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Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends
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What's New at Accepted.com |
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The South Asian Disaster
On behalf of Accepted.com's staff and editors, I want to convey
heartfelt condolences to those of you who have lost loved ones, friends,
and acquaintances or been hurt by the earthquake and tsunami. Our
prayers are with you and our efforts. I invite any who can offer funds,
however modest, for helping the people affected by this tragedy, to join
my husband and me in contributing to
organizations assisting victims.
Mark Your Calendars for These Chats
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January 10 |
10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ |
UNC Kenan-Flagler |
Sherry Wallace, MBA |
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6:00 PM GMT |
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Admissions Director |
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UNC MBA students |
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February 3 |
10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ |
London Business |
Admissions personnel |
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6:00 PM GMT |
School |
LBS students |
The chats take place
in the Accepted.com
chat room.
Lots of New Chat Transcripts
INSEAD
MBA Admissions with Johanna Hellborg
LBS MBA Admissions with David Simpson
RSM MBA Admissions with Suzanne Whyte
HEC MBA Admissions with Joshua Kobb
IMD MBA Admissions with Janet Shaner
Cambridge Judge MBA Admissions with Simon Learmount
Oxford Said MBA Admissions with Rachel Nickerson
Tuck MBA Admissions with Kristine Laca
The Accepted Admissions
Almanac
Don't forget to
visit my blog, the Accepted Admissions Almanac. Here is a sampling of
posts during the past month:
MBA Admissions Tip: HBS Essay #3
Ranking NY's Law Schools' Bar Pass Rates: Who's Best, Who's Worst?
MCAT Exam Around the Corner
You can subscribe
using any RSS-reader. My favorite is
Bloglines .
Deadlines Dead Ahead
Deadlines are here. We want to help you, but please give us
enough time to do so. Don't wait -- sign up today for Accepted.com
services or contact your editor about additional editing.
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Essay Tip |
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Substance and Distinction
In last month's tip, I discussed the importance of authenticity
and distinctiveness in your application essays. I want to focus
this month on how to write with those two qualities as your
goal.
Authenticity requires first and foremost thought,
self-reflection, and introspection. You have to know your
subject - you. So think about your challenges, achievements,
interests, failures, motivations, adventures, travels, hobbies,
leadership experiences, and teamwork. The details and images
associated with these activities help you focus on elements that
reveal what's important to you and distinctive about you.
Write anecdotally and demonstrate - don't claim - the qualities
that schools value. In writing about real life experiences and
events, you automatically describe experiences that are unique
to you. To strengthen your essays, highlight a few critical
details that will distinguish you.
When I give presentations I often illustrate the importance and
uniqueness of details with an experiment: I ask my audience
questions like these:
How many of you graduated from a good school?
How many of you have a hobby?
How many of you have volunteered or performed community
service?
How many of you have experience related to your educational
and professional goals?
Inevitably most people in the room raise their hands for each
question. Then I ask a second set of questions:
How many of you finished college on time while supporting
yourself throughout and ending up on the Dean's List for
every semester except the first two?
How many of you have volunteered at a camp for children with
life-threatening disease?
How many of you worked on a cross-functional team with 30
people from six different countries dealing with a corporate
restructuring/worked on a cutting-edge stroke research
project/interned for the RNC in Washington DC?
My specific queries vary depending on the audience, but the
results are always the same: When I ask detail-oriented
questions, fewer people can raise their hands. The specifics
separate, distinguish, and individualize them. Writing
distinctive essays requires that you avoid the general and
oh-so-superficial plane of common experience and dive into the
particular, the atypical, and the unique.
But there is still more to writing distinctively. All the above
questions focus on "Who, what, when, and where?" Most essay
questions also have a stated or implicit "Why?" Why is this
event important to you? Why should we know about it? Answering
these questions requires the self-reflection that I began with.
In answering it, avoid clich�s. Dig deep into yourself, and
write what the admissions committee really wants to read: Your
thoughtful analysis of this unique experience's significance to
you.
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Resume Tip |
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Resume Q&A - Those Questions that Seem Trivial but then Stop You
Cold
What should I do if the reader is not likely to know my
company/employer?
It's fine to add a descriptive sentence or phrase about the
organization; often this information provides a meaningful
context for the reader. If possible include a figure or other
specific information. E.g., "Established in 2001, XYZ Co. has
become the Philippines' leading merchant
credit company, with net revenue of $XXX per year." This
information should come right under or next to the company name.
What should I include in the non-work section?
It's never absolutely necessary to add this information, so if
space is an issue, give priority to the work experience.
Otherwise, add items that have some relevance to the skills and
attributes you will bring to the job and/or that demonstrate
community involvement. So it's good to mention if you are an
officer of a runner's club (it shows community involvement and
organizational skills), but you needn't put down your completed
marathons.
Should I include my non-academic training and courses?
Yes, if it is relevant to the job or to professional development
in general (e.g., time management, advanced spreadsheet,
beginning French), no if it's not (intermediate drawing, the
a-b-c's of opera appreciation, Thai cuisine).
How should I present my foreign language capabilities, and
what should I say about them?
If you know any foreign languages well enough to have some
practical use - at least simple conversation or reading very
basic documents such as instructions, magazines - you should
list that information on your resume, and note the level (e.g.,
basic conversation, advanced conversation, advanced reading and
conversation, fluent). If your skill is limited to textbook
dialogues, then leave it off the resume.
I've worked at the same organization for several years and
been promoted twice; should I just show my current title and
include all the accomplishments under that?
No, the story of your advancement is as important as the details
of your work. Show the date for the time you worked at the
organization overall on the same line as the organization, then
break out each position with the title and the dates you held
that title. Add relevant bullet points for each position, but
usually the older position(s) will have fewer bullets.
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume WritersBack to top |
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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
from the Admissions Office, offering a place in their Full-time MBA programme.
As I have already told you, I am delighted to say that was a really good
experience to work with Accepted.com, and [especially] with your attention and
professional essays."
Accepted.com's editors are here to help you write your best
essays -- eloquent, compelling essays that distinguish you from
the competition and transform you from a transcript and test
score into a competitive applicant and unique individual.
Check us out. Complete information on our services, including
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If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at
info@accepted.com or
310-815-9553.
We look forward to serving you.
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Information provided in this document
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| Price Increase Sept. 1
Buy now, save money and ace your applications.  | Great Application Essays for Business School
Guest: Paul Bodine, Author and Sr. Editor
Date: Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM GMT
Place: Chat Room
| BW Application Tips Chat
Guest: Paul Bodine, Accepted.com Senior Editor
Date: Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008
Time: 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM GMT
Place: Business Week Chat Room
| INSEAD Chat
Guest: Cassandra Pittman, INSEAD MBA Admissions Manager
Date: September 11, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM GMT
Place: Chat Room
| Wharton Chat
Guest: Jackie Zavitz, Sen. Dir. of Admissions
Wharton adcom. members
Date: September 15, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM GMT
Place: Chat Room
| Yale School of Management Chat
Guest: Bruce DelMonico, Dir. of Admissions
Date: September 25, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM GMT
Place: Chat Room
| MBA Mojo Contest
Do you have it?
Find out & win great prizes! | August O&E
Stand Out
Essays
Top 10
Resume mistakes
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|  "I just got the letter from [Michigan] yesterday and I did get accepted. A major reason for this success was the contributions you made and the input you had on my essays; I think they were the strongest part of my application."
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