Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends

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 in favor of more 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. Furthermore for MBA applicants, this year's decline in application volume may translate into more spots available to third round applicants.

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). If you are rejected this year, you can 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

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How to Select and Present Qualitative Achievements in Your Resume

The first rule of resume writing is to quantify achievements . However, numbers don't tell the whole picture, no matter what your line of work. Prospective employers, including numbers- and technology-focused ones such as investment banks and engineering firms, need to know that you can interact productively with others. Thus, it is important to "mine" your experience for concrete, specific achievements (as opposed to "excelled in teamwork") that demonstrate your strength in teamwork, interpersonal skills, and communication.

How do you identify and present such achievements? Start by looking in the following four areas for achievements that you can encapsulate in bullet form.

1. Feedback from peers and superiors. Be sure to use an actual quote - otherwise it will be too general. Capture the main phrase in a short bullet:
   • Although youngest on team by five years, praised by lab director as "most mature team player."
   • Described by manager to client's CIO as "most effective communicator with technical staff" among firm's strategy consultants.
2. Helping someone make a positive change. Employers know that the ability to positively influence others' lives is a core leadership quality.
   • Counseled colleague to pursue graduate work in HR; after taking courses colleague was promoted to manager and is initiating innovations that are expanding benefits coverage while saving $2M.
3. Handling conflicts. Have you helped warring parties come to terms?
   • Resolved conflict between senior editor and production manager over missed deadlines by leading focused discussions, resulting in new deadline-setting process and all later deadlines being met.
4. Bringing good people onto the team or convincing them to stay. Employers know that this type of achievement has a tremendous impact on an organization.
   • Convinced key accountant to remain with organization through peak period when he was recruited aggressively by competing practice.
   • Referred two interns, who have since joined firm and earned promotions within a year.

Let these suggestions spark your imagination as you re-examine your "people experience" for qualitative successes.

Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume Writers

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Best Practices for 2005 MBA Admissions
Are you aiming to start your MBA in Fall 2005? Then this teleseminar is for you. From the convenience of your home or office, you can:

• Discover what you can do NOW to improve your chances of acceptance.
• Get a competitive edge in the intense application process

On February 11, 2004 at 5:00 PM Pacific Time/6:00 PM Mountain/7:00 PM Central/8:00 PM Eastern/2:00 AM GMT I will present an informative teleseminar on improving your chances of acceptance next fall. Based on my ten years of experience as a successful MBA admissions consultant, I will reveal the critical steps you can take months before applications, brochures, and MBA marketing materials start piling up on your desk. This is going to be a practical, nuts-and-bolds presentation. Value packed and information laden. Don't miss out on this critical information. Attend Best Practices for 2005 MBA Admissions and acquire the head start this seminar can give you.

MBA Admissions Chats
Coming up:

• Indiana Kelley : On Thursday February 5, 2004 at 10:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern/ 6:00 PM GMT Jim Holmen, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid; Laurie Stearn, Sr. Assoc. Director of Graduate Career Services; Eunice Donovan, Assoc. Director of Graduate Career Services; Patti Cudney, second year Marketing major; Steve Netter, second year Finance major; and Rhasheda Nixon, second year Marketing major will take your questions about Kelley. Indiana has assembled a great team to represent its programs and provide you with the solid information you need to submit your best application to this highly ranked program.
• Wait-list Chat : On Tuesday February 17 at 6:00 PM Pacific/9:00 PM Eastern I will provide the Five Key Steps for Wait-listed Applicants. If you are not interested in changing your status from wait-listed to accepted, do not attend this chat. However, if you would love to attend the school(s) that waitlisted you, then you can't miss it. You need to know these five critical steps if you want to change your status from "Wait-listed" to Accepted.

Both chats take place at the Accepted.com chat room .

New chat transcripts now online:

• The joint chat for international applicants with Anderson, CMU, Cornell, Darden and Indiana covered general admissions issues as well as issues of specific interest to international applicants, like converting GPAs, internship and job opportunities for international students, and adjusting to life and school in the US.
• The chat with MIT dealt with a wide array of topics, including admissions, international applicant questions, opportunities to take classes outside of Sloan, etc., but interest in MIT's notification procedures dominated the discussion along with questions about its interview policies.

Business Schools & Corporate CEO's to Start Ethics Institute
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that faculty members at leading business schools will be teaming up with CEO's of some of America's largest companies in sponsoring a new ethics institute to be housed at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

The goal of the center, which is sponsored by the Business Roundtable, an association of CEO's, is to help restore public confidence in the marketplace in the wake of recent scandals. The institute, backed by $2.7 million from the business group, will conduct research, create courses, and lead executive seminars on business ethics. It will also provide a forum for exchanging and nurturing ideas on the best ways to teach ethics to students and business leaders.

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Early LSAT Registration

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) has announced that it is no longer necessary to wait for the new registration book in order to process the majority of test registrations for the upcoming year, since around 90% of test registrations are done online. Future test takers are now able to register on LSAC's website for the February, June, October and December, 2004 and February, 2005 LSAT administrations. 

The website also mentions that the fees and policies in effect for the current testing year will remain in effect for the upcoming February administration. Any new fees or policies will apply starting with the June test each year.

To access the full text of the announcement, visit the LSAC website .

Applications and Admissions at Yale's Law School
The Yale Daily News reports that while a few Yale Law School applicants have already been accepted, many will not find out their fate until at least March or April. Yale last year boasted an acceptance rate of only approximately 7%.

Yale Law School Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Megan Barnett said that each of the approximately 4,000 applications that Law School officials expect to receive this year will be read "cover to cover" and that only about 20-25% of these would be selected for the next stage of the admissions process, a review by three randomly selected faculty members.

Marc Silverman (Yale class of '03, Yale Law class of '06) said that applying to the Law School last year was "nerve-racking." The school did not inform some applicants if they had been accepted until June, he said. "Yale Law School more than any other is a gamble, no matter what your credentials look like," Silverman added. "No matter how qualified you are there's an element of randomness to it because of the three reviewers."

With respect to this randomness, Barnett noted that each of the more than 60 faculty members who review applications has a different perspective on what the most important qualities in an applicant are, resulting in a unique appraisal for each application. She added that an ideal candidate for Law School admission is a good student who is fun to teach, possesses intellectual curiosity, and demonstrates leadership potential. She recommended that undergraduates interested in applying to law schools develop relationships with their professors, pursue their academic interests as undergraduates, and treat law school admissions personnel with respect.

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Women Are Underrepresented in Sciences at Top Research Universities
A study has found that women account for only a very small proportion of the scientists, mathematicians and engineers working at the nation's top research universities, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The study, which was financed by the Ford and Guggenheim Foundations, found that male faculty members outnumbered their female counterparts even in the few scientific disciplines where women earned more Ph.D.'s than men.

"In most science disciplines, qualified female candidates exist, but they are not being hired," concluded the report. Additionally the report notes that female students need role models to be successful and that "when female professors are not hired, treated fairly and retained, female students perceive that they will be treated similarly.this dissuades them from persisting in that discipline."

Jocelyn Samuels, vice president for education and employment at the National Women's Law Center reacted to the study's findings, saying that "this study illustrates that there is a lot of work to do to meet the goals we all thought we had adopted by enactment of antidiscrimination laws three and four decades ago."

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The Results are in on Early Admission 

The Wall Street Journal reports that as top colleges change their early admissions policies, acceptance rates are beginning to shift.

A version of an early admissions policy known as "early decision" has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years.  Students who apply "early decision" are required to attend if accepted, a rule that critics argue puts too much pressure on applicants and favors more privileged students who can afford not to wait to compare financial-aid offers from different schools.

Recently, while Yale and Stanford have decided to relax their rules, Harvard has shifted to using the opposite tactic, resulting in the same "Single-Choice Early Action" policy now being applied at all three schools, as can be seen in the table below. The heightened appeal of Stanford and Yale's new policies has also resulted in fewer early applications to some schools that haven't changed their policies at all, such as Princeton, Georgetown, MIT and the University of Chicago. The ramifications of all this are now playing out in the mailboxes of this year's crop of "early decision" applicants, the first to apply since the recent round of rule changes.

Getting an Early Look

*Early decision requires applicants to attend if they are accepted; Single-choice early action lets applicants only apply to one school early, but doesn't force them to attend that school if accepted; Early action comes with no strings attached.

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