Account Settings

Ascend is a free, comprehensive platform designed to help pre-medical students organize and strengthen every part of their medical school application. It includes tools for tracking clinical and volunteer hours, building your personal statement, practicing interviews with an AI coach, researching target schools, and more.

Yes, Ascend is completely free to use. All core tools — including the AI interview coach, school matching, personal statement builder, experience tracking, and MCAT resources — are available at no cost. A Pro plan with advanced features is planned for the future.

Ascend was built by pre-medical students who understand the challenges of the application process firsthand. It’s a student-built, student-focused project created to make the path to medical school more organized and less overwhelming.

All your data is stored locally in your browser’s localStorage. Nothing is sent to external servers or databases — your information never leaves your device unless you choose to export it yourself.

Go to the “Data & Privacy” section above and click “Clear All Data” to permanently remove all saved entries, drafts, and preferences from your browser. This action cannot be undone, so consider exporting your data first.

Yes. Go to the “Data & Privacy” section and click “Export My Data.” This downloads a JSON file containing all your Ascend data — profile info, experience entries, drafts, and preferences — that you can save as a backup.

The AI Interview Coach simulates realistic medical school interview scenarios. It asks you questions, listens to your spoken responses via your microphone, and provides real-time feedback through Dr. Ascend’s AI-generated voice. You can select different interview types like MMI, traditional, and panel formats.

The Target Schools tool helps you build a balanced school list based on your stats, state residency, and preferences. It categorizes schools into reach, target, and safety tiers and provides secondary essay prompts so you can start drafting early.

The MCAT tools provide study planning frameworks, content review outlines, and practice strategies based on proven approaches from successful test-takers. While no tool can guarantee a specific score, the guidance reflects widely-accepted best practices and covers all four MCAT sections.

Try clearing your browser cache and cookies, disabling browser extensions, or switching to a different browser. Ascend works best on the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge. If you’re on a mobile device, try switching to desktop mode.

Make sure you’ve granted microphone permissions in your browser. Click the lock or site-info icon in the address bar and ensure “Microphone” is set to “Allow.” Also check your system’s microphone settings and verify no other application is using the mic at the same time.

Try refreshing the page first. If the issue persists, clear your browser’s localStorage for this site or try an incognito/private window. You can also report the specific error using the Bug Report form below so we can investigate and fix it.