Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends

We have decided to publish this newsletter as a service to our clients and others who register for it on our Web site. Accepted.com's Odds 'N Ends will bring you our tip of the month, admissions information for grad, law, MBA, and medical school applicants, and news about Accepted.com.

We also welcome contributions from readers. If you have comments, questions, or perhaps an article idea, please e-mail our editor. We cannot publish everything we receive, but we will try to respond to everyone. And as always, we appreciate feedback.

Index

What's New at Accepted.com
Essay Tip of the Month
Resume Tip of the Month
Grad Admission News You Can Use
Law Admission News You Can Use
MBA Admission News You Can Use
Medical Admission News You Can Use
College Admission News You Can Use
Our Services

What's New at Accepted.com

MBA World Tour

Accepted.com editors will participate in the World MBA Tour in New York City (September 22, 2001), Boston (September 24, 2001), and Toronto (September 26, 2001). Please stop by and identify yourself as an Acceptee. We look forward to meeting you on the World MBA Tour.

Even if you can't make the Boston, Toronto, or New York events, don't miss the World MBA Tour (an Odds 'N Ends advertiser). The World MBA Tour provides an excellent opportunity for you to meet adcom members and obtain information about the different programs. The Tour will visit major cities throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America. For more information, please visit TopMBA.com.

Price Increase Coming

The early bird may or may not get the worm, but at Accepted.com that bird is going to save money. To keep offering you the best editors and outstanding service, we must raise our prices effective September 1. ("Boo!!! Hiss!!!" I know. I know.) But you can beat the price increase. Sign up for your editing packages by August 31, 2000, and you will pay current rates. Just register before August 31, 2000.

Save the Date

On November 2, 2001 at 4:30 PM Eastern Time (3:30 PM Central Time; 2:30 PM Mountain Time; 1:30 PM Pacific Time), I will be the guest on the Mr. E.D.U. radio show airing on KFNX AM 1100 in Phoenix and WALE AM 990 in Providence. If you don't happen to live in Providence or Phoenix, you can listen to the show at www.NABCinc.com using RealAudio.

Acceptances!!!!

Those acceptances are rolling in! Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, Penn, Yale, Columbia, Duke, Tuck, UCLA, Chicago, Cornell. If Accepted.com played any role in your application process, whether as an informative Web site or advisor and editor, please let us know where you are admitted, how we helped you, AND how we can do better. Visit our survey form or e-mail acceptances@accepted.com. Alternatively, let your editor know how you fared.

Your Opinion Please...

We are currently evaluating our site performance. If you have found the Accepted.com site slow, or if you have suggestions for improving its content, please send your comments to feedback@accepted.com. Thanks!

Essay Tip of the Month

Multiple Essays — Multiple Opportunities

Wouldn't it be nice if you only had to write one essay? Simple. Nice. Easy.

Confining. Limiting. And in some respects much more difficult than writing multiple essays.

Multiple essays give you the room to go into greater depth AND provide more breadth. How so? You can use each essay to reveal different achievements and influences in your life. At the same time, each essay should reflect varied aspects of your personality, values, and interests.

So when you approach an application requiring multiple essays, whether it be HBS' seven-question application, the new AMCAS application, or any number of other undergraduate and graduate applications, make sure your essays are not merely variations on a monotonous theme. Ensure that they complement each other without overlap or duplication. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Which accomplishments and experiences do you want to bring out in your application?
2. Which of your experiences, activities, and accomplishments best answer each individual question?
3. Which combination of experiences presents the most textured and impressive picture of you as a distinctive human being with diverse interests and accomplishments?

Remember, the essays have one overriding purpose: introducing you as a unique individual with personality and character to the admissions committee members. Exploit the opportunity that multiple essays provide, and your reader will say, "Hey, I'd like to meet this person. I think he/she would be a great addition to our school!"

Resume Tip of the Month

Beyond the Case Interview

So much has been written about case interviews that it's easy to conclude that they are the only interview format would-be employees will face. This is partly because they are in fact the most common interview format and partly because of their sheer power to instill dread. Sometimes given nothing more than "The LA Philharmonic is losing money — what would you suggest they do?" interviewees are expected to unfurl an extensive, detailed series of analyses and recommendations that conclusively proves they have the right stuff.

There are many more formats for the interview than just the case, however. Another common type is the behavior interview, which can begin "Describe an obstacle that you were not able to overcome." Because the way you have acted in the past may shed light on the way you will perform in the future, behavioral questions test whether you can talk candidly and perceptively about past achievements or challenges. So-called brain-teaser interviews might begin with a seemingly unanswerable question like "How many baseballs does it take to fill a 747?" Here, the point is not a correct answer but insights into the way you think. Market sizing or assumption interviews can also seem like raw tests of mental firepower, but their focus is more business-oriented, for example: "How many Christmas trees were sold in the U.S. last year?" To answer you must make a series of quantitative assumptions that lead to a reasonably plausible number.

The infamous stress interview tests your ability to handle extreme pressure and may involve rapid-fire interrogation, multiple interviewers, or even outright rudeness. But perhaps the most insidious format is the "easy interview" in which the interviewer praises you on your brilliant resume and cordially asks you what you'd like to know about the firm. Though you may be tempted to ask which office will be yours, the shrewdest interviewees show they know how to manage a limited time frame productively by asking penetrating and knowledgeable questions about the interviewer's company and industry. Good luck!

Paul Bodine
Editor, Accepted.com
Member, National Resume Writers Association and
the Professional Association of Resume Writers

Grad Admission News You Can Use

Humanities are Holding Their Own at Top Universities

Do you think that the sciences are getting a disproportionate share of faculty positions and salary budget at top private schools? According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, two Cornell researchers compared salary data at nineteen top universities during 1978-79 and 1997-98. They surprised themselves by discovering that the humanities have not received the short end of the stick. All but one of the schools either increased proportionally or maintained their arts and humanities faculty numbers. Salaries also remained proportionate. The surveyed schools include all eight Ivy League universities, Stanford, MIT, Cal Tech, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, John Hopkins, Northwestern, the University of Chicago, the University of Rochester and Washington University.

Faculty Salary Rankings

The Chronicle reports that law professors at private colleges and universities earn almost twice ($108,450) as much as the average faculty salary ($58,700). This survey collects data from 531 private four-year colleges and universities. Here are the top five disciplines:

• Law $108,450
• Public Health $ 89,706
• Financial Management $ 89,523
• Chemical Engineering $ 82,878
• Electrical & Communications $ 80,848

Stanford Suggests its Grad Students Consider Public Aid fr Dependent Medical Costs

Stanford grad students were the center of a brouhaha over insurance costs for dependents. In a cost-cutting move, Stanford University recently informed grad students that medical coverage for dependents would increase 40-60%. The letter informing the students of the price increase also outlined other options: private insurance or government assistance.

Grad students, upset about the two "options," found both unacceptable. University administrators were "furious" that the Graduate Student Council on its Web site claimed the university had canceled dependent insurance.

In the end, Stanford reached agreement with Health Net to provide PPO coverage for grad students' dependents that requires approximately a 20% increase in price. To moderate the price increase, Stanford contributed significantly.

For details, please visit Stanford online.

Law Admissions News You Can Use

2002 LSAC Guide to Law Schools is Online

LSAC has published online its guide to ABA-Approved law schools. Accessing the searchable index is free. You can find school descriptions, bar passage rates, employment statistics, GPA and LSAT scores, tuition, financial aid info, deadlines, etc.

For more information, please visit LSAC's Web site.

MBA Admissions News You Can Use

Biological Ceiling Thwarts B-School Attempts to Increase Female Enrollment

The Wall Street Journal reports that business school efforts to attract more women to top b-school programs largely failed to increase the percentage of women earning MBA degrees. The overall percentage of women according to the WSJ is 30%, while in medical school and law school male and female enrollment are close to equal.

B-schools typically blame the frustrating disparity on a number of factors including fear of math, lack of female role models, and what one official calls, "a biological collision." MBA applicants are typically in their late twenties, and many women, focusing on marriage and children at that time in their lives, are reluctant to begin a demanding MBA program.

A number of schools, like Chicago, are responding to the challenge by marketing more aggressively to female applicants, holding receptions for women, and publishing material aimed at female applicants. Other schools, like Harvard, are hoping that the school's lowered experience requirement will have a side benefit: more qualified women applicants.

Med Admissions News You Can Use

AMCAS Application

I believe that AAMC turned itself around in July. I don't have any authoritative sources, but a quick perusal of the pre-med discussion boards and diminished complaints from clients indicate that AAMC is solving its processing problems. Applicants report short wait times when they attempt to contact AAMC via telephone and secondary applications are going out to applicants who applied early. I am sure AAMC hasn't eliminated all glitches, but June's nightmare seems to have ended.

For those of you who haven't yet submitted, the clock is ticking. Now that the craziness is history, submit your AMCAS application as soon as possible.

College Admissions News You Can Use

UC Approves Dual Admission Program

On July 19, the UC Board of Regents approved a "Dual Admission" program under which students between the top 4% and 12.5% of the class in each California high school, based on grades in UC-required courses, will be eligible for admission to a one of the UC campuses provided they complete a transfer program at a California community college. The program will affect the high school class of 2003.

Summer School Growing in Popularity

Whether they want to get through college quickly, couldn't find the job of their dreams, or are responding to financial incentives from their schools, more and more college students are turning to summer school as a way to while away those lazy days of summer. At Indiana U, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, summer term enrollment has increased 6.3% over last year — after declining for the preceding four years. According to the Chronicle, community schools are seeing particularly striking increases in summer enrollment.

In California, the University of California and the California State University System are lowering summer school fees to encourage students to attend summer school and better use the schools' physical plant. As a result summer enrollment has increased by a stunning 184% over 2000 at San Diego State University.

While summer school can be a great option, keep in mind that many grad schools and prospective employers want to see volunteer or paid relevant work experience from college grads. So make sure that you make time to either volunteer or work while in college.

Tell a Friend

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