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Accepted.com
Odds 'N Ends
We have decided to publish this newsletter as a service to our clients and others who
register for it on our Web site. Accepted.com's Odds 'N Ends will bring you our
tip of the month, admissions information for grad, law, MBA, and medical school applicants,
and news about Accepted.com.
We also welcome contributions from readers. If you have comments, questions, or perhaps
an article idea, please e-mail our editor.
We cannot publish everything we receive, but we will try to respond to everyone. And as always,
we appreciate feedback.
Index
What's New at Accepted.com
Essay Tip of the Month
Resume Tip of the Month
MBA Admission News You Can Use
Grad Admission News You Can Use
Law Admission News You Can Use
Medical Admission News You Can Use
College Admission News You Can Use
Our Services
Profit from Accepted.com's Affiliate Program
Acceted.com is launching its new affiliate program this month. If you have a Web site or your business or your club has a Web site, you can earn valuable referral fees by linking to Accepted.com. Please visit http://www.accepted.com/affiliates/default.aspx to learn more
About.com Interviews Linda Abraham
Business Majors guide talks to "Business School Essay guru Linda Abraham" about b-school essays and the value of editors.
To read the interview, please visit http://businessmajors.about.com/library/weekly/aa012703a.htm.
Acceptances!
Those acceptances are rolling in! If Accepted.com played any role in your application process, whether as an informative Web site or advisor and editor, please let us know where you are admitted, how we helped you, AND how we can do better. Visit http://www.accepted.com/services/shareyoursuccess.aspx or e-mail acceptances@accepted.com. Alternatively, let your editor know how you fared.
Wait-listed?
Visit http://www.accepted.com/services for information on how Accepted.com can help you with your wait-list letters and strategy.
Dinged?
If you received the skinny envelope and would like feedback and suggestions for next year, please visit http://www.accepted.com/services.
Should You Apply Late?
A thin layer of dust now covers the applications you requested in August. At the time, you were committed to sending them off in October. Three months seemed ample time to fill in a few forms. But as you flipped through the pages and saw the multiple portions of the application - resume, letters of recommendation, essays - the process began to seem too daunting, and the pristine brochures were put aside to face more pressing and immediate concerns. Now that February has arrived, it seems worthless to apply - we've all heard about the decline in acceptance rates as the application process hurtles towards final deadlines. Why waste your time and money in applying now when your chances of acceptance are so dismal?
The best reason: The chances of acceptance are higher if you apply than if you don't.
In addition, while you might prefer to put off the pain of applying until next year, there are four reasons to apply late in the application season to your top one or two choices - even if you assume you will be waitlisted or rejected!
- Working on one application with your Accepted.com editor enables you to assess your qualifications and determine which experiences demonstrate your abilities and uniqueness well. You can take your time with this one application and use the material and anecdotes that you write about now in applying to a broader range of schools next year.
- Many schools, especially MBA programs, provide feedback on your application, granting you insight into what they thought was lacking this year and how you can boost your chances of acceptance next year.
- Third, as a re-applicant your chances of acceptance rise above first-time applicants for many schools (MBA applicants: see statistics on BW Online and speak to your Accepted.com editor about which schools are most receptive to re-applicants). Being rejected this year positions you to re-apply next year, in most cases with a significantly shorter application and a higher probability of acceptance.
- Finally, applying to only one or two schools this year enables you to effectively transmit your interest in and knowledge of these programs. Talk to current students and alumni about the program and find out why it particularly fits your needs, visit the program now while it is in session, and honestly let them know that you are applying only to their program - a sign of commitment that schools relish!
By Jennifer Bloom
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume Writers
How to Include Independent Work on Your Resume
Whether as a brief stint between "regular" jobs, or as an important career phase, working as an independent contractor is growing more common. Perhaps you have expertise in an in-demand profession and consult in that field, even if you are not a consultant. Perhaps you are a consultant for large businesses and consult for start-ups on your own. Other professions and fields that lend themselves to independent work include accountants, lawyers and legal assistants, teachers and tutors, programmers and other IT specialists, marketers.
How do you best present this type of work on your resume?
- If it is your sole employment for a given time period, include it in your overall chronological employment. Give the dates for the period as you do for other employment, and write a relevant title for your employment and job description, e.g., "Independent Marketing Consultant." Then, in the first bullet point, describe the consulting in general; for example, "Consulted for retailers in the New York metropolitan area on developing, implementing and improving Internet marketing strategies." Then follow that with bullet points giving specific projects and accomplishments from the independent work. In doing so, follow the general "good resume" rules: be specific, quantify.
- If you did independent work alongside your regular job, there are several options, depending on how important the independent work is to your presentation and to your potential employers. If it is very relevant and substantive, one option is to use the same approach as above, but clarify that you did this work part-time, so that the overlapping dates do not confuse the reader. Alternatively, you can divide your employment into two categories, such as "Professional Experience - Employment" and "Professional Experience - Independent." In that case, it is still important to indicate the work is part-time, to avoid confusion over dates. If the work is not that important or relevant, but you want it on the resume, you can include it as a bullet point in the "Additional Information" section.
By Cindy Tokumitsu,
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume Writers
Upcoming MBA Chats
Feb. 3: Applicants with Linda Abraham and Accepted.com staff
Feb. 10: Wait-list Strategies with Linda Abraham and Accepted.com staff
Both chats will take place at 6:00 PM Pacific/9:00 PM Eastern at http://www.accepted.com/chat. To confirm the time in your locale, please visit http://www.timeanddate.com.
New Chat Transcripts
The INSEAD chat on January 15 was Accepted.com's first chat with a non-U.S. school. And it was a great one. The INSEAD reps, including Admissions Manger Johanna Hellborg, discussed INSEAD'S intense program, multi-cultural focus, and entrepreneurial spirit. To view the transcripts, please visit http://www.accepted.com/chat/transcripts/2003/mba01152003.aspx.
The Marshall chat on January 20 was also a ground-breaker -- USC's first chat at Accepted.com -- and it too revealed much about Marshall's international focus, entrepreneurship, and strong alumni network. For more information, please visit http://www.accepted.com/chat/transcripts/2003/mba01202003.aspx.
Harvard Plans Internships for Unemployed Grads
The Harvard Crimson reports that HBS plans to provide ten unemployed 2003 graduates with one-year internships at salaries of approximately $90,000 annually. Since HBS regularly hires recent b-school grads, this decision means that it has decided to earmark ten spots for its own graduates.
Ethics requirement?
The AACSB, business schools' accrediting board, is deciding how to respond to harsh criticism of the nation's MBA programs resulting from last year's slew of scandals. The organization is expected to approve a proposal that would encourage schools to develop codes of ethical conduct for MBA students, faculty members, and school administrators. But many b-school profs feel the proposal does not go far enough. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, approximately 120 professors signed a letter requesting that the association require all MBAs to take at least one course in ethics.
Grad Admissions News You Can Use
Harvard Helps Grad Students
According to CNN, Harvard University recently announced a financial aid program to assist graduate students planning to enter less lucrative fields in public service. With this program, students pursuing public service careers and studying at schools such as the Kennedy School of Government, the School of Public Health, and the School of Education will be eligible for a low-interest loan program and $14 million in grants. Foreign students will be eligible for the loan program.
LSAC Expands Web Services
LSAC is planning to expand its Web-based services for 2003-04 applicants. LSAC will deliver many documents via an online account or e-mail. For example, starting with the June 2003 LSAT, test-takers with online accounts will print out their test tickets and will receive score reports via e-mail. Applicants will access other materials also via their secure online account. Forum attendees will have the option of pre-registering online.
For more information, please visit http://www.lsac.org/.
MCAT 2003
AAMC, the friendly folks who administer the MCAT exam, have an informative Web site full of tips and information about the critical MCAT exam, which will be administered in 2003 on April 26 and August 16. For more information, please visit http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/start.htm.
Most Popular Fields for Undergrads
The Chronicle cites the report from Issues in Science and Technology that says top students are leaving the sciences and engineering to pursue more lucrative careers in business and other fields. Between 1992 and 2000 the number of college seniors planning graduate studies in mathematics fell by 19% and in engineering by 25%. The study's authors blame low pay and lengthy training for the declines.
Ironically, this seemingly "bad news" may represent opportunity for those of you interested in mathematical and scientific careers.
For more information, please visit http://www.cpst.org/.
Parents: Keep Your Cool
USA Today published an article this month written by MIT's Dean of Admissions, Marilee Jones. The article presents numerous cases of parents taking over their child's application process and "going over the top" in misplaced efforts to help their child.
According to Jones, "Ultimately, when parents dominate in any way through the admissions process, in attracting attention to themselves, they are detracting from the perception that their child is a young, mature adult ready to leave the nest."
Parents, your role in this process is as an advisor, sounding board, and guide, and possibly a source of funds. If you are taking responsibility for filling out the forms, getting information, or writing the essays, you are doing too much. Keep your cool. Hold yourself back. And let your child grow into a happy, confident, competent adult.
For the article, please visit http://www.usatoday.com.
Writing a personal statement is a tough challenge. A former client, an NBC journalist with over twenty years of experience in the field, once said that his personal statement "was the toughest thing I ever had to write." He sought our help. Shouldn't you?
Accepted.com's editors are here to help you write your best essays - eloquent, compelling essays that distinguish you from the competition and transform you from a transcript and test score into a competitive applicant and unique individual.
Check us out. Complete information on our services can be found in our catalog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at http://www.accepted.com/services/generalinquiry.aspx.
We look forward to serving you.
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 The difference between my solo essay attempts and my essays written with Catherine's editing expertise was at best sobering, at worst scary. Without Catherine's assistance, my applications would have been a waste of time. "
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