🎉 Pilot cohort now open — only 10 spots available
Now accepting freshman applicants

Navigate pre-med
with a real plan.

Stop guessing your way through college. Ascend Med matches you with a coach and creates a clear roadmap for classes, MCAT prep, and career success — from day one.

We're selecting 10 committed students for our pilot program.
Doctor and patient
DK

Matched with Coach Maya R., MD Candidate

Freshman year · Pre-Med track
Guaranteed
MCAT Score Improvement
Increase
Your GPA
200+
Clinical Hours Placed
4 yrs
Full Journey Support
The Process

How Ascend Med works.
Because guessing doesn't work.

Four steps that turn an overwhelming journey into a clear, manageable plan.

📝
Step 01
Apply online
Tell us about your goals, your school, and where you're starting. Takes about 5 minutes.
🎯
Step 02
Match with a coach
Get paired with a coach who walked your exact path — same major, same pressures, same end goal.
🗺️
Step 03
Follow your roadmap
A personalized plan for classes, MCAT milestones, study schedules, and experiences built just for you.
🏆
Step 04
Build your application
We connect you to clinical hours, volunteer work, and research that makes your application stand out.
Who It's For

Who Ascend Med is for

Pre-med students at any stage who want a real system — not just advice — to guide them from freshman year to med school acceptance.

  • ✓Feel overwhelmed by GPA, extracurriculars, and planning
  • ✓Want a clear path from freshman year to med school
  • ✓Are motivated and ready to put in the work
  • ✓Don't have family connections in medicine to guide them
Students in classroom
Student Stories

What students are already saying.

Early feedback from freshmen, juniors, and seniors who've started working with Ascend Med coaches.

★★★★★

I walked into freshman year with no idea what I was doing. My coach sat down with me in week two and laid out a four-year plan — classes, shadowing, volunteering, the whole thing. For the first time I didn't feel like I was drowning.

Aisha M.
Freshman · University of Illinois
★★★★★

I took a diagnostic and scored a 498. Three months of structured prep with my coach and tutor later, I hit a 514 on the real thing. Having someone check in every week made the difference — I stopped guessing what to study and started actually studying.

Jordan P.
Junior · UC San Diego
★★★★★

My coach rebuilt my personal statement with me over three drafts and prepped me for every interview I got. I just committed to my top-choice MD program. I genuinely don't think that happens without Ascend Med.

Maya R.
Senior · University of Michigan
👨🏽‍⚕️

Darshan Selvaraj

Founder, Ascend Med
Our Story

Built by someone who
figured it out the hard way.

"I went into freshman year thinking I had it figured out. Get good grades, take the MCAT, become a doctor. That was the whole plan."

Nobody told me about volunteering hours. Nobody told me I needed patient care exposure, or that an EMT certification would set me apart, or that studying for orgo was nothing like studying for anything I'd done before. I figured all of that out the hard way — with Cs and Ds on my transcript to prove it.

It took a long time before I started seeing As in my harder classes. Not because I wasn't capable, but because I was flying blind. No roadmap, no mentor, no one who had been through it telling me what actually mattered.

That's why I built Ascend Med. Because the difference between students who make it and students who don't often has nothing to do with intelligence — it's access. Access to someone who's been through it and can tell you what to do, when to do it, and why it matters.

I didn't have that. You will.

🚑 EMT Certified
🏥 Clinical Hours
🎓 Pre-Med Student
🔬 Research Experience
Connect on LinkedIn
Pricing

Real coaching, fair pricing.

Most pre-med advising costs $300–$500/month. Ascend Med starts at under $80/month — built to be the affordable, no-fluff option. Your first month is always free, no card required.

Foundation
$79/month

A coach in your corner and a real plan to follow. Ideal for freshmen and sophomores building the base.

  • Two 30-min coach check-ins per month
  • Personalized 4-year roadmap, updated each semester
  • Slack access to your coach for quick questions
  • Curated clinical & volunteering opportunity feed
  • Access to MCAT prep templates & study schedules
Complete
$129/month

Everything in Foundation, plus tutoring and application support. Built for juniors and seniors gunning for top programs.

  • Weekly 30-min coach check-ins
  • Up to 4 hrs/month of subject-specific tutoring
  • MCAT diagnostic + customized prep roadmap
  • Personal statement & secondary essay review
  • Mock interview sessions with med-student coaches
  • Direct introductions to clinical & research placements
Semester
$299/4 months

All of Foundation, paid upfront for a full semester. Save ~$17 over monthly billing — best for committed long-term planning.

  • Everything in the Foundation plan
  • 4 months of continuous coaching, no break
  • End-of-semester strategy review with your coach
  • Lock in founding-cohort pricing — no rate changes
  • Equivalent to ~$75/month

30-day free trial on every plan. No credit card required to start. Cancel anytime — including during the trial — with one click. We're built for growth, not gouging — these prices are roughly 1/4 of what other platforms charge. A portion of every paid membership funds free coaching for students who can't afford it. See our Fee Waiver program ↓

Equity Access

Pre-med shouldn't be pay-to-win.

Real coaching shouldn't be locked behind a paywall for students who already have less. Ascend Med funds free memberships for students from low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented backgrounds — paid for by our paying members.

01

Paying members fund waivers

For every 5 paying members, Ascend Med funds 1 full Foundation-tier scholarship for a student who can't afford coaching. As we grow, the number of waivers grows with us — automatically and transparently.

02

Who qualifies

You qualify if you meet any one of the following:

  • Pell Grant recipient
  • FAFSA EFC under $5,000
  • First-generation college student
  • Household income below 200% of the federal poverty line
  • QuestBridge, Posse, Gates, or comparable program scholar
  • Aged out of foster care or otherwise unhoused during HS/college

We don't ask for tax returns. Self-attestation plus one supporting document (FAFSA SAR, Pell award letter, scholarship confirmation, etc.) is enough.

03

What's covered

  • 100% of Foundation tier — fully waived for the duration of your time as a pre-med
  • 50% off Complete tier — for students who need MCAT and application support
  • Same coach quality — waiver students are matched with the exact same coaches as paying members
  • No public stigma — your waiver status is private; no one but you and your coach knows
10% of every paying membership goes directly to the Equity Access fund. We publish this number quarterly.
For Coaches

Coach the next generation. Get paid fairly.

Ascend Med is built by an MD-bound undergrad for MD students and admits who actually remember how brutal pre-med is. We keep prices low for students and share more revenue with our coaches than competitors do — that's how we grow. We're recruiting a small founding cohort right now.

  • $
    40% revenue share, paid monthly. Earn ~$32/student on Foundation, ~$52/student on Complete. Five active students puts you around $260/month — meaningful side income, not gig-app pennies.
  • ⏱
    2–4 hours/week, on your schedule. One 30-minute call per student per week, plus async messaging. Designed to fit around clinicals, classes, and study blocks.
  • ✦
    Founding Coach recognition. Named on the site, priority access to new features, and a real recommendation letter from leadership documenting your mentorship work — useful for residency applications.
  • ◎
    A real network of MD students & admits. Private Slack with the rest of the coaching team. Trade clinical stories, residency advice, and study resources with people who get it.
  • ⚙
    We handle the ops. Matching, scheduling, payments, billing, student support — all on us. You show up and coach.
Questions

Frequently asked questions.

Straight answers to the things students ask us most. If yours isn't here, mention it in your application and we'll respond personally.

Plans start at $79/month (Foundation), $129/month (Complete), or $299 for a 4-month semester bundle. That's roughly one-quarter of what other pre-med advising platforms charge. Every plan includes a 30-day free trial — no credit card required. We also fund full and partial fee waivers for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students; if cost is a barrier, request a waiver and we'll work with you.

Most students are matched within 7 days of submitting their application. We personally interview every coach and every student so matches actually fit — major, learning style, goals, and personality. You'll have a first call with your coach within two weeks, and from there you meet on a recurring cadence that works for both of you.

Ascend Med is built for any pre-med who isn't where they want to be. If you're a sophomore who hasn't started clinical hours, or a junior just starting MCAT prep, your coach will build a condensed roadmap that still gets you to a competitive application. We've designed the program to meet you where you are — not where a freshman starts.

Your coach evaluates where you're struggling — whether it's organic chemistry, CARS, or writing your personal statement — and assigns a tutor who's actually scored well in that area. Tutors are current med students or top-scoring pre-meds, and they report back to your coach so your weekly plan stays honest. You don't have to go hunting for help on your own.

A 30-minute check-in call with your coach, plus subject-specific tutoring sessions (1–3 per week depending on your schedule). Between sessions you follow a weekly task list your coach builds with you — study blocks, outreach to clinics or labs, application work. It's structured without being overwhelming, and it adjusts as exams, semesters, and life shift around.

Right now, yes. Ascend Med is purpose-built for students aiming at MD and DO programs — our coaches, tutors, roadmaps, and partnerships are all designed around the specific demands of medical school admissions. We may expand to adjacent health pathways (PA, nursing, dental) in the future, but for now we keep our focus narrow so we can do it really well.

Start your pre-med journey
with real guidance.

10 spots. One cohort. No more figuring it out alone.