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•  Mock MBA interviews and MBA interview coaching: Practice makes perfect with Accepted.com's experienced interviewers.
•  MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs: Get this month's featured ebook at 20% off through November 30th.
•  MBA Interview Prep Course: Put your best foot forward after taking our free, 5-day, email course.
• Accepted's MBA Interview Feedback Database: See what the others are saying -- already sporting new interview reports from this year's interviews!
•  It's a 10! Contest: Provide your interview feedback and you'll be automatically eligible for valuable prizes! 

• 2009 MIT Sloan MBA Application Questions with Angel Navedo
• 2009 Consortium MBA Application Strategies with Jackie Olden
• 2009 Cornell Johnson MBA Admissions with Randall Sawyer
• 2009 MIT Sloan MBA Admissions with Jennifer Burke Barba
• 2009 UCLA Anderson MBA Admissions with Mae Shores

• Nov 5th Wharton Interview Insights with Judith Hodara
• Nov 10th Northwestern Kellogg Admissions with Beth Flye
• Nov 19th Consortium Career Chat with Jackie Olden  
• Nov 24th MIT Military Chat with Barry Reckley 
• Nov. 24th MIT LGBT Chat with Deirdre Kane

• Accepted MBA Admissions Round Up
• Good News for Premeds: Fewer Applicants and More Slots
• Harvard Law on the Rise
• Getting Closer to Your Material: "This is a story about…."
• Free Money for College

Picky Pet Peeves
While writers make an infinite number of errors, I am revealing my four pet peeves.

1. Jerky jumps. Yes, new paragraphs mean a new subject, but the reader should clearly see how the new paragraph relates to the preceding one.  Transitions gently carry your readers from one subject to the next and prevent them from leaping over logical chasms in your writing. Use them.
2. Unreferenced pronouns. Now you see it. Now you don't. See what? What did "it" refer to?  If you are using "this," "that," or "it" as pronouns, a noun must precede and define the pronoun. A nebulous concept or different part of speech doesn't suffice.
3. Flabby writing. Use of the passive voice, reliance on tired clichés, and dependence on the "to be" verb bloat your writing. Although not technically incorrect, they shatter flow and devastate your style.
   
4. Words that mean everything and say nothing. If you spoke to my youngest daughter when she was in her mid-teens (she has improved slightly with maturity), you would think that "like" is a word to replace all verbs. She used it constantly when she was too rushed or lazy to think of a verb - which was often.  For other lazy bones, the all-purpose word is "go" or "get." Whatever it is, it's gotta' go.  English is a language rich with precise, colorful, varied verbs. Take advantage of them to enrich your writing.

• The resume can free up space in your essays. By summarizing your experience, responsibilities, and achievements in the resume, you don't have to worry about cramming every noteworthy item into your essays or sketching out your career path. Rather, you can be very selective and detailed in the experiences you do elaborate on in the essays. These two components, the essays and the resume, should complement each other rather than being redundant. When they do, they sharpen your message and give both depth and breadth to your application.
• Be consistent in your resume and essays: refer to companies, job titles, departments, technologies, and other items in the same way in both pieces. Not only does this prevent confusion, it also heightens the unity and coherence of the overall application.
• Review your essays and determine whether there are particular skills, abilities, talents, or experience that you should reinforce. Then use your resume to do so. For example, if your verbal score was low, presumably you demonstrated your verbal skills in your essays. Use the resume to further strengthen the impression of strong verbal skills.
• Your goals anchor your application essays and statements of purpose; everything you write should directly or indirectly relate to them. So should the resume. In selecting the experiences and accomplishments to highlight, give the resume a slant that reflects your goals.