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Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends
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What's New at Accepted.com |
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MBA Reapplicants: Create a Better Sequel
Don't miss the
MBA Reapplicant Teleseminar, Create a Better Sequel:
How to Reapply Right to Business School on June 10, 2004 at 5:00 PM
PT/8:00 PM ET.
We will cover:
- Improving your profile.
- Determining the right mix of schools for your
reapplication effort.
- Choosing the questions to ask during your
feedback sessions.
- Evaluating the feedback you receive.
- Ameliorating weaknesses.
- Focusing this year's essay(s).
- Moving forward: the role of your previous
application.
All those who register will also receive the transcript of the event.
If you can't attend the seminar, you can still sign up and receive the
transcript, or order the CD.
GMAT and B-school Application
Accepted.com is teaming up with ManhattanGMAT to bring you a special
90-minute intro to both the GMAT and the b-school application process on
Friday June 18 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM UT. Sign up today -
it's FREE!
Pre-Season Discount for future MBA's and JD's
2005 MBA and JD applicants, purchase essay or letter of recommendation
packages by July 31 and save 10%. For details, please visit the
MBA and
JD services pages.
AMCAS Magic Chat Transcript
Tips on writing the AMCAS essay. Discussion about the importance of the
MCAT and many other aspects of the medical school application process.
Blog
I'm blogging, sharing news, and pontificating. Come and visit for the
latest in admissions news and tips.
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Essay Tip |
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You Gotta Break the Rules -- Sometimes
In advising applicants, I am constantly confronted by rules:
rules of good writing, like "Every sentence has to have a
subject and verb," and rules of admission, such as "Never
express any doubts about why you are choosing
medicine/business/law."
The truth is that you should usually observe the rules of
good writing, but sometimes starting a sentence with a
conjunction (Don't tell my high school English teacher!) or even
using a fragment can emphasize a point in your writing.
Occasionally breaking these rules can add interest to your
personal statement or application essay.
Then there are those so-called admissions "rules." Many of them
are basically bunk, including the "damning doubt rule" cited
above. Utter nonsense. Evaluating the pros and cons of a
decision and even -- horror of horrors -- expressing doubt at
one point in time can simply show that you thoughtfully analyzed
your career decision from multiple perspectives and considered
different options.
Here's another one: "Never use quotations in your personal
statement." Hogwash. A well-chosen quote in a given essay can
say pithily what you would have taken paragraphs to express
verbosely.
And a final bit of witless wisdom: "Don't
waste the reader's time opening your essay with an anecdotal
lead or rhetorical question." Why don't you just start your
essay with a lullaby! The readers are human beings who will
respond to an engaging opening. If you really connect with the
reader, you will succeed in having him or her read your essay
out of interest as opposed to obligation, a wonderful outcome.
It's an outcome that can't occur if your essay is the twentieth
that day to start, "I was born in." or "I want to be a fire
chief because."
The rules of breaking rules:
- Know the admission rules that have
validity and merit. Don't break them.
- Break the rules of good writing
occasionally and with discretion.
For feedback on whether you have broken the right rules
effectively, consider using
Accepted.com's Review and Editing
Services.
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Resume Tip |
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Strengthen Your Resume for Grad School Applications
MBA, law school, and other grad school applicants are in the
last stretch before the new application season begins. Thus, it
is time to critique your resume, not just for its style and
presentation, but for its content. There is still time to
enhance the content by pursuing specific experiences that will
round out or deepen your positioning. For medical school
applicants, while your application season is now underway,
similar efforts can enhance your interviews and, for later
applicants, the application itself.
First - soon, like yesterday - pull up your resume and
critically examine the message that emerges in the context of
your target program. Look for two things in that context:
- Any gaps or weaknesses
- Areas that you might be able to strengthen.
After you identify items for (1) and (2) above, look for
concrete steps you can take in the brief time before your
applications to address them. Perhaps you can ask to work on a
specific project, or perform a new analysis for your department,
or improve a process. It is likely that if you start projects,
courses, or volunteer initiatives in the relevant time frame,
you may not be able to finish them. If you can't say in your
resume, "Achieved net $1.5M in cost savings through
implementation of proposed technology," you can still say,
"Proposed, organized, and enlisted support of communications
director to begin technology implementation projected to save
$1.5M over two years."
Whether or not you include non-work items on your resume, do not
overlook this area: for an applicant to law, MBA, or medical
school, some community involvement is always better than none,
and more is always better than less. If you're already involved,
seek out a leadership role on a project; if you're not yet
involved, find a program you support and volunteer now! If you
don't put it on you resume, you can still note such activity on
the application form.
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume Writers
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| Wrap Up
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Forward This Issue
Please forward this issue to friends interested in graduate school admission. They will thank you and so will we!
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