Accepted Admissions Almanac

Online Admissions Chats

Accepted.com has hosted over 100 online admissions chats, the overwhelming majority of them with admissions staff and directors. If you would like to be notified of upcoming events via email, please subscribe to the appropriate chat announcement lists. There are separate lists for MBA, medical, law, and grad.

Of course you can also just subscribe to the RSS feed on this blog.

MBA's, Pre-law: Early Bird Special Ends Sunday

A reminder: You need to act by Sunday to take advantage of the Early Bird Special:

•    Save up to $360.
•    Start early to ensure your best work.
•    Submit first round.
•    Save time by obtaining comprehensive assistance.

You're much too busy to spin your wheels drafting and ripping up different versions of application essays. With Accepted.com's essay packages, you will have the experienced advice you need to work efficiently, professionally, and effectively. Then your editor, a skilled wordsmith, will edit your essays so they shine.

Save 10% on MBA and Law School Essay Packages if you purchase on or before Sunday.

Parents Tucking in College Students?

The Wall St. Journal has a great article today on (some) parents' changing view of their role as children start to leave the nest: Follow the baby birds.  See "Tucking the Kids In -- In the Dorm: Colleges Ward Off Overinvolved Parents."

New Editor: Judith Koffler

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Judith Koffler is joining the Accepted.com staff.  She is a gifted writer and delightful individual with outstanding credentials.  Here are a few highlights from her lengthy CV:

• LLM from Harvard.
• Fulbright Scholar who recently returned from teaching at Wuhan University in China
• Extensive experience teaching law at top law schools, including Harvard and Cornell.
• Experience on several law school admissions committees over the last two decades.

Judy, welcome to Accepted.com

HBS Essay Question #1: Undergrad Academic Experiences

In response to a query on the BW Forum, I sent HBS the following email:

"Your essay one asks, "What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400-word limit) "

"I am getting inquiries about this question on the Businessweek forums and via email. Does HBS want applicants to focus in their answers on the narrow academic (coursework) a part of their undergrad experience? Or is HBS interested in their larger undergrad academic experience, including out-of-class experiences, which would not limit them to their coursework?"

HBS promptly responded with the following:

"The Admissions Board is interested in hearing what the applicant feels is important to communicate about their academic experience. It is up to the applicant to determine what aspects of this experience are most salient given the context of their candidacy."

A couple of tips for your essays:

1. "Salience" at HBS has to do with active participation and leadership, leadership, leadership.
2. The answer provides a good example of brevity that you would be wise to imitate particularly in answering the HBS questions, but answer HBS' (and all other schools') questions with infinitely greater clarity and directness than provided above..

Gotta love that transparency...

Law School Writing Workshop

I just spoke to Dr. Michael Santana, who recently launched an online legal writing course to prepare newbie 1L's for the demands of law school. His 5-day course, Legal Writing Prep, claims to "prepare students entering law school to excel at legal writing." Dr. Santana believes that his course gives attendees roughly  a one-month advantage when they start law school.

MBA Relevance and Value

Fascinating exchanges on the value and relevance of the MBA on HBS' Working Knowledge, all stemming from the Bennis and O'Toole HBR article discussed earlier.

• The original article by Professor James Heskett: "How Can Business Schools Be Made More Relevant?"
• Readers Respond
• Summing Up

The continuing discussion of MBA value and relevance prompted me to go to those who deal with MBA values professionally: recruiters. I am planning a chat for MBA applicants on September 21 with top MBA recruiters to address the question of MBA relevance and value.  Stay tuned for more details.

Medical School Secondary Essays

They are out!  And the Student Doctor Network -- a fantastic resource BTW -- has collected the secondary essay questions for many medical schools in this thread. Rely on the wording you receive from the schools to be on the safe side, but for an advance peak, check out this thread.

A few tips for the secondary essays:

1) Make sure you answer the question.
2) Have the essays provide new information about you. They should complement the AMCAS application and any other info the school already has.
3) Do not just repeat the AMCAS essay.
4) The secondaries are about fit.  Show them how much you belong at their med school by first researching the school and learning environment and then using your life's experiences to show you are a natural for that program.

For more information, please see "Completing the Jigsaw Puzzle: Writing Secondary Essays."

D-School in B-School

If your post-MBA goal is product management, Jennifer Merritt's article in Businessweek, "Tomorrow's B-school? It Might be a D-School," is a must-read. It could help you choose the schools you will apply to, or it could give you content that you will use when writing "Why this school."

Schools mentioned:

• Stanford
• MIT
• Wharton
• Berkeley
• Georgetown
• HBS
• Michigan
• Kellogg
• Insead
• CMU Tepper
• Rotman
• Rensselaer
• Ivey

MCAT to be Computer-Based

The AAMC announced last week that by 2007 the MCAT will be an entirely computer-based exam. The announcement promised,

"The upgrade to computer-based format will provide examinees and medical schools with more test dates each year, faster score results, a more controlled testing environment, and a shorter test day. As the exam is converted to the new format, the number of questions on the MCAT will be significantly reduced."