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Picky Pet Peeves
Last month we covered "Proofing Your Prose" on a macro level.  And this month, guess what? We're going to look at that picky micro level.  While writers make an infinite number of errors, I am revealing my four pet peeves.

1. Jerky jumps. Yes, new paragraphs mean a new subject, but the reader should clearly see how the new paragraph relates to the preceding one.  Transitions gently carry your reader from one subject to the next and prevent them from leaping over logical chasms in your writing. Use them.
2. Unreferenced pronouns. Now you see it. Now you don't. See what? What did "it" refer to?  If you are using "this," "that," or "it" as pronouns, a noun must precede and define the pronoun. A nebulous concept or different part of speech doesn't suffice.
3. Flabby writing . Use of the passive voice, relying on tired clich�s, and dependence on the "to be" verb are just a few of the high-calorie writing habits that bloat writing. They may not be technically incorrect, but they shatter flow and devastate your style.
4. Words that mean everything and say nothing. If you listen to my fifteen-year-old daughter, you would think that "like" is a word to replace all verbs. She uses it constantly when she's too rushed or lazy to think of a verb - which is quite often.  For other lazy bones, the all-purpose word is "go" or "get." Whatever it is, it's gotta' go.  English is a language rich with precise, colorful, varied verbs. Take advantage of them to enrich your writing.

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The Contrarian Resume

Sounding like everyone else in your business school essays is the surest way to convince adcoms that your application belongs in the ding pile.  In contrast, a distinctive approach in your essays (if not overdone) can make all the difference. Why should your resume be any different? Such is the thrust of Jeffrey J. Fox's refreshing Don't Send a Resume: And Other Contrarian Rules to Help Land a Great Job (Hyperion Books). Applying the principles of successful salesmanship to the job-hunting game, Fox offers some against-the-grain rules that just may help your resume stand out and win you a job offer:

• Find ways to get your resume past the initial HR screeners who try to winnow the resume pile by rejecting everyone whose skills don't perfectly match the job description. Get it into the hands of the hirers, who primarily look for "talent," whether it precisely fits the job or not.
• Targeting your resume by tailoring it to the employer's needs. But don't target your job search so much that you unnecessarily limit the firms you send resumes to. Look for companies where you can add value-regardless of their industry.
• Employers often view resumes skeptically-as exaggerated and inaccurate. Overcome the resume's credibility gap by sending a "resu-letter"-i.e., a letter that communicates the relevant highlights of your resume but in the more neutral or believable format of the business letter.
• Tailor your resume to the biggest problem that your target employer needs solved. If Company A's biggest management issue is high costs, send them a resume that highlights your specific successes in trimming costs.
• Don't send your resume to get an interview; line up the interview through other means and use the resume to "close the deal" after the interview.
• Drop the objective line and summary-the former addresses what you want rather than what matters (what the employer wants), and the latter is usually full of the kind of vague self-puffery ("dynamic, results-oriented") that employers instinctively react against.

For other useful "contrarian" job-hunting strategies read Don't Send a Resume .

Paul Bodine is a Senior Editor at Accepted.com.

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Old World MBA Discount
If you live in Europe, Asia, or Africa and want to improve your chances of acceptance or perhaps apply to a dream school where you didn't think you had a prayer, now's your opportunity. You can consult with our experienced admissions professionals or have your essays edited by our seasoned English-language editors at this special Old World MBA Discount rate. Buy now from the Old World and save up to 15% on all Accepted.com services.

Thanksgiving Special
The American Thanksgiving holiday is this month and, in its honor, Accepted.com is offering you $100 off our Buy-7-Get-1 free essay packages. Sign up for a Buy-7-Get-1-Free Package Special by Nov. 30 and take an additional $100 off the price! Don't delay. Offer ends November 30.

MBA Admissions Chats
We have had four great MBA admissions chats this month with Michigan, NYU, Chicago, and the University of Texas. While the chats had plenty of school-specific information, I took away from all of them greater recruiter optimism than I have heard for at least three years. Discover the gems in the transcripts on our Transcript Index page.

Better yet, attend some of the upcoming chats that Accepted.com is hosting this month:

Cornell
Guest:  Natalie Grinblatt, Director of Admissions; Ann Richards, Director of Financial Aid and Associate Director of Admissions; Cathy Dove, Associate Dean, MBA Program; Dick Shafer, Associate Dean, Corporate Relations; and four Cornell students.
Date:  November 5

CMU
Guest:  Laurie Stewart, Director of Admissions; Dr. Ken Keeley, Executive Director of Career Opportunities Center; and a student.
Date:  November 10

MIT Sloan
Guest:  Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions; Jon McLaughlin, Assistant Director of MBA Admissions; and MIT students.
Date:  November 20

All the chats take place in our chat room at 6:00 PM Pacific Time/9:00 PM Eastern Time on the indicated dates.  To find the time in your location, please visit http://www.timeanddate.com .

On deck:  USC, UCLA, and others. To learn about future chats, visit our chat schedule page or click here to be added to our MBA chat announcement list.

MBAdiversity.com Encourages Business Professionals From All Backgrounds
Mbadiversity.com aims to assist minority MBAs.  This new website was launched with the help of top business schools, alliances, and companies in order to help cultivate a competitive minority applicant pool and to create a sense of unity among all races, nationalities, genders, and creeds.

The site's creators envision it to be a one-stop portal:

• For prospective students to prepare for the GMAT, learn how to write compelling essays, develop application strategies, and research scholarship/fellowship information.
• For current students to network in a forum, obtain assistance in their job/intern search, and feel a sense of unity by following the journey of other current minority students.
• For Business Schools and Companies to utilize the site as a means to promote their institutions, recruit talented minorities, and understand the true meaning of diversity.

BusinessWeek Online's Executive MBA Rankings Are Out
This year, for the first time, BusinessWeek has split its executive education rankings into open enrollment programs (open to participants from a variety of companies) and custom programs (designed specifically for one company). Below are the best in both, according to a global survey of corporate managers and human resource executives.

The AMSA Foundation Continues To Enhance Diversity
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest independent medical student organization, has announced that the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, and Division of Medicine and Dentistry have awarded the AMSA Foundation a $2 million contract for the continued development of leadership and diversity in health professions training.

The contract will fund the "Achieving Diversity in Dentistry and Medicine" project (ADDM), which will offer innovative projects for students to address growing diversity issues, including the development and implementation of cultural competency and ethno-geriatric curricula in medical and dental schools, an annual primary care leadership training program, and the development and implementation of a plan to increase student involvement in community health centers and educate underrepresented minority youth on future health careers.

For more information, visit the AMSA website at: www.amsa.org .

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Great Chat Transcript Online
Catherine Cook, Accepted.com editor and former member of the Duke Law Admissions Committee, answered question from an animated group of law school applicants. The chat covered topics like personal statements and addendums, reach and safety schools, work experience, and community service, plus lots more. Take a look at the transcript .

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New Website Offers Computer-based Test Preparation for Exams
ComputerBasedTest.com has developed software, called EnglishMaster�, that helps students prepare efficiently for the TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT computer-based tests, develop their test strategies comprehensively, and improve their scores quickly. In addition to selling test preparation software, the site also provides tips, insights, and summaries.

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New College Guide
The Unofficial, Biased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges by Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili provides valuable insight into the many four-year college options available to a high school graduate. The authors strive to understand the differences among the many different colleges. It is a valuable way to begin your college research, but don't be fooled. Like most "Guides," it is superficial. You need to go well beyond The Guide in your research.

Chapel Hill Says It Will Meet Financial-Aid Needs of Low-Income Students with Grants, Not Loans
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has announced plans to replace loans with grants for needy students, making it the first public university in the country to follow a strategy that several elite private institutions, including Harvard and Princeton, have adopted in the last few years. Of note, the new policy will be extended to out-of-state students as well.

Under the program, next fall Chapel Hill will begin to eliminate loans from each low-income student's financial-aid package as long as the student works on campus 10-12 hours a week. Funds from the Federal Work-Study program, along with institutional aid, will pay for what had been covered by student loans.

UC to Probe Its Admissions Policies
The Los Angeles Times reports that hundreds of students have been admitted to the University of California's Berkeley campus with sub-par SAT scores. Consequently, the University of California will be launching a comprehensive analysis of admissions at its eight undergraduate campuses.

According to the data collected by the UC Berkeley admissions office, nearly 400 students with scores of 600 to 1000 on the SAT entrance exam (out of a possible 1600) were accepted for enrollment at the campus in 2002. Those scores were far below the average of 1337 for that year's admitted class. Additionally, more than 600 applicants with SAT scores of 1500 or higher were not admitted, along with 2,500 others with scores in the 1400 to 1500 range.

In defending their actions, Berkeley officials said that while many applicants scored high on the SAT, they were not admitted because they had low grade point averages, withdrew their applications, applied for an extraordinarily competitive major, or were residents of other states, for whom standards are higher. Most significantly, they stressed that the SAT is by no means the sole criterion, or even the most important one, in admissions officials' judgment of a student's academic record, and that personal achievements also are taken into account.

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