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Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends
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What's New at Accepted.com |
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Price Increase Coming
We have had only one minor price increase in the last three years,
but we can't hold the line any more. On September 1, 2005 Accepted.com
will raise its rates. Please purchase before September 1 if you want to
pay current rates for our outstanding
admissions editing and advising.
Judith Koffler Joins Accepted.com
It gives me great pleasure to welcome Judith Koffler to
Accepted.com's staff. A talented writer and educator, Judy has taught at
numerous law schools around the country, including Harvard and Cornell,
served on law school admissions committees, and also taught in China as
a Fulbright Scholar. She is a wonderful addition to Accepted.com's
staff.
Sign up for chat reminders
Although most chats are announced in Odds 'N Ends, if you also want
to receive reminders immediately before the events, please subscribe to
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list(s) of your choice.
Blog posts
Medical School Secondary Essays
Personal Statement Tip: Invent First, and then Embellish!
MBA Admission: The Great Round 1/Round 2 Fight
I'm in the WSJ!
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Essay Tip |
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** UGH! THOSE @!#$* WORD LIMITS!!!
Now, now. Don't get angry. Deal. Use writing techniques that convey your
message and stay within the word limits. First and foremost, focus. For
advice on focusing your essay, please refer to "The
Essential Laser."
Additionally, poor writing habits can make your writing wordy and
flabby; good writing techniques make it powerful and concise. To give
your writing a healthy diet and exercise routine incorporate these
techniques:
1) Minimize use of the passive voice.
-Flabby: Experience A has been complemented by experience B. (8 words)
-Lean: Experience B complements experience A. (5 words)
2) Use active, descriptive verbs.
-Obese: I was the one who made the decision. (8 words)
-Slender: I decided. (2 words)
3) Minimize use of the verb "to be" (Please note that I did not say
"eliminate.")
-Plump: She is a skillful negotiator. (5 words)
-Slim: She negotiates skillfully. (3 words)
4) Check whether you need the verb preceding an infinitive.
-Fat: She was able to fix . (5 words)
-Trim: She fixed. (2 words)
These few techniques will put your writing in shape, help you stay
within those limits, and give you one less reason to curse your
applications.
This article is one of the tips provided in
Submit a Stellar
Application: 42 Terrific Tips to Help You Get Accepted. Look out
for this instantly downloadable ebook for the other 41 tips.
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Resume Tip |
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Proofreading Your Resume
After all the time and energy you've invested in preparing your
resume, don't skimp on the last step, proofreading. A minor
error may go unnoticed - or it may signify to the reader a lack
of professionalism and attention to detail. Moreover, because
resumes contain varied formatting elements, different types of
numbers, and unique spellings, they are especially challenging
to perfect.
Here are some tips for proofreading your resume effectively.
- Complete all the editing first. Do not proofread while
you're "finishing up" the last few changes. Make sure all
the content is completely set. Then start the proofreading
as a separate task, and give it your full attention.
- Try to leave some time between the last edit and
proofreading. It is too easy to "see" words, punctuation,
and graphic elements as you had previously envisioned them
if you have just recently worked on the editing.
- Do not rely on your spellchecker; read every word
carefully.
- Do not just look for errors. Check for consistency.
Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are not like mathematical
formulas. You make many choices in writing, e.g., "gray" or
"grey," "11-03" or "11/03," "10%" or "10 percent," "PhD" or
Ph.D." These are all correct, but if such matters are not
consistent in the resume they will be incorrect. For
example, if you use periods in titles such as M.D., B.A.,
etc., use them in every title. You also need to decide about
matters such as capitalization, use of commas in a sequence,
and different kinds of dashes. A resume is more likely to
have inconsistencies than actual errors.
- Formatting is an important factor in resumes. In
proofreading, also examine the graphic elements. These
elements include bullets, rules, boxes, line spacing,
margins, fonts, bold, indentation, and italics. These items
too must be consistent, for clarity as well as correctness.
- If you are customizing your resume, proofread the whole
new resume, not just the changes, because it's easy to
change a document on the computer in unintended ways.
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume Writers
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| Wrap Up
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Our Services
Writing a personal statement is a tough challenge. A former
client, an NBC journalist with over twenty years of experience
in the field, once said that his personal statement "was the
toughest thing I ever had to write." He sought our help.
Shouldn't you?
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
prices, testimonials, and information about our top-notch
professional staff, can be found at
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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.
**To subscribe to Odds 'N
Ends please visit http://www.accepted.com/newsletter/subscribe.aspx .
Copyright
Copyright 2004 Accepted.com. All Rights Reserved.
Please do not reprint or host on your web site without explicit permission.
However, if you found this newsletter helpful, we encourage you to e-mail it to
a friend or colleague. Thank you.
Information provided in this document
is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied,
including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose.
Accepted.com --
helping you write your best!
Application essay editing and advising
Resume
writing and editing
http://www.accepted.com
310-815-9553
info@accepted.com
Accepted.com
PO Box 67423
Los Angeles, CA 90067
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