When is it too early to prepare for college or medical school?
For some parents and students, the answer is never.
One Boston-area company, MedSchoolCoach, is helping students as young as high school learn what they need to do to prep for medical school. A few Atlanta-area students are paying for the company’s services.
Prices range for $300 for one session to the $8,000 “platinum” plan that include guidance with writing applications and essays, course selection, advice on volunteering and extracurricular activities, such as shadowing a doctor over the summer.
“If you want your child to be a concert pianist or a baseball player, when do you start?,” asked Craig Goldstein, the company’s chief operating officer. “You start early.”
“The competition is so strong and so fierce … Everybody is an elite high school student. What is it that is going to separate you?” he asked.
More people are thinking like this. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported two years ago that more metro Atlanta middle school students are preparing earlier for college. One Gwinnett County instructor's syllabus included lessons on how to help your child stand out to an admissions officer, what type of academic rigor is best and how to avoid putting too much pressure on the student.
Some experts say such uber-preparation is overthought, and believe children should spend more time enjoying their childhood.
But with college costs and competition rising in eyepopping fashion, students and parents are looking for any advantage.
Terri Tchorzynski, a high school counselor at Calhoun Area Career Center in Battle Creek, Mich., said she encounters some reluctant students being pushed by parents into exploring long-range college and career paths.
Most of the interest is student-driven, she said, and that is a good thing.
“They figure out quickly either they want to do it or they don’t,” said Tchorzynski, the 2017 American School Counselor Association’s Counselor of the Year.
Juniors and seniors at her school get to spend as much as half the day earning college credits while gaining certification in various fields. Many, she said, are considering health-related careers. One was thinking about medical school.
Tchorzynski said part of her role is closely monitoring student grades to ensure they’re not overly focused on college or career.
“We’re mindful if it’s too much, too early,” she said.
MedSchoolCoach’s founder, Sahil Metha, a radiologist, started the company after years of helping people who asked for advice about getting into medical school, Goldstein said. Each of the company’s advisors are listed as medical doctors. Most of the students who use the services have a parent who is a doctor or come from families strongly interested in medical careers for their children, Goldstein said.
Goldstein estimates anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 students will enroll in their program this year. The company claims more than 85 percent of its students are accepted into medical school, including elite schools.
Given all that, should parents who don’t have their kids in such aggressive programs be nervous?
No. The company just offers an edge, Goldstein said. Grades and the score on the Medical College Admission Test“are still the best thing to get you into medical school,” he said.
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