“I figured it all out.” That’s how I would paraphrase the essays many of my clients—MBA applicants and others—write in response to the ubiquitous “Describe a leadership experience” question. Now of course “figuring it all out,” my shorthand for “I came up with a creative solution to a tricky problem” or “I developed a killer…
LAW SCHOOL ADMISSIONS
Innovation and Leadership
I just read McKinsey Consulting’s fascinating interview with director Brad Bird. While McKinsey’s focus was on the lessons one can learn about innovating from one of the world’s most innovative companies, Brad Bird’s story was also a story of laudable leadership. Many applicants find "leadership" the most difficult of the MBA qualities to demonstrate in…
And Yet Another Opinion on Legal Job Market, the Rankings, and Law School
William D. Henderson is an associate professor at Indiana University School of Law — Bloomington and Andrew P. Morriss is the H. Ross and Helen Workman Professor of Law and Business at University of Illinois College of Law. They have also just published a study of law school graduate income, debt, and job opportunity at…
Law Admissions: Look at the job market
According to Law.com "All together, the top 20 law schools that NLJ 250 law firms relied on most to fill their first-year associate ranks sent 54.9 percent of their graduates to those firms, compared with 51.6 percent in 2006." Obviously that does not mean that the remaining 55.1 percent were all unemployed, but if you…
Personal Statement Tip: Once Upon a Time…
Once upon a time there was a wedding (actually yesterday). The father of the bride wanted to give a speech. His wife (me) worried that he would bore the guests. Mildly insulted and not wanting to forgo an opportunity to praise the bride, his new son-in-law, his son-in-law’s parents, and to share a few words…
What is an Accomplishment?
Accomplishments constitute the bread and butter of personal statements and application essays. Nothing too exciting in that statement. However, a fascinating brainstorming session on Accepted’s Editor Mailing List reveals that applicants don’t always know what an accomplishment is. What goes into this application staple? The bread: Impact. Your accomplishment must show you as a contributor…
Personal Statement Tip: Failure Questions
Facing a failure question? Keep in mind this maxim from Michael Josephson of the Josephson Institute: "Find the lesson in every failure, and you’ll never fail." That concept is the key to successfully answering failure questions on applications and in interviews.
Personal Statement Tip: History vs. Memory
Over the weekend I went to a talk focused on the difference between history and memory. The two are clearly related, but not the same. History is what you read in an encyclopedia or newspaper timeline. It is facts, dates, statistics, and data, impersonal and frequently very dry in isolation. Memory consists of vignettes, stories,…
Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants
Two years ago I attended Tuck’s first Conference of International Educational Advisors. I went with the purpose of learning more about Tuck. And I did learn a lot about Tuck, as expected, but I discovered that I enjoyed meeting my competition and professional colleagues much more than I anticipated. The networking was great! I have…
Themes in Admissions: Good or Bad?
Are themes good or bad? That depends on whether you are talking about a theme for your application or for your essay. For the former, bad. For the latter, good. If you are applying to a top program, you don’t want your application to have a nice, neat theme that simply labels or tags you:…
Law School Admissions: Changes in LSAT Administration Rules
LSAC announced changes to its LSAT administration rules. The new rules can be found also in 2007–2008 LSAT & LSDAS Information Book. The text below is from the LSAC web site. Some of the most significant changes are listed below: Items permitted in the test room. Tests takers may bring into the room only a…
Law School Waitlist Tip
The law school waitlist is not the place for false modesty. Just the opposite. Your mission: convince the waitlisting school that you are even a better applicant than they thought you are. As I wrote in The Nine Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make on a Law School Waitlist: "Show them you are even better…
Common Sense Isn’t So Common in Admissions
MBAAnonymous questions in "Admissions consultants?" why applicants use or think they need admissions consultants. After briefly providing her background, she adds, I’m just an applicant. I have however worked as a writing consultant where I edited, among other things, MBA applicants’ essays to places like HBS, Stanford GSB, and LBS. Looking back on that experience…
Essay Tip: What to Do If You Procrastinated.
I was looking for something on the old blog and came across a post that I thought was timely and worth repeating. I wrote it in early January 2005, when my daughter was applying for grad school (She got in and then decided she didn’t want to go.) It gives advice for those of you…
Personal Statement Tip: Dealing with Hardship
A friend of mine was recently going through a hard time. Things were going wrong, seriously wrong in her life. She wryly labeled these experiences "character building." It is a sad truth that tragedy and trial build character strength and develop wisdom. Most of us would rather be weaker and stupider than have character building…
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