Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends

Now let's examine that keychain.

Key #1: Read the letter for any hints of deficiency in your profile and attempt to improve that element in your profile.

Key #2: Give them more reasons to admit you. If the school encouraged contact, inform it of new achievements, initiatives, promotions, and developments in your life. This suggestion implies developing a proactive campaign for contact roughly every 2-3 weeks. The exact particulars will vary depending on your school, specialty, and exactly when you are put on the wait list, but it can include letters, additional visit(s) to the school, an offer to interview, letters of support from others, and occasional phone calls.

Letters should be 1-2 pages. For tips on the letters' content, please see "Wait-list Purgatory."

Key #3: Reinforce the idea of a fit between you and the school. Demonstrate how a visit confirmed and deepened your interest in the program. Show how recent activities reveal that your values and the school's are a match made in heaven.

Key #4: Enlist your fan club. Seek additional letters of recommendation from supervisors on and off the job and professors (if applying to an academic program). Current students and recent alumni who know you can also write letters of support and emphasize your fit with the program.

Key #5: Ask if there is anything you can do to improve your candidacy. There usually isn't, but if there is you want to know about it and do it. If you have already demonstrated improvement in that aspect of your profile, let them know how you have improved since you applied.

It is much harder to wave the flag when the school doesn't want contact. But even in these cases, you can be proactive, just more indirect. If feasible, visit the school and take a tour. If you know alumni or faculty members, ask them to put in a good word for you at the school. You can't be responsible if your fan club thinks you belong at School X and wants to inform the admissions committee. You will have to be a little more indirect, but you still want someone to show fit and that "new and improved" you.

Accepted.com's editors are available to help you evaluate your application, advise you on your wait-list strategy, and edit wait-list letters. For more information, please visit our catalog .

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"Electronic" Resumes
An ever-increasing number of employers are routinely scanning job applicants' resumes into computerized databases that automatically search for keywords demonstrating you have the skills they need. According to some estimates, there's at least a fifty-fifty chance your resume will be scanned by programs like Hiring Gateway and Workstream. Whether you submit your resume through one of the online resume database services like Monster.com or via "snail mail," you owe it to yourself to have a cyber-ready version of your resume.

What are the key differences between "e-resumes" and the traditional variety? From a design standpoint, your e-resume should be stripped of highlighting features like boldface, italics, tabs, and bullet points that might confuse the employers' scanners. Also, choose a typeface like Times Roman or Helvetica that the employers' scanning software can read easily.

If you're sending your e-resume as an e-mail attachment, your typeface choices are limited to ASCII text, still the safest "platform-neutral" character set. Make sure no line exceeds 60 character spaces; anything over that may create spillover lines that will make your e-resume look sloppy. Yes, even stripped-down e-resumes should look clean and well-formatted!

When it comes to the content of your resume, the key difference between electronic and traditional resumes is the use of keywords - the crucial terms the employers' databases are programmed to hunt for. If you're in the computer industry, your keywords will often be the technical buzzwords that define your niche - programming languages, computer platforms, general industry terms (some examples include "UNIX," "Java," "object-oriented," "Sybase") - but even years of work experience may be a searchable term.

But employers in every industry will have a set of keywords they're searching for (sometimes as few as 12; sometimes many more). For example, a firm seeking a venture capital attorney might program their scanning software to search for "mergers and acquisitions," "licensing transactions," "private equity," and "IPO." Needless to say, don't insert keywords unless they accurately reflect your skill set! To find out what keywords the employer you've targeted is looking for, study the job description, classified help wanted ads, and industry sources such as professional associations and newsletters.

Finally, while the employer's resume-scanning software will find your keywords no matter where you put them in the resume, it's a good idea to combine them all in a Keyword Summary section at the top of the resume after your name, address, and contact info.

Happy (job) hunting!

By Paul Bodine, Accepted.com Senior Editor

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The Finance Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions Success
Finance Professionals, Investment Bankers, Specialists in PE/VC: This MBA admissions ebook is just for you. Co-authored by Cindy Tokumitsu and myself, The Finance Professional's Guide can help you distinguish yourself from your competition, craft a compelling MBA application, and gain acceptance to top MBA programs. On its own, it's a fantastic resource, but combined with its free bonuses, The Finance Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions Success is an e-book you can't afford not to own.

Looking Towards 2005?
Accepted.com is here to help. Until April 30, 2004, we are offering $25 off your first hour of Application Review or Pre-season Consulting .

Application Review can help you if you've been rejected and want to know how to improve your application for next year. Accepted.com's experienced consultants can tell you what went wrong and how to fix it.

If you plan to apply for the first time in 2005, you are jumping ahead of the crowd by launching the process now. Congratulations on your early start! You can obtain great suggestions in the ebook and/or CD of Best Practices for 2005 MBA Admission. Both the CD and ebook will tell you exactly what you should do between now and when applications are published in the late summer.

If you want advice tailored to your particular situation, then consider Pre-season Consulting . After purchasing Pre-season Consulting , an experienced Accepted.com advisor will assist you with your early application planning and school choices on an individual basis.

Chats
The 2004 MBA admissions chats came to a close with a great waitlist chat , and 2005 chats have already started. (Accepted.com doesn't miss a beat.) We hosted INSEAD on February 26 in preparation for its January 2005 intake's first deadline in March. The transcript will be posted shortly.

If you want to be added to our MBA Admissions Events mailing list, please send a blank e-mail to 2005MBAevents@accepted.com .

The State of Yale's School of Management
In his annual State of the School Address, Yale School of Management (SOM) Dean Jeffrey Garten outlined what he considers the strengths, difficulties and current issues of concern at the school, The Yale Daily News reports. Speaking to an audience of about 250 SOM students, faculty and administrators at the Law School auditorium, Garten said the school is making progress in the areas of admissions, alumni relations, course offerings and student life. But he also said the administration has had to address problems, including a difficult job market and student dissatisfaction with a core finance course.

He said that one major success for the SOM is the number of applications it has received this year. Garten emphasized that the SOM has also seen progress in its efforts to further involve alumni with the school, as 53% of alumni now send in donations as compared to 10% nine years ago.

Fuqua Teams Up with West Point
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that as part of continuing efforts to emphasize leadership education, the Fuqua School of Business has created a scholarship program for qualified graduates of the United States Military Academy.

Two West Point graduates will be eligible for the scholarship beginning this fall. The Army will contribute a $16,000 civil schooling allocation for the officers and Fuqua will offset the remainder of the $35,000 annual tuition. Most of the incoming students will be company commanders who have served in Afghanistan, Kosovo and other international combat and peacekeeping zones. Fuqua Admissions Director Elizabeth Riley said the students will have to earn admission on their own merit. "We have had tremendous success with West Point graduates who have enrolled at Fuqua," Riley said. "They are actively involved in the Fuqua community in various positions and set a wonderful leadership example to their peers."

Even if not a graduate of West Point, these scholarships show a certain "military-friendly" attitude at Duke that MBA applicants coming from the military should consider when choosing their MBA programs.

Many Pick Britain Over the US for MBAs
In today's competitive job market, students are looking for degrees outside their home countries to position themselves as global managers fluent in international practices, reports the International Herald Tribune . Consequently, for a growing number of young corporate climbers a non-American MBA degree offers a cost-efficient alternative, plus the bonus of some international experience. For a growing number of students from around the world, that means looking to study in Britain.

Overseas students studying business and management in Britain increased to 19,830 in 2002 from 15,010 in 2000, according to the latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Of 5,812 students in full-time MBA programs in Britain in 2002, 83% were from overseas, compared to 71% in 1999.

While the tough recruiting climate for graduates entering the U.S. job market is a factor in the decrease, another pressure point seems to be restrictions on visas for travel, education, and work in the United States after the war in Iraq, SARS in Asia and political changes related 9/11. Prestige is also a powerful pull for applicants, and Britain has an edge over other international programs in both rankings and brand value. According to the full-time global MBA rankings compiled by The Financial Times, 18 of the top 35 European schools are in Britain. Better rankings also attract better students, who in turn improve the rankings, a cycle that is poised to benefit British programs tremendously within the next decade.

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Out-of-state Students Flock to UNLV Law School
The Las Vegas Business Press reports out-of-state applicants are bombarding the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. So many, in fact, that the admissions department is facing some tough choices in meeting its goal of serving primarily the local community. Most of the out-of-state applicants are from neighboring states such as Arizona, California and Utah.

"Most of our students will be from Nevada, 70%-80%, that's what the [university system] Board of Regents wants," says Frank Durand, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid. "Nevadans will always have a preference, but the bulk of our applicant pool is non-resident." Hence, the problem comes in, he explains, with 1,250 out of 1,700 applicants for the fall 2003 freshman class being from out-of-state. "The majority of the applicants are competing for a small number of seats and the minority of the applicants are competing for a greater number of seats." Translation: If you're from Nevada your chances of acceptance are high at UNLV Law.

CUNY Raises the "Bar" in Response to High Fail Rate
The New York Post reports that a startling 44% of graduates of the City University Law School (CUNY) flunked the state bar exam last year. Despite that disturbing statistic, school officials promise that rate will improve dramatically because the school has just recruited its best class ever under a new stricter admissions policy. The tighter screening means nearly all the students admitted last year scored above the established 145 cutoff score on the LSAT, compared to the class of 2002, where about 25% were accepted despite having lower scores. The 56% pass rate is up 6 points over 2002, but that's still about 20 points lower than the state average for all law-school students and 18 points lower than CUNY Law's 74% pass rate in 2000. The bottom line is that students can't practice law unless they pass the bar. CUNY officials admit the pass rate is still unacceptably low, but things could soon change.

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University of California System was #1 in Winning Patents Last Year
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced the universities that were awarded the most patents in 2003. The University of California system ranked 1st, with 439 patents, the 10th consecutive year it has led the list.

Below is a table of the top 10 schools for the last two years along with the respective number of patents each has been awarded.

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"Demonstrated Interest" is Becoming a Factor in Admissions Decisions
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the majority of selective colleges that participated in a recent survey said they considered a student's "demonstrated interest," meaning their personal contact with colleges, as a factor in admissions decisions. The survey of 595 colleges will be released this month by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

Colleges that factor in demonstrated interest routinely defer or reject stellar applicants who do not make overtures beyond filing an application, on the assumption that those students wouldn't have accepted the college's offer anyway. They defend their stance in part by citing the rising popularity of the Common Application, a standardized form accepted by 241 colleges across the country, which many students have increasingly been using to apply to multiple institutions despite knowing relatively little about them.

On the other hand, college admissions officers don't always welcome the extra attention given them by applicants "demonstrating interest." For instance, Bruce C. Poch, vice president and dean of admissions at Pomona College, asks: "In the end, if everybody does it, then how do you measure this so-called demonstrated interest?" "To me demonstrated interest should be an application," he adds.

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