Stephen C. Frederico is the founder of AdmitMD Consulting and a fourth-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he is applying into neurological surgery. He brings four years of firsthand experience as a full voting member on his medical school's admissions committee, having interviewed and evaluated a large volume of applicants across both traditional MD and combined BS/MD programs. This experience gives him direct insight into how admissions decisions are actually made and what distinguishes strong applications from those that fall short.

 

Prior to founding AdmitMD, Stephen worked with several large, established admissions and education consulting firms. Through this work, he saw firsthand the limitations of volume-driven advising and formulaic guidance that often fails to reflect how competitive admissions decisions are made in practice. He founded AdmitMD to offer a more transparent, individualized, and experience-driven approach grounded in real admissions committee insight rather than generic strategies.

 

At AdmitMD, Stephen advises students across all stages of the medical school application process, including long-term planning, school selection, personal statement and secondary essay development, interview preparation, and application strategy for competitive MD and BS/MD pathways. His advising philosophy emphasizes clarity, intentionality, and honest self-representation, helping applicants develop cohesive narratives that reflect informed motivation, growth, and readiness for medicine.

 

Alongside his clinical training, Stephen has an extensive background in academic medicine and research. His work focuses on brain tumor immunotherapy and translational neuro-oncology, including investigations into immune-tumor interactions, therapeutic resistance, and combination treatment strategies in diffuse midline glioma. He has been awarded numerous prestigious research grants for his efforts from organizations such as the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA), and the Henry L. Hillman Foundation. 

 

He has conducted research across multiple institutions, including Harvard Medical School, where he completed a Master of Medical Science in Clinical Investigation, and continues to mentor students pursuing research-intensive pathways with a practical understanding of how scholarly work fits into competitive applications.

 

Beyond advising and research, Stephen is a professional speaker with the Folds of Honor Foundation, where he speaks nationally in support of military families and educational access. His speaking work reflects the same values that guide his advising: service, humility, and a commitment to helping others navigate complex systems with confidence.

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Through AdmitMD, Stephen has advised students who have earned acceptances to a wide range of highly selective U.S. medical schools, including institutions such as Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Yale, Northwestern, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Pittsburgh, among others. He remains closely involved with each applicant he works with, ensuring that strategy, writing, and positioning align with both the applicant’s goals and the realities of modern medical school admissions.