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March 19, 2024, 05:07:17 pm

Author Topic: Crimson Education  (Read 5921 times)  Share 

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homeworkisapotato

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Crimson Education
« on: July 12, 2020, 12:41:23 pm »
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Hello! I want to get into med in a UK university and I came across Crimson Education.They said that they will offer:
- 30 UCAT/ UKCAT lessons
- 30 BMAT lessons
- interview prep
- UCAS application lesson

But they are charging $30,000 for it.. Is the money worth it? Are the success rates of Crimson students from Australia getting into Oxford/ Cambridge medicine high? Is there any alternate tutoring who don't charge as much?
Thank you!

Edit: Do you guys recommend the Tutesmart UCAT tutoring?
« Last Edit: July 12, 2020, 01:16:12 pm by homeworkisapotato »
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peridotleaves

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Re: Crimson Education
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2020, 01:59:07 am »
+9
I think you have to weigh up how much $30,000 means to you/your parents, how much benefit you think you'll derive from Crimson over more affordable options, and whether you want to study med at Oxbridge at all costs.

I don't know much about Crimson but personally, I've never been in a position to pay that amount for a tutoring or mentoring service, and I think that a lot of the preparation can be done independently with enough dedication. Paying more doesn't necessarily guarantee a better service and there are surely UCAT tutors or programs around that are priced more reasonably.

Perhaps you could try searching for current UK medical students or recent graduates who could guide you through the preparation? A quick search for BMAT past papers yields https://www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/bmat/preparing-for-bmat/practice-papers/ and one of the best ways I've found to approach exams is to do past/mock questions, with attention to identifying and rectifying weaknesses. Similarly, there'd surely be more affordable independent tutors who could prepare you specifically for a UK med interview.

If you're affluent enough to afford Crimson without sacrificing anything else - that's your choice, but I think there are better uses for that amount of money.

At some point, also consider (assuming you are Australian domestic):
- The cost of being an international medical student https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/course-fees
- Whether you want to stay and practise in the UK - overseas qualified doctors returning to Australia generally need to pass additional assessments
- Whether you're certain you want to move away from home for at least a few years, and whether you're sure about the UK specifically. Having been on exchange, I found that the mental impact of being away from friends and family was something I really hadn't considered properly before deciding to move. There's also the financial aspect of living at home vs paying rent.
- How much med at Oxbridge means to you - does that outweigh the advantages of studying med domestically? We do have some excellent medical schools too!

Sine

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Re: Crimson Education
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2020, 12:41:41 pm »
+7
Hello! I want to get into med in a UK university and I came across Crimson Education. They said that they will offer:
- 30 UCAT/ UKCAT lessons
- 30 BMAT lessons
- interview prep
- UCAS application lesson

But they are charging $30,000 for it.. Is the money worth it? Are the success rates of Crimson students from Australia getting into Oxford/ Cambridge medicine high? Is there any alternate tutoring who don't charge as much?
Thank you!

Edit: Do you guys recommend the Tutesmart UCAT tutoring?
yeah it is highly likely not to be worth it. Sure, you may get into your desired course by going with this company but it would also be possible to be done without any external help or with different alternatives.

Considering the success rates of companies can be dangerous at times for a few reasons. 1) generally only successful students get back to them and disclose their scores and outcomes hence a lot of companies have inflated success rates, average study scores, ATARs, UCAT scores etc 2) Those that are willing to pay for tuition are more likely to be motivated than other students thus put more effort and time into. So even without the company, they would've be putting in a lot of effort.

I don't know the statistics but anecdotally a lot of people I have spoken to say that these UCAT/GAMSAT/interview companies generally just help students who would've anyway got in without the company.

Orb

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Re: Crimson Education
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2020, 12:56:15 pm »
+7
Wow $30k now... I'd highly encourage you to take a look at some other service providers - there are some consultants that offer a success-based guarantee (i.e. you pay 10-20% upfront and 80-90% only if you get into your target schools).

My personal opinion is you should never pay that amount of money unless if there is a large success-based component attached to it. I'm a huge fan of if you honestly believe your services to be of the highest standard and you boast some "95%+ success rate" or something like that, why not put your money where your mouth is and actually offer a guarantee? Admittance into Oxbridge or HYPSM schools in the US has a huge ROI across your lifetime and easily worth $30k+ relative to UniMelb or Monash, but only if you get in - just look at the employment reports for your desired line of study.

For example, success-based admission consultants for MBAs charge something like $20k + inherent costs of studying the MBA leave you somewhere like $300-400k in debt, but when you look at the average 1st year compensation out of top schools (often in the $160k+ USD range and thus $230k+ AUD, bear in mind this does not include bonus/stock/equity which adds another 50k+ to it) the break-even is usually <5 years and after that you vastly exceed your peers because the 20-year median income is >$3m from top schools and that usually also includes some $3-5m+ of stock options and equity, source: https://poetsandquants.com/2014/10/13/most-lucrative-seven-figure-mba-degrees-earth/

Of course not everything is about money so at the end of the day it is also definitely worth thinking about how much each aspect is worth to you and whether ultimately it'd be worth the investment. My personal 2c is I would never pay $30k unless they guaranteed an offer (and even then you could probably get more budget-friendly options).
 

« Last Edit: July 13, 2020, 12:58:15 pm by Orb »
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