Admissions Straight Talk

Send us your admissions questions! What does a career changer need from a post-bac premedical program? Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. James Colgrove, dean of the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program at Columbia University’s School of General Studies, about the academic preparation, advising, and support that help students move toward medical school. Dr. Colgrove discusses the program’s proble...

Send us your admissions questions! How does a medical school prepare students to care for individual patients while also understanding the communities and health systems surrounding them? In Episode 632 of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Donald Batisky, associate dean of medical student admissions and special programs at the University of Cincinnati C...

Send us your admissions questions! What attracts more than 5,300 applicants to a medical school with 120 seats? In Episode 631 of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk , Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Laurel Poole, director of MD program admissions at the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Medicine, about the program’s curriculum, student outcomes, and holistic admissions process. Poole...

Send us your admissions questions! What does it look like to leave a successful career in book publishing and build a new path to medical school? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk , Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Sarah Shirley, an osteopathic medical student at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, about her journey from Eng...

Send us your admissions questions! What makes the University of Iowa Physician Assistant (PA) Program one of the country’s top PA programs? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Thomas O’Shea, PhD, MEd, director of administrative and student services for the University of Iowa’s PA Program, about the program’s structure, curriculum, clinical...

Send us your admissions questions! How can military veterans translate their service, leadership, and clinical experience into a strong PA school application? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Brandon R. Beattie, MMSc, PA-C, assistant professor and program director, about the George Washington University (GW) PA Program, the military roots of the PA...

Send us your admissions questions! What makes Wake Forest University’s Physician Assistant Program different from the hundreds of PA programs applicants can choose from? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Sobia Hussaini, MHA, assistant professor of PA studies and director of admissions and strategic recruitment for PA studies at Wake Fores...

Send us your admissions questions! What do you do when your transcript tells a story you would rather not tell? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk podcast, host Dr. Valerie Wherley is joined by Dr. Rachel Slutsky, an Accepted admissions consultant and Harvard PhD, to discuss one of the most common – and most feared – obstacles in the graduate admissions process: a problematic a...

Send us your admissions questions! What exactly is—and isn’t—a DO? And what does it take to get into a Tier 1 primary care medical school that operates across two very different campuses? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with the leadership and a current student from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) at Western Univ...

Send us your admissions questions! What does it take to get selected for a Fulbright or Boren Fellowship? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk podcast, host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Steven Tagle, an Accepted admissions consultant and fellowship specialist, to break down two of the most prestigious, and most misunderstood, awards in graduate education. Steven draws on hi...

Send us your admissions questions! This episode of Admissions Straight Talk covers what it takes to get accepted into the top-ranked Entry-Level Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Amber Bennett, associate professor of clinical occupational therapy at USC Chan, to break d...

Send us your admissions questions! What should applicants know about WashU Medicine’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Steven Ambler – professor of physical therapy and orthopaedic surgery, division director of education, and DPT program director at WashU Medicine – about the program’s curriculum, culture, st...

Send us your admissions questions! This episode of Admissions Straight Talk covers the essential strategies for overcoming rejection and successfully reapplying to physician assistant (PA) programs. In this episode, host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Cassandra Zoetjes, a first-generation college student and current PA student at Sacred Heart University who successfully navigated three applicatio...

Send us your admissions questions! What does it take to maximize your premed shadowing opportunity, and why does this experience matter so much in your application? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Rachel L. Schreiber, a board-certified allergist/immunologist and former president of the Greater Washington Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Society. Rec...

Send us your admissions questions! What does it take to stand out and become a competitive applicant to Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUCOM), and what makes this program unique among osteopathic medical schools? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , Accepted consultant and podcast host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Alesia Wagner, associate dean of acade...

Send us your admissions questions! What does Baylor College of Medicine look for in applicants, and how is its program evolving to meet the needs of today’s medical students? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Jesus Vallejo, senior associate dean of admissions at Baylor College of Medicine. Together, they explore Baylor’s dual-campus model, early...

Send us your admissions questions! In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley welcomes Dr. Rona Woldenberg, associate dean for admissions and interim associate dean of student affairs at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Woldenberg explains how the school’s unique partnership with Northwell Health provides students with consistent clinical training...

Send us your admissions questions! Applying to law school and wondering how admissions decisions really get made? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , Accepted Law Consultant Brigitte talks with Sophia Sim, associate dean for admissions and financial aid at the George Washington University Law School (GW Law), about what applicants need to know – from rolling admissions timelines and wait...

Send us your admissions questions! Can you earn an MD in three years without sacrificing training quality? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Dr. Jonathan Tolentino to explore the University of Miami’s three-year Accelerated Pathway to Residency Program. Learn how the program works, who it’s designed for, how clinical immersion and scholarly projects a...

Send us your admissions questions! In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , Dr. Valerie Wherley welcomes Dr. Glenn Cummings, associate dean and director of health professions advising at Bryn Mawr, for an in-depth look at one of the nation’s oldest and most respected career-changer post-bac pathways. Dr. Cummings explains the distinctive mission and history of the Postbaccalaureate Premedical...

Send us your admissions questions! In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Dr. Reynold Jaglal , program director of the Sacred Heart University Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (MSPAS) program, for an in-depth look at Sacred Heart’s values-focused approach to physician assistant (PA) education. Dr. Jaglal breaks down the program’s 27-mo...

Send us your admissions questions! In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Accepted Admissions Consultant Alicia Nimonkar , an expert writing coach with a background in composition and rhetoric, to unpack one of the most important – and often most intimidating – parts of the medical school application: the personal statement. Alicia explains how applic...

Send us your admissions questions! In this inspiring episode of Admissions Straight Talk , host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Dr. Tracy Kedian , professor of family medicine and associate dean of admissions at UMass Chan Medical School. Together, they explore how UMass Chan fosters not only academic excellence but also personal growth, leadership, and wellness among its medical students. Dr....

Send us your admissions questions! What happens when you combine medicine, business, and technology? The cross-disciplinary Master of Science in Clinical Informatics Management degree at Stanford University combines all three of these disciplines. Over the course of just 12 months, students gain the skills to implement cutting-edge technologies, strengthen core business and leadership capabilities...

Send us your admissions questions! If you are a medical school reapplicant, tune in for today's episode of the Admissions Straight Talk podcast! Accepted medical school expert Dr. Valerie Wherley is joined by Mory Gould, current M1 medical student and former Accepted client who worked with Valerie when reapplying to medical school. Mory discusses the med school application process, the weakne...