2007 has been a year of spectacular growth for Accepted. Let's review:

• Accepted added three editors to the staff. Michelle Stockman and Robbie Walker have proven themselves to be excellent and popular editors. Judy Gruen rejoined the Accepted team. Her clients and I am delighted to have her back.
  
• Accepted continued its series of MBA and medical school chats. In addition to hosting valued, old friends, like  Wharton, MIT, Columbia, London Business School, Haas, Michigan, USC, INSEAD, Tepper, Cornell, and the Consortium, we hosted new schools including Kellogg,  Yale SOM, and Fuqua. We will be hosting additional new schools (Notre Dame and Emory) in January.
  
• We have started work on improvements and additions to the B-School Zones. 
• We published two new ebooks this year:
• The Techie`s Guide to MBA Admissions
• MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs MBA Interview Questions and Tips
• We produced 5 new, free email courses.
• MBA Application Essays: Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid
• Grad School Statement of Purpose: Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid
• College Personal Statements: Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid
• Law School Personal Statement: Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid
• Med School Application Essays: Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid
• MBA Interview Prep Course.
• And we have others coming down the pike.
• We hosted our first MBA admissions teleseminars. They were extremely well-received. We plan to offer them again for MBAs applying in 2009 and expand them to pre-meds this year. Stay tuned.
  
• We added questions to the MBA Interview Feedback Database.
• I became president of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), which opened its doors in May. We now have just over 40 members, a blog, a quarterly newsletter and a Google group. We have held our first elections, expanded our board, and will shortly begin planning our first event. It's been exciting!
  
• We are hosting our second annual Beautiful B-School Photo Contest. Frankly, the response has been disappointing, but that means opportunity for all of you.  Your chances of winning any of the 3 Amazon gift certificates (up to $200) are excellent at this moment.
• More initiatives are in the works for next year. Keep checking this blog.
  

It all adds up to Accepted's best year ever! Thank you first and foremost to our clients and customers for your patronage. Thanks also to all the Acceptees, who use and participate at Accepted.com, making it one of the most valuable admissions sites on the web. Finally, last but not least, thank you to our outstanding staff of seasoned editors -- skilled wordsmiths, published authors, and experienced admissions professionals -- who help applicants achieve their dreams.

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year! 

 

Notre Dame 2008 MBA Deadlines

Preferred Deadline
Completed application received by January 15, 2008
Decision sent by February 15, 2008

Third Deadline*
Completed application received by March 15, 2008
Decision sent by April 15, 2008

Final 1 Year Deadline*
Completed application received by April 6, 2008
Decision sent by May 6, 2008

Final 2 Year Deadline**
Completed application received by May 1, 2008
Decision sent by June 1, 2008

*Applications completed or received after March 15 will be considered on a space-available basis.

*Applications completed or received after March 15 will be considered on a space available basis.

**The May 1 deadline is for two-year applicants only and applicants will be evaluated on a space available basis.

Notre Dame Mendoza 2008 MBA Essay Questions

My comments are in red. 

Your responses to the essay questions are extremely important in the selection process. Please use separate sheets of paper for each essay question and include your name on each sheet. Your essays should be typed and double-spaced.

Each essay should be no longer than 2 double-spaced pages each.

Please complete the following essay.

What are your career plans immediately after graduation? Explain how your past experiences prepare you for your desired position. What are your long-term career aspirations?

Translation: What are you short-term and long-term goals? How have your past experiences prepared you for your short-term goal?

Note: This question does not ask "Why Notre Dame?"  You do not need to explicitly answer that question, but the excellent response to this question will reflect Notre Dame's four dimensions of leadership: An integrated mind, broad perspective, heart (a guiding set of core values), and tenacity (the role of communication, motivation and mobilization). In addition, the long-term objective will be much more plausible if it stems naturally from the short-term one.

_______________________________________________________________________

Additionally, please complete any two of the following five essay questions.

Choose the two that will allow you to best present yourself as a multi-dimensional human being who shares Notre Dame's focus on ethical general management. 

1. Each MBA student at the University of Notre Dame is given the opportunity to contribute to the MBA community. What will you bring to Notre Dame and the MBA family?

Do your homework on Notre Dame. Where will you participate? Where will you contribute? Will it be student government? Professional clubs? Extra-curricular activities? Family activities? Your intended areas of activity should relate both to what you have done in the past and what you intend to do in the future.  

2. What inspires you outside of your work environment?

What do you like to do when you are not at work? Do you participate in your church? Do you run? Belong to a band? Are you active in politics? 

3. How do you define leadership? Please give an example of someone you feel is a great leader and explain why.

"Leadership" claims many definitions and sub-categories. Connect your definition to a great leader either current or past. Again, keep in mind Notre Dame's focus on intergrated leadership and broad perspective guided by a strong sense of right and wrong when you are choosing your example and explaining why you believe he or she is a great leader.

4. Of which accomplishments are you most proud and why?

If your accomplishment shows the kind of leadership that Notre Dame is interested in, so much the better. If you demonstrate measurable impact, again, your essay and application will be that much stronger. 

5. Describe a failure or disappointing experience in your life. How did you react and what did you learn?

Don't fudge on this question. Write about a real failure or disappointment. You can use this essay to bring out another side of you, perhaps a teamwork experience or something that happened a few years ago. Frankly, your response to the situation is probably the most important part of the question.   Please see:

• Flaws Make Your Real
  

• Admissions Tip from Dr. Pausch's Last Lecture (Part 2)

  

   

A couple of articles about law school and young lawyers caught my eye last week.

• In "Advice for First-Years Seeking Summer Jobs" William A. Chamberlain, Assistant Dean of Law Career Strategy and Advancement at Northwestern University School of Law, cautions first-year law students against drowning the few top firms that hire a handful of first year associates with reams of resumes in the hopes of obtaining a prestigious, lucrative summer job. Chamberlain advises first-years to consider less lucrative, but highly valuable externships, clerkships, internships, and positions in legal clinics. As Chamberlain writes, "Plan for the summer financially as an extension of the first-year of law school. It may be hard to make a lot of money during the summer after first-year, but it is easy to learn and to get experience."
• There has been much specualtion in the legal press about first-year associate salaries at big law firms shattering the $200K mark. For some perspective on the significance of Williams & Connolly's setting first-year salaries at $180,000 annually (no bonus), please see "Large-Firm Associate Salaries Close In on $200K."

I recently stumbled across and reread Tom Peters' seminal article,  "The Brand Called You," which first appeared in Fast Company ten year ago. He argues, "We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You."

I realize that many of you are not in business, but most of you as applicants can and should apply Peters' lessons to the application process. After all, you are trying to market yourselves to the schools.

Let's examine three critical points in his article.

1. "What makes You different?"  You're not just another bio major applying to med school, software developer applying to b-school, political junkie applying to law school. There is something about each and every one of you that will break you out of the stereotype, shatter the mold, and reveal your individuality. What is it? In Peters' words, "What have you done lately -- this week -- to make yourself stand out? What would your colleagues or your customers say is your greatest and clearest strength? Your most noteworthy (as in, worthy of note) personal trait?"
2. "What's the pitch for You?" How is that distinctive element going to benefit your class, the school, your chosen profession, or society? Quoting Peters, "What do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, distinguished, distinctive value? ...Ask yourself: What do I do that I am most proud of? Most of all, forget about the standard rungs of progression you've climbed in your career up to now. Burn that damnable 'ladder' and ask yourself: What have I accomplished that I can unabashedly brag about?" If you want to increase that value, increase your visibility and impact by volunteering, taking on additional responsibility at work, or freelancing.
3. "What's the real power of You?" By "power" Peters means influence. When have you influenced others through your persuasiveness, leadership, charisma, or impressive contributions. That's real influence. Real power.

Best wishes for a Happy Holiday and Great New Year.