Most schools, both undergraduate and graduate, want to see how you will contribute to the growth of your classmates and enhance the school’s program. There will most likely be room in one of the essays you are asked to write to show the strengths, interests and experience you will bring with you and how you…
The Three Essential Components of Successful Wait-List Letters
Effective wait-list letters often contain three key components. First is an “update” section informing the school of recent professional and nonprofessional developments since you submitted your application. This section is your ostensible reason for writing, so it should be substantial and full of as many significant changes as you can think of (promotions being the…
Your law school personal statement…it needs to be, well, personal!
When writing your personal statement for law school, it’s a good idea to include a few school specific sentences about why each of the schools to which you are applying is interesting to you. This is not “why do I want to go to law school?” but rather “this is why your law school is…
Exercise to Quiet the Critic
Most of us carry a very large critic inside our heads when we sit down to write. I have an exercise that helps writers defeat this critic who keeps them from writing. Dialogs to Diffuse The Power of Critical Voices Years ago, I was flying Southwest Airlines from Seattle to Tucson where I was going…
Navigating the MBA Admissions Labyrinth: for Canadian Applicants
First of all, let me emphasize that what follows is written for Canadians applying to US or European B-schools—because if you’re applying to Canadian B-schools, most of what I say here won’t be relevant! Essentially, I’m focusing on how your application will be received by non-Canadian readers, and what you can do to make sure…
MBA Admissions: But Why Now?
Many business school goals essays explicitly ask you to explain why you are applying now. Why do they ask this? In one sense, it’s another way of getting a fix on how certain you are that an MBA is right for you. That is, the “why now?” question is a disguised maturity…
MBA Scholarships
You don’t need us to tell you that Business School is expensive. But there are more resources available to help you pay for it than you might think. With some careful research into scholarship and fellowship opportunities, you could be on your way to funding your degree. Funding for your MBA may be offered by…
Duke Law School 2009 Application Tips
Most law schools will ask for a personal statement that reflects who you are and why you want to go to law school. Resist the temptation to make this a one-essay-fits-all-schools personal statement. The more specific you can be about each school, the more interested your admissions readers will be in your application. For Duke,…
College Admissions: The Value of Visits
Every August for the past six years, I have gone online and pre-ordered my black and tan executive desk diary planner, which is delivered to my doorstep every September. I find it a little annoying that I have to wait that long, but that’s the first date that it becomes available. I plan my vacations…
MBA Admissions: Approaching the “wild card” essay questions
Every MBA candidate expects to write a goals essay. Everyone expects to tell a leadership story. These are the “flagship” pieces of any application–the essays that will help the admissions committee figure out what you’ve achieved and how you approach your professional life. But then, there are the “wild card” questions–these are almost always very…
Approaching the Ethics Essay
No B-school application essay may be harder to write than the ethics essay. For most applicants, one challenge is simply identifying an appropriate story. Many applicants assume that the ethics essay is designed to put their morals to some stringent litmus test. They brainstorm for examples that show them proudly refusing bribes, pointedly excusing themselves…
Personal Statement Tip: Setting Scenes
To write a compelling personal statement or application essay, you need to draw readers into your experience without much set-up. You have to get to the heart of the matter quickly and at the same time make the reader care to read on. Visualizing a particular moment from a situation that disappointed or thrilled you…
Before you write: some tips for getting the most out of your pre-writing process
It’s nearly July, and many business schools are already starting to release their new or revised essay topics for the coming admissions season. During this pre-season warm-up period, many applicants seem to feel a strong temptation to grab those questions as soon as they come out, paste them into a Word file and just start…
Writing Effective Wait-List Letters: A Quiz
Think you know how to write an effective wait-list letter? Test your knowledge with the following quiz: 1. Wait-list letters may be three or more single-spaced pages long: (a) when the applicant has a lot of accomplishments to talk about, (b) they should never exceed two pages, (c) only for law school wait-list letters, (d)…
Kelley School of Business
I recently attended the MBA Experience Event at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Management. The school-sponsored visit introduced several of us admissions counselors to faculty and students, and gave us the opportunity to attend a class and talk with those in career services and admissions. Kelley is located in Bloomington, Indiana, about an hour south…
More B-Schools Accepting GRE in Lieu of GMAT
The trend toward accepting GRE scores in lieu of GMAT scores is continuing to gather force. Motivated by a desire to expand the applicant pool beyond the traditional MBA feeder professions, Stanford University began accepting GRE scores in June 2006. As Stanford’s MBA admissions director Derrick Bolton candidly put it in a Marketwire article released…
