 |
|
 |
Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends
|
|
What's New At Accepted.com |
|
Deadlines Dead Ahead
Deadlines are here. We want to help you, but please give us enough time to do
so. Don't wait -- sign up for Accepted.com services
or contact your editor about additional editing.
Acceptances!!!!
Those acceptances are coming in! 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 were admitted, how we helped you, and
how we can do better. E-mail acceptances@accepted.com or visit our
Share-Your-Success page.
Wait-listed?
Visit Accepted.com to see how
we can help you
with your wait-list letters and strategy.
|
|
| Essay
Tip |
|
Search Engine Optimization and Your Essay
I recently read an essay draft with lots of "key words." You know,
words like "leadership," "communications skills," "initiative,"
"team work," "vision," etc. If the author had been seeking a high
ranking in the search engines and these were search terms, he had
done a good job. A few incoming links and these winning words,
plus a good meta description and page title -- Google and friends
would have been smiling.You might
wonder, "What do these questions have to do with my qualifications
for b-school? Or law school? Or med school? Or college?" Very
little. But your answer can open a window into you, your
interests, and your values-and getting to know you is what these
essays are all about.
But it wasn't a Web page. It was an application essay. And this
draft completely lacked personality. The author seemed to believe
that if he repeated these key words enough, he would convince the
reader that he indeed had these attributes.
It doesn't work that way at all. Repeating key words like a mantra
is not effective. If anything, these phrases start to look a
little like spam -- just as unwanted and meaningless.
At the same time, these qualities are valued by adcom members and
your essays should convince the adcoms that you have them. How?
Demonstrate them.
Do you want to show initiative and leadership? Discuss the time
you saw a need and organized a group to respond to that need. Do
you want to show communications skills? Write about a tense team
moment that you diffused or how you kept the peace between two
short-tempered team members who just happened to have differing
views on how to proceed.
Search engine optimization has its place. On Web sites. It has no
place in application essays. Here you earn high rankings through
show-and-tell. Back to top
|
| |
|
|
| Resume
Tip |
|
The Informational Interview: Networking's First Step
As the job squeeze of the past three years made clear, nothing beats
networking when jobs are hard to find. Informational interviews
are sometimes viewed as disguised job interviews -- last resorts
when you're between jobs. In reality, they should be used as the
first stage in networking, a process that smart professionals
never really stop.
The leading business schools' career placement officers recommend
that MBAs and MBA wannabes alike use the informational interview
as an ongoing career tool, especially when contemplating a career
change. "Networking and informational interviewing [are] the keys
to success," says Texas' Career Center Associate Director, Jamie
Belinne, in the
UT McCombs chat at Accepted.com. Suppose you're an
IT consultant seeking an MBA to transition into investment
banking. Begin setting up informational interviews before you
start business school. "If you know what you want to do already,
take the time to do informational interviews before coming to
school," notes Haas' Assistant Director of Career Services, Sheri Lockshin, at another recent
chat with Haas representatives .
"Things roll very quickly once school begins, and the more
research and informational interviewing done before school begins,
the better." Then, once you're admitted, you have entr�e to a
larger, more influential, and ready-to-help pool of informational
interviewees: your business school's alumni. These contacts can
lead to summer internships, which often lead to full-time gigs.
In other words, the informational interview creates the initial
relationship. After that, you're networking. When you call the
contact or alum the next time, you'll already have established
your bona fides as a job-seeker or career-switcher. As
Michigan
Business School's Al Cotrone notes, "it will be much easier to
reach out to people once you are in a program and 'pick up' the
conversation as opposed to having to start from scratch as
internship season approaches. Networking with current
acquaintances helps them to 'buy in' to your endeavor." And the
informational interview is an excellent way to turn a stranger
into a "current acquaintance."
Paul Bodine, Senior Editor
Back to top
|
|
|
| MBA News You
Can Use |
|
Chat, Chats, and More Chats
Coming up:
International MBA Admissions Chat with Anderson, Darden, CMU,
Cornell, and Indiana -- January 7 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time/6:00 PM
GMT
MIT -- January 8 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time/6:00 PM GMT
Indiana -- January 29 at 6:00 PM Pacific/9:00 PM Eastern/2:00 AM
GMT
Chats from the recent past:
Transcripts are now up for all the chats that took place during
December, including USC, NYU, UMBS, UCLA, Haas, and Chicago. You
can link to them from our
chat transcript page .
To determine the time in our location, please visit
http://www.timeanddate.com/ .
Decrease in GMAT Test Taking
Newly published statistics for GMAT test takers reveal that
although the number of tests administered steadily increased from
2000 to 2002, 2003 has seen a marked decline of 13.02% thru
November 30, 2003 from the previous year's figures. The decline
puts test-taking levels in both the US and abroad at roughly 2001
levels.
The complete data can be accessed at:
http://www.gmac.com/gmac/TheGMAT/Tools/YeartoDateGMATVolume.htm
GMAT Sponsor Shifts Administration of the Exam from ETS
to ACT
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the organization
overseeing GMAT administration has announced that it has chosen
to end a 50-year partnership with the Educational Testing
Service (ETS). Instead, beginning in 2006 and for at least the
next seven years, the GMAT will be jointly managed by ACT Inc.,
best known for its ACT college entrance exam, and Pearson VUE,
a company specializing in computer-based training.
The exam is currently administered at 550 testing centers
around the world, but the change in sponsors will increase the
number of potential testing centers more than six-fold.
Back to top
|
| |
|
|
| Med Admissions
News You Can Use |
|
AMSA Provides Overworked Residents with a New Online Forum
Medical students and residents have joined forces to launch a
new website, www.HoursWatch.org , where they can anonymously share
their stories and educate each other on legislative initiatives
regarding work hours.
HoursWatch is dedicated to ending unsafe work hours for medical
residents and finding solutions that enhance patient care and
medical education. It is jointly sponsored by the Committee of
Interns and Residents/SEIU (CIR/SEIU) and the American Medical
Student Association (AMSA).
The current regulations are set by the Accreditation Council for
Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and state that medical
residents cannot work more than 30 hours per shift and 80 hours
per week, averaged over four weeks. However, there are many
weaknesses to the system:
- The ACGME's only method of enforcement -- revoking
accreditation status -- is punitive for residents and
discourages them from reporting violations.
- The regulations allow for averaging over a one-month period
(so hours can be greater than 80 in a given week).
- Research suggests that physicians are impaired by sleep
deprivation after 24 hours without sleep, yet ACGME rules allow
residents to be held in the hospital for an additional 6-hour
"hand-off" period after 24 hours of duty.
As AMSA National President Lauren Oshman, M.D., M.P.H. says,
"It is time to rectify the excessive work hours that are forced
upon residents. We hope that HoursWatch will serve as an
independent 'watchdog,' monitoring and lobbying for enforcement
mechanisms that offer better protections to residents."
To learn more about AMSA and CIR/SEIU, you can visit them online
at: http://www.amsa.org and
http://www.cirseiu.org
Increase in Medical School Applications, Particularly Among
Women
After a six-year decline, the number of applicants to U.S.
medical schools is on the rise, according to data released by
the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Almost
35,000 individuals applied to attend medical school in the
coming school year, a 3.4% increase over last year's applicant
pool of 33,625.
An increase in female applicants accounted for most of the
overall increase in applications: 17,672 women applied, an
almost 7% rise over last year's total. In a related statistic,
the sharp decline of males applying to medical schools, a trend
that started in 1997, leveled off this year. Male applicants
totaled 17,113, very close to last year's figure of 17,069.
CNN.com adds that women outnumbering men among U.S. medical
school applicants represents a milestone in the slow but steady
increase in the number of aspiring female doctors. Women have
yet to surpass the number of men actually entering medical
school. Nationwide this fall, women constituted 49.7% of the
entering class of more than 16,500. The proportion of female
applicants to men has risen steadily for years. In 1963, they
were 8.1% of the almost 17,700 applicants.
Back to top
|
|
|
| Law Admissions
News You Can Use |
|
Columbia Law School Dean Appointed President of Rice University
In an announcement posted on the Columbia Law School website, Law
Faculty Dean David W. Leebron has announced that in July 2004, he
will be departing to take up a new post as the President of Rice
University. Leebron, who is leaving after fifteen years of
deanship, is excited about his new position, but sad to be leaving
Columbia's staff, faculty, and graduate community.
To access the full text of the announcement, you can click on the
link below:
http://www.law.columbia.edu/media_inquiries/news/Dec_2003/David_Leebron
Back to top
|
|
|
| Grad Admissions
News You Can Use |
|
Women Take Lead in Number of US Doctorates Awarded; Total Falls
Again
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that in 2002, for the
first time, more American women than men earned doctorates at
American universities, receiving 51% of all Ph.D.s awarded. But
the milestone may not mark the ascent of American female
academics, who have consistently earned around 13,000 doctorates
for several years, so much as the descent of their male
counterparts, who earned 15% fewer doctorates (about 12,800) in
2002 than in 1997.
According to the "Survey of Earned Doctorates," American
universities awarded 2% fewer doctorates last year than two years
ago. The 39,955 awarded last year are the fewest in a decade and
represent a 6% decrease over the last five years.
Back to top
|
|
|
| College
Admissions News You Can Use |
|
Dean of Yale is Named President of Duke
The New York Times reports that Duke University's next president
will be Richard H. Brodhead, a 56-year-old Yale English professor
and dean of Yale College. He will succeed Nannerl O. Keohane, 63,
who will step down on July 1 after 11 years.
In a statement made via telephone, Brodhead said that he never
would have left "but for a place that presented some exciting new
opportunities and was consonant with my own values." As dean of
Yale's undergraduate college since 1993, Dr. Brodhead has been its
faculty chairman and chief administrator, with responsibility for
undergraduate education, housing and social life, student
services, undergraduate admissions, and financial aid.
Back to top
|
|
|
| Wrap Up
|
|
Forward This Issue
Please forward this issue to friends interested in graduate school admission. They will thank you and so will we!
Our Services
Writing a personal statement is a tough challenge. A former client, an NBC journalist with over twenty years of experience in the field, once said that his personal statement "was the toughest thing I ever had to write." He sought our help. Shouldn't you?
Accepted.com's editors are here to help you write your best essays -- eloquent, compelling essays that distinguish you from the competition and transform you from a transcript and test score into a competitive applicant and unique individual.
Check us out. Complete information on our services, including prices, testimonials, and information about our top-notch professional staff, can be found in our
catalog .
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at
info@accepted.com or 310-815-9553.
We look forward to serving you.
|
|
|
 |

Security Tested Daily
|
 |
The Highest Rating
|
NEWS »MBA Round 2 Discount Start your Apps NOW
Save $100 on orders over $2000 with code MBA100
Special ends Nov. 30
»Law Services Savings Save 10% on all Law Services
Use code LAW10 at checkout
Special ends Nov. 30, 2009
»MBA Letters of Recommendation that Rock Comprehensive LOR guide
Practical tips & sample LORs
Save 20% with code MBALOR
»London’s MiM Guest: Jamie Wright- Client Services Manager- Masters in Management Program
Date: Wed, Nov. 11, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM GMT
Place: Chat Room
»Ask Consortium Students Q&A Guest: Rebecca Dockery, Recruiting Manager
Date: Wed, Nov. 18, 2009
Time: 11:00 AM PT/2:00 PM ET/7:00PM GMT
Place: Chat Room
»Consortium Chat Guest: Rebecca Dockery, Recruiting Manager
Date: Tues. Dec. 1, 2009
Time: 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET
Place: Chat Room
»It’s a 10! Win a $20 gift certificate.
Share MBA interview experience.
»November O&E Interview Insights
Picky Pet Peeves
|
Client Testimonial
I am confident my essays will stay out in front of the admission committee, as a result of Cindy's help. Cindy asked constructive questions, which helped me think through my goals and aspirations more thoroughly."
 |
 |