Many applicants who are targeting top ranked programs wonder if they should consider adding a lower-ranked school to their list as a “safety school.” Should you? And is there such a thing? What is a safety school? A safety school is one where you are highly competitive, that is strong in your area of interest,…
How to Write the Qualifications Summary for Your Resume
The Qualifications Summary section of the resume is, in theory, the first section of the resume that the admissions reviewer will read: it sits at the very top of the resume after the applicant’s name and contact details, exactly where the eye is naturally drawn. However, if it is a bulky paragraph filled with ambiguity or…
5 Things the Adcoms Hate
When I was admissions Director there were some things applicants would do that were minor, but that I found to be very annoying. Here are my top 5 “hates” that I’m sure are shared by many adcoms: 1. Asking for information that can easily be found on the school’s website Some applicants would do that…
How to Add Detail to Your Social Enterprise/Community Service Goals
Whether you’re applying for an MBA, a PhD in Public Policy (or many other doctoral fields), or a Masters in Social Work, you’re likely to talk about social enterprise or community service goals in your application. For some, this will be your primary objective – those of you seeking careers in the non-profit sector, for…
Writing the Diversity Personal Statement
One of the many challenges of applying to college or graduate school is showing the admissions committee how you’ll fit in and stand out. Adcoms are trying to build student bodies that will work cohesively towards shared goals and ideals, but that come from different backgrounds and with different ideas so that the combined educational,…
6 Tips for Talking About Your Weaknesses
How do you react when you read/hear the weakness question? With this question, schools are assessing how well you self evaluate. Like a business problem, they want to hear your plan of action, your implementation, and your success rate. Here are some tips to help you a) think about and evaluate your weaknesses, and b)…
Can a Grad Consultant Help You Succeed?
Whatever your field and interests, when you’re applying for a masters or PhD, the process can be challenging. Top masters programs in competitive fields are extremely selective – and PhD programs might accept as few as two to three people in a given specialty. Your grad school application needs to be both strong and strategic….
How to Get the Most Out of Working With a Med School Admissions Consultant
You’re applying to med school and need to juggle numerous things at once to stay afloat – school and/or a job, volunteer activities, MCAT prep, and family obligations…and that’s before we even talk about the complicated and time-consuming medical school application process. How can a consultant help you, and how can you get the most…
Can You Get Into a Top Grad School if You Didn’t Attend a Top University?
Abhishek from India recently asked on our blog what Indian applicants who graduated from undergraduate programs not among the elite Indian IIT’s can do to gain acceptance to the top global MBA programs. While Abhishek was particularly focused on Indian MBA aspirants, this question applies to all applicants who did not graduate from an elite…
Your Goals [Fitting In & Standing Out]
The application process is a tricky balancing act: You want to show your target schools that you’re a perfect match, but you don’t want to blend into the multitude of applicants or become just a number. How can you show your authentic self in the application process? How can you present your strengths, and stand…
Happy 4th of July!
The School’s Culture & Mission [Fitting In & Standing Out]
The application process is a tricky balancing act: You want to show your target schools that you’re a perfect match, but you don’t want to blend into the multitude of applicants or become just a number. How can you show your authentic self in the application process? How can you present your strengths, and stand…
Admissions Resumes: Putting it All Together
This post is taken from The Quick Guide to Admissions Resumes. Click here to download the full guide. MBA and other graduate school applicants frequently submit a resume with their applications. Many schools require it, and some schools, such as Columbia Business School, even specify a given format. The resume not only will present a valuable…
8 Tips for Better Admissions Resumes
This post is taken from The Quick Guide to Admissions Resumes. Click here to download the full guide. Looking for solid tips for the actual writing of your resume? What should you include? What should you leave out? What sort of tone should you use? What do you need to know? The following eight tips will…
How to Give Your Application as Much Weight as Possible
Although you may think that your grades, test scores, resume and application essay carry the most weight, the actual application form is important too. The boxes should contain valuable information that helps convince the admissions readers you will thrive at their school and add to their community. If you fill in the boxes at the last…
Where’s the Poetry? The Secret Ingredient in Your Graduate Application Essays
Strategy will necessarily guide your selection of essay topics, anecdotes/examples, and structure. Yet an essay built on calculation alone, even if the strategy is spot on, will often disappoint. Logically it all makes sense. But it doesn’t take flight. Poetry can be the secret ingredient to make your application essay sing – right into the heart of its readers….
Focus on Fit [Most Popular Show Rerun – Episode 176]
The most popular post of the last six months is “Focus on Fit,” and since Linda is taking a brief vacation, we are reposting it for this week. In this show, she shares the four not-so-easy steps to make sure you show you belong at your target programs. Whether you heard it the first time or…
Ten Do’s and Don’ts for Your Application Essay
The Application Essay Do’s: Unite your essay and give it direction with a theme or thesis. The thesis is the main point you want to communicate. Before you begin writing, choose what you want to discuss and the order in which you want to discuss it. Use concrete examples from your life experience to support…
Focus on Fit [Episode 162]
In today’s episode, Accepted’s founder and director, Linda Abraham, shares the 4 not-so-easy steps of showing fit in your application. While they are not simple to do, these steps are necessary if you want to get accepted to a program where the acceptance rate is less than 100%. STEP 1: Understand the school’s mission and criteria for…
What to Do About a Low GPA [Episode 146]
This week, join us for a rebroadcast of one of our most popular shows – our discussion of how to address a low GPA. Many applicants are concerned about their undergrad GPAs, and nervous that their GPA might be too low for their target graduate program. If this is you, don’t miss this episode! Accepted’s founder…