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Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends
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What's New at Accepted.com |
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Early Bird Special
2005 MBA and JD applicants: Purchase essay or letter of recommendation
packages by July 31, 2004 and save 10% on your purchases. For details,
please visit the
MBA and
JD services pages.
New, Great Grad School Article
We posted a riveting, new article by Accepted.com editor
Sonia Michaels:
"Writing About Goals." The guts of any statement of purpose are your
goals. Plain and simple. This article teaches you how to present them in
a compelling way that highlights your achievements and reasons for grad
school.
Blog Plug
If you want the latest admissions news, articles, tips and scintillating
gossip - well not much of the latter - visit my blog AKA the
Accepted
Admissions Almanac. A few June entries: the latest on the changes in
GMAT volume, the oldest medical student, a new law school campus for
Penn State U, how to handle feedback sessions. And the list goes on and
on.
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Essay Tip |
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The Most Important Element in Your Application
During a recent teleseminar, I was asked to rank test score,
GPA, experience, etc. by order of importance in admissions
decisions. I ranked them, but after the seminar ended I kept
thinking of situations in which the order I gave would have been
wrong.
I realized that any attempt to rank elements of an application
for all applicants is flawed, even for law and medical school,
which are the most numbers-driven of the major admissions
categories. Why? No element always outweighs all others. No
score, essay, GPA, or experience will guarantee your admission
at top schools. On the other hand, many scores, GPAs,
experiences, and essays virtually guarantee rejection, certainly
at top schools.
But there is at least a partial answer to the question I was
posed: The most important element of your application is the
weakest one. It can cause your rejection. It can keep you out.
It is the factor that the rest of your application must
overcome.
For example, when we moved into our current home, Laurie, the
daughter of a new neighbor had just applied to medical school.
Her mother confided one winter day that Laurie -- with a
mid-30's MCAT, a similarly dazzling GPA at an Ivy League
college, and truckloads of research experience -- had only been
waitlisted at several schools. Her impressive stats had not
earned her an acceptance at even one of the top medical schools
to which she had applied. I asked about clinical or volunteer
experience, and her mother said that Laurie hadn't had the time.
Lack of clinical exposure was the Achilles heel of her
application. I encouraged Laurie to volunteer in a clinical
setting or shadow a physician and then inform the schools that
had wait-listed her of this new element in her experience. She
did, and when I ran into her mother again on a beautiful spring
morning walk, Laurie had been accepted at a leading medical
school.
Implication for you: Put your best foot forward. Trumpet loudly
and articulately your achievements and qualifications for your
program. But also take the time to eliminate or reduce the
impact of your weaknesses.
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Resume Tip |
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Executive Resumes, Part 1
Now that an MBA or J.D. is part of your career plan, it
might help to know what kind of resumes prospective employers
will expect from you when you begin applying for executive-level
positions. Much as the responsibilities of management trainees
differ substantially from those of vice presidents; so do the
principles that govern their resumes. To begin with, throw out
the rule about limiting your resume to only one or two pages. If
you've got 10 or more years of experience and are targeting
executive positions, 3 to 4 pages-that's 1,600 to 2,000 words-is
typical and expected.
Likewise, where brief, bulleted single-sentence accomplishments
were great when you were a junior or middle manager, the
decision to hire someone for a high six or seven-figure position
is a much weightier matter. Employers will want your resume to
provide more details about and context on your key decisions.
Instead of the telegraphed bullets of your first resumes, you'll
need longer, narrative-type paragraphs in which you detail
obstacles faced, alternatives considered, and key players
involved. As Donald Asher points out in his Bible of Executive
Resumes, these paragraphs are actually "business stories," so
everything you learned about omitting articles and sticking to
two lines per bullet is out the window. (Do, of course, tell
these stories as succinctly as possible.)
The tone of your resume will also change. Instead of the
dynamic, verb-oriented language of your early-career resume,
you'll adopt the more conversational, mature, and contextual
tone of the executive resume. Your accomplishments now sell you,
not your word choice. (Do, of course, vary your verbs and use
plenty of numbers.) Here's a passage from a typical executive
resume from John Lucht's excellent Rites of Passage: "My earlier
recommendation (in '91) that the company's consumer pet-health
lines be sold to generate cash for acquisition of young growth
companies was implemented while I was away ('92), and I helped
identify and purchase in '93 and '94 three small companies . .
."
Finally, executives are expected to bring more than good numbers
and business accomplishments. Your resume will therefore need
room for Community Service, Speaking Engagements, Publications,
and any other evidence of your well-rounded excellence.
We'll look at other key characteristics of executive resumes
next time.
Paul Bodine, Senior Editor
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Our Services
Many applicants struggle with their essays. Here is what one former client said
about his experience with an Accepted.com editor, Paul Bodine:
"After speaking with him on a conceptual level about my goals, I decided to
invest in the 8-essay
package which though expensive was worth every penny. I was impressed with
the essay outlines Paul provided following the interviews, which were thorough.
The outlines were very helpful in providing a strong structure for my own
writing. Paul was also meticulous in correcting each draft of my essays by
working first from the macro concepts and essay organization and then down to
the micro level and sentence structure. I was particularly impressed by his
ability to tie various concepts together, as well modifying essays exactly
enough to suit a related question from a different school . [Paul] often
surpassed my expectations with the rapidity of his stellar draft revisions. I
cannot express how instrumental Paul was in guiding me to complete the four
applications on time. I was interviewed at all four of the top ten US schools I
applied to and was accepted with a large scholarship at one school, and I am
still on the waitlist at two others. I could not have achieved this without
Paul's help. I am an English native speaker with a relatively modest amount of
writing experience. When people ask why I decided to use Paul I respond that he
guided me in adding color and definition to a blurry picture. I truly believe
that Paul helped the admissions officers, and even myself, see an accurate
portrayal of who I am. "
Wouldn't you like Paul or someone like Paul -- experienced in admissions and
skilled at "adding color and definition to blurry pictures" -- mentoring you?
Assisting you in the competitive, grueling admissions process?
Just
become an Accepted.com client. Check us out. Complete information on our
services, including prices, testimonials, and information about our top-notch professional
staff, can be found in our services catalog.
If you
have any questions please feel free to contact us at 310-815-9553 or via our Inquiry
Form.
We look forward to serving you.
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