I originally wrote this on LinkedIn.
I’ve noticed an increasing number of so-called “admission consultants”, either advertised online, on Facebook groups, groupchats, or heard about through word-of-mouth. These sort of services have always made me enormously uncomfortable and they are just plain unethical. I had some inkling of these services before but now seeing some of my peers join these services as “consultants” has made the whole thing more real and imminent for me.
These sort of services are often wrapped up in feel-good jargon claiming that they do such things as “level the playing field”, and can help high schoolers or undergrads gain insider knowledge to get into the program of their choice, often charging hundreds or thousands of dollars for such a golden ticket. For all this advertising, these services actually accomplish the opposite of what they claim. They don’t level the playing field – they only skew it further towards those who can pay for such services, who are likely already advantaged in the admissions process. At its best, these services only perpetuate the increasing concentration of high-income students in “elite” programs; at their worst, they can be downright illegal.
Even worse, these sort of companies prey on what are the very real fears and anxieties of students. They make students think that they HAVE to use such services if they want to be competitive with their peers. Applying to university at any level is a huge life decision, and these companies presenting themselves as a cure-all are simply deceiving students. There’s a reason these companies charge hundreds or thousands of dollars – because they know that once they seize on a student’s anxieties, they have carte blanche in charging them.
I’ll take my own alma mater, BHSc at Mac, as an example. As one of the most “competitive” programs in the country, an entire industry has begun to sprout purporting to help applicants with their supplementary applications (supp apps). For one, such services are explicitly forbidden by Health Sci. Secondly, no one can really tell how to answer these questions. You might hear some people selling their services claiming that they were involved in marking the apps as a fourth year. This is true, fourth years do mark some apps. However, I can guarantee you that no one who has marked these apps can give you a golden ticket into Health Sci: the questions change every year, the marking rubric is inherently open-ended, and you never know who will read your app. And then of course, with a 5% acceptance rate, there are inevitably going to be way more qualified applicants than positions. No “admission consultant”, however expensive, can get around these facts.
Lastly, there’s a huge number of BHSc alumni who would be happy to talk to you for FREE. At any given time, there’s around 800 current BHSc students, and even more alumni. Tons of us would be DELIGHTED to talk about our experiences (in my experience, Health Scis love talking about themselves). Obviously, we can’t look at your supp app. But we can talk about the program and try to give you a gist of what the program looks for in its students. I know I personally and tons of my friends would be delighted to talk to anyone interested in Health Sci.
What if you don’t know anyone? That’s okay too! Honestly, all the information you need is on the website. I didn’t know anything about BHSc when I applied and certainly didn’t know anyone in the program. Don’t feel like you have to have a million volunteers activities and clubs to be competitive – BHSc really does not care, and the supp app doesn’t even ask you to talk about your extracurricular activities. The supp app is meant to get a feeling of who YOU are, whether that’s volunteering in your community or watching old Marlon Brando films (all I did in high school).
Having said that, I’m always open to talk about BHSc (or Ontario med schools for that matter) either on LinkedIn or via email (maaz@mmaaz.ca). Feel free to pass my contact info along to anyone you know who is interested in BHSc.
Maaz's Notes 