|
|
 |
Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends
In This Issue:
|
| |
|
What's New at Accepted.com |
| |
|
What's New at Accepted.com
Time
Marches
On
In fact, it seems to march at double time. It's hard enough to juggle
everything when you're standing still. Moving this fast, it gets even
harder to focus on essays and keep all those personal, professional,
and educational balls in the air. Especially when those application
deadlines seem to creep up out of nowhere. Those application deadlines
somehow manage to creep up mysteriously out of nowhere.
We want to help you, but please give us enough time to do so. Don't
wait until the last minute. Sign up today for Accepted.com
services or contact your editor ASAP.
Don't
Let Writing The College Application Essay Drive You And Your Family
Crazy
Accepted.com
editor Sheila Bender has written a wonderful ebook for college
applicants and their families. It outlines step by step how to write
the college application essays, and it lays out roles for the
applicant and their parents. The steps will help you write a
compelling, revealing essay and maintain peace in your household. So
whether you are a parent or the applicant, check out
Don't
Let Writing The College Application Essay Drive You And Your Family
Crazy. It's also our featured ebook this month and
20% off through Oct. 31.
Beautiful
B-School Photo Contest
I have long advocated school visits as a great way to learn
about a school, its culture, and its student life. They also provide
you with invaluable insights you can use to show your fit with the
program in your essays and interviews.
Now you can have even more fun while visiting, especially if
you're an amateur photographer yearning to be recognized for your
artistic brilliance -- or just your nice photo. Compete in the Beautiful
B-School Photo Contest for lots of prizes and a chance to show
your photo to the world!
For additional information and contest rules, please visit
the Beautiful
B-School Photo Contest Rules.
Judy
Koffler's Article in Los Angeles Daily Journal
Accepted.com editor Judith
Koffler published an article in the Los Angeles Daily Journal
entitled "As Law Firms Go Global, Demand for LL.M. Degrees
Mushrooms." In it, Judy highlights the explosive growth of LL.M.
programs in recent years and provides tips for LL.M. applicants. This
article is now available on Accepted.com as "Law
Schools Expand LL.M. Programs."
"It's
a 10!" is back
We are pleased to announce the return of our popular It's
a 10! contest. Every tenth MBA applicant who fills out an
interview feedback questionnaire will win a $10 Amazon gift
certificate. It's easy -- just fill out a questionnaire
after you interview with an MBA program and you're automatically
entered in our contest. For additional information and contest rules,
please visit our contest
details page.
And watch for
upgrades to the
MBA
Interview Feedback Database coming soon!
And
of course, last month's chats have generated must-read transcripts
Blog Posts of Interest
Back to top
|
| |
|
Essay Tip |
| |
Personal
Statement Myths
Personal Statement Myth #1: Personal statements are read by
machines.
'What?!' you're thinking. 'I know that's nonsense.
You're not telling me anything new!'
Unfortunately, many applicants write as if they think search
engines or electronic resume readers, hungry for key words, read their
personal statements. They write as if stuffing mantras into essays will
persuade the reader of their admissibility. After all, if enough
derivatives of 'lead' appear, shouldn't the reader conclude
they are leaders?
Sorry. It doesn't work like that. You have to show,
not tell, your reader that you're a leader. And you don't need to even
have the root 'lead' in your story to demonstrate leadership.
Watch how one fictional candidate expresses his successful leadership in
just a few short words: 'Despite some initial stumbling I
organized my teammates, set deadlines for sub-tasks, and rewarded
performance. My team completed our project 10% under budget and on
time.' An anecdotal story could also convey the same quality --
and probably do a better job. But whether you want to reveal
leadership, compassion, integrity, or analytical skills, use of these
terms doesn't convince anyone. Readers aren't machines and won't be
swayed by key word stuffing. You need to demonstrate those qualities.
Personal Statement Myth #2: The admissions committees are
judges awarding acceptances like prizes -- based on objective criteria
and merit.
Wrong. The admissions committees see themselves as professional
creators of classes. They're assembling classes with diversity of
perspectives, skills, and backgrounds - a symphony of voices, if you
will. The adcoms couldn't care less about rewarding you
for your past achievements. That's not their job. They will defend
to the death the concept that 'merit' and
'achievement' come in many shapes and are not exclusively
measured by test scores, grades, or even extra-curricular activities.
You may see the fat envelope as a prize, but they see you as a
potential tile in a mosaic that they are crafting. Are you going to add
a distinctive hue to the class picture or not?
Back to top
|
| |
|
Resume Tip |
| |
PAR in Your Resume
|
It sometimes goes by the fancy names
'PAR' or 'CAR' exercise (for Problem/Challenge--Action--Result),
but it's really a method for creating a compelling resume by
analyzing your achievements and expressing them as mini-stories
-- or 'treatments,' to use Hollywood lingo for the distinctive
summary of every movie. You, the hero of your resume, face down
a work-related dragon, and through your own traits, expertise,
or leadership create a happy ending that can be described in
concrete terms. As you inventory your accomplishments ask
yourself:
a) What was the obstacle, challenge, or
problem that you solved in this accomplishment? A tight client
deadline? A complex merger transaction? A new product launch
amidst fierce competition?
b) What did you do to rise to this
challenge? Motivate your team to work overtime? Sell senior
management on the deal's long-term upside? Identify a marketing
profile for your product that no competitor can match?
c) What facts demonstrate that your
intervention created a 'happy ending'? Your team submitted the
project deliverables a day early despite being 20% understaffed?
Your client approved the $500 million merger, the largest ever
in its industry? Your new product has 20% market share after
only one year?
Here's an example of a PAR-style resume
bullet:
-
Met client's 'emergency' ninety-day
turnaround deadline by creating software to automate processes,
calling in 'IOUs' to recruit help from peer teams, and
motivating teammates to work 12-hour days through incentive
system and team-building lunches. Client rewarded effort with
$250K follow-on contract.
Break down your accomplishments into
three-part mini-stories like this, and you'll have the raw
material for a compelling resume.
|
Back to top
|
|
|
|
| Wrap Up
|
|
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
our services page.
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
|
|
| |
|