Shemmassian Academic Consulting Reviews 375

Working with Shenmassian was a really valuable part of my medical school application process. From the start, their team took the time to understand my nontraditional background and helped me translate my experiences into a compelling narrative rather than just a list of activities They pushed me to reflect more deeply on my experiences and clarify my motivations for pursuing medicine. They helped me develop a cohesive story about who I am and what I bring to medicine. That level of big-picture guidance made the process feel much more manageable. I would recommend Shenmassian Academic Consulting to anyone applying to medical school who wants thoughtful, personalized support and honest feedback throughout the process.

SAC is hands down the BEST, most comprehensive, results driven academic consulting firm out there. I used them for both medical school admissions and the residency application process. When they say services are "comprehensive" they truly mean it. My specialty advisor and writing advisor went above and beyond to make sure all aspects of my application was the best it could be- from writing materials to application strategy and everything in between, while being extremely prompt, supportive, and encouraging the entire time. I felt fully confident with their support. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would choose SAC every single time!!

Shemmassian Consulting ISN’T WORTH IT! Do yourself a favor and save your money by eliminating him as the middleman. Shirag bends over backwards sending you referrals, calling dozens of times even as late as 9pm and sending countless emails convincing you to sign up with SAC. Convincing us to trust him, he promised to personally and directly be involved in my daughter's application, but once we signed up, we NEVER HEARD FROM HIM AGAIN. I honestly can't quantify the amount of involvement he actually had and there certainly was no direct advice. Shemmassian is a great business man that has done an amazing job compiling free information that is out there to market himself as a leading authority in the Medical School Application process but that is all he is - a great business man that knows how to prey on, market to and convince anxiety ridden med school applicants and their parents into signing up with him. He knows exactly how to exploit our fears that the AMCAS application and cycle brings and will say and do anything to make you sign up for a plan. However make no mistake - Dr Shemmassian IS NO MORE THAN A FACILITATOR BETWEEN EDITORS AND RESIDENT Dr's that have no time for you. We paid for one of his top plans expecting his direct personal help and advice (expectations and concerns that were made VERY clear via phone conversations and emails prior to signing up) but we literally got zero . Emails I can't show due to word count.

Skip SAC and go to Fiverr or Leland because you will find great Editors, AdCom experienced Dr’s or both that work directly with you for THOUSANDS LESS. Then all you need to do is pay a la carte for the interview prep from wherever you want. You will seriously save tons of money this way and find equally capable editors and advisors. Don’t pay the premium for Shemmassian’s name because all you're paying for is for him to be the middleman. And for those of you that still want a comprehensive plan - I would go to Med School Coach. They have A LOT more experienced staff and experienced advisors to work with than Shemmassian does which we didn’t realize until it came to interview prep time.

Writing Editor - My daughter liked her writing advisor but there was NO direct input on my daughter’s content from her actual Dr advisor in terms of “focus on this, write about this, say this not that etc etc” - not even for his own school that he was a supposed AdCom member of (Hopkins). Once my daughter determined the direction of her essays and crafted them, her writing advisor helped her to rephrase things and refine it for grammar, sentence structure and flow. We appreciated the suggestion she did make, the schedule she kept her on and the reminders she provided like updating her AMCAS mid cycle but again her actual advisor had very little input and Shemmassian had absolutely NONE.

Interview Prep - Future applicants - buy the interview prep session ala cart. You'll not only save money but also have control on how many hours of prep time you need and which companies you get that help from. Also DON'T PREPAY FOR INTERVIEW PREP FROM ANYONE'S COMBO PLAN (esp SAC) until you get interviews. You don't know how many interview invites you will get and end up wasting money. If you are considering SAC - know that they are seriously lacking in Dr’s/staff from higher tiered med schools so if you are preparing for top tier schools avoid this SAC completely if possible. Before signing up we made sure to confirm that Dr. Shemmassian had advisors from top tier schools because we wanted to ensure that during interview prep time, my daughter had the experience and knowledge of various advisors from T10 schools to help her with interview prep. However when it came to actual interview prep, my daughter only had her main advisor from Hopkins because there was no one else from those T10 schools that could work with her. We feel like that was a bait and switch situation by Shirag. As a result, she only used 6 hours as it was restricted to only prepping with Dr Wang thereby making it NOT WORTH the price we paid for our entire plan.

In conclusion - Find experienced editors and advisors to help with the med school process but DO NOT USE SHEMMASSIAN CONSULTING! After locking you in, he just moves on to signing up the next cycle's victim's/income pool. My daughter and I regret using SAC instead of any of our other choices because Shirag personally brought NOTHING to the table to help her with AMCAS applications to warrant his EXORBITANT FEES and her "advisor" Dr Wang barely had time for her. We paid a crazy amount of money due to Shemmassian's lies of personal help which we never got and although the writing advisor my daughter worked with was good, SAC itself wasn't worth the hard earned money we disappointingly paid Shemmassian. If you want to know my daughters Stats - refer to Yelp.

Using Shemmassian Consulting for my residency application was one of the best decisions I made in medical school. Having previously worked with them for my medical school admissions, I had high expectations and already knew the benefits of their advisors, but this experience far exceeded them. My advisors were attentive and detail-oriented from the start. They took the time to understand my preferences regarding location, program characteristics, and other priorities, and used that information to tailor my application, highlight every aspect of my competitiveness, and help me develop a well-rounded application.

All my questions were answered within 24-48 hours, and my advisors used research articles, data, and their professional experience to determine how I could best match my desired program. From developing my personal statement through more than a dozen revisions to preparing for interview sessions, I felt confident and supported throughout the application season.

With the help of Shemmassian Consulting, I matched into my number one program in anesthesiology. I believe the clarity, conciseness, and level of detail in my written application helped me receive more interviews than I otherwise would have. I highly recommend Shemmassian Consulting to anyone who wants to maximize their residency application and become a competitive applicant for their top specialty and residency programs.

MCAT tutoring
As someone who had been doing reasonably well along my premed journey in terms of academic achievement, I wasn't sure if I needed tutoring but decided to go ahead and purchase some from SAC as I had a great experience with their advising and wanted to maximize my potential. I ended up pushing my exam twice and my tutor was by my side every step of the way, providing much needed support and encouragement. I will say that you absolutely do not NEED a tutor to get an amazing MCAT score. With that being said though if you are unsure of your direction or are perhaps burntout or plataueing, it could be useful to at least schedule a consultation to see if it might be helpful for you along your journey.

What is great about this course is that they ask for a quick survey to gather information to model the teaching strategies specifically for each student. I had weaknesses in certain areas, so I was matched with a tutor who excelled in those areas. Therefore, my score increased drastically by targeting those weaknesses in my MCAT strategies! I highly recommend this; the 1-on-1 tutoring really makes a difference, the tutors are all clearly experienced in both the MCAT content and in teaching.

SAC was instrumental to my acceptance to Yale Medical School without gap years! From start to end, my advising team (an attending physician and a writing specialist) made the application process feel manageable, and they were quick to answer questions I had via email. Having an attending physician who's been on admissions committees for top medical schools and residency programs provide support throughout the application process made all the difference in my application. I would recommend SAC for anyone getting ready to apply to medical school.

Important note: You will be working with residents/attendings/editors who are part of the SAC team, not with Dr. Shemmassian himself. That is, unless you sign up for the "Reserve Tier" option, which is $20,000 in addition to your existing plan and is offered to only some clients.

Just an overall terrible experience.
Poor edits on my essays. Lazy responses to my questions and comments.
Complete waste of money

Over the past two years, I worked with Shemassian Consulting for medical school application support, and their guidance was transformative. As a nontraditional applicant, I benefited greatly from their help while applying to post-baccalaureate programs and, later, to medical school. I was matched with two advisors who took the time to get to know me and my story, and who regularly checked in on my progress. They were always thoughtful, responsive, and available whenever I had any questions. After I was accepted to one of my top-choice post-baccalaureate programs, Shemassian Consulting generously applied my payment toward support for the regular medical school application cycle. With their help, I ultimately gained acceptance to my dream school.

Kaitlyn is an awesome MCAT tutor! She explained concepts really clearly, taught me valuable strategy, and responded quickly to questions/concerns over email. I really like how all the sessions were tailored around what I needed at the time and we were able to focus on areas that I needed improvement in. I highly recommend the Shemmassian MCAT tutoring services!!

Excellent experience! They were kind, knowledgable, and responsive. They helped me through things I had would have had no guidance on being a first-gen applicant. I am so happy to have sought help and happy to share I had been accepted into med school!

Shemmassian is a fantastic medical school coaching company that tailors support to each student. From my first meetings with Shemassian, they provided instrumental feedback and tips as I navigated the complicated medical application process. The physician I worked with was incredibly knowledgable and honest about my application's strengths and weaknesses so I could improve. I highly reccommend their interview coaching as you get to sit down with physcians who have navigasted this proccess themselves and understand the strategy to succeed in an interview.

paid over $10k for med school application. Very trashy MD counselor assigned to me with no idea how to help with application essays and school list. Anything they offer is worse than what you can find online for free. I used their service for the first cycle and had zero interview zero acceptance of course. Second cycle I completely revised the "perfect personal statement" they edited for me and had 5 interviews and 3 acceptances.

Applying to med school was so overwhelming and honestly pretty scary, but Shemmassian Academic Consulting made the whole process so much better!!

My mentor, Terrence, was with me every step of the way and really took the time to get to know me—my story, what I value, and what I wanted in a medical school. I always felt like he actually cared and was rooting for me.

My writing advisor, Colin, was also amazing—super quick to respond and gave such helpful feedback on my essays. He helped me keep my tone authentic while pulling out the most important pieces of my story that I wouldn’t have noticed myself.

Thanks to their support, I felt confident and grounded through such a stressful process—and now I’m officially headed to med school!! Couldn’t recommend them enough.

I didn’t get in my first application cycle so I decided to step it up and get the help of the Shemassian group. They were super knowledgeable and helped me organize my application and my essays in a way that exemplified my strengths. I get into my number one school and feel very grateful for all the help they provided me.

I applied to medical school twice on my own and didn’t receive a single interview. It was discouraging and disheartening, and I knew that if I applied a third time, I needed expert guidance. After finding Shemmassian Academic Consulting, I submitted my information and was soon invited to meet with Dr. Shemmassian himself. He carefully assessed every part of my application and assured me that I didn’t need more gap years—just a strategic repackaging of my existing experiences. That reassurance gave me the confidence to take the leap, and I am so glad I did.

From the very start, I was paired with a writing advisor who genuinely cared about helping me present the most authentic version of myself while keeping my voice intact. My primary advisor was extremely knowledgeable and incredibly responsive—turning around edits quickly, answering questions thoroughly, and guiding me through each step of the process. What stood out most was the meticulous attention to detail. Nothing was ever rushed or green-lit just to move things along; every draft was read and re-read for flow, grammar, and content until it was perfect.

The process was rigorous, and it wasn’t easy balancing full-time work with countless essay revisions. But the support, structure, and encouragement I received made all the difference. For the first time, I felt that my story was being told in a way that truly reflected who I am. The level of professionalism and care not only elevated the quality of my application but also built my confidence in a way I hadn’t experienced in previous cycles.

Today, I can say I’ve submitted the strongest, most authentic version of my application. The peace of mind and hope I’ve gained through this process have made the entire journey absolutely worth it.

My consultants are incredibly knowledgeable and supportive throughout the process. When I have questions, they are always very responsive. I feel very prepared for every step and would highly recommend!

I had an interview prep session with one of the consultants that works for Shemmassian Academic Consulting. I had an incredible experience with this prep session and felt confident going into interview day. The prep sessions are so helpful and are extremely personalized to what type of interview you want to prepare for. Whether you need to prepare for an MMI style interview, a traditional style interview, or even a Standardized Patient Interaction, they can help you feel confident and more than prepared going into interview day. I highly recommend!

Shemmassian Consulting did a great job guiding me through the entire application process, from improving my activity profile to making sure I had all the requirements. I entered my secondaries feeling very prepared. The essay preparation and revisions were also extremely helpful.