Accepted.com Odds 'N Ends

• What's New: MBA Essay Special; Techie's Guide Sale; Featured Ebook; Med Telethon; B-School Photo Winners; Last MBA Telethon
• Chats: Upcoming SUNY Med Chat; IMD Transcript; MGMAT Open House with Linda Abraham
• Blog Posts of Interest & Forum Focus
• Essay Tip: Who Should Write Your LORs?
• Resume Tip: Letters of Resignation
• Wrap Up: Accepted.com Services; Newsletter Subscription Management

Early-Bird MBA Special

Gain the early advantage in MBA admissions and save money. Order MBA Essay Services this month to save 10%.

Save 25% on The Techie's Guide to MBA Admissions

If you are an engineer, computer geek, or software savant who needs assistance writing the MBA application essays, this is the only book I know of to address your unique needs. The Techie's Guide to MBA Admissions will teach you how to target programs that value your background, distinguish yourself in the competitive IT field, guide you in developing a strategy for your MBA essays and much, much more.

Purchase The Techie's Guide to MBA Admissions through June 30 and receive 25% off. To receive your savings, please enter "TECHIE" at checkout.

Featured Ebook: Write Your Way to a Residency Match

Impress residency programs with your application using the techniques taught in Write Your Way to a Residency Match. And if you buy it in June, you can save 20% off the regular purchase price. To receive your savings, please enter "RES20" at checkout.

Medical School Admissions Telethon for 2009 Applicants

Join medical school admissions experts Cydney Foote and Joan Davis for Accepted’s last 2009 Medical School Admissions Telethon on Thursday June 12, 2008 at 5:00-7:00 PM PT/8:00-10:00 PM ET.

During your free, 15-minute, one-on-one consultation you'll get answers to your most important questions about your medical school application. The telethon is free, but you do need to register to receive call-in information. So don’t delay.

For more information and to register, please visit the Medical School Admissions Telethon page.

2008 Beautiful B-School Photo Contest Winners

It was tough selecting the best pictures from the 50 submitted to Accepted’s Beautiful B-School Photo Contest. Even so, today we have three prize winners, and they are displayed on our ’08 Beautiful B-School Photo Contest Winners page, along with the names of our honorable mentions and judges.

Thanks to all the winners and honorable mentions whose pictures now are adorning our b-school zones pages.

Mark Your Calendar: Last MBA Telethon for 09 Applicants

Mark your calendar! The last 2009 MBA Admissions Telethon is July 15 at 1:00-3:00 PM PT/ 4:00-6:00 PM ET. Check the blog for registration and call-in details as they become available.

Blog Posts of Interest

This month Accepted’s editors have joined me in blogging. And I love it! They are adding immeasurably to the quality of the blog, plus you can “meet” them, which is helpful to you if you choose to work with Accepted.

Enjoyed these posts? Sign-up for Accepted Admissions Almanac blog posts updates and begin receiving admissions tips and the latest news on college and graduate school admissions. On the sign-up page, you can choose to receive all the blog posts via email (using Feedblitz) or RSS feeds.

Forum Focus
Do you have pressing application or admissions questions? Feel free to address questions to Accepted's forum moderators, exchange admissions news with other applicants, and share the ups and downs of the admissions process on Accepted.com's Forums.

• MBA Admissions Forum: First step…where to apply?
• Law School Admissions Forum: LSAT and law school advice
• Medical School Admissions Forum: Reference letter

Who Should Write Your Letters of Recommendation?
Recommenders should first and foremost be people who have personally seen you perform. For MBA applicants, schools are most interested in feedback from your current or perhaps recent professional supervisors. For applicants to law school, med school, grad school and college, academic recommenders or a combination of academic and professional or community service recommenders is effective. For medical school applicants, someone for whom you did research may also write an effective recommendation. In choosing recommenders you will need to consider the requirements of your specific program, but lean towards those who have seen you in action recently. An alumnus from or current professor at your favorite school can be a plus, but again, look first for a recommender who can write about you based on personal experience.

Who should NOT be your recommender? Your mother, father, grandparents, siblings, and close personal and family friends -- even if you have worked in a family business. They lack objectivity and consequently credibility. On the other end of the spectrum, don't ask a VIP who barely knows you to write your recommendation.

When you decide whom you would like to ask to be your recommenders, make an appointment to ask them if they would be comfortable writing a positive letter of recommendation on your behalf. If they hesitate, don't press. Find someone else. At least one month before you need the letter, provide each recommender with the following:

• The recommendation form.
• The date you need to have the letter.
• Your resume.
• Accepted.com Letters of Recommendation tips
• Copies of your application essays, if complete.
• If you think the recommender is receptive to guidance, a short summary of achievements or topics that you would like them to discuss in their recommendations.
• Qualities your targeted school(s) value(s).

If your recommenders are busy people (and who isn't?), contact them two weeks before you need the letter, ask them if they need anything, and remind them when you need the letter.

Oh yes, don't forget to send your recommenders a thank-you note after you receive the recommendation and let them know later where you are accepted.

Letters of Resignation

Now that the notion of spending one’s entire career at a single company has become a quaint custom of the pre-Internet economy, you will more than likely be compelled to submit a formal resignation letter someday. There are basically two scenarios -- The Good and The Bad.

In The Good, you are content in your current position, but word of your brilliance has circulated through the industry and someone has offered you a position you simply can’t refuse. In this scenario, you want to satisfy the legal requirements of the resignation letter (when are you resigning? A minimum of two weeks notice is the norm.) But also leave your soon-to-be former employer thinking warm thoughts. Your first paragraph might start out like this: “It is with deep regret that I must tender...” In the second paragraph you offer the employer a general comment about your reason for leaving (“this new position represents a positive move toward fulfilling my career goals”) while emphasizing that your departure is no judgment on them (“this decision has nothing to do with the outstanding opportunity you have given me”). If you anticipate a counteroffer and know you will reject it, you may also add, “Should you flatter me with an offer to remain, I could not under any circumstances consider it.” Your final paragraph will maintain the positive tone by thanking the employer again for the opportunity to work for them, promising to work productively until you leave, and wishing them luck.

In The Bad scenario, you have been forced to find a new employer because your current workplace has become a nightmare of clashing egos, thwarted ambitions, or general unpleasantness. Here, you may choose to submit a resignation letter that only satisfies the basic legal requirements: “I hereby tender my resignation from the firm effective [date]. At that time I shall deliver all property of the firm in my possession.” If you feel a less perfunctory letter is in order, use a variation of The Good scenario letter: acknowledge the gravity of your decision but remain positive and, yes, even grateful. Never defend yourself, offer them a laundry list of Reasons for Leaving, or fire off those barbed comments you’ve been stifling all these years. You don’t want to jeopardize your termination benefits or destroy whatever chance remains for a non-antagonistic job reference at some later date.

Remember -- be brief, be positive, and be professional.

Paul Bodine
Editor, Accepted.com
Author, Great Personal Statements for Business School & Great Personal Statements for Law School