Victor Cheng, is now a strategic adviser and consultant to owners of mid-size business with $1M – $25M in sales and a speaker and expert on business issues. That’s his day job.

When he’s not working at his day job, he advises applicants to McKinsey & Company and other elite strategy consulting firms how to join those firms. And it’s in this capacity that Linda invited him to Admissions Straight Talk. Listen to the full recording to hear Victor’s insider advice and insights.

00:02:01 – Why is a podcast about admissions worrying about post-graduation careers?

00:02:30 – Meet Victor Cheng, Author of Case Interview Secrets, and former McKinsey consultant, resume screener, and interviewer.

00:03:33 – Caseinterview.com beta: Victor’s senior year of college. What a story!

00:06:06 – Linda shares a bit of her own story. ☺

00:07:04 –3 changes in how McKinsey selects candidates.

00:09:56 – If you don’t like case interviews, you probably won’t like consulting. Really.

00:12:55 – The qualities and/or skills that make for a good consultant. (What qualifies you at age 25 to advise a Fortune500 CEO at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars a year!?)

00:16:56 – IQ and EQ. Equal factors?

00:18:47 – Victor’s advice for liberal arts graduates who’d like to break into management consulting. Poets, this discussion is for you.

00:21:32 – The best of the best: Consulting firms are less focused on an applicant’s academic preparation and more concerned about a mindset and “mental horsepower.”

00:23:20 – What is the difference between the skill sets that the top consulting firms are looking for. Or is there a difference?

00:24:22 – How to project confidence without arrogance, and other great advice on self-confidence in a case interview.

00:29:46 – Check out Case Interview Secrets. Learn what to do and why to do it.

 Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk in iTunes to keep up with the latest in admissions news and trends! You know you want to give us a 5-star rating!

Stitcher fans, we’ve got good news! Admissions Straight Talk is now available on Stitcher! Check it our here. 

*Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com.

Show Note Links:

• MBA In Sight: Focus on Management Consulting, Accepted’s free guide to b-schools for management consultant wannabes.
• Recent articles related to management consulting
• Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng
• Case Interview.com

Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk:

• Admissions Straight Talk on iTunes
• Admissions Straight Talk on Stitcher

Coming next: A conversation with the director of the Entrepreneurship Initiative at Georgetown University

This post is part of a series of monthly blog posts designed for members of the high school class of 2014, and excerpted from Preparing for College in High School: A To-Do List for Eleventh Graders.  It highlights planning steps that you can take now to make your college application process easier and more effective.

Summer break is just around the corner and with the break from the traditional school schedule, you might want to consider spending your summer working. Colleges are looking to see that you have spent your summer in a productive manner and there are many ways to demonstrate that. As you consider what to do with your summer, here are some things to consider:

• Why should you have a job? Yes, the regular paycheck is a big incentive. If you are responsible for a portion of your college costs or just your own spending money, the earning opportunity can be an asset on its own. If you are working in a traditional teen position in retail, service jobs, or as a camp counselor, you can learn a lot about both leading and following others, independence, and initiative. You may find that you have a great boss and co-workers, or you might find the opposite.

• Can you explore a career interest? If you are an aspiring lawyer or potential politician, look to people you know in the field to find a related summer experience. Your first opportunity might not be a paid one, but the experience can help you focus your career and lead to more responsibility down the road. Some careers, including fields such as veterinary medicine, architecture, physical therapy, specifically look for students who have demonstrated background in the area prior to entering their degree program.

As you plan your summer of hard work and earned relaxation, think about the lessons you’re learning. In addition to a paycheck, an interesting experience, or new insight into a potential career, you might also have the basis of one of your essays.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

Never post any comments or pictures that you wouldn’t want everyone in the world to see.

When Kaplan Test Prep released the results of its survey of business school admissions officers, revealing that 32% of business school admissions officers performed internet searches on applicants, 27% visited an applicant’s social media (Facebook, Myspace, etc.) page, and 10% had found something online that negatively impacted an applicant’s admission chances, applicants around the world collectively shuddered. Not only do we have to consider every comma and turn of phrase in the applications themselves, now we have to worry about what we may have posted online in the past as well?! YES! Here are a few tips to consider when using Facebook given these stark statistics.

1. Make sure that your Facebook profile is for Friends only (and not open to Friends of Friends or Everyone), and also remember to check that you’ve selected this option for every picture that you post.

2. As a general rule, never post any comments or pictures that you wouldn’t want everyone in the world to see. That way no one of your closest 1300 friends who is offended by your post can simply take a screenshot of it for global dissemination. Think very hard before using Facebook as a forum to comment on a political matter, your satisfaction with your job, your affinity for a particular teacher or supervisor, etc. Go through now and delete any questionable posts.

3. Even if your Facebook profile is private and viewable only to Friends, you need to keep in mind that some things are viewable by anyone on Facebook: all of the data you’ve entered in Basic Information, the names of Groups you’re a member of, the pages you’ve Liked, all of the pictures you’ve saved as Profile or Cover Photos, and any pictures or comments you’ve posted to an open group. Be conservative in your Group memberships and contributions to open groups, and delete any cover or profile photos that you don’t want in your application file.

 Jennifer Bloom has been successfully helping applicants demonstrate their readiness for the top MBA programs around the world for 14 years. 

You have 2 more days (TODAY and TOMORROW) to celebrate Linda’s birthday and save 50% on all Accepted.com books! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to stock up on the books that will help you get accepted to b-school, law school, med school, grad school, or college! (P.S. Linda’s book, MBA Admission for Smarties, is included in the sale!) To receive your discount, just enter SAVE50 at checkout through Saturaday, May 11th, 2013.

Happy shopping!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Hi everyone! It’s me, Linda Abraham, CEO and founder of Accepted.com, and today is my birthday.

For me, birthdays are a time to appreciate life and the people around me who have contributed to making my life special. It’s also a time to celebrate, and I’d like to do that with you by offering you 50% off Accepted.com’s entire stock of books and ebooks!

For 5 days only (Monday, May 6 – Saturday, May 11), you can use coupon code SAVE50 at checkout to save big on all our admissions books.

Visit our bookstore now!

Happy birthday to me and happy shopping to you!

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

How Much Do College Grads Make?

The National Association of Colleges and Employers just released a report on the starting salaries of college graduates.

Here are some highlights from the April 2013 report:

• Business majors had an average starting salary increase of 7.1%, from $50,633 in 2012 to $54,234 in 2013. The specific majors that saw particularly high increases were finance, international business, and hospitality services management.
• Communication majors saw an increase of 3.8%, from $41,550 to $43,145.
• Students who majored in computer science-related fields saw starting salary increases of 4.3%, from $57,529 last year to $59,977 this year.
• The five industries this year that showed the highest number of new graduate entrants were: Educational Services (455,400 new entrants), Professional Scientific and Technical Services (307,900 new entrants), Healthcare and Social Assistance (274,300 new entrants), Federal, State, and Local Government (203,500 new entrants), and Finance and Insurance (100,200 new entrants).
• Top paying industries for 2013 new entrants are: Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction ($84,182 average starting salary), Management of Companies and Enterprises ($56,955), Construction ($56,837), Manufacturing ($55,084), and Finance and Insurance ($52,875).

You can read a summary of the report for free here: NACE Salary Survey April 2013 Executive Summary.







Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

It’s been an interesting few weeks.

Starting with the day of the Boston Marathon a little over two weeks ago, I have seen and heard amazing stories of resilience and fortitude. And no, I was not in or even near Boston. As a city, it has demonstrated those qualities, and those injured in the bombing and grieving for lost loved ones will need even more strength in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Coincidentally that night I went to see the movie, No Place on Earth. It is a documentary narrated by the people who lived it: six elderly Holocaust survivors who hid in a cave for over a year and a half. Actors act out the scenes. The elderly people, who have since lived seemingly normal lives, raised children, and enjoyed the privilege of seeing grandchildren and in some cases great–grandchildren, relate an amazing story of fortitude and resilience brilliantly presented in this outstanding movie.

Then two weeks later, I traveled with my 83-year-old mother, herself a Holocaust survivor, and attended the 20th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Here we again heard stories of courage and heroism as the conference honored survivors, veterans who liberated Europe, and rescuers who saved the persecuted. We heard from Nobel laureate, Elie Wiesel, President Bill Clinton, aged veterans, survivors, and rescuers. Most of the honorees are in their 80’s and 90’s. Almost all were accompanied by their children and grandchildren. The younger generations’ attendance evidenced their elders’ resilience – their ability to move forward and rebuild their lives.

Former Buchenwald prisoner, Elie Wiesel, represented the survivors and spoke movingly of how he and 400+ orphans freed from that hell on earth and sent to a children’s home in France after World War II, should have been emotional cripples. All 400+ became doctors, lawyers, teachers, tradespeople, rabbis, leaders, businesspeople, and writers. Despite the scars, they moved on. Despite the pain, they picked up the pieces of their lives. Refusing to be victims, they became survivors.

Similarly the Stermer family from No Place on Earth emerged from their cave, literally dusted themselves off (layers of dirt), and began their lives anew. They moved to the U.S. and Canada, built businesses, and had families. They moved on.

On some level the people of Boston demonstrated that same strength after their week of horror as they resumed their lives.

From the depths of my heart I hope that none of you have been tested in the way that those whose lives were torn apart by World War II were tested, but I know that’s not true. Some of you have been persecuted. Some of you are vets. Some are heroes. Your ability to recover despite the pain or the scars defines the difference between a tragic victim and a resilient survivor.

For the rest of you — the lucky ones who haven’t endured the horrors of war or genocide, lived in a cave for a year and a half, or been under lock-down in a city in the grip of a murderous terror attack – you too can demonstrate that endurance.

What does resilience mean for applicants leading blessed lives with more pedestrian challenges, frustrations, and aggravations and having to answer questions either in an essay or interview about failure, setbacks, or mistakes? It means showing through examples that you have the ability to come back, learn, and move forward. It means that after your leg, broken in a skiing accident, heals, you return to the slopes. It means that after your first “patient” dies, you continue with your plans to be a doctor. It means that after your start-up fails, you resolve to get an MBA so that you can successfully manage your next business.

When asked about failures, setbacks, and mistakes, you just have to show that you have the strength and courage to deal with events within and beyond your control, to recover from disappointment and failure, and to pick yourself up, hopefully learn from the experience, and yes, move on. That’s resilience.








By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

Oh, and if you don’t want to wait for the monthly posts, please download Preparing for College in High School: A To-Do List for Eleventh Graders. It’s all there.

Your high school path suddenly takes a detour. Your grades, which had been steady and consistent, take a nosedive. Perhaps it’s due to illness, personal or family issues, or a learning disability that eventually made itself clear. As you move forward into the summer before your senior year, it is time to consider whether or not this impacts the colleges you plan on applying to.

For most students, the answer is yes. Sometimes, the circumstances change your mind about how far you would like to be from home. In other cases, illness or other family issues have a financial impact that necessitates finding financial safety schools, or looking first to a nearby community college for a period of time. If your challenges impacted your GPA or course selection, then that also may impact the schools you choose to apply to.

Yes, you will have opportunities to explain your circumstances, and many times, you will be met with
a sympathetic reader on the other side of your application. Sympathy, however, does not guarantee
admission. Be prepared to discuss your situation. You can do this through your essay, an additional
statement, your guidance counselor recommendation, or, in some cases, a personal interview on campus with an admission counselor. In most situations, the admissions staff will be evaluating your response to the challenge. Did you overcome adversity? What did you learn from the situation? Is the college going to be able to meet any future needs you might have?

In most cases, it is to your benefit to discuss any aberrations or weaknesses in your academic
performance. The keys are incorporating your challenges into your college search and then finding the
appropriate avenue to explain your record.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The playlist was created based on a Stanford study that shows that certain types of music engage different areas of the brain and can improve skills such as paying attention, making predictions, and memory.

Check out Wash U’s blog post on Spotify Playlist here.

An Attention Enhancing Study Playlist provided by @WashULaw, an online LL.M Degree

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

To ease the reader’s eye strain, the font should not be smaller than 10 pt.

I suggest that applicants for Fall 2014 entry begin assembling materials for their applications now –  five months in advance of the first fall deadlines. One of the ideal documents to begin now is a resume, something that any professional should always have updated and at the ready. Here are some tips on starting the ideal admissions-worthy resume.

First, you need to know how far back in time to detail in this document. As a general rule, if you are applying to graduate school and have at least two years of work experience, your high school activities should not be included in your resume. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, if you won a prestigious national award in high school, you may certainly consider including this important recognition.

Other general rules for the resume:

• There should be no more than four bullet points beneath each position.
• Each bullet point should ideally be no more than two lines long.
• To ease the reader’s eye strain, the font should not be smaller than 10 pt.
• Margins should be as close to one inch all around as possible – I, personally, will not reduce them lower than 0.7 inches.

With these rules in mind, how should applicants to the top international programs focus the resume on their most relevant and compelling experiences? Limit the number of bullet points describing your early entry-level roles and instead expand the space dedicated to those in which you made the most impact.

For instance, if you were promoted from an entry-level programming position with your company, then you don’t even need to dedicate a separate line to describe that first role. Instead, you can simply impress the reader by describing the fast pace of promotion in a line of the job description, like this:

Team Lead, IT Consulting Company                    2010-Present

Twice promoted from Analyst (2010-2011) to Senior Analyst (2011) and then Team Lead in record 12 months, a full 4 times faster than the average rate of promotion.

What if one position has allowed you significant leadership opportunities and impact? Or what if you have been in your current role for several years? How can you detail all that you have accomplished in just four bullet points? The trick is to break that down into sections, like this for example:

Private Equity Associate, PE Firm                         2011-Present

Lines of job description here…

Leadership Accomplishments Include:

• First point
• Second point
• Third point
• Fourth point

Financial Impacts Include:

• First point
• Second point
• Third point
• Fourth point

Keep in mind that the majority – if not all – of those bullet points should include quantifiable impact that you had on the organization. Breaking up a bulk of text with numbers and section headings makes the entire document more compelling.

Finally, to ensure that your document is easy to read and keeps the admissions officer’s attention, you need to include ample white space. To add some white space above each position in Microsoft Word, highlight the title line of each row (hold the Ctrl button down as you click to keep them all highlighted), then click on Format, Paragraph, then in the Spacing Before box try at least 4 pt. (if you have more space left on the page at the end you can go to 6 pt.). Do the same Ctrl highlighting for the bullet points throughout the document and try 2 pt. or 3 pt. spacing before each of those lines.

Check out this pdf file (viewable in Adobe Reader) to see the difference this little formatting trick can make.

Jennifer Bloom is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and is available now to create an easy-to-read document that highlights your exceptionality. Creating this document now will help you see where you need to generate more content – i.e., take more action – before the fall deadlines .

A small, but pivotal step that is oft-overlooked

So you’ve planned what you want to write in your college application essay. You’ve brainstormed the best examples and personal highlights that will showcase who you are, and convince the Admissions Officer that you are the perfect fit for their school. You’ve thought about how you will sequence your story, starting with the most compelling vignette to draw the reader in, and ending with a strong statement on how you will make a positive impact in the student body and the wider community.

Now for a small, but pivotal step that is oft-overlooked: thoroughly proofreading your essay. You don’t want your chances jeopardized by a spelling error or the accidental repetition of a word.

As part of my work at automated online proofreader Grammarly, I spend a significant chunk of my time researching – both offline and online – how people write. I’ve noticed that all writers, no matter how skilled, are united by one common denominator. They all succumb at some point to the dreaded typo.

Here are three tips that will help ensure your college application essay is in perfect form when you send it off to the college(s) of your dreams.

1. Check for context.

For most of you, social media short forms like IMHO and ICYMI are probably part of your everyday vernacular. And you and your friends likely pepper your conversations with references that you all understand and can joke about. But extend your conversation wider, and you’ll notice that even the commonly-used “LOL” may not mean the same thing to everyone. Not convinced? Check out this clip from The Ellen Show and see for yourself!

So, back to your essay. Make sure you have one or two people who are not in your circle of friends or from your generation read through your essay. Their job is to check that you haven’t inadvertently made any cultural or social references that may not be widely understood.

2. Like a good driver, always check your blind spots.

Remember your driving instructor saying time and again to make sure that the road was clear and safe before moving off?

Same goes for your essay. To push the driving metaphor one step further, your regular word processor is a bit like your rearview and side mirrors. You can rely on it to spot mistakes 80% of the time, but not for the other 20%. So make sure you get a relative or a friend to cast their eyes over your essay to offer a fresh perspective. Or run your essay through an online proofreader like Grammarly to help with those blind spots.

3. Use plain English.

George Orwell, in his powerful 1946 essay titled “Politics and the English Language” said, “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.”

In other words, if you feel connected to the subject matter, the words will flow, and you won’t need to resort to embellishments. And using plain English means less room for mistakes.

So remember, the aim of your essay isn’t to impress Admissions Officers with the extent of your vocabulary. It is to convince them that you are the right fit for their school. And regardless of the content of your essay, good grammar and error-free, accurate writing will give your essay an edge over shoddier pieces of work.

All the best, and good luck with your essay!

By Nikolas Baron of Grammarly.

The Winner. Once Again.

Businessweek released their 2013 rankings of the best undergraduate business programs. And here are the results…

2013 Top 20 Undergraduate Business Programs (2012 rank in parentheses)

1. Notre Dame Mendoza (1)
2. UVA McIntire (2)
3. Cornell Dyson (3)
4. Washington Olin (8)
5. UPenn Wharton (4)
6. Boston College Carroll (9)
7. Emory Goizueta (5)
8. Michigan Ross (7)
9. Texas McCombs (17)
10. UNC Kenan-Flagler (10)
11. UC Berkeley Haas (11)
12. Brigham Young Marriott (21)
13. Indiana Kelley (16)
14. NYU Stern (12)
15. Villanova (13)
16. Georgetown McDonough (14)
17. U. of Richmond Robins (15)
18. Wake Forest (19)
19. MIT Sloan (6)
20. Bentley (29)

As you can see, while the top three remained unchanged, there were also quite a few big jumpers this year. Texas McCombs jumped from 17th place to 9th; Brigham Young Marriott from 21st to 12th; Bentley from 29th to 20th; and MIT Sloan from 6th place to 19th – the biggest drop on the list.

For more info on the BW rankings (and on rankings in general), please see:

•   FAQ: How We Ranked the Schools
•   Notre Dame’s Mendoza Takes No. 1 Ranking, Again (ranking lead article)
•   MBA Rankings: What You Need to Know (free Accepted.com special report)

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Don’t allow the colleges’ admission decisions to define you.

Accepted’s college admissions expert, Whitney Bruce, responds to Suzy Lee Weiss’s Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, “To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me.”

When I work with high achieving students, as I presume Suzy Lee Weiss to be, we talk about failure. To the straight-A, student leader, it’s often a foreign concept in 11th grade. Such students have worked hard and been justly rewarded for their intelligence and their efforts. When I worked in college admissions, I used to visit Taylor Allderdice High School; the school has many such motivated and talented students.

For these students, March can indeed be the cruelest month. The low acceptance rates to many of the most selective colleges are staggering. As a counselor, I’m finding it harder and harder to identify great colleges for my students who have everything going for them, but as Ms. Weiss essentially admits, don’t walk on water. They’ve excelled in the classroom and made a difference in their community. But in the age of increasing applications, there are simply too many of them, capable of succeeding on these highly sought after campuses for most to receive an offer of admission.

As awful as it seems, when faced with fewer options than one might hope, especially in comparison to peers, it’s important to put the disappointment behind you. For a day or two, cry, groan, and complain to your parents about what might have been. Then look to the future.

The college you choose to attend this month will become your home for the next four years and an affiliation for a lifetime. Six months ago, this college received your application because you, the student, felt like it was a good fit. It still is. Embrace your college choices, order the sweatshirt, and be proud of all you have accomplished in high school.

Don’t allow the colleges’ admission decisions to define you. Define yourself.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

I made a quick college visit last week. I hadn’t been on this particular campus since my own college tour decades ago. The sun wasn’t shining, the trees hadn’t yet sprouted leaves; the only sign of spring was a few crocuses near the campus rock.

As a group, with parents and prospective students, we shuffled along on our campus tour, our student guides pointing to academic buildings and sharing historical anecdotes. Parents peppered them with questions about SAT scores. After an hour and a half, I had seen the outsides of some buildings, the inside of the student center and the door of a classroom. Despite the excellent experiences some of my students have had on this campus, I completed the tour and wasn’t sure that I had a handle on exactly what set this campus apart.

Eventually, I found myself on public transportation, headed away from campus. Across from me sat
a current freshman, headed to the art museum for one of her classes. For thirty minutes, she happily
answered my questions about her college experience. Yes, her classes are small, the social life is enjoyable and her professors engaging and forward-thinking. She’s found the academics challenging, and frankly, the students more competitive with one another than she initially thought they would be.

When I got off the train, I had a much clearer picture of the college I had just spent the morning visiting. As you begin to visit colleges, I can’t stress enough the importance of breaking away from the
admissions office and the campus tour. The tour and information session are a thorough introduction
to the university, but to get a better sense of the student experience (and of course not every student’s
experience is typical), step outside. Find a student in the cafeteria or in line at the coffee shop, or
arrange to meet with a student who graduated from your high school who’s currently at your target
college. Talk to them and gain greater insight.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Show the adcoms that you’ve got the skills and the tools needed to give back.

Schools want to see that the applicants will actively participate in and contribute to their student bodies and alumni communities, not to mention the greater community and society. Yet grandiose, declarative statements and promises to be a superlative do-gooder are unpersuasive.

So how is an applicant to show what he or she will do in the future? Point to the past. Most admission committees are firm believers that past behavior reveals abilities and interests and is a good predictor of the future.

Here are four tips to help you relay the message that you plan on achieving greatness by contributing to your school/community/world-at-large, by highlighting your impressive past.

1. Share the story of past achievements and quantify if possible the impact you had.

By showing how you’ve already contributed, you demonstrate that you have the initiative, people skills, and organizational talent to make an impact in the future.

2. Discuss skills you’ve developed that will aid to future contributions.

You can show the adcoms that you’re prepared to give back by proving that you’ve got the skills and the tools needed. Use evidence to support your skill development by talking about how you’ve worked to build your skill set, i.e. by taking a course or through work experience, etc. Analyze your success and failures (when asked for the latter) to reveal that you are a thinking, growing, dynamic individual. And when asked about failures or setbacks, discuss what you learned from the tough times. Demonstrate a growth mindset.

3. Show how your skills are transferable.

To contribute to your classmates or school, you’ll need to show how your unique talents or experiences can be shared with your classmates, professors, or work colleagues. Talk about how your skills, understanding, and ethics can impact those around you.

4. Mention how your target school will help.

Now the adcom readers know that you’ve got skills and that you’re ready to share them. Next, you need to reinforce the idea that their school is THE PLACE to accelerate your upward trajectory.

A good essay on your contributions will cover each of the above topics – what you’ve done in the past, how you’ve developed your skills, how you plan on sharing that knowledge, and how your target school will help you effect change. Remember, the past reveals much about the future, so share the story of what you’ve done and how you’ve reached this point and you’ll be well on your way to proving that you’ve got what it takes to contribute in the future.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

• Talking about who you WISH you were.
• Exaggerating your volunteer achievements.
• Making up job titles to boost your employment profile.
• Cracking jokes when you’re really not such a funny person.
• Using big words that you found in a thesaurus when you have no idea what they mean.

Instead, when introducing yourself to the adcom, follow these simple tips:

• Use your own, authentic voice in your writing.
• Talk about what’s important to YOU instead of what you think the adcom want to hear.
• Tell things as they are – you don’t want to get the boot because a fact checker shows that you were really an “Office Assistant” instead of an “Office Manager.”
• Use a dictionary/thesaurus to ensure you use words correctly, not to engage in communicative creativity…

In short, if you want to stand out among the throngs of applicants in your field, your goal shouldn’t be to introduce yourself as a superhuman, god-like overachiever; instead introduce yourself as you actually are, with your unique interests, passions, accomplishments, and voice. This will be the most extraordinary, stand-out, note-worthy introduction. Not the introduction that makes the adcom members roll their eyes and say “yeah right.”


Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Dr. Drew Appleby

For this week’s episode of Accepted Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted’s biweekly podcast, we interviewed Drew Appleby, Professor Emeritus at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, who identified five types of applicant errors. These mistakes decrease candidates’ chances of acceptance to graduate school – even if the applicants have stellar stats.

Check out the full recording to learn more about these “Kisses of Death.”

01:58:00 – Introducing Dr. Drew Appleby in Admissions Straight Talk.

02:40:00 – How Dr. Appleby discovered the Kisses of Death.

05:20:00 – Why letters of recommendations are so important.

07:52:00 – The difference between good grades and motivation.

14:18:00 – How personal is too personal?

15:50:00 – Choosing relevant letters of recommendation.

18: 54:00 – Lack of information about the program to which you are applying AKA when you just go by the rankings.

20:00:00 – Importance of good writing skills.

21: 00:00 – Misfired attempts to impress the adcom.

24:15:00 – Help your professors write the best letters of recommendation.

28:40:00 – How undergrads should determine professional goals.

33:51:00 – Dr. Appleby’s sound bites to live by: 1. Know Thyself 2. To Thine Own Self be True, and 3. Just Do It.

37:49:00 – What should an applicant focus on when drafting a statement of purpose?

41:20:00 – 3 most memorable “words of wisdom” at the psychology orientation panel.

42:36:00 – Learn more about Dr. Drew Appleby.

Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk in iTunes so you don’t miss any segments! Stay in the admissions know. (And while you’re there, feel free to leave us a review.)

*Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com.

Shownote Links:

• Summary: How to Avoid the Grad School Application Kisses of Death
• Full report: Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process
• Download special report: Get Your Game On
• O’Net http://www.onetonline.org/
• Form: Request a Strong Letter of Recommendation
• Dr. Drew Appleby’s page

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2013 guidebook features 10 college admissions officers sharing their pet peeves.

Among the highlights:

• Be yourself: “I’ve been jaded by years of reading captivating pieces only to meet the student and realize that he or she could not possibly have used the vocabulary relayed in the writing,” reports Tom Delahunt of Drake University. “Students should submit their strongest work, not someone else’s.”
• Passions, not laundry lists: “I become leery about a candidate when I notice his or her list of extracurricular activities increase significantly during senior year,” reports Delahunt. “Instead of a laundry list of commitments, we admissions officers want to know which one (or two) of these activities is truly a passion.”
• Avoid slang: “While there is a time and place for shortcuts, emoticons, and other symbols of contemporary communication, your application should reflect formal standards that would make your English teacher proud,” advises Bruce Latta of the U.S. Naval Academy.
• Watch what you post: “Many of our applicants tag themselves in photos after they have visited our campus, so it’s not hard for us to see what profiles are open to the entire world,” Latta notes. “My best advice is to remember that if your grandmother wouldn’t be proud to see what you’re posting online, it probably shouldn’t be public.”
• Know who we are: Too many students ask questions about what majors are offered and other information “that is plainly stated on our website.” says Suzi Nam of Swarthmore College. “We want you to display, through your application, that you have a meaningful understanding of our institution and how and why you see yourself as being a good match. This kind of authentic, thoughtful engagement with the admissions office is what all colleges value most.”

Excerpted from “What Not to Do When You Apply” in U.S.News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2013. Available at usnews.com/college13. Copyright © 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or payment of royalties, provided that the excerpt is republished in its entirety without any modifications and includes this notice. Please contact permissions@usnews.com with any questions.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“Passion” has a sexy ring to it. An emotional, visceral appeal. It evokes images of glamorous actors and actresses in hot and heavy romances. The good guy in a Frank Capra film changing history. Generals exhorting the troops before sending them into battle.

Forget the steamy romances. Forget the hero delivering a stirring speech. Forget the generals addressing their troops.

That’s not what we’re talking about in admissions.

“Passion” in admissions — be it college, MBA, law school, medical school, or grad school — means dedication. It means commitment. It requires action over time. It can be very calculated and goal oriented, and not at all glamorous. It may lead to a feverish culmination, an earth-shattering moment, and it may not. It can be any one of the following and an infinite number of other activities:

• Spending hours practicing the cello day-in and day out, year after year.
• Assuming responsibility for an annual silent auction that raises thousands of dollars for your favorite cause during the five years that you have chaired it.
• Training and training and training so that you beat your personal best in the race of your choice.
• Volunteering at a medical or legal clinic twice a week since your sophomore year in college.

Next time you see the word “passion” in an admissions context, look between the lines. Read “dedication.” And those calculating, number-crunching, spreadsheet addicts among you, remember this equation: Passion = Action + Dedication.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Indeed, a recent study by the College Board’s Task Force on Admissions in the 21st Century showed that, not surprisingly, the vast majority of students report that the more colleges they apply to, the more stressful the experience is. Perhaps because of that pressure, overapplying can actually hurt your chances. “It’s tough to put together a personal, genuine application that shows commitment to a particular school when you’re applying to 20 different places,” says Jeff Pilchiek, the director of guidance at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. “It’s much better to be an exceptional applicant at six schools than an average applicant at 12 or 20.” Westlake students are encouraged to apply to a well-researched, well-tailored list of five to seven “good fit” colleges, including a mix of reach, target, and safety schools.

Judiciousness is best even if you’re using the Common Application, which shouldn’t be viewed as a one-size-fits-all exercise. “The questions tend to be rather generic and often don’t elicit the most creative or helpful responses, but students need to guard against that,” cautions Seth Allen, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Pomona College in California.

Excerpted from “7 Ways to Stand Out” in U.S.News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2013. Available at usnews.com/college13. Copyright © 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or payment of royalties, provided that the excerpt is republished in its entirety without any modifications and includes this notice. Please contact permissions@usnews.com with any questions.


Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

ACT Prep

If you or your child is about to start preparing for the ACT, you might be wondering what exactly will show up on the test?  What does one need to know to do well on the ACT?

Here’s a brief overview of what’s covered in each section.

ACT English

The ACT English section measures standard written English and rhetorical skills.  You must know how to correctly use the rules of punctuation, grammar and usage, and sentence structure.  Understanding meaning and purpose of passages is important for questions that ask you to make decisions about strategy, organization, and style.  An ACT tutor or ACT prep class can help you to simplify and streamline the rules and train you in how to apply them efficiently and accurately.

ACT Math

Imagine every math class you’ve ever taken in high school all rolled up into one test – through the skills most students have acquired in classes taken through the end of the junior year, that is.  There’s no calculus.  But, you’ll still have to know Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and more.  Sound intimidating?  No worries, though.  Even though the ACT covers math content ranging from pre-algebra to pre-calculus, the test limits itself to fairly specific areas within each of those topics.  A tutor can focus and streamline review to cover the core concepts you’re sure to see on this section.  Once you’ve mastered the core concepts and strategies, you can explore advanced topics that become more important to know as your score moves higher on the scale.

ACT Reading

Are you an expert in social studies, natural sciences, prose fiction, and humanities?  The ACT will ask you to answer 10 questions based on reading passages that cover those topics.  It is simply trying to measure your ability to comprehend what you read.  Fortunately, you don’t need to have a PhD in any of the four areas in order to do well.  Your tutor can help you to develop and tweak the skills and strategies needed to read efficiently, extract important information, anticipate questions, and select answers.

ACT Science

Guess what?  You don’t actually need to know much at all about science to do well on the ACT-Science section.  It’s a strange part of the test.

In reality, this section is designed to test your ability to read and interpret charts, graphs, and scientific information.  It’s not really designed to test your knowledge of science.  The background knowledge you’ve already absorbed in your classes in chemistry, biology, and/or physics will be helpful, however.  As you prepare for the ACT by working through a prep book and taking practice tests, you’ll learn to leverage that knowledge by applying analysis and logical reasoning.  Over time, the arcane subject matter and large amounts of data presented in this section will seem much more manageable.

ACT Writing – Optional

The optional writing test measures skills emphasized in high school English classes and in entry-level college composition courses: essay structure and flow, spelling, grammar, clarity and consistency of arguments, etc.  While this section is optional, some schools require it, so you should probably take it.

How to Prepare?

Some students can get a 30 on the ACT without doing much at all, while others spend hours and hours with an ACT tutor and can’t seem to crack 25.   But, keep in mind that the ACT is not an IQ test.  It is designed to measure your ability to succeed in college, and as such seeks to measure your skills in Reading, English, Math, and Science – skills that can be learned and improved.  Because the ACT score is so important in the college admissions process, it doesn’t make any sense to not prepare fully.

For many students, the issue becomes one of confidence.  Some students’ critical thinking skills and general knowledge base might suggest they can score above 30 easily, but stress rattles their confidence and results in silly mistakes on test day.  The solution is often preparation, which provides the confidence to relax and trust yourself on test day.

Of course, the more time you have to learn and improve, the better off you’ll be.  If you’re taking the ACT in 4 weeks, you don’t have a ton of time.  We recommend leaving yourself at least two months to study, whether you’re studying on your own with a prep book, doing a prep class, or working with a tutor.  We also recommend taking the official ACT at least twice.  Many students take it up to 5 times, seeking to improve their scores each time – colleges don’t seem to discourage this. Plus, many colleges accept the ACT “super score” – the best scores from each section taken on multiple tests.

This post is courtesy of our friends at MyGuru. MyGuru is happy to help you prepare for your ACT exam. You can explore their services online, email them at info@myguruedge.com or call them at (312) 278-0321.  

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Oh, and if you don’t want to wait for the monthly posts, please download Preparing for College in High School: A To-Do List for Eleventh Graders. It’s all there.

For many students, spring means time to look forward and select classes for the following fall. Each year, it presents the same question: “Should I take the AP (IB, honors, accelerated.) class and chance a B grade, or should I protect my GPA with the easier course?” College admissions officers like to answer that with: “We’d like you take the toughest course, and earn an A.”

Admittedly, the choice is a tough one. If you are planning to apply to selective colleges, then it is important that you have taken a number of the most rigorous courses available to you in your high school. Chances are, you are drawn to some subjects more than others, and those areas are a good place to seek the more rigorous classes. Are you interested in math and science? In a year or two, you might find yourself applying to engineering programs. You’ll be well served if your high school curriculum has included as much math (preferably through calculus) as possible. The math background both demonstrates your interest and ability in this subject area, but it will also enhance your preparation for college coursework. If you have a passion for history, or an interest in psychology, again, opt for the most rigorous options.

At some high schools, you have many options in multiple subject areas. If four of your five academic courses are at the most rigorous level available, what about the fifth? If you can handle the coursework, go ahead. If making it through accelerated French means hiring a tutor and dropping several of your after-school activities, perhaps the standard level class is a better fit. There is a balance between the learning that happens in your academic work, and the learning that happens outside of it. Keep the balance.

There isn’t necessarily an easy answer to this question. Take on a rigorous, but enjoyable course load. Balancing achievement in demanding courses with development of your extracurricular passions will help your college application to stand out from the bunch.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Welcome Back!

We’d like to welcome back one of our favorite consultants, Cydney Foote, back after a temporary retirement. After dabbling in Hollywood screen writing and some admissions consulting on her own, Cydney decided that she just missed Accepted.com too much!

Cydney specializes in med school admissions, as well as residency and fellowship admissions. She is also a skilled and experienced MBA admissions advisor and editor. She looks forward to working with you on your winning applications!

Welcome home Cyd!

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

At the most basic level, you can add a zero to PSAT section scores to gain a rough estimate of how you might perform on the SAT. Remember, the SAT also contains an essay, and for many test takers, scores can fluctuate, regardless of preparation, so use this as a guideline, not a gospel.

In addition, you will receive a percentile score. Junior year students are compared with all other students in their class year. All younger students are grouped together for percentile purposes. For most students, when they apply to colleges, their test scores support their day-to-day classroom performance, as it is reflected on their transcripts and in course selection. If your test scores are significantly higher or lower than your grades and the rigor of your curriculum, consider the reasons behind this. Should you be applying yourself more in class? Should you put an emphasis on your preparation for the spring SAT and ACT administrations?

The PSAT is one of the few times you will receive your test booklet with your score report. It doesn’t
take too long to compare the two and understand your errors. Did you run out of time? Guess when you should have omitted the answer? Do you need to brush up on geometry? Identifying your weaknesses will help you determine what type, if any, of preparation might benefit you the most.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“Begin thinking…”

Each year, the Common Application makes small changes to its application, which is used by more than 400 colleges and universities.  Most years, the changes are small, but the changes for 2013-2014 are more dramatic, including new essay prompts.

As a counselor, the most important component of the essay is always the opportunity for the applicant to express himself or herself.  In the current (and past versions) of the Common Application, the questions were broad and flexible, including the option to write on the “topic of your choice”.  Despite its flexibility, I found that some of my students struggled to write under a completely open prompt; they had a hard time focusing their messages.

The prompts for 2013-2014 are equally broad.  The instructions encourage applicants to think about their message.  “What do you want readers to know about you?”  With a goal length of approximately 500 words, the application will allow up to 650 words, which provides some latitude for students to tell their stories completely.  Unlike previous common application versions, the new essay will not be an upload; it eliminates the opportunity for italics and underlining, and graphics or formatting.

The new Common Application will be live on August 1, 2013, almost 6 months from now.  I don’t encourage members of the class or 2014 to start writing today, but it doesn’t hurt to begin thinking about how these prompts have been reflected in your life experiences.  It’s helpful to jot down thoughts, experiences, or ideas that might become an essay 6 months from now.

The 2013-2014 Common Application essay prompts are:

• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

“Avoid these Kisses of Death in the graduate admissions process.”

Guest post by Dr. Drew Appleby, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis and Dr. Karen Appleby, Idaho State University. Dr. Appleby and Dr.  Appleby surveyed psychology graduate admissions committee chairs and discovered 5 types of errors that applicants make and that decrease their chances of acceptance to graduate psychology programs. The authors labeled these mistakes Kisses of Death (KODs).

When we shared the study with Accepted’s staff, all felt that it reflected realty far beyond the confine of psychology. We sought permission from the authors to share their summary of KODs, and they graciously gave it. The following are Kisses of Death in the graduate psychology admissions process, and probably in all other graduate admissions processes too.

Numerous authors offer advice to undergraduate psychology majors about what they should do to gain admission to graduate programs. However, few authors advise students about what they should not do when applying to graduate school and, when they do, few support their advice with data. We surveyed the chairs of graduate school admissions committees in psychology about the contents of graduate school applications that decreased chances for acceptance (i.e., kisses of death or KODs). A qualitative analysis of these surveys yielded the following six categories of KODs.

Although the KODs identified in this study reflect unwise choices on the part of applicants, we believe many of them resulted more from a lack of appropriate advising and mentoring than from a lack of applicants’ intelligence. Unless undergraduate psychology programs provide appropriate advising and mentoring concerning graduate school culture and the requirements of the graduate school application process, their majors are likely to commit these KODs. For example, an unmentored psychology major may interpret a personal statement at face value by perceiving it as an opportunity to share personal (i.e., private) information with the members of a graduate admissions committee.

Unless applicants know that a personal statement should address issues such as research interests and perceived fit with a program, they may misinterpret its purpose and write personal statements that inadvertently doom their applications. Similarly, an unmentored student may interpret a letter of recommendation as a request for information from a person who knows her/him well and can vouch for her/his admirable traits and strong values (e.g., a family member or a member of the clergy). The purpose of our study was to remedy these unfortunate situations by providing undergraduate psychology majors with advice that will enable them to avoid the KODs in the graduate school application process.

Damaging Personal Statements

• Avoid excessively altruistic statements (e.g., “I just want to help people.”). Graduate faculty could interpret these statements to mean you believe a strong need to help others is more important to your success in graduate school than a desire to perform research and engage in other academic and professional activities.
• Avoid providing excessively self-revealing information. Faculty may interpret such information as a sign you are unaware of the value of interpersonal or professional boundaries in sensitive areas.
• Avoid inappropriate humor, attempts to appear cute or clever, and references to God or religious issues when these issues are unrelated to the program to which you are applying. Admissions committee members may interpret this type of information to mean you lack awareness of the formal nature of the application process or the culture of graduate school.

Flawed Letters of Recommendation

• Avoid letters of recommendation from people who do not know you well, whose portrayals of your characteristics may not be objective (e.g., a relative), or who are unable to base their descriptions in an academic context (e.g., your minister). Letters from these authors can give the impression you are unable or unwilling to solicit letters from individuals whose depictions are accurate, objective, or professionally relevant.
• Avoid letter of recommendation authors who will provide unflattering descriptions of your personal or academic characteristics. These descriptions provide a clear warning that you are not suited for graduate study.
• Choose your letter of recommendation authors carefully. Do not simply ask potential authors if they are willing to write you a letter of recommendation; ask them if they are able to write you a strong letter of recommendation. This question will allow them to decline your request diplomatically if they believe their letter may be more harmful than helpful.
• Avoid statements that reflect a generic approach to the application process or an unfamiliarity with the program to which you are applying. These statements signal you have not made an honest effort to learn about the program from which you are saying you want to earn your graduate degree.
• Avoid statements that indicate you and the target program are a perfect fit if these statements are not corroborated with specific evidence that supports your assertion (e.g., your research interests are similar to those of the program’s faculty). Graduate faculty can interpret a lack of this evidence as a sign that you and the program to which you are applying are not a good match.

Lack of Information About the Program to Which You Are Applying 

• Avoid statements that reflect a generic approach to the application process or an unfamiliarity with the program to which you are applying. These statements signal you have not made an honest effort to learn about the program from which you are saying you want to earn your graduate degree.
• Avoid statements that indicate you and the target program are a perfect fit if these statements are not corroborated with specific evidence that supports your assertion (e.g., your research interests are similar to those of the program’s faculty). Graduate faculty can interpret a lack of this evidence as a sign that you and the program to which you are applying are not a good match.

Poor Writing Skills

• Avoid spelling or grammatical errors in your application. These errors are an unmistakable warning of substandard writing skills, a refusal to proofread your work, or your willingness to submit careless written work.
• Avoid writing in an unclear, disorganized, or unconvincing manner that does not provide your readers with a coherent picture of your research, educational, and professional goals. A crucial part of your graduate training will be writing; do not communicate your inability to write to those you hope will be evaluating your writing in the future.

Misfired Attempts to Impress

• Avoid attempts to impress the members of a graduate admissions committee with information they may interpret as insincere flattery (e.g., referring to the target program in an excessively complimentary manner) or inappropriate (e.g., namedropping or blaming others for poor academic performance). Graduate admissions committees are composed of intelligent people; do not use your application as an opportunity to insult their intelligence.

Thank you to Dr. Drew Appleby and Dr. Karen Appleby for sharing this report with Accepted.com.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

01:09:00 – Introducing Mark to Admissions Straight Talk.

02:24:00 – YouTern’s background.  How did Mark come to found YouTern?

03:37:00 – The value of internships.  How do they help grads enter the workforce?

07:27:00 – Comparison of different types of internships: summer, part-time, and virtual Internships.

09:17:00 – What makes YouTern different from other job boards? Mentorship!

11:40:00 – Do unpaid internships make sense?

18:16:00 – Internships can help clarify goals and answer the big question, “What to you want to be when you grow up?”

25:03:00 – Differences in the internship process for undergrad and graduate students.

33:55:00 – Learn more about YouTern.

Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk in iTunes so you don’t miss any segments! Stay in the admissions know. (And while you’re there, feel free to leave us a review.)

*Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

When I talk with parents about their goals for their child’s college application process, I pose to them a series of statements:

College is expensive and

• We are prepared to cover all costs.
• We are planning to apply for need-based financial aid.
• We are specifically interested in colleges that offer merit scholarships.
• Cost of attendance will be a factor in where our child goes to college.
• We have discussed the role of finances in college choice with our child.

The answers to the first three statements help me to offer suggestions of colleges that might make financial sense to a family. The latter two statements are designed to encourage conversation.

As you undoubtedly know, there are a number of ways to finance a college education, most commonly,
grants or scholarships, loans, and self-help. At most colleges, the cost of educating a student for a
year is substantially more than the amount charged in tuition and fees. And yet, for most families, the
comprehensive cost at a private college exceeds an amount that they are able to pay. Fortunately, these
other financing tools help to fill some of the gap.

As you compile your tax paperwork this month, consider talking with your child about the financial
ramifications to the college search. I don’t recommend eliminating colleges from consideration based
solely on cost at this early stage. As a parent, there is nothing worse than dashing your child’s dreams.
At the same time, an honest discussion during the planning phase is far better than seeing the joy on a
child’s face after receiving an acceptance letter, and then dulling it with financial concerns of which he
or she was previously unaware.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

What Makes You Stand Out?

I work with really smart high school students every year.  These students have excellent grades in challenging curriculums, strong tests scores and demonstrated commitment to their extracurricular endeavors.  These students end up with college choices that many other students can only dream about.  However, when fewer than 10% of applicants are admitted to some of the most selective colleges, often these great students have applications that don’t end up in the admit pile.

A few years ago, I worked with a student who was admitted to almost every university to which she applied.  Other students who I worked with that year had similar credentials and also earned admission to some the nation’s top colleges, but none of them had the choices that the first student had.  After supporting her through the application process, I wanted nothing more than to call each admission committee and tell them that she was “the one.”

What made her stand out?  It wasn’t a number or a line on her resume, it was her intrinsic interest in learning and making connections that came through as she worked on each application.  She wanted to think about what inspired her and how her background and interests would impact her future college community.  Many straight A students want to write the perfect essay on the first try, revise it once and move on.  This student thought, regularly, about the messages she was conveying in her writing and wasn’t afraid to take a risk, show her personality, or make a fresh start when one idea wasn’t turning out the way she planned. Frankly, despite the numerous other commitments she had, she WANTED to put herself into the college application process.

I spent my time on an admissions committee.  The debates were sometimes heated, and I will admit to feeling truly excited about some of the “admits” and saddened by some of files marked with a WL (waitlist).  In my mind, the students who can convey the depth of their curiosity or the breadth of their perspectives in addition to presenting strong academic credentials are the ones who become most compelling to an admission committee.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

It’s a combination of relief and letdown when the final application has been submitted.  So many of my students are exhausted.  They are tired of writing, frustrated with second and third guessing themselves, and done with clarifying their reasons for applying to College X or University Y.  At the same time, with that final “submit” comes the realization that it isn’t a process they have control of any longer.  They wait.

In the time between January and late March, while admissions officers read and debate thousands of files, there are a few things that applicants can do.

1)    Complete financial aid forms.  The FAFSA forms and the CSS profile are based upon income tax data that is now available.  Work with your parents to complete these forms and meet financial aid deadlines.

2)    Update colleges on any change of status.  Were you named an Intel Semifinalist this week?  Did you win an academic award or receive all-state orchestra recognition?  A quick email will allow you to share these updates.  When first semester grades (or even second trimester, depending on your school calendar) are available, your counselor should be sharing them with the colleges.

3)    Avoid having to share the bad news with colleges.  The only way to do this is to avoid bad news.  Don’t drop your AP classes for a collection of non-academic electives.  Don’t blow off your first semester exams this month and confront a sub-par report card.  Resist the temptation to skip class, play pranks or participate in any activity that could result in school or judicial disciplinary action. Pay attention to your online profile on social networking sites. I promise, this is not the update letter you want to write to your college choices.

Enjoy the “lasts” as they happen this year.  It won’t be long before the “fat envelopes” and colorful web graphics welcome you to the class of 2017!

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

//

This month, create a long-range plan for your standardized testing. If you took the PSAT in October, reflect on your scores. Are they at the level you hoped they would be? If not, consider how you are going to improve your scores: a tutor, test prep course, or the old fashioned book and computer program route?

Some parts of the U.S. administer a college reportable version of the ACT as part of their statewide standardized testing. If you attend public school in Colorado, Michigan, or Illinois, your high school has already planned an ACT date for you. Otherwise, consider taking both the SAT and the ACT test during one of the available testing dates between now and June. Register early in order to commit your time to the test and to ensure access to the testing center of your choice.

For students considering application to the more selective colleges in the United States, SAT II scores are often required as well. These subject-oriented tests are usually given on the same dates as the SAT I exam, although you cannot take both the SAT I and the SAT II on the same test date. Colleges that require the SAT II exams generally ask for two subject tests. If you are considering studying engineering in college, consider choosing to take one of the two math exams; many engineering schools specifically request such a score.

By this time, you may have allocated three Saturdays in the next six months to your No. 2 pencils and
a desk at the local high school. Look ahead to the fall and pencil in a chance to do it all again. Research has shown that many students increase their test scores with familiarity. You might find that your scores on either the SAT or ACT are substantially higher than the other, and choose to concentrate a second round of testing on only one exam. That’s fine, but give yourself ample opportunity to achieve your best scores prior to the first application deadlines you are trying to meet next fall.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

00:47:00 – Introducing Daniel, Co-founder and VP of Business Development at SoFi.

02:25:00 – SoFi’s background. How did Daniel come to co-found Sofi?

05:02:00 – SoFi’s plans for future expansion beyond the 78 currently eligible schools including Stanford, Harvard, MIT, NYU, and UC Berkeley.

06:07:00 – More than just financial loans!  Find out about the wonderful networking opportunities available to you through SoFi’s alumni community.

11:15:00 – Find out how SoFi works together with universities’ financial aid offices.

13:58:00 – Do you qualify?

15:25:00 – Daniel’s financial advice for current students and applicants: Do your research and don’t take the first loan that is put into your hands!

18:02:00 – Insights into Daniel’s experience as a Stanford Sloan Fellow.

20:31:00 – Learn more about SoFi.

Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk in iTunes so you don’t miss any segments! Stay in the admissions know. (And while you’re there, feel free to leave us a review.)

*Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“A great funding opportunity for members of the military.”

This is a great funding opportunity for members of the military.

The Tillman Military Scholar program was founded to honor the legacy of Pat Tillman, who” proudly put his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals on hold to serve his country” and  died while serving with the U.S. army in Afghanistan in 2004. The scholarship is open to US service members and veterans (and their spouses) who are full-time students at accredited 4-year institutions in the US. You can use the funding for both undergraduate and graduate degrees in any field. The scholarship application will be available starting Jan 14 (the deadline is Feb 15).

Scholarship winners are selected based on their record of accomplishment, leadership skills, and commitment to service. The committee carefully considers your responses to the required essay questions, as well as your educational and career goals. You’ll also need to submit a FAFSA to show your financial need.

To apply, check the eligibility and application requirements at http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/tillman-military-scholars/apply/. The amount of the scholarship awards varies depending on students’ financial need, but averages around $10,000. The program also includes access to conferences and other programming.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“Aura of Selectivity”

The Wall Street Journal’s “Colleges Rise as They Reject” explores the efforts of colleges’ across the U.S. to encourage as many high school students as possible to apply to their institution. Of particular interest are those prospective applicants who will improve geographic diversity (they make the school look good) and who come from wealthier families (they require less financial aid).

How are schools enticing high school students? They are reducing application fees, sending out personalized letters to high school students, visiting more high schools (especially those out-of-state), encouraging more on-campus visits, using third-party firms, and buying names from databases, among other measures. With an increased application pool, these schools are enjoying lower acceptance rates that create an aura of selectivity and exclusivity. Oh yes, and higher rankings.

For students, this muss and fuss means that getting into college will be even harder. Because of increased selectivity, applicants feel that they must apply to more schools. Last year, 5% of applicants applied to 12 or more colleges; in 1997 only 1% of applicants applied to that many.

There’s another reason why schools are broadening their search for applicants other than rankings: demographics. Admissions offices do not want to suffer from the decline of potential students “in the pipeline.” For the high school class of 2014, for example, only 3.2 million students are expected to graduate, 4.5% fewer than the class of 2008.

My Take

While The Wall Street Journal is on the money in terms of what’s motivating this recruiting barrage, the impact of the blitz is more interesting to me than the motivation. At the same time that they embrace the Common App and decry the increasing stress of the college application process, colleges are contributing to the frenzy through their marketing. Now I can understand why admissions offices are concerned about application numbers in total and relative to their competition. Heads roll when those numbers go down. It’s simply in their interest to keep those numbers up.

The prudent applicant and parents have to hedge their bets as the admissions dog chases its numerical tail. If class size is held constant, higher application numbers mean a school is perceived as more selective and “better.” Rankings go up. Deans and alumni are happy. Applicants feel compelled to apply to more schools. Schools have larger waitlists to protect against “low yield,” which has declined over the last ten years, and “melt.” And the whole process gets zanier and zanier.

Yes. Application to college and graduate school is arduous. The internet and electronic applications were supposed to make it easier, but instead the ease of communication and application is used by schools to inflate application numbers and rankings – and by prospective students to reduce the risk of rejection. Instead of being a process where applicants and schools attempt to match, I’m sorry to say, they both attempt to game.

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

//

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Kids Kicking Cancer

We are THREE DAYS away from the end of Accepted’s Kids Kicking Cancer New Year’s campaign. (Accepted will donate $1 to Kids Kicking Cancer for every “Like” we get on our Facebook page through Sunday, January 6th.)

This wonderful organization helps empower sick kids to build their inner and outer strength with martial arts to fight cancer, and holds a special place for me and my family. My youngest son developed leukemia when he was six. I’m sure you realize that a diagnosis like that is devastating, and the treatment incredibly harsh, especially if the disease progresses. However, few can fathom the psychological and emotional impact on a child.

Tragically, I know what it is, and I know how hard it is to handle that stress and to empower a sick child in a healthy way. Kids Kicking Cancer addresses those issues. The organization helps children manage the stress and pain of cancer through personalized coaching instructed by black belt martial artists.

Please lend a hand by:

1. Liking Accepted on Facebook.
2. Emailing your friends or using your social media platform of choice and asking those you know to “Like” Accepted’s Facebook page.
3. Encouraging your friends to spread the word.

There are only three days left. This is the easiest uplifting thing you can do to welcome in the New Year!

Happy 2013!

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Trends for 2013

2012 has been an exciting year. Experimentation in applications including interviews and essays has marked the most recent admissions cycle. In addition, the recession, growing concern about rising tuition and student debt, and the promise of MOOCs is shaking the world of higher education.  But let’s leave the 35,000 foot view of last year and gaze into the crystal ball for next year.

Trends for 2013

1. Increased use of MMI in medical school admissions will continue.
2. For law school, an increasingly practical approach to legal education with more opportunities for externships, internships, and coursework related to legal practice.
3. More new one-year specialized masters programs like UM’s Masters in Entrepreneurship or Rochester Simon’s menu of one-year specialized masters programs as well more accelerated MBA programs or expansion of existing ones, like those at Kellogg, Columbia, and Cornell. These shorter programs, as well as part-time programs and one-year programs abroad, will present increasing competition to the traditional full-time, two-year U.S. MBA programs.
4. More experimentation with the MBA interview.  I predict more group interviews, as was introduced by INSEAD and Wharton in the last two years. I also predict continued experimentation with essays and attempts to find alternatives to essays, probably using media other than the written word.
5. Continued growth of Asian MBA programs as continuing economic contraction in Europe, increasingly restrictive visa policies there, and the relatively strong Asian economy encourage Asian business schools’ growth and competitiveness.

How did I do in 2012?

So that’s what I foresee for this year, but how did last year’s predictions stack up?  How cloudy was my crystal ball. Well I predicted:

1. Interview experimentation, specifically more use of team interviews for business school. On the money! 
2. “The trend towards more openness with data (in law school admissions) will spill over to MBA programs.” Not sure here. I think so, but can’t point to anything specific.
3. “Expect more focus on realistic, well-reasoned goals in all areas of graduate admissions.” Again, I think this is true, but I can’t point to any specific evidence. Jan. 3 2013 News Flash (Edit): I now have some evidence. Today’s Wall Street Journal article M.B.A. Pop Quiz: Are You Employable? reports on increasing number of business schools that are have career services weigh in on admissions decisions.
4. “Increased Flexibility in B-School Curricula.” I expected more schools to move toward the Chicago Booth, UCLA and Wharton models where general requirements can be taken later in one’s b-school career.  Frankly, I haven’t seen this development.

And what did I miss entirely? The shrinking of the MBA application. There have been fewer essays almost across the board.

So my crystal ball definitely had some inaccurate refraction last year. Let’s see how I do in 2013.

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

//

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Happy New Year! The New Year inspires all sorts of resolutions and fresh starts. If you are a high school junior, it also marks the time for you to begin your college planning.

Here are five resolutions to get you started:

1. Consider what you love to do: Following your passions will help the admissions committee understand you better. In most cases, colleges are attracted to students with depth in addition to breadth, so pursuing extracurricular activities is important.  More importantly, pursuing your interests – whether it’s archery or Arabic, debate or drama – will make you happy, and continuing to participate in activities you love won’t just improve your college application profile, but will actually lower your levels of application-induced stress.
2. Plan for summer now: The summer before your senior year is a critical time in the college planning timeline. Princeton University explicitly asks how you spent it. Lounging by the pool might be lots of fun, but more actively engaging with the world around you during the summer will boost your chances of acceptance to your top choice schools. Far-flung travel experiences might sound tempting, but you need not travel far or spend a semester’s tuition. Look to local universities for academic enrichment or research opportunities, make a bigger commitment to your volunteer work, or try to find a part-time job. As the winter and spring months fly by, time will restrict these possibilities. Plan now!
3. Create a testing plan, using your PSAT results as a guideline: If you took the PSAT last fall, you should receive your scores from your high school counselor sometime in January, if you have not already. With these results as a guide, plan your SAT and ACT test dates for the next 12 months. Are you planning to take a review course or work with a tutor? Are you planning to take SAT subject tests? When do those tests tie in best with your curriculum?
4. Visit a college: College might seem like it is off in the distant future. Begin to envision it now. Take a day and visit a college not far from your home. What do you like? What doesn’t appeal to you?
5. Evaluate your high school’s advising resources and consider whether you will need additional guidance: Many high schools begin college planning in earnest during the second half of junior year. Take some time to understand the resources available to you in your school. If you don’t feel that your school is providing the support you need for your college planning, identify outside resources that can be of help. Independent educational consultants can help you plan your future and expose you to options you might not have considered. You can learn more about working with Accepted.com.

By Whitney Bruce, who has worked in college admissions since 1996. She has served as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions (Washington U), Application Reader (University of Michigan), Assistant Director of College Counseling (private prep school in St. Louis), and an independent college counselor. She is happy to advise you as you apply to college.

//

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Thanks for a wonderful 2012!

For this last post of 2012, I thought you might be interested in what you — our readers, visitors, clients, and friends — visited, read, and watched the most in 2012.

Top Ten Most Visited Accepted Admissions Blog Posts of 2012:

1. Harvard Business School 2013 Essay Tips
2. INSEAD 2013 MBA Essay Tips
3. Tips for Completing Your Princeton Supplement to the Common Application
4. 2013 Common Application Essay Tips
5. Tips for Completing Your Columbia Supplement to the Common Application
6. Tips for Completing Your Brown Supplement to the Common Application
7. Kellogg 2013 MBA Essay Tips
8. Duke Fuqua 2013 MBA Essay Tips
9. Indian School of Business 2013 Essay Tips
10. MIT Sloan 2013 MBA Essay Tips

5 Most Popular Articles

1. Writing Your Grad School Personal Statement
2. Go for the Goals in Your Statement of Purpose
3. Tips for Writing Letters of Recommendation
4. MBA Admissions: Low GMAT or GPA
5. 4 Must-Haves in Residency Personal Statements

And what’s the absolute best at Accepted.com? What do I like the best? YOU!  The wonderful people who are our readers, followers, circlers, fans, friends, participants, and most of all, our clients.

Thanks for a wonderful 2012. Bring on 2013!

//

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

WAIT! Don’t hit “submit!”

You’re eager to click “Submit” after spending so much time working on your college application…but WAIT! Don’t hit “submit” before going over your application one last time and making sure each of the following six items are checked off your to-do list:

1. Your application presents an accurate, holistic picture of you.

Check (and then double check) that each section of your college application presents you at your very best. The adcoms want to gain a clear picture of who you are as an individual and future student at their school. Make sure that all information is accurate and that each section complements the others, similar to how a single puzzle piece can be combined with others to create a cohesive, complete picture.

2. You’ve shown the adcoms why you should attend your target college.

Admissions readers want to get to know you for the sole purpose of determining whether or not you’d be a good fit for their school. Show how you’re a perfect fit by expressing (if not explicitly, then implicitly) why School X is perfect for you – what you will gain from the program, as well as how you will contribute to it.

3. Your recommenders got the job done.

Two things here: You want to make sure that your recommenders filled out the paperwork and sent it in on time, and that they did a good job. Your role in all this is to choose the best recommenders – that is, people who know you well and who will provide specific examples of those characteristics that they claim you have.

4. Someone has looked over your essays.

Your college essays aren’t complete until you’ve had a second set of eyes (or third or fourth) review them. Recruit a family member, friend, or an Accepted.com editor to read your essays and provide constructive criticism. Don’t be shy or defensive; you want to be made aware of every error so that you can fix it before the buzzer.

5. You’ve proofread your entire application.

Your essays aren’t the only application elements that need editing (though they may require the most attention). You should proofread your entire application for spelling, grammar, and stylistic errors. Everything should look neat and clean and should read clearly and smoothly, and most of all, error-free. You’ll have an easier time catching errors if you read your personal statement out loud during this final proofreading stage.

6. You still have some time.

Rushing your application may force you to conduct a less thorough final edit, or to skip filling out a section entirely. The last thing you want is to spend so much time on an application, only to submit something sloppy because you lost track of time. Submitting a day or two early will ensure that you’re submitting your application because you’re truly ready to do so, and not because you have 6 minutes before it’s too late, so you’d better send it in before you miss your chance. Additionally, servers are often overloaded due to heavy last-minute volume. Play it safe.

Have you completed your checklist? Are you sure? If so, then you should confidently hit “Submit” and heave a sigh of relief. We’re all rooting for you!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“Set yourself a schedule.”

Dealing with Application Deadlines:

1. Set yourself a schedule and work backwards from your deadlines. Allow time for the holidays, sleep, exercise, and of course work.
2. Focus first on the applications with the earliest deadlines.
3. Work on applications one at a time. Adapt essays from your first application, when possible, to later applications. However never merely paste in an essay because the question is similar. Customize it for this application and this program.
4. If you fall behind, consider dropping/postponing an application to maintain quality overall.

Dealing with Word Limits:

1. Before you start writing, spend a few minutes to determine the theme and structure for the essay. I personally like a traditional outline, but others may prefer cluster outlines or index cards. Use the method that works best for you.
2. Just write for 15 minutes. Don’t stop writing until the timer you set for 15 minutes goes off. (useful tool: http://e.ggtimer.com)
3. Keep writing in 15 minute spurts separated by short breaks until you feel you are in your groove. Then write as long as you want.
4. Edit your drafts using the editing funnel.

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

Kids Kicking Cancer

For the next 10 days (through Jan. 6th), we’ll be donating $1 to Kids Kicking Cancer for every new “Like” that we receive on the Accepted.com Facebook page. So if you want to help kids kick their cancer to the curb as they welcome the New Year, simply click “Like” – and of course, tell your friends to “Like” us too!

Visit our Facebook page NOW and “Like” us now! Help us reach our $1,000 goal!

There – that was easy, and you’ve just done your part to help kids utilize their inner powers and outer strengths to manage the stress and pain of their disease…and kick cancer! What a great way to start 2013!

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Happy Holidays!

We here at Accepted want to extend warm Holiday Greetings to the entire extended Accepted family – clients, readers, visitors, and partners. May this holiday season be a happy one leading to a wonderful 2013!

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

For this week’s episode of Accepted Admissions Straight Talk, we interviewed Jon Hodge of Strictly English. Check out the full recording to hear our great conversation about test prep, the latest technology in test-taking and more!

00:29:00 – Introducing  Jon Hodge, founder and owner of Strictly English.

01:26:00 – The origins of Strictly English and its focus on the TOEFL.

03:16:00 – Find out how the TOEFL changed since its start in 1969 and added a speaking component to the exam.

06:29:00 – Overview of the 3 different English exams: TOEFL, IELTS, PTE.

08:58:00 – Is there really a difference in the speaking sections of these three exams?

15:13:00 – Do students of certain native backgrounds have greater difficulties with certain parts of the TOEFL?

17:30:00 – Impact of cultural background on communication skills.

18:57:00 – Newest exam, the PTE – uses the latest technology to provide test-takers with results within 48 hours.

21:22:00 – Heads up: TOEFL allows universities to hear a selection of your speaking!

25:22:00 – Learn about this essential communication skill: paraphrasing.

29:40:00 – Reading improves all language skills: speaking, writing, and listening.  So, read, read, read!!

33:35:00 – The unique approach at Strictly English not only prepares you for the TEOFL, but also teaches essential skills for graduate school.

39:23:00 – Learn more about Strictly English and TOEFL prep.

Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk in iTunes so you don’t miss any segments! Stay in the admissions know. (And while you’re there, feel free to leave us a review.)

*Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“As a new company in a new space, we need to exceed client expectations, so first and foremost I drive client projects in the health-care and telecom verticals. But my job requires an internal focus as well, and I spend a ton of time both building and updating scalable systems, from knowledge management to invoicing and payroll.”

Ouch!!! I suppose this fellow is highly intelligent, and I hope he is good at what he does, but don’t write as he talks. Write directly and clearly so people can understand you. Can the buzz! Perhaps a translation would be:

“As a new company entering a new market, we need to impress our clients with outstanding performance. I personally manage projects for clients in the health-care and telecom industries. But in addition to serving our clients, I am striving to build our business by ensuring that all our systems from personnel to invoicing support our growth.”

For more on what real writers (and readers) think of the latest in vapid jargon, please see:

• Rid the World of Solutions
• Attack of the Zombie Copy
• Personal Statement Clichés of the Year

Avoid Fatal Flaw #3: Write pointed and direct answers to the questions.

“Fatal Flaw #3: Cliched Writing” is excerpted from the Accepted.com special report, 5 Fatal Flaws: Eliminate the 5 Most Common Flaws in Your Law School Personal Statement.  To download the entire free special report, click here.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of this American holiday, one of my favorites, I would like to share a few things with you:

1. One of my favorite posts on this blog is a post I wrote for Thanksgiving several years ago. I like the story, and it also manages to convey a few important techniques that you can use in your personal statements and application essay.
2. I received a lovely thank you note from a client’s mother. The client is doing exceptionally well in her medical school application process and in the spirit of the day, the mom wrote to thank us.

In that same spirit, I would like to thank you for your readership, your participation in the Accepted.com community, and of course your patronage.

On behalf of the entire Accepted.com staff, thanks for choosing Accepted!

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

Save $100 NOW!

Just a reminder about our Get Moving Special which ends on Thursday, November 15th at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Purchase any non-rush law school, grad school, or MBA service totaling $1000 or more and save $100! What are you waiting for?

Hurry up and get the one-on-one guidance you need to ace your application…and put $100 back in your pockets!

Use promo code R2START to save!





Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Paper application? That’s like, so yesterday. Now you Gen X, Y and Millennial candidates get a chance

Imagine you’re a pro rock-climber, contemplating the 300-foot granite face looming above. To succeed, you need to visualize how you’ll make it to the top. It’s the same with video. Envision what you want to see on the screen, then plan, plan, plan ahead!

Storyboarding
Just like you would do for an essay or an audio clip, first write an outline and script. With video, you will also create a pictorial guide called a storyboard.

Print out several copies of a template. Draw out each shot. It doesn’t have to be complicated at all. Use stick figures. Just make a quick sketch to envision what you’ll see through the camera.

Each shot should last between three and five seconds. Under three seconds, people might have a har time grasping what is going on, and over five seconds, people generally become bored. When you’re speaking to the camera, however, you can hold the shot for a little longer, like seven to eight seconds. So for a one minute clip, you’ll need about 12-15 different shots.

Under the picture, write the portion of the script that you plan to say.

Variation of shots: Sequence and Distance
As you tell your story, make sure to show a sequence at various distances from the camera. For
example, when filming the DJ sequence, you could start like this:

• Shot 1: Establishing shot of room with DJ equipment. The viewer can see your entire body, standing near the DJ equipment, facing a crowd.
• Shot 2: Medium shot. Closer to the DJ booth, midriff to just above your head with your hands visible on the turntable.
• Shot 3: Close-up shot. Your fingers on the turntable.
• Shot 4: Establishing shot again. This time with the camera behind your head capturing the silhouette of your back and the crowd dancing below you.

“Video: Let’s Get Technical” was excerpted from Audio & Video in Admissions: Get Ready for Prime Time. To view the entire free special report, please click here.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

$100 Off UC Package!

If you’re applying to the University of California (any of them) and you haven’t finished your application, then you’ll want to listen up.

For the NEXT WEEK ONLY we’ll be offering $100 off of our UC Application Package. If you still haven’t submitted, then this is GOOD NEWS for you – let’s increase your chances of getting into the UC school of your choice.

Get in touch with us ASAP by calling us at 310-815-9553 or by ordering your UC Application Package online now!

UC deadlines are November 30, 2012, and this special only lasts through Saturday  November 10th! Use coupon code UC100 at checkout to save!

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“Remember to Vote!”

I’ll admit that no matter how cynical I’m feeling about our political process by the time Election Day rolls around (so many negative ads!), I always get a buzz when I actually go to the polls and vote. There’s something about this moment of actual, physical engagement with our democracy—it excited me when I was 18, and it still does.

Of course, citizenship and public service aren’t just something you think of (or do!) every four years. All of us participate in the life of our communities in some way, and some pursue careers dedicated to public service. Whether that means working in government, the military, the law, non-profits, policy, public health, journalism, or any number of other fields, you can use your strengths to serve the public good.

As you plan your education and career, keep in mind that there are often scholarships and fellowships available to support students who plan public service careers.

A good example is the prestigious Truman Scholarship [Truman.gov]. Students apply during their junior year of college and must be nominated by their universities; applicants must plan a career in public service (defined as government, the non-profit sector, or education). The award provides $30,000.

For students who plan a career in the Foreign Service, the Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship provides a combination of funding (up to $40,000/year), internships and mentoring. The undergraduate fellowship provides funding for the senior year of college and first year of a grad program, and the graduate fellowship covers two years of a master’s program.

If you’re planning to earn a law degree and intend to pursue public interest law, there are frequently scholarships to support your studies. Research scholarship opportunities at each law school you’re considering to see whether you’ll need to submit any additional application materials. The American Bar Association also provides a listing of public interest funding.

Opportunities that combine service, education, and work can often come with benefits for your future education and career. AmeriCorps participants earn education awards and can defer student loan payments (americorps.gov). And programs like Teach For America combine regular salaries and benefits with AmeriCorps awards and other benefits (teachforamerica.org).

Wherever your future goals take you, remember to vote Tuesday! (I’ll be proudly wearing my “I voted” sticker!)

By Dr. Rebecca Blustein, author of  Financing Your Future: Winning Fellowships, Scholarships and Awards for Grad School. Rebecca will be happy to assist you with your grad school applications.

<

Not yet a blog subscriber? Just click on one of the links above to read them in your favorite RSS reader, or click here to receive our blog posts straight to your inbox.

 Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best