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Four Ways to Highlight Your Strengths in Your Application Essays

One of the most important pieces of advice you’ll ever get regarding your personal statements and application essays is this: Show, don’t tell.  It’s a classic writing lesson, and you’ve probably heard it before, but how do you actually “show, not tell,” in your essays?  Simply “telling” is ineffective, because it usually involves boastful claims such …

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How to Choose the Right Graduate School

2025 How to Choose the Right Graduate School

Many people who think about advancing their skills or changing their career direction via a graduate degree believe they must attend a “prestigious” graduate school – one that is ranked highly in the surveys conducted by U.S. News & World Report, Bloomberg Businessweek, and other media outlets. These candidates apply to the schools in the top ten …

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Rejected by Harvard Business School – Now What?

January 29, 2025, was either an exciting day or a tearful one for Harvard Business School (HBS) Round 2 (R2) applicants: the school’s MBA admissions board notified candidates as to whether they were invited to interview or had merited “early release.” As euphemistic as it sounds, meriting early release should really be viewed by R2 …

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Can You Use the Same Essays for Different Schools?

As admissions consultants, we often hear college and graduate school applicants ask, “I’m applying to multiple schools, and each one requires essays/personal statements. Can I use the same essay for different schools?” Understandably, applicants want to maintain the quality of their essays and avoid burnout when having to write so many drafts. We can sympathize. Even …

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Writing an Engaging Essay Introduction

In today’s world, where everything moves at lightning speed, we’re constantly making fast decisions.  This applies to admissions committees, too. The pressure of their job forces them to make very quick decisions about whose applications they will invest more time in and whose will merit only an obligatory but cursory review before being set aside.  …

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Five Tips for Applying for Graduate Fellowships and Scholarships

Although obtaining scholarships and fellowships for graduate school is more complicated than finding scholarships for an undergraduate degree, there are definitely opportunities out there – though more will be expected from your application. This makes sense, given that you are being trained to be an expert in your field, which will undoubtedly be reflected in …

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Writing Your PA School Personal Statement with Impact (includes PA personal statement example)

There are approximately 300 accredited PA (physician assistant) schools in the United States. In 2024, these schools received more than 27,000 applications. The matriculation rate for PA schools hovers near 30%, which is lower than the approximate 40% matriculation rate for medical schools.  To stand out in this crowded applicant pool, you need to ensure …

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How to Help Your Child Apply Successfully to Graduate School

Applying to graduate school can be a stressful process. As an applicant’s parent, you naturally want to help them, but how can you do so? Maybe you never went to graduate school, or it has been decades since you applied. The process is not the same as it was years ago. Furthermore, your child is …

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The Resilience Factor: How Flaws and Failures Can Strengthen Your Application

A speaker recently told a story about traveling in Asia, where he saw a stunning emerald. Enchanted by the stone’s beauty, he decided to buy it on the spot. He returned home and took the emerald to a jeweler for appraisal. The jeweler began examining the stone through his magnifier, and as he did so, …

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