Many applicants are recent immigrants or have parents who are immigrants and plan to write about this aspect of their life in a personal statement or diversity statement. Certainly, having this life experience makes you distinctive and can add to your appeal at any school. But, often these essays fall flat. First, you must decide…
What the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Can Do for MBA Applicants [Episode 395]
Learn about The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, and how it can help YOU gain acceptance at a top business school. [Show summary] Danni Young, Director of Recruiting for the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, breaks down how the Consortium helps hundreds of students from target populations get accepted to top MBA programs…
The Consortium Application: Tips for Your CGSM Essays [2020 – 2021]
The Consortium of Graduate Study in Management opened its 2020-2021 application last week, with its three essays being the same as in past years: two core essays (one of them optional) and its mission essay, divided into three questions. In addition to answering The Consortium’s essays, applicants need to write anywhere from one to six…
Admissions Advice for MBA Management Consulting Applicants
Are you a practicing management consultant applying to business school? If so, you have several advantages over the general applicant. Mainly, your success as a consultant for a major firm reveals that your work ethic, analytical, and probably team-playing skills are better than most. As a result, MBA programs will probably give you that initial…
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…
Academic De-Greening, Part 2: Applying to Graduate School After Military Service
In Part 1 of this military series, we discussed possible misconceptions that recent veterans might possess regarding their suitability for college-level learning, and their attraction as applicants. Having worked closely with veterans to prepare them for the transition into higher education, I know that it can sometimes seem challenging to figure out how best to…
Academic De-Greening: Applying to College After Military Service
Having worked with numerous military veterans as they begin to transition to college, I know firsthand how challenging and daunting this shift can be. In particular, many veterans struggle to include their military experiences and accolades within the context of a personal statement, often assuming it is at worst a shot against them (proving they…
The Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Application Essay Tips
This post focuses on application strategies for pre-doctoral students and graduate student applicants to apply for three years of funding from the Ford Foundation through The National Academies of Sciences. What to Know About the Ford Foundation Fellowship Since 1936 The Ford Foundation, created by members of the Ford family, has turned what started as…
Applying for Your MBA Through The Consortium: Best Deal in Town
Our consultants receive a lot of questions from clients about applying to MBA programs through The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. I’ve heard myths flying around that suggest that applying to one (or more) of the 20 Consortium schools through The Consortium’s application is disadvantageous. But as the former director at two Consortium schools,…
5 Things Engineers Have to Do to Get Accepted to B-School
You are a highly skilled technical expert in your engineering field, and in recent years you have been asked to (or anticipate being asked to) take on a leadership role, which has required you to evaluate your skillset. You are no longer just writing code or working on the development of a new jet engine,…
Society of Women Engineers: The Community for Women in Engineering [Episode 262]
Summary The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is 40,000+ members strong worldwide, and provides a sense of community to women who may feel isolated in their engineering studies or career due to a lack of gender diversity. Karen Horting is the Executive Director & CEO of the organization, and shares a lot of great information…
What Asians Should Know When Applying to Top U.S. Business Schools
Three Challenges Asian Applicants Must Overcome when applying to Top U.S. MBA Programs When I moved to Hong Kong in 2012, I spent much of my free time advising coworkers on getting into a top U.S. business school. Combined with my experience working for MIT Sloan School of Management and recently Yale SOM, I found…
Meet Harvard MD/MPH Student and Premed Podcaster Mary Tate [Episode 257]
Our guest today is soon-to-be doctor Mary Tate and current 4th year medical student at Harvard Medical School. Mary graduated from Dartmouth in 2012 and has been at HMS since 2013. She was very active at Dartmouth and continued to be a change agent at HMS. In 2017 she earned her MPH at Harvard’s Chan…
Diversity in Medical Schools is Slowly Improving
According to an NPR article, there has been an increase in diversity in medical school classes since 2009. That is the year that the Liaison Committee on Medical Education announced a new requirement that all medical schools need to execute policies that help them attract and maintain a more diverse student body. Any medical schools…
Why You Should Disclose Your Learning Disability
Learning disabilities such as dyslexia or ADHD fall under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These laws assure you of your right to obtain reasonable accommodation for education. As such, admissions offices cannot discriminate against you because of your disability during the admissions process. However, the admissions officer is also…
Different Dimensions of Diversity [Episode 193]
In reviewing our stats for last year, I noticed that one of our most visited pages is an article on writing about diversity. That’s not shocking since Accepted’s consultants are frequently asked by stressed, panicked clients from well-represented groups in the applicant pool, “How can I answer this diversity question?!?!” Given the high interest in…
Writing the Diversity Personal Statement
One of the many challenges of applying to college or graduate school is showing the admissions committee how you’ll fit in and stand out. Adcoms are trying to build student bodies that will work cohesively towards shared goals and ideals, but that come from different backgrounds and with different ideas so that the combined educational,…
4 Tips for Applying as an Underrepresented Applicant in Medicine
The ethnicities that are considered Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) include: Latino, African American, Native American, Laotian and Hmong, as well as a few other groups. If you are from one of these groups, it would help your application to demonstrate your connection to these communities and your fluency in the languages which are most sought…
Med School Admissions Advice for Nontraditional Applicants: The Experts Speak
Are you a nontraditional medical school applicant? If you’re not fresh out of college, or have a more distinctive background, then the answer is yes, but don’t despair – a medical education and career can still be in your future! Here’s some advice for you from the experts: • Consultant Dr. Barry S. Rothman, PhD…
What Should You Do If You Belong to an Overrepresented MBA Applicant Group?
I recently received a question – or more of a complaint – from a client who was concerned with his status as an Indian IT male. This individual was considering changing his location on his application – he was born, raised, and still lived in India, but his family had lived in Zurich for four…
