What is the diversity question in a school application, and why does it matter when applying to leading programs and universities? Most importantly, how should you respond? Diversity is of supreme value in higher education, and schools want to know how every student will contribute to it in their community. A diversity essay is an…
What’s New at Cornell’s Masters in Engineering Management [Episode 516]
In this episode Dr. Patrick Reed and Prof. Robert Newman discuss the Engineering Management Program at Cornell and what the Adcom wants to see in applicants. [SHOW SUMMARY] Are you an engineer who wants to stay in a technical environment but move into managerial roles? Cornell’s Engineering Management Masters may be the answer to your…
Four Tips for Displaying Teamwork in Your Application Essays
Teamwork and its close cousin leadership are highly prized by graduate programs and universities. But if you haven’t worked in teams on any regular basis, don’t worry! You’ve probably got a number of examples of teamwork in your back pocket that you didn’t even realize were there. Consider the following four ideas when you are writing…
Can You Use the Same Personal Statement for Different Schools?
One of the questions we are asked most often by college and graduate school applicants is this: “I’m applying to six different schools, and each one requires two to seven essays/personal statements. That’s so much writing! Can I reuse the same essay for different schools? How can I keep up the quality and not burn…
Admissions Tip: Be Yourself!
Would you like to know one thing that admissions committee members really want from applicants? Here it is: they wish – really, truly wish – that applicants would not try to write what they imagine the adcom wants to hear but instead just be themselves. Time and time again, admissions committee members tell us they want applicants…
Four Tips for Highlighting Your Strengths in Your Application Essays
One of the most important pieces of advice you can receive regarding your personal statements and application essays is this: Show, don’t tell. But you might have been given this advice before and are wondering how to go about it. Let’s dive into how to show effectively. Here are four tips to help you achieve…
Writing a Lead That Pops
How many times have you sampled the first few lines of a book and decided, “Nah, this isn’t for me.” Whether you picked up the book in a store or library, or tested the free sample on your e-reader, you probably made a pretty speedy decision about whether it would hold your interest. The human…
How to Help Your Child Apply Successfully to Graduate School
It’s almost spring now, but the next grad school application cycle is looming. Applying to graduate schools can be a highly stressful process. And you as an applicant’s parent naturally want to help them through it, but how can you do so? It’s been decades since you applied, if you applied, and the process is…
Proving Character Traits in Your Essays
When you write an application essay or statement of purpose, you’re trying to accomplish two equally vital goals at once. First, you need to prove your worthiness for acceptance at your target school. Second, you need to show the adcom that you have the desirable character traits that their program values. But how do you prove…
Resilience: 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…
CMU Tepper’s MS in Business Analytics: All You Need to Know [Episode 510]
Drawing on her knowledge as the Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, Kari Calvario shares everything students should know about CMU Temper’s MS in Business Analytics program. [Show Summary] Welcome to the 510th episode of Admission Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we dive into today’s episode, I want…
Revise and Polish Your Application Essays
Check out all of the blog posts in this series: You’ve completed your first essay draft – this is a great milestone! Now it’s time to revise and edit that draft. Outstanding essays are not sprung into the world on the first try. Here’s how to edit and polish your essay until it shines: 1. Let…
How to Start Your First Draft of an Application Essay
Check out all of the blog posts in this series: Now that you have reflected on the questions that helped you identify and develop your theme, you have a clear sense of what will make your essay effective. Time to start writing! First, make an outline. An outline can be formal, with clearly delineated categories…
Writing Your Career Goals Essay
Check out all of the blog posts in this series: The career goals essay demands a laser-like focus. Unlike personal statements that can cover one’s career goals but also allow for more flexibility in content, the career goals essay has a specific and packed agenda. In fact, a career goals essay prompt could actually involve…
Finding a Theme for Your Statement of Purpose
Check out all of the blog posts in this series: All effective essays have a distinctive theme. Referring back to the essays we examined in the previous post, we might say that was her passion for finding answers to significant public health issues. Our law school applicant’s theme was his yearning for greater intellectual challenges while remaining in the…
Identifying the Ingredients of a Winning Essay
Check out all of the blog posts in this series: As you gear up to write your application essays, you might have looked at sample “winning” essays published in books or on websites, only to ask yourself afterward, “Sure, these are great, but what do these essays have to do with me?” This blog series will…
Bring Your Personal Statement to Life With Vivid, Active Verbs
Your personal statement is an essential element of your application and allows the adcom great insight into who you really are aside from your stats. However, no matter how extensive your experience or how accomplished you might be, all that can be lost in prose that does not do a good job of profiling who…
Got a Criminal Record? Here’s How to Address It in Your Application
If you have ever engaged in disorderly conduct or petty theft, gotten a DUI, been arrested during a political protest, or garnered any other kind of infraction (minor or major) on your record, we hope that you have learned important lessons from the experience and won’t repeat it. But if you are applying to a…
How to Write About Your Research Interests
The most common challenge that my clients face when writing a statement of research interests or statement of purpose (SOP) for a Master’s or PhD application is how to describe, in concrete terms, what their research interests and goals are. This is understandable—some people worry they’ll be held to their still-evolving ideas as if they…
Recipe for Writing an Accomplishment Essay
Build a better accomplishments essay by following this recipe. Accomplishments are the bread and butter (and jam!) of MBA personal statements and application essays. That might sound straightforward, but a fascinating brainstorming session among Accepted admissions consultants revealed that applicants don’t always understand what an accomplishment is in this context. What goes into this application staple? And…
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