Rishi's video testimonial:

Getting medical school rejections can be one of the toughest challenges to overcome. After all the hard work of completing the demanding medical school application process, it can be very disheartening to receive not a single acceptance and have to start the process all over again. This situation is well-known to Rishi, a student who faced just such rejections from medical schools, learnt from his mistakes, and came back from his rejection to achieve success – this time, with our help!

A graduate from UC Berkley, Rishi knew, based on his past experiences, that he would need some expert guidance to address the areas of improvement in his med school application and avoid another season of rejections. At the beginning of his second med school application cycle, he was looking for a consulting service with a good reputation to help him maximize his outcome and achieve his goal of getting into an MD program in the US. And with BeMo’s Gold Package, he found exactly what he wanted.

“…as a re-applicant, I personally know how frustrating and difficult it can be not just going through the process, but you lose confidence when you have been rejected the first time…the great thing about BeMo is they have a team of experts, and they really understand what helps people get in… holistically throughout the process. I personally benefited not just from working with the team but also from using their vast array of resources whether that was their interview banks, books they had that helped me on writing the essays, and secondaries… so I can’t recommend them enough.”

As Rishi found, it wasn’t just the frustration of having to re-apply that makes the second round of applications tough – it’s also the fact that after facing rejections, your confidence is low, and you may doubt yourself on every front. He not only sought out our expertise to help him improve his chances of acceptance, but he also wanted that peace of mind that comes with knowing that you’re doing everything you can to optimize your chances of acceptance.

Remember, a successful med school application isn’t just about ticking items off a list and sending them out – you need to carefully strategize and plan for every aspect of your application and review and rework every component until it is perfect. Rishi needed that extra bit of guidance from experts who knew the ins-and-outs of the admissions process and could therefore guide him to triumph.

In his second round of applications, working with BeMo’s knowledgeable consultants, he was able to identify and implement application strategies to maximize his chances of success. For example, he was able to optimize the list of schools he was applying to by using BeMo’s resources to find the med schools where he had the best chance of getting in. This is an incredibly important step in the med school application process but one that is often overlooked. It’s important to be realistic and curate your list of schools as per your qualifications and that’s why we offer the resources to help students strategically identify the medical schools where their grades, MCAT score, med school extracurriculars, or experiences make them an ideal candidate.

Another important strategy that is often overlooked by students is using the secondary essays to increase their chances of getting into their top-choice schools. We worked with Rishi on 10 different secondary essays, providing feedback to help him tackle the school specific questions and represent himself as an ideal candidate for each program.

But it’s not just about strategizing – it’s also about hard work and commitment to success. Your med school application consists of so many elements and each of them needs to be impressive to make you stand out to the admissions committee. We offer personalized, one-on-one services that guide you through each of them. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a successful med school app. That’s why we work with our students over multiple sessions, taking as much time as needed to get their application ready.

From multiple brainstorming sessions to unlimited feedback for personal statements and revisions for your essays, BeMo’s Gold Package provided Rishi with extensive individualized help, tailored to his specific requirements. He really appreciated how we helped him target the weaker sections of his application, such as his extracurricular activities and secondary essays, and provided helpful feedback about what kind of experiences med school want to see in students’ applications. These are some of the commonly overlooked or hurried over areas of a med school applications that actually play an important role in how med schools make acceptance decisions.

Rishi also benefitted greatly from our impressive collection of resources, including books and webinars that cover each aspect of med school applications. We build our free resources to complement our in-person services, as Rishi found out when it was time for him to tackle the dreaded med school interviews. He was able to use our interview bank with a vast array of common interview questions and our interview simulator, alongside the live interview sessions, to help him re-build his confidence. By the end, he felt thoroughly prepared to handle any questions he might face during his med school interview.

Ultimately, for Rishi, BeMo represented an investment in his future success and also in his present-day peace of mind. The complicated and competitive process of med school applications can create a lot of stress, especially when you just don’t know what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. The internet is full of misinformation, and free resources often don’t help you address your own specific areas of improvement.

“It’s really helpful and smart as an investment to use BeMo because they have dedicated a lot of time to understanding this whole process and they can help you get into schools… it is going to be a stressful process and BeMo does a great job in reducing that stress.”

Rishi’s story ends with victory. He was rewarded for all his hard work and dedication with multiple admissions to MD schools in the US after his second round of applications. For him, BeMo proved to be the right investment at the right time to help him sail through the tricky waters of the med school application process. Whether you’re a first-time applicant or a re-applicant, it’s worth considering if an investment in our expert services could help you save the time, effort, money, and stress of facing multiple rejections and having to re-apply. 

BeMo MCAT Prep Review!

"I cannot recommend BeMo’s MCAT Prep Review enough! The guidance and personalized feedback I received were invaluable throughout my preparation process. My consultant was knowledgeable, encouraging, and always made time to answer my questions, providing specific insights that greatly improved my strategies. The detailed feedback on essays and secondary applications helped me enhance my responses and align them with each school’s expectations. I appreciated how the program fostered accountability while ensuring that my personal voice remained intact. The support I received wasn’t just about improving my scores but about building the confidence and skills I needed to succeed in the admissions process. Thank you, BeMo, for such an outstanding experience! I feel more prepared, focused, and ready to take on the next step in my journey." - Jett, BeMo student.

"Dr. Elissar Kassem was very patient in answering my questions, especially as it relates to my study schedule. Going through the program in components allowed me to understand my program in entirety before getting into the minute details of the study schedule. Also liked how Dr. Kassem explained why the program is organized the way it is, to clear up any doubts I had." - Mohammed, BeMo student.

BeMo Reviews: Physician Assistant Application Help

Student Success Story #2: Bishnu

Watch Bishnu's video testimonial:

Whether you’re applying to college, grad school, or a professional program, application season brings many challenges and often, some frustrations and much anxiety. This was definitely the case for Bishnu, the star of this student success story. Bishnu cherished the dream of attending a Physician Assistant (PA) school so he could eventually become a PA, and he applied to over 13 PA schools in the US, hoping to get into at least one. It is common knowledge that demanding PA school requirements and competitive PA school acceptance rates do not make the journey to becoming a Physician Assistant easy.

For Bishnu, the greatest challenge and also the greatest source of his anxiety was the interview stage of the application process. As a non-native English speaker from Nepal, he naturally found interviews particularly challenging and needed some specialized guidance to help him succeed. He received 4 interview invites and after a less than satisfactory performance in the first interview, he quickly realized that his own preparation was not enough, and he needed expert feedback to significantly improve his interview performance. That’s why he made the decision to enlist BeMo’s interview prep services.

Bishnu isn’t alone in finding the interview portion of the application process especially challenging. Even students who are native English speakers often find themselves stumped when it comes to interview prep. That’s because to do well in an interview, it’s not enough to just do some basic research into commonly asked PA school interview questions and prepare your answers. You need to go over and above to cultivate a unique set of skills including excellent verbal communication skills, confident body language, ability to think quickly on the spot, and ability to speak with eloquence and brevity.

What Bishnu realized is that these skills cannot be built up in isolation. What he needed was access to expert guidance, as well as interview preparation resources that only BeMo could provide. The key to successful interview prep is targeted practice and more specifically, completing mock interviews in a realistic interview setting. This is the best way to get comfortable with the interview format and find the confidence to tackle tough questions in a high-pressure environment. Many students spend a lot of time just preparing their answers to questions they think are likely to be asked, and then are thrown off by unexpected questions, tough interviewers, or just interview-day nerves. Mock interviews help you build the confidence to handle the spontaneity of interview day.

Though Bishnu came to us late in his application process and didn’t have a lot of interview prep time, we were able to optimize the time available to quickly upskill Bishnu and get him interview-ready. Our interview experts provided him with in-depth, expert interview tips that he couldn’t get anywhere else. He learned how to tackle the different types of questions from ethical dilemmas to personal scenarios, and how to provide thoughtful, eloquently spoken answers. Our realistic MMI interview simulation sessions helped him to greatly reduce his anxieties about the tricky multiple mini interview, otherwise known as the MMI format. Based on our assessment of Bishnu’s unique interview prep needs, we provided exactly the kind of help he needed to immediately and materially improve his interview skills.

“In the second interview, I realized the need for experts like BeMo… BeMo has a really amazing team that helped me succeed in my PA school interviews… they have very good tricks and suggestions for how to ace the PA interview. For example, there are many structures of answers depending on ethical dilemma, personal scenario…I was thinking how it could be possible to prepare for the multiple mini interview, however (BeMo’s mock interview) was no different than the actual school interview…it was amazing.”

The great thing about interview prep is that the skills you build up at this stage stay with you for life and will always be useful and necessary no matter what you end up doing. Our goal at BeMo is not only to get you ready for upcoming interviews, but to boost your overall communication skills and confidence in yourself, and to provide you with skills and knowledge that will benefit you for life, like we did for Bishnu.

“…(in) my undergrad degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead, I learned a lot of things academically…when I was at BeMo for my interview preparation, I learned similar types of life-long useful lessons in terms of the interview preparation, in terms of being a better healthcare professional, learning every day, being able to handle different conflicts at work, how we can make quality care from the patient’s perspective, how we can deal with ethical dilemma situations. It was a very wonderful learning experience at BeMo…if any applicants like me are struggling with interview preparation, BeMo is the best platform.”

With BeMo’s help, Bishnu aced his next few interviews, both MMI and panel, and received an acceptance from Le Moyne College in New York. His success story proves that it’s never too late to ask for help. At BeMo, we have the skills and expertise to help you through any aspect of your application process, no matter how hopeless you may find it at present! 

Here's another review from one of our students applying to PA school!

"The review was very quick and very detailed. They outlined the concise mistakes and errors I never would have thought would be considered and error and really help give back constructive feedback while also helping you outline the main things you wanted highlighted in your personal statement." - BeMo student.

BeMo Reviews: Graduate School Application

Student Success Story #3: Nikki

Watch Nikki's video testimonial:

Grad school represents the next big adventure for many academically inclined students, but the grad school application process is no cake walk! There are so many application components to juggle, from your letters of recommendation and extracurricular activities to getting good GRE test scores and writing excellent essays.

This is what Nikki discovered when she decided to apply to a grad school for a master’s degree in social work. An undergrad student of psychology, she definitely had the academic background and qualifications to pursue this master’s degree but was concerned about how to handle all the paperwork and written components involved in the application process.

Like many of our students, Nikki was bright, motivated, and committed, with all the qualifications to make her a good candidate for her top choice schools, but she had difficulty articulating her strengths and telling her story in a compelling way in her statement of purpose. She faced the all-too-common problem of feeling completely paralyzed when trying to write about her experiences and future goals.

Though this can be stressful to deal with as a student, it’s also completely understandable! Many students know what they would like to say in their personal statement but have difficulty trying to get it down on paper. In fact, the very stress of trying to write an amazing statement of purpose, while thinking of how crucial it is and how the admissions committee will view your every word, can cause that “paralysis” that Nikki felt. Moreover, the statement of purpose may be just one single document, but it is also your one chance to tell YOUR story to the admissions committee and highlight your unique suitability for the program. It’s important that you make full use of this opportunity to make your application stand out!

Even though she felt confident in most other aspects of her application, Nikki was wise enough to recognize that it was better to seek expert help to ensure that her application wasn’t rejected because of a poorly written statement of purpose. That’s why she came to BeMo for help with this challenging aspect of her grad school application.

In the free initial 30-minute consultation with Nikki, we talked to her about her life, experiences, and future goals to fully understand her requirements and identified her as a good candidate for our program. This initial call strengthened her confidence in our services, and she signed up immediately. From being completely paralyzed, she went on to having the first rough draft of her statement of purpose ready within a week! And by the end of the process, with our guidance, she had written a statement of purpose that truly represented her and helped her realize her dream of getting into grad school.

This is what we do at BeMo. We provide expert services, and we deliver on our promises. Our free initial consultation call is as much for us as you – we want to know all about you so we can offer you customized services and we also want YOU to know exactly how we can help, so you can make the final decision with all the necessary information. Once you sign up for our program, our commitment is to work with you every step of the way to help break that writing block, find the right experiences to highlight, build an effective narrative, and produce that impressive statement of purpose to knock the socks off the admissions committee.

That’s exactly what we did for Nikki! Read her own words about how impressed she was with the quality of services she received at BeMo:

“I am beyond words at how professional, how thoughtful and encouraging BeMo was… throughout this entire process…BeMo was always the high point of my week when I’d get their weekly email with my edits, my notes, and words of encouragement…when I was stuck on an idea or didn’t know how to voice or say what I needed to say…they ended up taking the time to actually have Skype conversations with me, they reached out to me, they were concerned about me. I have never had a service like that in my life for anything. It really was absolutely priceless, the amount of support and encouragement that they give me through the whole process.”

For every one of our students, we believe in providing expert, customized services that address their individual needs and requirements. Why should an otherwise qualified and talented student face rejection just because they’re struggling with getting their ideas down on paper? Writing a good statement of purpose isn’t just about stating your experiences and running through your achievements. It’s about finding your voice, finding the right narrative, and letting your best self shine through your words. And that’s where our experts can help you.

Remember, we won’t be writing the statement of purpose for you! There’s no short cut to getting into your dream grad school – you will have to put in your own hard work and write every word yourself. But, you don’t have to grope in the dark for inspiration and guidance. Our experts have the experience, knowledge, and training to guide you through this process to produce a truly excellent statement of purpose. From brainstorming sessions and customized inputs to multiple rounds of personalized feedback, we’ll do everything we can to support, encourage, and help you, just like we helped Nikki:

“I don’t feel that I could have done this without BeMo’s help and support. I ended up with a statement of purpose that truly sounds like me, that truly has my vision in it for what I want to do in my future and has the portions of my past in there that really are relevant to what I am going to be doing going forward…I definitely recommend this service 100% ….there was no nervousness…I truly felt supported and in that process, I was able to create something that ended up getting me accepted to one of the best schools in the country...”

Thanks to our help and her efforts, Nikki received an acceptance from one of the top-tier schools in southern California and is on her way to pursuing a master’s degree in social work. That could be you too. We can’t promise an easy fix, but we can promise high-quality support, effective results, and learning that will stay with you for life!

BeMo Reviews: CASPer Prep

Student Success Story #4: Alina

Watch Alina's video testimonial:

For many students, the CASPer test, part of the Altus Suite assessment, is still a source of major confusion and even frustration. The unique format and opaque evaluation style of this test makes it quite difficult to prepare for, especially when you’re trying to do it on your own. While working on her med school application, Alina too found that she could not understand how to prepare for CASPer and decided to seek out BeMo’s expert help to ace this aspect of her med school application.

An online situational judgement designed to evaluate an applicant’s personal characteristics and suitability for the medical profession, CASPer is used by many medical schools as part of a more “holistic” admissions process. Your CASPer score supposedly indicates if you have the soft skills required to be a doctor, such as professionalism, maturity, communication, etc. This focus on personal characteristics and soft skills is what stumps most students about the CASPer test, and it’s certainly what stumped Alina when she started preparing for it. What’s the format of the CASPer test? What are they testing us on? How can I show my best qualities through my CASPer test answers? What am I doing wrong? These are just some of the questions that Alina struggled with.

With CASPer being an important part of the admissions process for many medical schools, it’s a huge risk to neglect your CASPer prep. Many admissions committees use CASPer scores to filter out applicants at the “pre-interview” stage, while others may use it even earlier, to determine which students will receive secondary applications. Your CASPer score could be the crucial deciding factor between you and another applicant, otherwise evenly matched in terms of grades, MCAT score, medical school extracurriculars, etc. Alina knew how important CASPer prep was, which is why she decided to ask for BeMo’s help.

“This was my first year ever writing CASPer and I wasn’t sure how to approach the exam. So, I was looking for a prep that would help me not only learn a little bit more about what CASPer is but specifically what it tests on, how to best bring my strength into the exam, and how to approach the occasional personal question that you get on CASPer. For this I used BeMo’s vault prep, and I found it really helpful.”

CASPer is really tricky to prepare for on your own, since the questions are so open-ended and it’s difficult to judge how you’re improving. It’s not enough to just practice answering questions on your own. You need to know how to identify the different type of questions and discover effective strategies to structure and deliver your answer. What’s more, you need to participate in mock CASPer simulations so you can get used to the unique CASPer format, with its detailed scenarios and timed, recorded answers. And, you need expert feedback to help you understand where you stand and how you can improve.

As Alina found, BeMo’s Vault program was the perfect solution for her CASPer prep needs. As part of this program, she received access to tons of exclusive CASPer prep material including a 6-part CASPer prep video course and BeMo’s Amazon best-seller e-book about CASPer test prep. Not only did these materials help her understand exactly how CASPer worked, but they also helped her learn how to identify the different types of CASPer questions.

For Alina, the trickiest CASPer questions were the “personal” type of questions, which often ask you to talk about your own experiences. On the spot, without adequate preparation, it’s often difficult to think of any relevant experiences or to know what the focus of your answer should be! Such questions can create a panic in your mind that can lead to a “blank slate” - which is really the worst thing to happen in a timed test such as CASPer! Alina definitely isn’t alone in needing help with this type of question.

So, how did Alina tackle those personal CASPer questions? That’s where BeMo comes in! We have a step-by-step strategy to prepare you for each of the different types of CASPer questions including personal ones. First, we help you identify the different categories of personal questions you could receive, so you’ll be prepared for whatever comes your way. Next, we provide strategies for you to figure out the content of your answer, how to structure it, and how to present it within the given time. With the Vault program, you can access a huge number of CASPer practice questions, with sample answers, and an analysis of why they work. Practicing with these questions allows you to spend a lot of time on self-reflection and introspection, thinking about your work, school, and your various life experiences. That way, you can identify the key narratives and learnings from your past experiences, and you won’t “draw a blank” when facing questions that ask you to talk about them.

What Alina really appreciated about BeMo’s Vault program was the chance to participate in mock CASPer test simulations in realistic test conditions and get customized, targeted feedback about her performance from our CASPer test experts. With the Vault program, Alina received access to 10 CASPer practice tests and the chance to use them unlimited times to perfect her answers, as well as a monthly one-on-one consultation with an admissions expert to discuss her CASPer prep.

The importance of mock practice tests and customized feedback in CASPer prep really cannot be emphasized enough. During the test, there is a limited time to answer each question and you have to have the skills to think quickly under pressure, formulate your answer, structure it neatly, and communicate it with clarity. These skills cannot be built up by theoretical study alone – you need to practice answering questions in realistic test conditions to get comfortable with the format and understand the test requirements. That’s not all. You also need expert feedback on your performance. Otherwise, how will you understand where you stand, what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and how to improve on it?

“For me, the expert feedback sessions were really helpful because not only do you go through a CASPer scenario or two that you have completed, but the expert will walk you through the scenario and tell you what you did well, what you need to improve on, and tell you approximately where they think you’re sitting for that scenario in terms of a score. That was helpful not only in terms of improving my CASPer test-taking abilities but also telling me roughly where I was at, so that I had confidence going into test day.”

Alina’s story ends with success – she did very well in her CASPer test, and was accepted at a medical school that used the CASPer test as part of their admissions process! Today, thanks to BeMo, Alina is well on her way to making her dreams come true. If, like Alina, you too are confused about how to deal with CASPer prep or any other part of the medical school application process, BeMo’s experts are here to help.

BeMo Reviews: Medical School Interview Prep

Student Success Story #5: Mason

Watch Mason's video testimonial:

Every student’s journey to medical school is unique and has its own obstacles and problems. There are so many application components to deal with, from essays and personal statements to letters of recommendation and, of course, the dreaded medical school interview! Our next success story is about Mason, who needed help with his interview and wanted to find an interview prep service that could cater to his unique needs. And that’s what he found with BeMo’s Gold Interview Prep program.

As a Canadian student applying to medical schools in Canada, Mason wanted to be sure that BeMo could help students with his background. The medical school application process can vary depending on the country, state/province, and even the school in question, not only in terms of the required components but also in terms of how candidates are evaluated. That’s why, after talking to our admissions experts in his initial free one-on-one consultation, Mason was glad to find that BeMo had the expertise and resources to help him. In fact, BeMo has helped many Canadian students successfully get into their program of choice. Our experts have an amazing depth and breadth of knowledge about the admissions process and how it works for all different types of students, including students from countries around the world. So, whether you’re an American, Canadian, or from any other country, don’t worry – we have the skills and know-how to help you!

What Mason really wanted was customized interview prep that was tailored to his specific concerns and could help him with the aspects of the medical school interview that he, personally, found most challenging. In his case, he faced a “hybrid” interview that involved a traditional panel interview section as well as a multiple mini interview (MMI) section. A lot of medical schools are opting for this style of interview, as part of a more holistic application process that evaluates the applicants’ overall suitability for medical school.

While it’s debatable how effectively the MMI format achieves this goal, there’s no denying that the MMI format isn’t easy to handle for most students. Mason is certainly not alone in finding the MMI interview challenging! MMI questions are designed to evaluate applicants’ soft skills, such as their adherence to ethics, communication, empathy, and professionalism. These skills are essential to the practice of medicine, but applicants may not necessarily have had much time to develop them. But, like any other skills, they can be built up with the right guidance, dedicated practice, and expert feedback. That’s where BeMo can help you, just like we helped Mason.

The great thing about our services is, we don’t believe in a “copy-paste” approach. We tailor our services as per the specific requirements of each student, so that they can get the most out of each session with us. In Mason’s case, he was particularly nervous about the MMI section of the interview, and specifically the “acting” stations such as “breaking bad news to patients”. We listened to his concerns and customized his practice sessions to meet his specific needs. Our experts made sure that he got extra practice for the MMI stations he most struggled with. Thanks to our help, he soon developed the skills he needed to confidently engage with the toughest MMI stations.

“BeMo had awesome customer service and was really able to tailor my interview prep to my specific concerns and my specific interview…The interview that I was preparing for was a bit of a hybrid so it involved both the traditional kind of interview as well as a multiple mini interview (MMI) type section…BeMo was able to organize my interview prep sessions such that they involved both the traditional panel interview as well as the multiple mini interview type aspect. On top of that, I was really uncomfortable with acting stations, like breading bad news, for example. I reached out to the BeMo team and said that this is something I‘d really like to work on, and I’d really love it if I could have at least 1 of these in each of my 3 interview sessions. And they were more than happy to make sure that that was accommodated so I really appreciated that.”

Remember, while it’s important to prep thoroughly for your MMI interview, if you’re also facing a traditional medical school interview like Mason, you can’t neglect that either. The traditional/panel interview prep comes with its own set of challenges, and you need to be prepared for them. No matter how amazing your grades, MCAT score, and extracurriculars may be, a poor interview performance can seriously reduce your chances of getting an acceptance from the school. And don’t forget – your medical school interview will be one of the toughest interviews you’ll deal with in your life. Interviewers deliberately create a tough, intimidating interview environment as they want to see how students react under pressure. Staying calm and thinking clearly in high-pressure situations is an essential quality in a doctor, and that’s what interviewers are looking for.

Not every student is naturally gifted at dealing with such situations! In fact, most students, when exposed to such situations without prior preparation, would probably be thrown off and struggle to perform well. That’s why our interview practice sessions are conducted in a realistic interview environment, with our facilitators interviewing you in exactly the way your final interviewers will. We’ll also give you strategies on how to improve your body language, communicate more clearly and eloquently, and answer tough questions under pressure. And with our customized feedback about your where you stand and how you can improve, you’ll soon gain the skills you need to tackle the tough med school interview process, just like Mason did.

“I would 100% honestly recommend (BeMo’s programs)…I think it’s well worth the investment and I think it’ll save you from taking a gap year or having to write the MCAT again. I felt that I walked into my interview comfortable, extremely prepared, I felt that I knocked it out of the park. Again, I’d really recommend it to any students that are interested. And again, I’d like to thank BeMo for helping me through this process.”

With BeMo’s help, Mason aced his interview and consequently received an acceptance from the University of Alberta Medical School, his top choice school! His success story proves that just because you’re struggling with one or more aspects of your med school application, it doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to failure. The important thing is to work hard on improving yourself and get the expert help you need to find the right strategy to success.

To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting

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