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Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends
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What's New at Accepted.com |
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The Finance
Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions Success - Second Edition
The updated version of The Finance Professional's Guide is now
available. In addition the powerful advice found in the first edition
for MBA applicants coming from financial analysis, investment banking,
venture capital, corporate finance, and private equity, the second
edition contains a complete set of Wharton's 2005 sample essays and a
separate tip section.
Chats
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December 7 |
10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM GMT |
International MBA Admissions |
Cambridge Judge
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HEC |
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IMD |
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Insead |
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London Business School |
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Oxford SAID |
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RSM |
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December 15 |
10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ |
Tuck |
Kristine Laca |
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6:00 PM GMT |
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Tuck students |
And of course, last
month's chats have generated must-read transcripts:
Michigan Ross
Chicago GSB
USC
Marshall
Acceptances!!!!
Acceptances are
starting to trickle 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 our
Share-Your-Success page or e-mail
acceptances@accepted.com .
Alternatively, let your editor know how you fared.
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Essay Tip |
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Distinctiveness: Byproduct or Goal?
"What makes you unique is not that you have had these
life-altering experiences, but rather how and why your
perspective has changed or been reinforced as a result of
those and other everyday experiences. That is a story that
only you can tell. If you concentrate your efforts on
telling us who you are, differentiation will occur
naturally; if your goal is to appear unique, you may achieve
the opposite effect."
So wrote Derek Bolton, Assistant Dean and Director of
Stanford GSB Admissions, in his most recent and excellent
monthly column, "The
Director's Corner," for Stanford's MBA Admissions
Newsletter.
I have read many application essays where the author aimed for
distinctiveness and failed miserably to achieve it, just as Mr.
Bolton says. These applicants usually wrote in clich�s, aimed to
impress, and hid their story, values, and personality behind a
fa�ade of imaginary "diversity." The authors of these essays
probably attempted to write what they thought the adcom wanted
to read - always a terrible mistake.
I have also read essays where the author aimed to tell his or
her story honestly and still blended into the mass of
applicants. Applying to professional schools, they felt they had
to focus exclusively on work or activities directly related to
their professional goals. Or they wrote on a superficial plain
and left out the details that would have made their essays and
personal statements unique. They ignored the role that
distinctiveness plays in the admissions process. Also a blunder.
Your challenge is manifold. As Mr. Bolton advises, applicants
need to tell their story with self-reflection and honesty. But
if you have lived 20+ years and have only several hundred words
to portray your life, you also have to choose which parts of
your story to tell. Are you going to discuss your Little League
experience? Your participation on your college's swim team? Your
work? Given that you have multiple ways to answer a question,
how should you choose which experiences to write about?
Answer: Highlight those experiences that are most important to
you and most distinctive about you.
If you have unusual experiences that answer the questions and
reflect what is important to you, write about them and their
impact on you. If your formative experiences are more common,
then distinctiveness will have to come from the details you
provide and from your insight into those experiences.
"Telling your story" is certainly necessary for writing a good
personal statement or application essay. If that's where the
advice ends, however, it is insufficient guidance. Uniqueness
and authenticity should be parallel goals as you draft your
essays and personal statements. In fact, ignoring
distinctiveness can be dangerous to the success of your
application. Furthermore the uniqueness of your application is
not strictly a by-product of sincerity. It reflects conscious
choices you must make as you tell your story.
For more advice on writing with distinctiveness and integrity:
"The
Devil is in the Details"
"What
if Somebody Doesn't Like My Cause?"
"The
Worst Question"
"Admissions:
Checklist of Mosaic"
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Resume Tip |
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Not Just a List: Employment References
The interview went well, and your interviewer asks you to
supply a few references for her to contact. You email them an
hour later. As you click "send" you think, "I hope that Jason
tells her about how I handled the management of the project when
he had to leave for a month unexpectedly."
You've selected your references carefully; they're part of
your positioning. But there's no reason why your positioning has
to end with that selection - you can take it further and
actually influence (though not control) the dialogue your
references and interviewer have about you. How? Instead of just
making a list of references with the contact information, you
can annotate the list. By doing so, you help both yourself and
your interviewer, for you will be providing her with a clearer
context for a productive discussion about you.
For each reference you should always provide all forms of
contact - address, phone number, and email - along with the
person's organization title. Don't forget to put "Mr." or "Ms.,"
especially if the reference's name is Terry or Shawn. To give a
more targeted and useful reference sheet, consider adding the
following for each reference:
- Time frame in which you and the reference have known
each other.
- Nature of the working relationship: you reported to
Karen Smith from when-to-when, or you and Karen Smith worked
on the same client engagement.
- Frequency of interaction: you and Karen Smith
communicated almost daily, and often traveled together to
visit prospective clients.
- Highlights of working relationship: Karen Smith
recommended your promotion to manager in August 2000, or
asked you to represent marketing on a cross-functional
product development team in July 2001.
- Special projects or achievements: Karen Smith mentored
you on your first trans-border due diligence assignment.
And don't forget to brief your references on the position
you're seeking - suggest what experiences, qualities, and/or
skills you would like them to highlight.
By selecting highlights carefully, you may well turn that
discussion about you in the direction you want it to go!
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume Writers
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| Wrap Up
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Our Services
"Paul, I have really great news.....I have been Accepted....I received a letter
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As I have already told you, I am delighted to say that was a really good
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