The Prompt On the old test, the SAT essay prompts were pretty simple one sentence phrases that you’d have to evaluate, something like: The best leaders are those who listen to what others have to say. Since this was far too readily gamed, students writing perfect-scoring essays that were cookie cutter and lacked logical consistency,…
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
5 A’s for Your Low GPA [Episode 137]
Not proud of your undergrad GPA? Concerned it will hamper your chances of graduate acceptance? Get ready to find out what to do about it. The 5 A’s for your low GPA: 1. Assess your GPA (2:40) Is it really low? I define a low GPA as one that is .3 on the U.S. 4.0…
Magoosh’s Free Practice Questions for the TOEFL
Are you preparing for the TOEFL? If so, you know how important it is to practice questions that are similar to those you’ll see on the actual exam. But, it can be hard to find quality (free!) materials to study with. That’s where this resource from our friends at Magoosh TOEFL comes in! Magoosh has…
Harvard MBA, 2+2 and How to Get In
Applying to HBS? Join us for a conversation about Harvard Business School, entrepreneurship, leadership, and admissions. Our guest today is Adam Nathan, who earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 2015 as a Baker Scholar and joined Accepted a few months ago. Adam graduated from Duke in 2010 and was accepted to the inaugural…
Happy New Year! Love, Linda
Accepted’s Holiday Hours
We wish you a happy and healthy holiday season, enjoying time with family and friends. That’s how most members of Accepted’s staff will spend December 24, 25, 31, and Jan 1. However, we also know that deadlines are looming for many of you. Over the holiday weekends we will periodically check our email for new…
5-Step Checklist Before Submitting Your Applications
Whether you’re applying to b-school, law school, med school, grad school, or college, this checklist will be the same. Don’t hit that “submit” button until you’ve completed the following 5 steps: 1. You’ve made sure that your application presents a holistic, multi-dimensional picture of you. Each section of your application should not just present you as a strong candidate on its own, but should complement the other application components as well….
Studying Abroad: A Growing Trend for Inbound and Outbound Students
While parents cling to their young ones, these budding, college-bound individuals are setting their sights farther than ever for educational prospects according to the latest report from Annual Open Doors. There has been a 10% increase to the number of foreign students who have chosen to study in America, and Americans are fleeing the nest…
How Do We Look?
We’ve given our site a facelift, and – if we don’t say so ourselves – we think we look great! But re-doing a site is like a remodeling project. When it’s finished and most of the work looks fantastic, there is a usually a list of items that aren’t quite right or need to be…
Are Prospective College Students Weighing Economics Over Prestige?
In a recent article published by The Atlantic, a paradigm-shifting study was released based on The Economist‘s new rankings that discuss how future college students will choose the best school for them. The study suggests rejecting the time-honored tradition of using prestige as the determining factor as to the superiority of a school, and proposes…
The Schwarzman Scholars Program: Leaders of the Future Unite [Episode 126]
This is the opportunity of a lifetime. When fully set up, 200 students every year will learn how to lead the world into the future at an innovative (and all expenses paid) program. Listen to our conversation with Dr. Rob Garris to learn all about the Schwarzman Scholars Program: what it is, who it’s for,…
How to Deal with Deadlines
You don’t want to feel rushed (stress can lead to mistakes) and you don’t want to miss your deadline. So what can you do to stay on top of your game and submit your applications before the buzzer? 1. Set yourself a schedule and work backwards from your deadlines. Allow time for holidays, sleep, exercise, and…
Adcoms’ New Tool to Detect Plagiarism in Essays
Rather than go through the hassle of writing your application essays yourself, especially since you’re not the most effective or practiced writer (or since you don’t have enough time), why not have someone who really knows how to do it well write them for you? That someone could be a friend or colleague who’s offered…
New Infographic for Successful College Students
Presented By: Online Colleges
Good Employment News for Haas Grads
Whether graduating from Haas with an MBA, Bachelor’s, or PhD, the job search seems to be getting a little bit easier. According to early employment data for the MBA grads, the “mean and median base salary for the class [is] currently trending to exceed last year’s.” Eighty-eight percent of this year’s class has received offers,…
Video, Let’s Get Technical
Paper application? That’s like, so yesterday. Now you Gen X, Y and Millennial candidates get a chance to wow the admissions committee with your dope multimedia “skillz.” This blog post is excerpted from Accepted.com’s special report, Audio & Video in Admissions: Get Ready for Prime Time which discusses how to successfully create a one- to two-minute…
4 Application Strategy Tips: Stand Out AND Fit In
It can be confusing: Half of the advice you read urges you to stand out in your application, while the other half advices you to explain how you’ll fit in. So which is it? Should you stand out or fit in? The answer, unsurprisingly, is BOTH. You need to show your distinction and demonstrate fit…
An Interview with Our Own: Cydney Foote
Curious about the life and times of our spectacular admissions consultants? Please enjoy our newest blog series in which we interview the fabulous people who make up the Accepted.com staff. Next up is…Cydney Foote. Accepted: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? Do you hold…
Tips For Answering The University Of Pennsylvania Supplemental Essay Prompts
This post about the University of Pennsylvania supplement to the Common Application is part of a series of posts written to help you complete the 2016 Common Application supplement for Ivy League and other top schools. The University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, is among the prestigious Ivy League schools. Established in 1740, Penn is one of the…
An Interview With Our Own: Cindy Tokumitsu
Curious about the life and times of our spectacular admissions consultants? Please enjoy our newest blog series in which we interview the fabulous people who make up the Accepted.com staff. Next up is…Cindy Tokumitsu. Accepted: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Where and what did you study as a student? Cindy: I studied…