What is it like to work with a BeMo admissions consultant during application season?

Who are our consultants?

BeMo’s academic consultants are a diverse and outgoing bunch of 25 lawyers, doctors, academics, financiers, creatives and published writers. We have a geophysicist studying in the United Kingdom, a neuroscientist studying medicine at Harvard, a management consultant-turned medical student, a pharmacist passionate about teaching and a trilingual recruitment consultant. We work in many disciplines and – most often – across disciplines to make big things happen.

While we are so different from each other, we all work with BeMo for one reason: To help put the right people in the right seats at premier academic institutions. As part of this, we see many candidates for professional, undergraduate and graduate programs get rejected year after year. Most often, this isn’t because they are underwhelming candidates. Rejection happens for most people because the application pathway seems nebulous and unclear. More distressing for us is observing the acceptance rates for high-income candidates from well-educated families who have disproportionate access to professional training as compared to those who come from lower socioeconomic statuses. 

We consider ourselves in the business of democratizing professional training and that’s why we have worked so hard to expand the ways in which we work with our students to include self-driven options.

How do I work with BeMo?

Firstly, at BeMo, you are a student, not a client. We want to help you succeed and achieve greatness, in life and in the academy. We believe that the quality of training we provide is equal to or better than that you would receive at any accredited university or college in terms of preparing you as a professional communicator and candidate for post-secondary training. Our results speak for themselves. And because we hold ourselves to higher standards, all of our services are backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee. This is unheard of for any university, college, or other admissions consulting firm.

When you work with us, in one of our one-on-one consulting programs (click here to visit our main page and learn more) you can choose between our Silver, Gold and Platinum programs for medicine, law, pharmacy, dentistry, midwifery, MBA, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, physiotherapy, veterinary medicine and chiropractic medicine and any other graduate and undergraduate training programs. We do comprehensive essay and personal statement reviews, we provide extensive feedback and guidance on CVs and professional sketches. Within medicine, you can also tailor your services to address application review or just the CASPer or MMI Prep. 

After you select the right program, you will be connected to our communications team. From there, you will complete your intake forms and book your initial sessions depending on which package you’ve purchased. At BeMo, you don’t just work with one of our team members. For example, if you’re preparing for a medical school interview you are going to have sessions with at least two, but usually more, admissions experts. These sessions take place over video-conference (e.g. Skype) so you can access our entire global team depending on your needs. BeMo knows their consultants and their strengths really well so you can trust that you’re going to be matched with the right people to get at your weaknesses and transform them. When we do essay and sketch reviews, your drafts are submitted for mark up to our consultants. It’s really important to note that our consultants do NOT write your essays, statements or sketches. We are interested in making the application process transformative for the candidates, not in offering short cuts.

During your live one-on-one training sessions, our consultants put you to the test by asking crucial questions about your path, your objectives, the kind of work you’re interested in doing and why. During mock interviews, we go to great lengths to provide feedback that is immediately actionable and completely appropriate for your style, your strengths and your success. Additionally, our consultants come from every school and a variety of countries, so we have inside experience getting into and succeeding in the programs you’re targeting with your application.

For example, I recently worked with a student who had been rejected from a professional school two times in as many years. But each year, this school kept inviting this candidate back for interviews. The grades, the CV and the statements were all doing the job of getting this applicant to the interview. The interview, however, was a gauntlet for this student and they couldn’t troubleshoot their weaknesses without some help. So, they enrolled in BeMo MMI prep program. It was clear that this student was doing a lot right – thoughtful, engaged and knowledgeable with a real passion for the field. But the student was completely unable to provide coherent, systematic and complete answers on the spot to complicated ethical questions. This student, however, could do exactly that during his written assignments so we knew he was capable. He struggled over two sessions and then I was the third consultant to meet with him. The two previous consultants had given me excellent notes and observations about this student. I watched him work away at a few questions and then realized he needed a scaffolding for answering these questions that could help him keep organized without having to look too long at his notes or endure long pauses in the middle of an answer. Moreover, this scaffolding had to be derived by the student with my support or it would come off as inauthentic.

And so we got down to business and worked through their challenges. Soon, they got the hang of it and started practicing questions in front of the mirror and becoming more self-aware as an interviewee. This year is sure to be their year. By the end of the final session, this student was sailing smoothly and we were confident we would soon hear of their acceptance.

Why does this help me with admission?

Most candidates approach their applications rather casually. They think their grades and the lines on the CV do a good enough job of representing them and they just basically wing it for their interviews. You wouldn’t approach a midterm or final exam like this, would you? So why approach your future with such nonchalance?

With BeMo, you’re going to be put through a rigorous and comprehensive application review that lasts the entire application cycle from registering online to completing your interview. We ensure you’re being realistic with respect to how much time you need for your application and offer a structured, high-yield way to prepare for the application. We coach, counsel and clarify.

Working with us is simple. (In fact super simple. Visit our medical school consulting prep page to learn more about our programs or simply contact us today to schedule your FREE initial consultation to learn more) Working with us requires an investment of time and energy that will pay major dividends on offer day. The reward is yours for the taking. 

About the author:

Dr. Ashley Faye White is currently a rural medicine resident at McMaster University and a senior admissions expert at BeMo. She has an M.D. from McMaster medical school and has navigated her way into med school as a non-traditional applicant.

To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting