August 2009 Accepted Odds 'N Ends: New Admissions Ebooks; Tantalizing Essay Tactics

New Website – New Features
Accepted.com’s been updated- Check out our newest additions:

In addition, we've provided several ways for you to ask questions directly to Accepted’s experienced staff. One-on-one admissions consulting is always the best way to get personalized, professional advice, but if you're not ready to make that investment or just have a quick general question, check out:

Whatever your question, Accepted.com can help you find the answer. And if you find anything a little out of whack, not in the right place, or just plain broken, please let us know.

Upcoming Webinar
Reapplying to business school? The 2010 Application season has begun, but this time, make sure you create a better sequel with Accepted.com’s FREE reapplicant webinar, Take 2 -Reapply Right to Business School. Join Linda Abraham on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 10:00 AM PST/1:00 PM EST/5:00 PM GMT as she outlines the key steps to create a winning reapplication. Don't miss out. -- register now!

MBA Roadmap to Bold and Brilliant Essays Webinar Online
We received great feedback from the nearly 300 people who attended the recent Roadmap to Bold & Brilliant MBA Essays webinar . If you missed the live event or simply want to review the information a second time, the recording is now online, together with the Best Practices Webinar from May. Feel free to tell your friends about it too.

New Ebooks
Get them now! These ebooks are hot off the press and our O&E readers are the first to know about them:

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Essay Tip

"Tantalizing Techniques"
I like to read biographies and personal profiles. (That's one of the reasons I like my work so much.) I recently finished reading Tom Brokaw's tribute, The Greatest Generation. He clearly has the journalist's ability to engage, and you can learn from his techniques when you sit down to write your personal statement. Here are a few that he uses most effectively:

Replace or support declarative statements with vivid details. For example, instead of saying that those who served during WW2 came from diverse backgrounds, Brokaw writes, "They left their ranches in Sully County, South Dakota, their jobs on the main street of Americus, Georgia, they gave up their place on the assembly lines in Detroit and in the ranks of Wall Street, they quit school or went from cap and gown directly into uniform."

Use numbers to emphasize magnitude. Brokaw wrote “the 442 Regimental Combat Unit would become the most heavily decorated single combat unit of its size in US Army History.” He also added “8 Presidential Distinguished Unit Citations and 18,143 individual decorations including one Medal of Honor, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars and 28 Oak Leaf Clusters in lieu of a second Silver Star, 4,000 Bronze Stars and 1,200 Oak leaf Clusters representing a second Bronze Star, and at least 9,486 Purple Hearts.” Note the power added by those stats -- far more compelling than stirring declarations about incomparable heroism.

Involve the senses to paint a portrait. In describing the conditions for an American POW held by Germany, Brokaw writes, “[I]t was the beginning of the long, cruel fight to survive, days of watching other inmates getting shot as they tried to escape, the same meals of watery cabbage or turnip soup, the cold nights with only a thin blanket for cover.” You can practically taste the lousy soup and feel the chill through the POW’s blanket.

Use these techniques as you write your personal statements and application essays to make your experiences come alive.

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