Some of you are already working with an Accepted admissions consultant and benefiting from the experience and insight your adviser brings to the admissions process. Many more of you are considering hiring an admissions consultant or may consider it as you ponder options and dive deep into completing applications and drafting essays, personal statements, and…
GRAD SCHOOL ADMISSIONS
STEM PhD Applicants: Strengthen Your Candidacy
I recently addressed some of the issues an informed PhD applicant should be aware of and consider prior to applying (such as the state of the academic job market). Once you’ve made the decision to apply for a PhD in a STEM field, how can you prepare effectively and strengthen your candidacy? Your research is…
STEM PhD Job Market is Down
While prophecies of doom might be more common regarding the job market for humanities PhDs, a number of studies and articles have pointed out that the situation isn’t too rosy for STEM PhDs, either. A recent story in The Atlantic characterized the current situation as a “PhD Bust.” In short, the number of tenure-track and…
“PhD: Don’t Go” Controversy
Pursuing a PhD in the Humanities or Social Sciences has never been an “easy” path, or one that is guaranteed to lead to the tenure-track job of your dreams. Recently, the question of the “worth” of a PhD has received a great deal of attention from journalists and bloggers. A recent article in Slate (“Thesis…
Plan B for PhD Applicants
There’s no getting around it: rejection letters are discouraging. Especially when you’ve invested as much time and energy in something as you have in your PhD plans. What can you do when you don’t get in anywhere at all? Take a deep breath. This isn’t the end of your plans. Take stock. Did you make…
Beyond the Rankings- How to Choose a Ph.D. Program Part III
This post is part III of Accepted’s Beyond the Rankings- How to Choose a Ph.D. Program blog series that outlines specific steps you can take to find the best program for you! I’ve discussed some important criteria for helping you to select a grad program: your goals/research interests, and evaluating whether you’ll be a competitive…
Beyond the Rankings – How to Choose a Ph.D. Program Part II
This post is part II of Accepted’s Beyond the Rankings- How to Choose a Ph.D. Program blog series that outlines specific steps you can take to find the best program for you! Last time, I discussed the first important criterion for helping you to select a grad program: your goals/research interests. The next step to…
Beyond the Rankings – How to Choose a Ph.D. Program
It may seem early to be thinking about next year’s application cycle, but if you’re considering applying for admission to a PhD program, you should start thinking about where you want to apply. Your criteria for selecting target programs will depend on your goals and circumstances, but here are a few things to think about….
Admissions Straight Talk: Interview with Sheryle Dirks
For this week’s episode of Accepted Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted’s biweekly podcast, we interviewed Sheryle Dirks, Associate Dean for Career Management at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Check out the full recording to hear our in-depth conversation about Duke University’s Masters in Management Science Program and the career options for business school graduates. 00:16:00 –…
Kisses of Death for Your Grad School Application
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…
Admissions Straight Talk: Interview with Daniel Macklin
For this week’s episode of Accepted Admissions Straight Talk, we interviewed Daniel Macklin, Co-Founder & VP of Business Development at SoFi. Check out the full recording to hear our fascinating conversation about alumni funded student loans. 00:47:00 – Introducing Daniel, Co-founder and VP of Business Development at SoFi. 02:25:00 – SoFi’s background. How did Daniel…
Apply to be a Tillman Military Scholar
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…
How to Write about Your Research Interests
The most common challenge that my clients face when writing a statement of purpose (SOP) for a Master’s or PhD application is how to describe, in concrete terms, what their research interests and goals are. It’s one thing to express interest in a field, or explain where that interest came from—but when it comes to…
How long Should I Study for the GRE?
How long you should study for the GRE is an important consideration. However, there is no one pat answer. You can be a quantum physicist with a penchant for vocab, one who enjoys spending his or her time solving really convoluted math problems (while penning purple poetry). Clearly this person could cram for the GRE…
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…
Revise and Polish Your Essays
You’ve got your first draft ready — this is a great milestone! Now it’s time to revise and edit; outstanding essays are not sprung into the world on the first draft. Here’s how to edit and polish until your essay shines: First, let your essay sit for a day or two, particularly after an intensive…
3 Elements of Leadership
What does it mean to be a good leader? Here’s a simple definition: A good leader moves people in thought or in action. This definition, however, beckons the question: How? How does a leader urge or encourage people to act or think in a particular manner? Furthermore, what sorts of qualities must a leader possess…
Athletic Appeal in Admissions
Long before Gabby Douglas flew through her floor exercise and Michael Phelps dominated the pool, admissions directors have been impressed by athletes. From stories about the perfect basket, goal, spike or serve, athletes have wonderful stories that display their endurance, strength, leadership and team skills. Fascinated by the applicant who used his marathon run as…
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,…
Backup Strategy for GRE Text Completions
The solution to many Text Completions lies in the following approach: identify the keywords, come up with your own word for the blank(s), and match with the answer choice. Yet this strategy won’t always be successful. Sometimes we need to work backwards from the answer choices to see if we can create a sentence with…