When crafting application essays – whether for graduate school, business school, or any other competitive program – applicants often focus on highlighting their accomplishments. And it’s easy to understand why. Most candidates are eager to share their significant achievements, such as leading a groundbreaking project, making a meaningful impact through research, or spearheading a successful …
Too many times, as an admissions officer, I read applications from candidates who shared career goals that didn’t quite make sense. Whether there was no connection between their target position and what they had been doing or no explanation of how they would successfully pivot to their desired role, I was left wondering how much …
Show Summary In this episode, Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Yale School of Management, shares an overview of the Yale School of Management. The program offers a distinctive two-year, full-time MBA program emphasizing an interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum to prepare students for leadership in business and society. Bruce discusses how aspiring applicants can prepare …
You’ve already written the required essays that your target business schools have asked for. Do you really need to write the optional essay, too? If you’re a strong applicant who has no weaknesses, low stats, or application inconsistencies to explain, then you might be able to skip the optional essay. But the optional essay is …
So you’ve sat down and brainstormed, and you’re now ready to hit the ground running with your essays. Great! You might be wondering how to best convey your reasons for pursuing graduate school to the admissions committees. What kind of tone or approach should you use? A good rule of thumb is to project three …
Many business schools use open-ended essay prompts, which are usually variations of “I wish the admissions committee had asked me…” or “What is a question that you wish we had asked?” The most common among these open-ended questions is the optional essay, where you have free rein to discuss anything you feel is important, something …
My answer to this question used to be a hard “No.” But now, it’s “Yes! Kind of.” We’ve gone through an admissions cycle during which applicants used AI tools such as ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini, and others with both positive and negative outcomes. Some colleges, graduate schools, and MBA programs might even have essay prompts soon …
Psst! How would you like to know the one thing that admissions committee members really want from applicants? Here it is: they wish – sometimes they even dream – that applicants would stop writing what they imagine the adcom wants to hear. Instead, they want candidates to just be themselves, presented articulately, of course. We …
If you haven’t yet read the other blog posts in this series, go ahead and check them out: Once you have reflected on the questions that helped you identify and develop your essay theme, you should have a clear path to writing an effective essay. Here are three essential steps to help you achieve that …
Schools are looking for and will actively contribute not only to their student/alumni communities but also to the greater community and society. Many applications include an essay question with some variation of “What would you contribute to your future campus community?” or “How will you contribute to our program?” If you are invited to interview, you’ll …
What are the essential components of a strong statement of purpose essay? Very simply, you’ll need to include your MAP: your Motivation, Aspiration, and Perspiration. At Accepted, MAP has a double meaning for individuals writing statements of purpose and goals essays. It illustrates the road one should follow when writing one of these essays. Here’s …
[powerpress] Shortcuts to Key Insights from this Episode Shelly Heinrich, Associate Dean for MBA and MS-ESM admissions, and Director of Marketing at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, discusses everything applicants need to know about getting into Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program. [Show Summary] Are you interested in sustainability? Also considering an MBA? Well Georgetown University’s McDonough …
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