“Suppose I want to defer….” Congratulations! You’ve made it into medical school! All your hard work has paid off, and you’re free of stress for the first time in years. Not exactly. Maybe you’re feeling more than a little burned out with the school scene. Maybe you’re thinking about the travel and study abroad opportunities…
MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS
Baylor Med School Dismisses President
The Dallas News reports that Trustees at Baylor College of Medicine and Peter Traber have agreed that he will step down as the school’s president and CEO, as of December 1. After serving as the medical school’s president for the last five and a half years, Traber will continue his affiliation with Baylor as president…
Exercise to Quiet the Critic
Most of us carry a very large critic inside our heads when we sit down to write. I have an exercise that helps writers defeat this critic who keeps them from writing. Dialogs to Diffuse The Power of Critical Voices Years ago, I was flying Southwest Airlines from Seattle to Tucson where I was going…
Maclean’s Magazine Issues Latest Canadian Rankings
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Maclean’s released its 18th annual Canadian University Rankings aiming to provide essential information that will help students find undergraduate and graduate programs that will best suit their needs. Some interesting highlights: For the fourth consecutive year, McGill University was #1 in the medical-doctoral category. The University of Toronto…
Getting Closer to Your Material: “This is a story about….”
When you need to remember the images and details of an experience, it can be helpful not to worry about chronology and narrative as you begin writing, because fresh to the page, you might become stymied wondering how to fit everything together. In that state, you may inadvertently start squelching details so you won’t have…
Approaching the Ethics Essay
No b-school application essay may be harder to write than the ethics essay. For most applicants, one challenge is simply identifying an appropriate story. Many applicants assume that the ethics essay is designed to put their morals to some stringent litmus test. They brainstorm for examples that show them proudly refusing bribes, pointedly excusing themselves…
The Many Faces of Leadership
“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…
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…
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…
Employment News for Grads
There have been a few fascinating articles this week focused on job opportunities for recent graduates of college and various graduate programs. Here is a brief run-down: "Best Places to Launch a Career" is a BusinessWeek Special Report surveying hiring trends for Generation Y and "ranking" the best employers. Included are pieces about the Big…
Matchmaking in Admissions
I recently found myself playing matchmaker. (No, matchmaking is not part of Accepted’s service offerings. I was off-duty.) I was talking to the young woman about a young man I know well. She asked me some questions about him, including “Is he growth-oriented?” “Yes,” I responded, “He is interested in growth.” But she wasn’t satisfied…
Those Creative Essays….
Are you going to grind your teeth or grin in anticipation when confronted with an off-beat essay question? Alison Damast, Businessweek’s B-School Reporter explores the topic thoroughly as it relates to MBA applicants in "Applying Oneself Creatively" and the accompanying slide show, "MBA Hopefuls Get Creative." Although the article focuses on the optional "Creativity Challenge"…
Ph.D. Completion Rates
Do you think you may want to go a little further educationally? Is a PhD beckoning? Are you concerned about completing your degree because you know too many people who are "ABD" or "All But the Dissertation"? The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), with financial support from Pfizer and the Ford Foundation, have established the…
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…
Indiana U Dental School Dismisses or Suspends 25 Students for Cheating
‘Tis the season for cheating scandals. Indiana University’s Dental School announced that it is dismissing or suspending 25 second-year students for cheating and reprimanding an additional 21 students for failing to report the cheating. Both the cheating and the failure to report violate Indiana’s Code of Professional Conduct. The dismissed and suspended students are expected…
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:…
Med School Academic Attrition Low
In "Medical School Graduation and Attrition Rates" AAMC tracks the attrition and graduation rates of medical school students. the purpose of the study is ultimately to ensure that the increased enrollment numbers needed to produce enough doctors in the next few decades do not compromise medical educational quality or standards. AAMC views the data presented…
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…
