Shemmassian vs Med School Insiders

Overview

Getting into medical school is no easy task, and choosing the right help is foundational to your success. Each year, medical school admissions gets more competitive, and standing out from other premeds grows more difficult. This page compares two popular medical school admissions consultant experts – Shemmassian Academic Consulting and Med School Insiders – to help you choose the experts that are best suited for you.

Med School Insiders

Med School Insiders provides advising and educational resources for premed and medical students, with services spanning the full application journey. The company emphasizes physician-led advising, structured guidance, and data-driven strategies designed to support students from early preparation through acceptance.

 
 

Shemmassian

Shemmassian Academic Consulting provides admissions and tutoring services for a wide range of students, including not only medical school and residency admissions, but also general college admissions help for those not interested in the medical field.

 

Differences between Med School Insiders & Shemmassian

Company OverviewMed School InsidersShemmassian
Satisfaction rate (4 or 5 star reviews)
The percentage of customer ratings with 4 or 5 stars based on publicly available review data.		99.4%96.2%
Ratings
Number of ratings and average score based on publicly available third-party review platforms.		827 (4.9 Stars)373 (4.5 Stars)
Independent review company
Third-party review platform that includes verified customer reviews.		RaveCaptureTrustPilot
Physician founded & led
Med School Insiders is run by a top performing MD physician with admissions committee experience. Shemmassian is founded by a PhD clinical psychologist who never attended medical school.
Founder's research items
Publicly listed research publications, presentations, and abstracts attributed to the company’s founder.		66N/A
Number of physicians working in company
Approximate number of physicians (MD or DO) advisors servicing students and clients.		230+~30
YouTube channel start date
Approximate date when the company began publishing on YouTube.		October 2016February 2017
YouTube channel subscribers
Number of subscribers on the company's official YouTube channel.		1,811,10041,600
Exclusive premed & medical student focus
Whether the company focuses solely on medical school (MD and DO) pathways. Med School Insiders provides services for premed and medical students exclusively. Shemmassian provides services to premed, medical students, and also college admission students.
Year founded
Med School Insiders isn't stuck in the old way of doing things - rather, we've innovated, allowing us to grow at an unprecedented rate and overtake legacy companies.		20162013
Mission driven core values
The physicians who founded Med School Insiders were unified by a central mission to create a future generation of happier, healthier, and more effective future doctors. We've proudly run charitable initiatives to for medical trainee mental health and wellness.

Founder Backgrounds & Philosophies

Understanding the background and training of a company’s founder can provide insight into how they approach advising, strategy, and student outcomes. Below is a high-level overview of the founders behind each organization based on publicly available information.

Kevin Jubbal, M.D.

Dr. Kevin Jubbal graduated magna cum laude from UCLA with a B.S. in Neuroscience and earned his M.D. from UC San Diego, where he was awarded the sole full merit-based scholarship for all four years. He scored in the 99.9th percentile on the MCAT and achieved similarly high performance on the USMLE (265+).

He matched into plastic surgery at Loma Linda University. His academic background includes 66 research publications, abstracts, and presentations, reflecting experience in both clinical and research settings. He has also served on medical school and residency admissions committees and has advised hundreds of students throughout the application process.

Dr. Jubbal founded Med School Insiders to bring greater clarity and strategy to the medical admissions process. His approach is informed by firsthand experience navigating competitive pathways, as well as evaluating applicants from the admissions side, where small differences in positioning and execution can meaningfully impact outcomes.

This perspective shapes Med School Insiders’ advising philosophy: a structured, individualized, data-driven approach that focuses on optimizing the full application profile so that each component works together to create a cohesive and competitive application.

 

Shirag Shemmassian, Ph.D.

Shirag Shemmassian earned his B.S. in Human Development from Cornell University, where he graduated with a 3.9 GPA as a premed student, before pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at UCLA. While Dr. Shemmassian did not attend medical school, his academic background led him to focus on educational advising.

He is the founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting, where he has worked with students on college, medical school, and graduate admissions. His work focuses on application strategy, essays, and overall positioning within competitive admissions processes.

Shemmassian founded his consulting practice after navigating the admissions process himself and later assisting peers. His approach emphasizes structured preparation and a systematic framework to help students present their experiences across each stage of the admissions process.

This perspective shapes Shemmassian Academic Consulting’s advising model: a structured and individualized approach focused on refining applications and improving competitiveness in selective admissions environments.

 

What are Customers Saying?

From crafting my personal statement and essays to preparing for my interview, I received invaluable feedback. Specifically, they worked one-on-one with me to help me find my story and theme for my application. Moreover, during my mock interview with Dr. Bari, I was provided with advice on how to better present my personal anecdotes and answer tough questions. When it came time to the real interview, my delivery was significantly better. In fact, many of the tough questions that Dr. Bari asked me were asked during my actual interview! After a long application cycle, I was accepted to multiple US MD schools including my dream medical that I NEVER thought in a million years I would be accepted at. This is a dream come true and I want to strongly encourage anyone who is considering the services that Med School Insiders offers to take advantage of it! Dr. Jubbal, Dr. Bari, and the rest of the team at Med School Insiders are amazing people who truly care about their students and want them to succeed. I am forever grateful for their guidance throughout this process.
P.C.Matriculant to Dream Medical School
Since my advisor was a voting member of the medical school admissions committee, he knows exactly what discussions go on behind the doors. Having him as my mentor throughout my application process was like having the list of questions in advance before a major exam. He knew exactly what I should be focusing on and helped me plan each year to get the most out of college. I am so thankful to have gotten accepted to my dream medical school and I know I couldn’t have gotten here without him!
S.C.Harvard Undergraduate Student
From Dr. Jubbal’s prompt communication to Dr. Williamson’s attention to detail and in-depth editing notes, I could not be more pleased working with Med School Insiders Personal Statement Editing Service. Within a 24-hour period, my personal statement went from a somewhat interesting story to a persuasive and compelling narrative that is true to my personal path toward medicine. By precisely tuning my language, restructuring key sentences, and working on overall flow, Dr. Williamson helped me turn my own writing into the best version of itself. I would urge any students seeking admission into medical school to make this small investment and work with Med School Insiders to maximize their potential for acceptance.
H.O.Non-Traditional Student
I remember when I first discovered the Med School Insiders (MSI) YouTube channel. For a long time, I had wished that someone from the medical field would compile their knowledge and give back to the pre-medical niche. MSI continues to do exactly that, and more recently Dr. Jubbal has made even more progress through MSI Services. I personally purchased the personal statement 3-edit package, and I could not be happier with the results. My rough draft went from 50% done to 90% polished in just one edit, which alone saved me weeks of work. The following 2 edits resulted in a completed statement that stayed true to my voice but gave it professionalism and conciseness. Their expertise was evident through the entire process. If I ever need advice or med school services I wouldn't think twice about what service to use - MSI.
J.F.University of Florida Undergraduate Student

Our Results
Student ExperienceMed School InsidersShemmassian
Custom dashboard with integrated communication, application tracker, services & course manager
Med School Insiders students have access to a custom dashboard (Inscribe) for communication, application tracking, services, and course management.
1-on-1 guidance from a physician advisor with admissions committee experience
Students are paired with physician advisors with admissions committee experience.
Multi-step advisor screening process and internal quality control systems
Med School Insiders uses a multi-step screening process for physician advisors, along with internal quality control systems to support consistent advising quality.
Dedicated MCAT prep courses and resources
Med School Insiders offers MCAT preparation materials and courses developed by 99.9th percentile MCAT test takers.
Data-driven decision tools for both students and their Insiders
Med School Insiders provides custom made tools to support data-informed decision making and application strategy.

Med School Insiders LLC is not affiliated with Shemmassian Academic Consulting. All data in this table is accurate to the best of our knowledge based on information publicly available at shemmaassianconsulting.com as of 4/8/2026. Please verify all information as practices, policies, and company details may change.

 

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