Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Furman Tutoring For College Students

Furman Tutoring For College StudentsFurman Tutoring is the first option for African American students who want to be academically successful in a college or university. This approach provides a unique educational experience for African American children as they are guided by an experienced educator through their studies and tutoring sessions.Furman Tutoring includes Capstone Course, Advanced Placement Course, Honors Placement Course, AP and Honors Exams. These courses are offered throughout the year and all subjects are taught by a distinguished faculty of African American academics who have received professional training and are nationally and internationally recognized. Furman Tutoring also helps students to obtain the highest possible grade point average (GPA) and honors program.Furman Tutoring strives to help African American children reach their full potential in their studies and provides them with high quality education which is related to their socioeconomic and cultural back ground. The African American community and its students are usually identified by their culture and ethnicity, which mean that teachers need to take care of their culture and customs when teaching a particular subject.The resources available to students and instructors at Furman Tutoring make it possible for all students of all races and ethnicities to learn and excel in their studies. A remarkable feature of Furman Tutoring is that it integrates theory with practice as each individual student is assigned a mentor to learn from. In fact, students and instructors make an effort to develop a mutually beneficial relationship to enhance the learning process.As African American children find themselves on the right path towards success, they often require additional and crucial support from the environment around them. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that teachers at Furman Tutoring extend the warmest of welcomes to those students who have recently arrived at the college or uni versity of their choice. In addition, such institutions need to be warm and supportive to the students, who are usually the ones whose background and interests provide the biggest impact on their life. Furman Tutoring helps students understand and adapt to different kinds of challenges that they may encounter during their studies. Teachers at Furman Tutoring emphasize on helping students with their schoolwork and academic demands to improve the chances of their studies and college application.Since so many colleges and universities are offering accelerated degrees, most students of different backgrounds and cultures find it difficult to identify the right program for their college applications. Furman Tutoring makes it easy for students to choose the right program.

Friday, March 6, 2020

How to keep tutoring fun for your students!

How to keep tutoring fun for your students! We've had an amazing 2015 here at Tutorfair thanks to our fantastic community of tutors and students!  We asked a few of our favourites to share their adventures with us.  Here,  Isabelle tells us what it's like to work with a rather unusual client. Isabelle T Football really isn’t my thing. Or wasn’t at least.  If I don’t hate it I have certainly spent my life mostly ignoring it. No longer! My first booking with TutorFair turned out to be with a football analytics company (and owner of Brentford Football Club), providing French tuition to two employees â€" one a beginner, the other very proficient - with an emphasis on improving spoken fluency. Particularly for the more advanced client, I found myself in a dilemma familiar to many language tutors: how to stimulate and sustain 90 minutes of conversation on a weekly basis without either one of us   collapsing from exhaustion, or worse, boredom. The answer? Football, of course - at least in part. From corruption at Fifa to the decline of Manchester United and the ins and outs of the transfer market, I have covered it all through newspaper articles, reports and perhaps most importantly, by drawing on the expert analysis of my football-mad client. I’ve certainly learned a lot. I may even have learned to like football! I can only hope my client feels the same way about his French. Tutoring is not all about long discussions, of course. Every client has a different level and every client has different motivations. Part of the pleasure of tutoring is precisely this diversity. Where one might need French for their work, another might have an exam coming up or feel themselves slipping behind at school. The challenges are always different and always changing yet, as every tutor knows, there is one constant: the key to learning anything is to enjoy it. Tutoring is much more than simply imparting information. It is also about eliciting ideas and thoughts and encouraging clients to express themselves freely. I have only been with TutorFair for a few short months but I have been lucky enough to work with some fascinating, diverse and very motivated people. What more could I ask for? Apart from a Brentford win next week, of course. Want to  book Isabelle  and learn French?  Or perhaps you want to  sign up as a tutor? There's something for everyone at Tutorfair!

The New 13th Zodiac Constellation Did your Horoscope just Change

The New 13th Zodiac Constellation Did your Horoscope just Change Tell me about the new 13th zodiac constellation, shouted my 8 year old student Miles when I was teaching astronomy to him. For the record, Ive studied astrophysics (for only 6 month though) and hosted planetarium shows in Santa Barbara. Since that time I have been tutoring astronomy to docents of students all over California. Now you can imagine how stunned I was when Miles asked me about the new 13th zodiac constellation and I couldnt answer the question. To avoid you the troubles of a similar  mute response I am addressing all my fellow astronomy tutors in California in this article about the 13th constellation. The new 13th constellation is called Ophiuchus. It is situated between Sagittarius the archer and Scorpius the scorpion. Time wise, the Ophiuchus starts at the end of November (November 29th to be precise) and ends on December 17. The astrological  notion of the zodiac constellations (Cancer, Leo, Virgo, etc) dates back to the ancient Babylonians. They introduced the system of 12 zodiac constellations in accordance with their 12-month calendar. But the ancient Babylonian astronomers ignored the fact that the sun moves through 13 constellations, and not just 12. In our time, the astronomers at NASA decided to correct the Babylonians mistake and to include the missing 13th constellation the Ophiuchus. Whether the astrologers will adopt the new zodiac system remains to be seen. But to we scientist and teachers should know about Ophiuchus. For those who enjoy reading their horoscopes they might have to look it up under a different symbol now. Here are is the list of the corrected 13 zodiacs signs and their dates. Capricorn the sea goat January 20 February 16 Aquarius the water-bearer February 16 March 11 Pisces the fish March 11 April 18 Aries the ram April 18 May 13 Taurus the bull May 13 June 21 Gemini the twins June 21 July 20 Cancer the crab July 20 August 10 Leo the lion August 10 September 16 Virgo the virgin September 16 October 14 Libra the scales October 14 November 23 Scorpio the scorpion November 23 November 29 Ophiuchus the serpent-bearer November 29 December 17 Sagittarius the archer December 17 January 20 If you have more questions feel free to ask one of our excellent astronomy tutors.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

6 Tips for Painless Progress in Foreign Language Learning

6 Tips for Painless Progress in Foreign Language Learning 6 Tips for Painless Progress in Foreign Language Learning Ever stood at the chasm between language learning and fluency?Even for experienced language learners, it can seem like there are miles and miles to leap over before reaching actual, real-deal conversation with native speakers.We are here to make that chasm seem like a crack in the road.All it takes is tweaking your study regimen to get you prepared and motivated to make consistent progress.With these six language learning tips, plus a little patience and dedication, you will be cruising down a clear path to fluency. 6 Tips for Painless Progress in Foreign Language Learning1. Find Your Driving PassionPassion is the flame that burns in your heart and gives your life meaning. Passion is the source of motivation. It is hard to learn anything if you lack this. Before you do anything else, it is important to ask yourself why you want to learn the language in the first place. This why is your purpose.There are no right or wrong answers. Maybe you want to learn a language to progress in yo ur current field of work, maybe you love the culture, maybe it just sounds pretty to you, maybe it is the language of your ancestry or maybe you have another reason.Even if you are learning a language for an external reason, like a college course requirement, you can and should home in on an internally-driven passion to keep your motivation up. Think about exciting trips you could take to practice the language, native speakers you know who you could converse with or the professional opportunities that might open up to you as a bilingual or multilingual person.Once you realize what your purpose is for learning a language, write it down. This will serve as a reminder when motivation is low or when you get stuck. Language learning is not a steady uphill path, but a path full of ups and downs. Having something to remind yourself of why you started language learning in the first place is a great tool to help you get over the lows you will encounter.Remember your reason for learning a lan guage does not have to be set in stone. It can change over time. As you progress in your language go back and reevaluate your purpose. This will keep the motivation fresh and new.2. Make Language Learning a Daily HabitThe most important attribute in any pursuit is consistency. Have you ever been so excited to learn something that for the first few days or even weeks you binge studied, only to burn out and take a break from it?  After that begins a cycle of sporadic binge learning followed by rest, only to return later at basically the same starting point.In order to keep this from happening, it is best to set aside a certain amount of study time every day that you can realistically hold yourself accountable to. Blocking out 20 minutes a day is the ideal starting point for most people. It is not long enough to get bored or frustrated and it is just enough time to review and learn something new.This may not seem like so much time, but by the end of the month, you will have spent about 10 hours learning a foreign language. That is more time than if you paid for one-hour private tutoring sessions twice a week!For best results, it is advisable that you practice language learning at the same time every day. For example, you may choose to study in the morning after breakfast or before going to sleep at night. That way, after a while, you will form a habit and language learning will be a part of your daily routine.When learning your target language use your strengths to your advantage. If you learn better through language apps, make that the bulk of your learning experience. If you learn better through traditional grammar books then focus on that. Playing to your strengths will help you progress faster, making language learning more fun and enjoyable!3. Plan Your Studying Around Your InterestsFinding your passion is not the only thing that helps drive your language learning progressâ€"it has to be enjoyable! If you are doing something you find boring you will start dr eading it and may eventually give up.If you enjoy film, it is beneficial to watch movies in your target language. Likewise, if you frequently listen to music, find bands in a genre you prefer that sing in your target language. Since you already like the genre, the songs will stick in your ear. Eventually, you can find the lyrics online and translate them into your native language.Once you are no longer a beginner, activities such as listening to a podcast in your target language while traveling to work or while having some downtime help to keep the language in your ear while putting you in contact with various subjects and new vocabulary words.Playing video games in your target language is another way to practice in an environment that is adrenaline filled and exciting. Here you will have to get comfortable thinking fast in your target language.To target your interests while ensuring that you are actively learning, FluentU is a unique tool to check out. It provides authentic videos, like movie trailers, news clips, commercials and more, and transforms them into interactive learning experiences. For example, each video comes with captions you can click whenever you spot an unfamiliar word. You will get in-context definitions and visual learning aids.Then, FluentUs Learn Mode takes the video content and creates engaging exercises and flashcards so you can test how much you learned. It is an awesome way to get solid language practice that will hold your interest! Plus, the more you explore real-world videos in your target language, from silly YouTubers to absorbing dramas, the more inherently interesting your language studies will become.4. Set Attainable GoalsBeing fluent in your target language is the ultimate goal of anyone pursuing foreign language learning. However, in the beginning, this can seem like a daunting task.It is best to set a series of small goals that will eventually culminate in your main goal of gaining fluency. These goals should be reasonabl e to attain in a relatively short period of time. They can be anything. For example, you can set a goal of learning 20 verbs in one week or learning 100 new vocabulary words in a month.Remember, language learning is similar to the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. Slow and steady wins the race! Small, steady, incremental progress over time leads to the most success. Setting weekly, monthly or even daily goals will bring you to the finish line of fluency the fastest while preventing burnout.You will also want to make sure that your goals are relevant.  You can learn 3,000 vocabulary words by heart, which is roughly the number of words needed to be able to converse in a language, but if you never learn how to put them together to form sentences you are nowhere near having the ability to hold a conversation.Sometimes less can be more. Think about what goals are most important to you. If you want to be able to converse with native speakers, you should master essential grammar and voca bulary and maybe some slang. If you want to learn a language for academic purposes, you would need to master grammar and formal usage. If you have a very specific purpose, like practicing medicine abroad, you would need to study niche vocabulary. Take this into consideration when setting learning goals for yourself and you will quickly make the kind of progress that matters to you.5. Notice (and Embrace) Your MistakesWhen learning a language, you will inevitably make mistakes. It is part of the process. If you do not make any mistakes that means you have nothing else to learn. Embrace your mistakes. Use your mistakes as tools to improve.It is helpful to research common mistakes foreigners make in your target language. Joining online language learning forums (WordReference has a popular one) is a good way to discover these types of mistakes, and how your fellow learners have overcome them.Embracing mistakes does not alway have to be about the negativeâ€"it can be positive in that you can see how you are improving. Recording yourself speaking a couple times a month is a great way to see your progress. You can also use  Dialang, a great resource that offers progress tests to track where you are in reference to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.Taking this test every few months is a great way to clearly see how far you have come and how far you need to go.6. Find Opportunities to Speak in Your Target LanguageLanguage learning is not just an intellectual exercise. It is a skill that has to be applied. In order to speak a language you have to actually speak! Conversation is key.The most beneficial way to do this is through a language exchange. This means finding a native speaker of your target language who is willing to practice speaking with you. Not everyone has the luxury of having a native speaker living in their area but the internet offers many great resources to find language exchange partners.If you are too shy or too embarrassed to ju mp right into a language exchange with a peer, a good way to ease into it is to hire a language tutor. And with digital platforms like Verbling, you can get a qualified, native-speaker tutor with a click or a tap. You can browse thousands of teacher profiles to find one who meets your learning goals and budget. Plus, Verbling uses a unique communication platform where you can video chat, review documents or images, take notes and more. It is like a personal classroom all on your screen.You cannot speak with a language exchange partner or a tutor 24/7. It is helpful to think and talk to yourself in your target language, too. Here are some ideas to do that:Do you have to go grocery shopping? Make the list in your target language.Do you have a busy day? Plan out the day in your target language.Are you taking a walk? Name all the things you pass in your target language.Any time you can think or talk to yourself in your target language will only help you practice!Remember learning a fore ign language is an attainable goal for anyone who sets their mind to it. Using these tips will surely help you on your journey to learning a foreign language easily and painlessly!

Oxford International School

Oxford International School Oxford International School Oxford International School is a newly established school which opened its doors in September 2015in Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan situated between China and Kazakhstan.The student body is made up largely of local children with some students from a range of other nationalities.Classes are currently taught in reception to year 9 and are housed in a brand new state of the art facility with a range of specialist and non specialist learning environments, including indoor swimming pool, outdoor AstroTurf sports pitch, indoor sports hall, dance studio and theater. Kyrgyzstan is a beautiful country and is known as the home of the Mountains. Nearly 90% of the country's land mass is mountainous, however those areas that are not are full of rolling hills and stunning lakes and rivers. A historic nation with an ancient culture there is plenty to occupy an inquisitive mind. Kyrgyzstan is an independent democratic country with a population of 5 million people. A Multinational and multi- cultural country there is much diversity within the population with religious freedoms. The people are warm and friendly, open and honest with a comparatively easy going mentality. The capital city Bishkek is located in the North of the country not far from the border with Kazakhstan. It is a city of wide boulevards and marble-faced public buildings combined with numerous Soviet style apartment blocks surrounding interior courtyards and outside the city centre thousands of smaller privately built homes. Laid out on a grid pattern it is easy to get around with most streets flanked by innumerable trees that offer shade in the hot summers.This is a very ambitious school seeking recognition both locally and nationally for its high academic excellence and achievement and with school places in high demand it is expected to grow rapidly in the coming year as we add more classes including the senior year groups up to post 16. The school offers Cambridge approved education programmes for bot h the primary and secondary sections and is the first school in Kyrgyzstan to be awarded COBIS recognition.The school offers an outstanding environment within which to teach. together with an outstanding benefits package including competitive tax free salaries, comfortable modern accommodation,, annual flights home, airort pickup, visa 's arranged and costs covered by school, and even language lessons!

4 Great Jobs for English Majors

4 Great Jobs for English Majors Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/writing-writer-notes-pen-notebook-923882/ Writer I know “writer” is extremely general, so let me get more specific. You can do newspaper writing, magazine writing, medical writing, creative writing, book writing, short story writing, social media writing, editing, and so on. I know that English majors learned more than writing skills, but why not use this tool that you’ve honed to your advantage? The best part about the writing industry is that you can do it as a full-time job, a part-time job, a freelance job, a remote position, and so much more. Even if you don’t want this to be your main career, you can still do it on the side to make some extra money. Writing is a skill that is necessary for just about any position that you may seek in the future, so pursuing a writing position is something that is great both in the short-term and the long-term. Researcher All of those English courses that you took definitely had you analyze tons and tons of books (I know I had to in my classes). You learned how to read into things, you learned how to derive meaning, and you learned how to pull out the main point, or as English majors like to call it “thesis,” of any piece of work that is put in front of you. Use these skills to your advantage. Obviously, not all research is abstract, i.e. medical research, but not all research is medical. Even if you are interested in medical research, there is no reason why you shouldn’t pursue it. Think about it this way when it comes to medical research: instead of deriving symbolism from a piece, paraphrase (and obviously cite) what the main finding of a certain medical study is. The best part of being an English major is that you learned how to properly cite your work and you know when to paraphrase and when to directly quote a source. Look into a research position; you are basically getting paid to expand your knowledge and use the skills you learned. Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/school-classroom-boys-girls-79612/ Teacher Many college English courses involve discussion and putting yourself out there by stating your opinion about a piece you read, thereby teaching your peers something new. So, you basically already have teaching experience. Many schools require you to have a teaching certificate, but some programs allow you to obtain a teaching certificate while teaching. Not everyone can teach; it takes a very special person to teach, but the skills you learned as an English major give you a great base to learn teaching skills. You are great at reading things quickly (I know I’m not the only one who had to ready 5+ chapters a night for some of my classes), you know how to analyze, and you know how to explain what you know in a group setting. You definitely had to make many outlines throughout your college English career, which is a version of a teaching plan, so you have that covered. Take a few teaching courses, look into getting your teaching degree, and boom, you have multiple degrees and the world will become your oyster when finding a career. Advertiser Advertiser is a very general term I’m using for a variety of positions. When I use the term “advertiser” I’m referring to any position that involves selling something or promoting something. Advertisers write slogans, social media posts, proposals, presentations, and so much more. The skills that you learned in your English courses will help you with all of this. You learned how to write beautifully while also being clear in what your point is, which is important when advertising something or someone. You learned how to edit, which is great because typos aren’t professional and people won’t trust you as much as a source if you have many errors in your work. You learned how to analyze, which is important when promoting a product and gauging people’s reactions and how those reactions can benefit your work. You don’t need a degree in Communications to be a part of the advertising world. I hope that this list helped you think about your post-graduate and/or internship plans as an English major. Remember, reach for the stars; your degree will get you so far in life. No job is too abstract or too specific for an English major. Use your skills, promote yourself, and show your potential employers that English majors know how to do a job right.

Learning to Speak English Quickly

Learning to Speak English QuicklyIn this article, we will be taking a look at the many ways in which you can learn English quickly. Whether you are a student looking to take your exams for university or simply want to help your children learn to speak English, it is essential that you find the right method.This may sound to some like a strange question but when you consider how English is spoken around the world, there are many different methods of learning to speak English. The best and most cost effective way to learn to speak English is probably learning to read, but this is not always practical. You could also make the mistake of trying to learn a language by just reading from a book. Now, if you're an expert at English then you should really be able to do this, but if you're not, then simply reading short passages will not make much difference, so you need to be able to think about what you're reading and perhaps even try to put some more thought into it, because this will help to make the sentence make process easier.Another great way of learning to speak English quickly is through watching films. If you watch TV while you're studying English, then this is certainly an option but a really good one as you're studying the language with your eyes and not by means of using written English. With television, it's essential that you know your subject thoroughly and it's also essential that you don't just watch TV for entertainment, but rather make it into a learning tool.There are many other ways in which you can learn to speak English quickly. In fact, there are plenty of these resources which you can access and use in order to help you learn. Take for example, video and audio courses.These can be a wonderful way of learning to speak English, if you're a regular watcher of television or listen to music that is suitable for you, or even if you're interested in teaching yourself to speak. The most important thing about learning to speak English quickly, is that y ou need to be patient and really devote time to your task in order to benefit.It's easy to become consumed by the many ways in which you can learn to speak English quickly, but the truth is that each of these different methods will suit different people and each person will have to be prepared to give their all in order to get to the end of a course. You can often find out more about how much time is needed for such a course by simply doing research online. There are a lot of ways in which you can learn to speak English quickly, but the important thing is that you do the research in order to find out which methods are suitable for you and to learn to speak to a satisfactory level.This isn't a difficult task, but then again, not everyone who is determined to improve their English will be able to make the progress they want to, as such a vast amount of time is required to make the necessary improvements. Instead, why not try out a few of the many ways in which you can learn to speak E nglish quickly?

Organic Chemistry Tutor Functional Groups and Structures

Organic Chemistry Tutor Functional Groups and StructuresThe organic chemistry tutor functional groups and structures class have a relatively short syllabus, usually lasting two years. This means you are able to get more and better advice and can also do a lot more than one year of study in this course. However, before even starting the first module you must have completed two years of full-time studies and then taken at least one year of organic chemistry and biological chemistry and have some understanding of the physics involved.Organic chemistry has been designed to make understanding and working with functional groups and structures easier and at the same time it will give you an idea of what is involved in the entire study. As well as knowing the chemical structures, structures are involved in everything we do from catalysis to genetics. They are vital to many aspects of life. Therefore, understanding the materials will be important if you are to be successful in any career.The concepts, such as solvent, isomers, reactivity, bonding, and vibrational transitions will all have to be understood if you are to work with the physical properties of chemical compounds and understand how they combine together to produce complex products. In a future career, you may find that your education includes understanding how to create these products, using different reactants to change the molecules and then with different ways of combining these compounds to make new compounds. At the end of it all, you have to know what properties you need to understand and then how to use that knowledge to create the compounds.The function of functional groups are very important. There are a number of important chemical reactions that rely on their interaction with one another and to create various materials. For example, different base, land, polar and neutral groups combine together to form various molecules that can both react with one another and interact with each other to form diff erent combinations of components. Understanding these mechanisms will allow you to find new ways of combining different compounds.The organic chemistry tutor functional groups and structures will begin with a brief description of what a group is, the meaning of the group structure, the relationship between the group and the molecule and then go on to describe how various groups work in combination. On this first module you will not learn about what groups are or how they are used, however. This will come in the second module. During this module you will have learnt about the chemical bonds between the atoms of the compound, how the group forms, how to relate the structure of the group to the molecule, the functions of the group and the way that they interact with one another.The group will also provide a link between the structure of the group of which the structure is a part. The properties of a group will give you an idea of how certain bonds form and also where they come from. Kn owing what bond forms and where they form will help you understand why a particular chemical will react in a certain way and with the other compounds.Following this module, the group will include more information about the chemistry of groups and the role of a simple molecule such as a sugar or a nitrogenous compound. Understanding this information will help you understand the chemistry of other materials and know what uses to make the compounds.

How to Prepare for Your Med School Admissions Interview Part 2

How to Prepare for Your Med School Admissions Interview Part 2 By Michelle Finkel, MDThe following piece was written by Dr. Michelle Finkel. Michelle has been featured in ourAdmissions Expert seriesand is a former Harvard Medical School faculty member. She is the founder of Insider Medical Admissions. With your medical school personal statement writing finally behind you, its time to start thinking about the much-dreaded medical school admissions interview. Please take a look at my last Varsity Tutors blog entry on medical interviews for pointers on how to let your story show your glory and the rationale for why you should learn to fake it until you make it. In this entry and those that follow, Im going to focus on the intricacies of the medical interview, so you have a leg up when you are seated across from Dr. Decision, the brilliant if nutty professor whose approval may well shape your professional future. You Can Run. You Can Hide. But You Cant Escape Not every applicant has a 3.99 grade point average or a 40 on her MCAT. In fact, one of the benefits of my years in medical school admissions consulting has been the opportunity to help some candidates get into medical school by both acknowledging deficiencies and providing persuasive evidence that they have successfully overcome these obstacles. I still remember one bright advisee who had improved her grades considerably throughout her college career, but had, unfortunately, a less than stellar freshman transcript. After calculating her AMCAS GPA with me, she exclaimed, I feel like my grades are a criminal record! She was right; she couldnt erase the grades. But she could address her GPA weakness in her interviews. Being upfront about a major deficiency and demonstrating with evidence from the remainder of your candidacy that the weakness is not representative of your abilities is good strategy. Although medical school application deficiencies are, of course, not real scandals, allow me an analogy: An otherwise respected politician conducts some business that may be viewed as skirting a regulation. She has two options: First, she can deny, await a media frenzy, and then (after the media has crafted their own interpretation of her behavior) do damage control. Alternately, she can acknowledge the episode, remind the public of her otherwise scrupulous record in office, and diffuse a crisis. Interestingly, the latter not only averts a disaster, but by addressing the problem head-on, she looks more responsible. The same principle is true with deficiencies in your medical school candidacy. When describing a weakness during an interview, you should execute a three-pronged approach. First, make a true, strong, and convincing statement about your candidacys worth. You can start by noting that the deficiency in your candidacy does not represent your academic abilities nor your professional potential. Next, you can briefly explain the circumstances that led to the problem. This part is tricky. Saying that your MCAT score does not correlate with the remainder of your strong candidacy because you arent a good test-taker will not fly with many interviewers. (After all, youll be taking countless tests in medical school.) If this is your excuse, its probably better to skip this step and move onto the next one. (See below.) However, if you have a justifiable reason for your deficiency (concomitant family illness, a job you took to support yourself that limited your study time, etc.), explaining that background will be helpful. Finally, you need to give examples of the strengths of your candidacy to convince the interviewer that your deficiency is not an ill omen of your future medical school performance. Your MCAT score may be below the schools average, but perhaps you can note that your GPA is above. Your freshman year may have been a bad time for you, but you can point out that you earned a 4.0 your sophomore and junior years. You may have been disorganized in college, but as a post-baccalaureate student, you were at the top of your class. As I detailed in my previous entry, your primary role throughout the interview process is to convince medical schools that you deserve a slot at their institutions. The best way to persuade is with facts, so giving evidence of your accomplishments will help convince the faculty member that your deficiency is an anomaly. Consider rehearsing your sales pitch (and make no mistake about it, you are selling yourself) with a skeptical friend or an experienced mentor who is willing to play devil's advocate. Actively solicit feedback on which aspects of your pitch sound defensive or come across as flimsy excuses, and spend ample time reflecting on how the same information might be conveyed in ways that present you as a mature individual who has achieved redemption enough to warrant a slot in med school. If you can persuade your interviewer with the above strategic steps, then when your candidacy is discussed in medical school admissions committee meetings, Dr. Decision will advocate for you, citing the examples you have given to demonstrate the strength of your application to her colleagues. Note, too, that by demonstrating a willingness to confront and discuss mistakes you have learned from, you may be perceived as having greater integrity than other candidates who remain evasive or fail to own up to their shortcomings. Next entry, Ill discuss additional subtleties of the medical school interview process and how to navigate them strategically. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.