Services MBA Medical Law Grad College Resume Bookstore Blog Home Page Contact Us Shopping Cart Services MBA Medical Law Grad College Resume Bookstore Blog Shopping Cart Home Page Contact Us March 2005 Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends: Sophisticated Essays; Unpaid Internships
Free Newsletter
Services and Prices
Bookstore
MBA
Med School
Law School
Grad School
College
Resume Advice
About Us
Newsletter
Chat
Press Room
Affiliates



Submit a Stellar Application

MBA BlastOff: 45 Terrific Tips to Launch Your MBA Application to Acceptance.

How to Write Great College Application Essays and Stay Sane

How to Write Great College Application Essays and Stay Sane

Best Practices for
MBA Admissions

The Finance Professional`s Guide to MBA Admissions Success

The Consultant`s Guide to MBA Admission

The Techie`s Guide to MBA Admissions


The Nine Mistakes You Don`t Want to Make on a Law School Waitlist


The Nine Mistakes You Don`t Want to Make on a Med School Waitlist

The Nine Mistakes You Don`t Want to Make on an MBA Waitlist

Great Application Essays for Business School

Great Personal Statements for Law School

Write Your Way to a Residency Match

Write Your Way to a Fellowship Match

MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs MBA Interview Questions and Tips

Create a Better Sequel: How to Reapply Right to Business School

March 2005 Volume 8, Issue 3
Free monthly newsletter Subscribers: 4906
Archives ISSN: 1526-2316
Published by Accepted.com Linda Abraham, Editor
Subscriber self administration

Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends

What's New At Accepted.com
Essay Tip
Resume Tip
Wrap Up

 
What's New at Accepted.com
 

Birthday Ebook Sale
Mark the date: March 15, 2005 is Cindy Tokumitsu's X Birthday Sale! Yes folks, it's one of those big, fat, round birthdays. And in honor of her X birthday, the two ebooks she co-authored will be X% off. Check out:

The Finance Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions Success
The Consultant's Guide to MBA Admissions

They are invaluable MBA admissions books. So take advantage of the birthday sale on March 15, 2005 Pacific Time and save X%.


Mark Your Calendars for These Chats
March 17 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ Michigan Ross Jim Hayes
  6:00 PM GMT Waitlist Chat Admissions personnel

The chat will take place in the Accepted.com chat room.

New Chat Transcripts
London Business School
Waitlist Chat
MIT Waitlist Chat


The Accepted Admissions Almanac
Don't forget to visit my blog, the Accepted Admissions Almanac. Here is a sampling of posts during the past month:

GMAT Volume: Change is Blowing in the Wind
Waitlists and Stats
A Window into Washington University Medical School
The Practice of Law School

In addition, this month the blog contains quite a few entries with school-specific information for different MBA waitlists as well as links to such information.

You can subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Almanac using any RSS-reader. My favorite is Bloglines.

Back to top
 

 
Essay Tip
 
 
An Accepted.com editor told me that a client recently asked her "to make my essay more sophisticated." As a result, I am reprinting this tip from several years ago. It is still timely.

In Anticipation of Sophistication
Every so often it happens: I work with a client on an essay. We have gone through a number of drafts. He or she has it ready, or so I think. The well-organized, lucid essay presents the applicant in a distinctive and compelling way. And then the client says, "OK now I want to make it sound more sophisticated."

I am normally a calm, aim-to-please person, but here I put my foot down: "You have an articulate, clearly written essay. This kind of writing is sophisticated. Don't mess it up by using 'big' words in a vain, ill-conceived attempt to impress your reader with your vocabulary."

Only one question should guide your choice of words: Do these words and expressions most clearly and succinctly express the ideas you are trying to convey? If the answer is "yes," you are producing a sophisticated piece of writing. DON'T MESS IT UP! CAN THOSE $64 WORDS!

Of course, if you find yourself overusing certain phrases or expressions, use synonyms, but be sure you understand them and are comfortable with their usage. But don't choose a word or phrase to impress someone with your savoir-faire. Your ignorance might unintentionally prove more impressive ... and memorable.

This tip is one of 42 timeless tips found in the Accepted.com ebook Submit a Stellar Application: 42 Terrific Tips to Help you Get Accepted. If you would like to buy the entire collection of advice on writing and admissions in a convenient downloadable ebook, please click on the link.

Back to top

 
 
Resume Tip
 

How to Determine Placement of an Unpaid Internship in Your Resume
Recently, when editing a client's resume, I advised him to move an unpaid internship from the "Employment" section to the "Other Activities" section. He was an experienced business professional currently attending a full-time logistics master's program and applying to top MBA programs. He had worried about how the MBA adcoms would view his student status and lack of current employment, so he volunteered about 20 hours a week with a local United Way chapter. He felt strongly that given the time and relatively high level of his work for the United Way, it could and should go under "Employment," even though it was unpaid. I disagreed (and eventually convinced him).

However. A few years ago, when writing a resume for another client, I put her unpaid internship under "Employment." She was a college senior seeking jobs in art museums. During college she'd had two full-time summer art museum internships, the first unpaid and the second paid. Although she had an "Activities" section in her resume, I chose to put that first internship under "Employment."

Why the seeming inconsistency? Resume-writing isn't a mathematical formula. Context determines some decisions on how to present experience. And that means putting yourself in the reader's seat in making those decisions.

In the first case, readers of the resume would be business-related, and the resume belonged to an experienced business professional. In this context, the reader would reasonably expect that "employment" refers to work for compensation. Moreover, in the business world, unpaid internships are not common practice. Finally, the substance of the internship, while impressive, was not directly related to the client's profession.

In the second case, readers would be in a field where unpaid internships are a common way for newcomers to gain meaningful experience, and would not necessarily expect an internship listed under "Employment" to involve compensation if it was early in the subject's career. And, clearly, this internship was part of a career track and not what is usually construed as "volunteer work," although unpaid.

When adding an unpaid internship to your resume, spend a few minutes thinking about the context - from the prospective reader's view.

Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Member, Professional Association of Resume Writers

Back to top

 
Wrap Up


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 at our services page.

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.

**To subscribe to Odds 'N Ends please visit http://www.accepted.com/newsletter/subscribe.aspx .

Copyright
Copyright 2004 Accepted.com. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reprint or host on your web site without explicit permission. However, if you found this newsletter helpful, we encourage you to e-mail it to a friend or colleague. Thank you.

Information provided in this document is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Accepted.com -- helping you write your best!
Application essay editing and advising
Resume writing and editing

http://www.accepted.com
310-815-9553
info@accepted.com

Accepted.com
PO Box 67423
Los Angeles, CA 90067




News
Birthday Sale
Buy ebooks, CDs NOW And SAVE 50%!
MBA Admissions Telethon
  • For 2009 applicants.
  • Free Consultations.
  • Tues. May 13, 2008.
  • Med School Essay Special
  • Start your AMCAS application now.
  • 10% off med school essay services.
  • Enter “MEDSPECIAL” at checkout.
  • Ends May 31, 2008.
  • Start Smart MBA Consulting
  • Start early. Start right.
  • Personal MBA coach.
  • Tailored monthly plans.
  • MBA BlastOff: 45 Terrific Tips to Launch Your MBA Application to Acceptance
  • Learn to create a winning MBA package.
  • Tips on MBA essays, resume and interviews.
  • Save 20% during May.
  • Enter "MBA" at checkout.
  • IMD Chat
    Guest: Janet Shaner, Director of MBA Marketing
    MBA Student
    Date: May 14, 2008
    Time: 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/7:00 PM Swiss time
    Place: Chat Room
    Waitlisted?
    Check out The Nine Mistakes You Don't Want to Make for:

  • B-School
  • Law School
  • Med School

  • Client Testimonial
    " Again, many, many thanks for your help with the editing of the statement - it simply couldn't have gotten to that beautiful final stage without your help. You DEFINITELY deserve a big chunk of the credit for the admission decision. [Accepted to NYU]"


     
     
     Receive our free newsletter