Shemmassian Academic Consulting Reviews 

Great help preparing for medical school interviews. Dr. Nowicki mimicked an interview and then we reviewed what was good and what I could work on. I recommend.

I appreciated the help for editing my essays and helping best convey my ideas and perspectives without getting bogged down.

Very helpful interview prep! I 100% recommend it!

Shemassian Counseling helps students navigate the intricacies of the med school admissions process. Although I am not applying to medical school yet, I wanted to try out what med school counseling was like, and I highly recommend taking advantage of counseling if you need help with writing essays, finding research opportunities, hearing a second opinion about course options and extracurriculars, etc. My counselor, Jacob Shaw, was always supportive and encouraging, so the experience overall was very insightful and valuable!

I was very impressed and happy with my experience with Shemmassian Consulting. The medical school application process is extremely daunting, and I felt completely lost when I started drafting my personal statement, but speaking with Dr. Shemmassian on the phone and students who had used his services before, I already felt so welcomed and supported on this journey. Once I started, I was paired with an incredible advisor, Nick, who set up a call to understand my application goals, responded quickly to my many questions, kept me on schedule, and always offered words of encouragement and support. Initially, I felt my writing advisor was not the best fit for me, so the team was very quick to pair me with someone else, Katie, who was an incredible help with all my essays. She helped me get the word count down, highlight key stories, bring my voice out, and guide me on how to show and not tell. I felt thoroughly supported and on track with Nick and Katie and do not know where I would be without them. With their support, I was able to get my first medical school acceptance extremely early in the application cycle and also get into my dream school! I strongly encourage anyone who is on the fence to go to Shemmassian for their medical school application needs!

I am very grateful for the support I received from Shemmassian Consulting! I was completely lost upon entering the application cycle for American medical schools, especially as an international Canadian applicant. My team provided me with so much support and were always there to answer my questions and concerns (which I had a lot of). I did not expect to be supported so thoroughly and kindly; they took care of me and guided me through every single step, including choosing schools, editing my primary and secondary applications, helping me prepare for interviews, handling my anxiety and stress during the long and painful waiting period, and much more! I could not have asked for better support. Ultimately, I committed to one of the Ivy League med schools, and I attribute a significant portion of this success to the help I received from my team :)

I sought to utilize Shemmassian's services for a new application cycle after being waitlisted at many different schools in the previous cycle. Dr. Shemmassian personally consulted with me, having read my AMCAS application in depth to already give insightful advice in our consultation. I was impressed by his engagement and found that his team also had an equal level of engagement as they helped me craft a personalized essay for my new application cycle. They have a focus that goes beyond a simple showcase of your skills and motivations as they seek to create a theme and highlight the best attributes in your application.
Fortunately, I came off the waitlist for one of my schools and accepted a position there. The team was happy for me and then provided a full refund despite the services they already granted. I recommend using this service if you are on a school waitlist but need to prep for the next application cycle just in case. The team was incredibly helpful, and I will likely use them when preparing for residency.

Shemmassian Consulting has been an invaluable partner throughout my medical school admissions journey, guiding me with expertise and precision. Their tailored approach, grounded in personalized strategies, propelled my application to the top tier of medical schools including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UCLA, and Brown. From refining my personal statement to meticulously crafting my work and activities, their team provided insightful feedback and support at every stage, ensuring that my unique story was told in the sincerest way.

Choosing Shemmassian Consulting was one of the best decisions I made on my path to medical school. Their dedication to my success instilled confidence in me throughout the often daunting application process. Ultimately, their expertise and mentorship paved the way for me to attend my dream program, Harvard Medical School. I cannot recommend Shemmassian Consulting highly enough to any aspiring medical student seeking personalized, results-driven guidance on their journey to medical school.

I worked with Shemmassian Admissions Consulting throughout all four years of undergrad, including MCAT coaching and the entire medical school application process - start to finish. Erica Tran was my advisor and she was always available and happy to meet or email about even the smallest of details and questions. I honestly felt super supported throughout the entire process and was never left wondering what I should be doing or what decision I should make. Feedback regarding essays was always timely and thorough. Throughout the entire process Erica was always very genuine and honest about everything - always making sure my goals were realistic, which I appreciated greatly. Interview coaching was challenging and prepared me so much so that I was very confident and relaxed during my actual medical school interviews. Overall, I highly recommend their services and can’t thank Erica enough for not just her expertise, but also her willingness to listen and be a reliable and compassionate outlet for venting and talking things through whenever I felt academically or emotionally stressed throughout college and the AMCAS process. In the end, I received over 10 interviews and am going to attend my top choice MD program. Although an expensive service, it was worth every single dollar. Thank you again for everything!

My experience working with Shemmassian Consulting has been amazing! As a Canadian applicant, I went into the application process with numerous questions and needed assistance in many different areas. No matter the question, my consultant always was there to help me and make sure I had everything answered so that I felt confident in the process. By working alongside Shemmassian, they ensured to review my application which included helping me improve my personal statement as well as review supplementary essays. I especially felt confident as they helped prepare me for my interviews, which were more manageable and less stressful with their assistance. Overall, I had a wonderful experience working with Shemmassian consulting and I would not have been able to make it to where I am today without them!

The talk by Dr. Shemmassian was so engaging! It really opened my eyes up to how complex extracurricular activities are on the medical school application and how important it is to have a theme. I learned a lot about examples of successful applications and how to apply them to my own experiences.

I used Shemmassian for both MCAT tutoring and application drafting and review. I worked with different people for each of these.

MCAT Tutoring - Shawnt's demeanor and passion for the material made it easy to be excited about what I was learning. He encouraged me to explore and had a surprising amount of answers to my difficult questions on hand. He also didn't try to wing it when he did not know, and instead got back to me with a well-researched answer. I had enough time with him to get all of my questions answered.

I gained a far greater mastery of all of the content than I have ever had before and learned useful study-over-time techniques that will serve me well throughout medical school. You were a knowledgeable tutor and a joy to speak with personally. I appreciate all the work you put into helping me excel. As someone who took the MCAT previously (and tried very hard then), I can say it is obvious how much having a knowledgeable guide through the process really makes it all click.

Application Crafting - Medical school applications are beast. You will likely write upwards of 50 essays. The ability to have someone who knows you get back to you within a couple days with high quality reviews is critical, especially as you find your footing and voice in your writing. I was consistently blown away by the attention to detail put into my reviews and the quality of conversations we had about the material. This was not an impersonal experience where I sent essays to a black box and they came back with edits, but I had a relationship with my reviewers who really had a conversation with me about getting things right.

Let me be clear -- this is a mountain of work. They do not do the heavy lifting for you because it is your application after all. What they do is ensure your effort is directed fruitfully and help keep your ideas fresh and you motivated, while assuring quality doesn't drop (which it inevitably tends to when you are months into writing).

Cost - The elephant in the room: This is an expensive service, certainly the most expensive I considered using. However, I chose them because I also think they are the best at what they do. Just watch some of Dr. Shemmassian's videos on youtube if you want a sense for the professionalism and integrity this service offers.

I worked to put myself through college and had to pay out of pocket (not out of my parents pockets) for this service, so I feel I am in a good position to judge its value. If money is no object, this is the way you should go, hands down.

If, like me, money was a major consideration with real consequences, this was my thought process: If you just look at the cost per hour spent with tutors, it does not seem to be the best deal (and that's true, you can get similar types of service for less). But I felt that what I was really buying was increased odds of getting into a school I truly wanted to attend and thereby setting myself up for success in residency and beyond. Having wound up at a T5 school, I have no regrets for having spent more for the service that helped me get the best out of my application.

Would I have gotten in on my own or with another application service? Maybe, but it certainly would have been a lower chance. I feel it is a worthy investment (plus it is hardly anything compared to the loans most students will take out for school - so might as well take those loans at the school the want to attend!).

I had a wonderful experience using SAC for both MCAT tutoring and consulting during the application cycle (I'll focus on the latter for this review). With SAC's support, I received 10 interviews, which turned into 8 acceptances, including a T-5 school and many other top programs.

My primary consultant, Dr. Jothishankar, was extremely knowledgeable about the application process and always available to help. He checked in very frequently, and guided me through every step of the process, from my first primary drafts all the way through deciding what school I would attend. The writing support was also second to none. SAC really stands by their 48 hour turnaround commitment, and it was really comforting to know that I'd have edits so soon after I submitted a secondary to the team. There also seems to be a lot of support in the background to make sure that students are covered if the primary consultant or writing support staff member is away for a few days -- everything was seamless and well communicated to me. Also, as a type-A person, I really appreciated SAC's organization and transparent communication. Overall, SAC made this process stress-free and manageable, which is priceless. Could not recommend more!

Shemmassian helped me get 6 interviews, 3 acceptances and 2 waitlists. Successful cycle. Highly recommend because advice in medical school applications is paramount.

Kevin, John and the rest of the team at Shemmassian Consulting helped me so much throughout the long process of applying to medical school. They quickly edited every draft of my primary and secondary applications, making sure my writing sounded genuine, cohesive and professional. Having their help really helped me to stay focused and motivated throughout the entire process. One of my favorite parts about this service was their interview prep. During each session, they gave me great tips and helped me to personalize each of my answers. I would highly recommend Shemmassian Consulting if you are applying to medical school :)

I had a wonderful experience working with the Shemmassian team during my residency application process! I not only felt supported by my primary consultant in their guidance through the application process, but also as a wonderful support system easing any anxiety I had during the process. I absolutely recommend Shemmassian Academic Consulting for residency consulting -- with their support, I am excited to share that I will be starting as a pediatrics intern at NYU-GLISOM this summer!

The service they offered was so worth it. Going into the med school application process, I was nervous and worried. People on reddit/SDN say to do so many different things. I had no idea what kind of schools I was competitive for or whether I had gaps in my application & experiences that I needed to fill. During the application cycle, I had so many questions about which experiences to write about in my secondary essays, and how to prep for MMIs and traditional interviews. My advisor addressed every single one of my questions and made sure I did everything as perfectly as possible for my applications. I also asked to be matched with an advisor who had served on an admissions committee at a top 10 school, and the company gladly obliged. My advisor gave me EXCEPTIONAL advice and throughout the cycle put me at ease and made me feel reassured. I ended up getting interviews at five top 10s and ultimately was admitted to my dream school!!!

I had a great experience with this and would highly recommend. They truly guide you through the entire application process and take away so much of the stress and confusion associated with applying to medical school. I received acceptances to multiple top 20 schools, and I know I would not have had this much success if I wouldn't have used Shemmassian. The help and support you receive is priceless!

Excellent physicians who took their time and attention to prepare for our sessions. The feedback they gave was very helpful. I think the sessions helped me prepare well for my interviews. Also, the customer support and scheduling team was on top of everything to make sure we were able to coordinate and set up the session in short order.

Company did exactly as they advertised and were 100% transparent. They were a tremendous help with the writing portion and helped me secure an acceptance at USC along with other interviews I am waiting to here back from including a T20