‘Twas the night before deadlines, and all through the world, Our consultants sat cramming, coffee brewing, brows furrowed; Though the essays were written with effort and care, There were still a few things that were cause for despair! The clichés! Oh, forsake! Terrible, were they – That all our consultants could think was “oy vey!”…
College Admissions: Mining Identity for College Essays, Personal Statements
Langston Hughes begins his poem “Theme for English B” this way: The instructor said: Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you- Then it will be true. I wonder if it’s that simple? “Tell us about yourself” When colleges instruct you to “Tell us about yourself,” it may…
Oh No! A Typo!!
Will that lonely typo doom your otherwise perfect application to the great round file in cyberspace, putting the kibosh on years of effort and nixing your attempt to walk through the hallowed halls of your favored institution? No. A single, minor typo will do nothing. So don’t sweat one minor spelling mistake, a missed comma,…
4 Ways to Show How You’ll Contribute in the Future
Schools are looking for applicants who can show that they have strong leadership qualities and experiences and can demonstrate that they will actively contribute to their student/alumni communities, not to mention to the greater community and society. Many applications include an essay question with some variation of “what would you contribute to your future campus…
Expert Advice for 2020-21 College Applicants [Video]
Wish an admissions guru would tell you how to write successful college application essays? Accepted college admissions guide, Marie Todd, speaks to Jessica Wan from Magoosh to share the secrets of what makes a strong college application essay. In this video, Marie draws from her 20+ years of college admissions experience to answer 9 essential questions…
Tips for Answering the University of California System Personal Insight Questions [2020 – 2021]
![Tips for Answering the University of California System Personal Insight Questions [2020 - 2021]](https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/client/q_lossy,ret_img,w_700,h_350/https://blog.accepted.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/University-of-California-application-tips.jpg)
The University of California System or UC’s, as they are commonly known, consist of 9 campuses that utilize the same application. They are: UC Berkeley (Cal), UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara, UC Los Angeles (UCLA), UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego. You will use the same responses for…
How to Project Professionalism, Positivity, and Confidence in Your Statement of Purpose
“Tone” is often one of the aspects of writing that applicants find most difficult to pin down. And yet, when you’re writing, it is also one of the most important to control so that you maintain an appropriate tone for your purpose. Tips for becoming aware of your tone One way to think about tone…
First Drafts of Personal Statements: Let Yourself Go
Writing the first draft of your personal statement is probably the hardest part of the whole application process. And it makes sense – it’s not easy to capture so much of your experience onto a single page. Transforming your first draft from just OK to simply spectacular I’ve read hundreds of first drafts over the…
7 Simple Steps to Writing an Excellent Diversity Essay
What is the diversity question in a school application, and more importantly, why does it matter when applying to leading programs and universities? Many applications now include a question – sometimes optional – that encourages applicants with minority backgrounds, unusual education, distinctive experience, or unique family histories to write about how these elements will contribute…
6 Tips for Getting Started on Your Application Essays
Sometimes the hardest part of writing a personal statement or application essay for college or grad school is finding the discipline to sit down and focus. Often, once you accomplish that, the ideas begin to form and the words begin to flow. The following 6 tips will help motivate you to start writing, and then…
How Much Overlap Can There Be Between My Resume/CV and My SOP?
When submitting an application for college or graduate school, it’s important to view the application holistically. The application includes multiple elements, such as a CV/resume, a personal statement, and grades, among other things. Because this application is key to receiving an admissions offer, it is important to be selective and strategic in choosing which elements…
9 Secrets to Telling an Attention-Grabbing Story
You’ve completed most of your application. Now it’s time to write your personal statement. You want your statement to stand out from the rest, and the way to do this is to tell a compelling story – the tale of your greatest achievements, dreams, and challenges. You can tell a compelling story by tying together…
4 Tips for Highlighting Your Strengths in Your Application Essays
One of the most important pieces of advice I can give you regarding your personal statements and application essays is this: Show, don’t tell. But you may have been given this advice before and you may be wondering how to go about it. Let’s dive into how to show effectively. Here are four tips to…
How to Make Your College Application Stand Out: Beyond Test Scores and GPA
Assuming your test scores and GPA are in the competitive range for your top choice schools, what else can make you stand out in a positive way? In my five years of reviewing undergraduate applications for admission to the University of Michigan, I considered a number of additional factors in determining overall fit. 4 ways…
Writing About Overcoming Obstacles in Your Application Essays
What does the adcom actually want to know about the challenges you’ve overcome? In this short video, Linda Abraham shares the answer to this often-asked question: Why obstacles? When applicants write about their accomplishments, whether in personal statements for graduate school or in b-school essays that ask for greatest accomplishments, challenges, and the like, they…
How Can You Show Passion in Admissions?
When one thinks of passion, one doesn’t generally think of investment bankers. But the admissions committees are looking for passion in their applicants; so how are you – a computer guy, an engineer, a biology major, or yes, an investment banker – going to craft a winning application that shows them the passion they’re looking…
How to Get Started on Your Personal Statement with One Easy Technique
Okay, you’ve calmed down after your initial essay-writing anxiety, and you still don’t know where to begin. How do you capture your whole life in the meager number of characters allotted? What is clustering? Whether you’re feeling stuck or feeling overwhelmed by all the ideas bouncing around in your head, a stellar technique to start…
Writing About Resilience in the Face of Failure
Essay questions dealing with failure, risk, mistakes, and difficult interactions or conflict often cause applicants to cringe, squirm, and bite their nails. After all, you want to show yourself succeeding and conquering the world in your essays and personal statements, not falling down. But there’s a reason why these questions are common. Schools want to…
Encore: Focus on Fit in Admissions [Episode 334]
I am taking time off for family this week, and as a result I decided to air an encore of one of our most popular shows ever, Focus on Fit. I chose it not only because of its popularity, but because the topic is relevant to so many, if not all, specialties. A solid understanding…
How Personal is Too Personal?
The personal statement serves as a terrific opportunity to share with admissions committees an interesting and unique aspect of your life. How much should you tell, and how much is too much? When I applied to college, I wrote a personal statement describing some challenging family circumstances I’d had while growing up. I can still…
