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Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

In honor of the first birthday of MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools, by Linda Abraham and Judy Gruen, we are posting a series of excerpts from the book. This post is excerpted from Chapter 10: “Tips for Special Applicants: Waitlisted, Reapplicants, Career Changers, Military, Overrepresented Groups, Underrepresented Minorities, Older Applicants, Younger Applicants.”

Landing on a waitlist can be a nerve-wracking experience. As a result, sometimes waitlisted applicants let their anxiety or disappointment get the better of them. Many adcom members have complained on their blogs of applicants who react emotionally and behave in ways that are demanding, rude, disrespectful or otherwise inappropriate, either in their emails, calls, or even unscheduled drop-in visits to their offices. There may be 200 or more waitlisted applicants at your school, and these types of responses do not demonstrate perseverance; they reveal immaturity and lack of judgment. This behavior is duly noted and will work against you.

If you are waitlisted, take heart: the school is still very interested in you. You’re still a contender. To maximize your chances of turning that waitlist into an acceptance, follow the school’s instructions precisely: Send what they ask for, and don’t send what they don’t want. Update letters should be short – no more than two pages. Keep the letter focused on what you have accomplished since applying. This and additional letters of support will show the adcoms that you are a stronger applicant now than when you first applied.

Open with a brief thank you for continuing to consider your application and reiterate your commitment to the school and your belief that its philosophy and approach fit your educational preferences and goals. The rest of the waitlist letter and additional letters of support should focus on three critical areas:

1. Updating your qualifications

Report any and all substantial achievements since applying: earning a promotion, assuming additional responsibilities at work, or taking notable initiatives in or outside of work. Have you had an article published? Earned a patent? Launched a business? Led a notable project at work? When possible, highlight new accomplishments not previously discussed in your application. Ideally, you should relate these new achievements to some of the themes or experiences you addressed in your essays.

2. Steps you have taken to ameliorate weaknesses

Reinforce the idea that you are working to strengthen a weak spot in your profile. For example, if you enrolled in Toastmasters to improve your communications skills, specify that you joined the group two months ago. Tell them what you are gaining from the experience, but do not say you have taken this step because you are concerned about your low verbal score or substandard grades. If you had a low GPA in quant subjects, did you take an accounting class and earn an A? Have you raised your GMAT score? Have you taken a leadership position in community service, which you had neglected since college?

Report other specific plans for additional classes, including when and where you plan to take them, and state your willingness to enroll in any additional courses or follow any additional instructions that the school recommends or provides.

3. Fit with the school

Continue to prove fit by explaining what else you have done to further your knowledge of their program and build your network there. You may already have mentioned in your application or in an interview how the school’s philosophy and approach match your educational preferences and goals, so in a waitlist letter, cite new examples that illustrate this match. For example, if you have visited the campus (post-submission), mention which class you sat in on, who taught it, and what your impressions were.

Similarly, mention recent email exchanges with alumni or students. What new aspect of the program that jives with your interests have you discovered through these connections? Investing in connecting with the school, its students and resources will help drive home the message that this school is the best place for someone with your post-MBA goals.

MBA admissions directors want waitlisted applicants to show passion, but not obsessive-compulsiveness. Follow these steps, and you can be sure that schools will respond to this extra personal effort, provided that your sincerity is matched by an equal measure of professionalism and courtesy.

This month marks the one-year anniversary of MBA Smarties‘ publication, and Judy Gruen and Linda Abraham the co-authors, will be sharing excerpts from the book. Whether you are still deciding whether to get an MBA, deciding where to apply, working on essays, preparing for interviews, or trying to deal with a “special situation,” MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools provides practical, down-to-earth advice for the MBA application process in a coherent framework — and for less than the cost of a first-run movie. Check it out. Download the first chapter FREE.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

Paperback: Use coupon code GETSMART5 on our site through November 30^th to receive your $5 discount and to begin your journey to a top MBA program!

Kindle: If you are buying the Kindle edition from Amazon, then you’ll see the price has automatically been reduced.

Get smart now!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

Even if your GPA and GMAT (or GRE) scores are spectacular, your work experience and personal characteristics still need to impress the admissions readers. Work experience is important because of what it reveals about you in terms of character, maturity, and abilities. Most applicants for two-year, full-time MBA programs have from two to eight years of work experience. If you have been working longer than that, you probably should consider an Executive MBA or other program geared for the more seasoned professional. Unless a program actively courts younger applicants, such as Chicago Booth or CMU Tepper, two years of work experience is usually the effective minimum you will need to prove that you can contribute to and benefit from the program.

Post-college employment reveals that you have “grown-up” experience in taking direction, meeting deadlines and working in teams. These are all highly relevant in a program where group projects are the norm. Developing a baseline track record in your field also gives you industry knowledge and the ability to contribute your insights to class discussions. Finally, recruiters prefer MBAs with work experience.

It isn’t only the quantity of work experience that is significant – it’s the ability to show how much you have contributed and what impact you have had. If you have the focus, determination, stick-to-itiveness, collegiality, initiative and maturity that MBA programs prize, chances are you will have found an opportunity to have an impact on the job by applying those skills and traits. And this is true no matter what sort of role you performed, or whether you worked in a large company or fledgling start-up.

For example, if you worked for a large company, such as Infosys, Google, Goldman Sachs, or Bloomberg Financial, the adcoms will understand that you were a small fish in a large pond. They will appreciate that you had to work harder to stand out, but they will also look for signs that you did. Advancement in large companies is often highly structured, bureaucratic, and possibly slow, with less room to dazzle supervisors with distinctive skills and abilities. The schools are familiar with the typical path, and if your talents were recognized in such a large organization and you were given a project normally given to someone above your pay grade, or fast-tracked for a promotion, this will add stature to your application. Additionally, the fact that a large company with a valued brand name hired you in the first place is another indication that you probably have at least some of what your MBA program is looking for.

On the other hand, if you joined a start-up or launched an entrepreneurial venture, you will have the opportunity to show how you survived, and perhaps even thrived in those risky, exciting, uncharted waters. In a small company you would have had more occasions to display your adaptability and versatility. You may also have handled more responsibility with less supervision. Most of my clients who joined start-ups or launched entrepreneurial ventures have learned invaluable lessons on a faster track than if they had worked in established firms and wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything, even if their entrepreneurial ventures were short lived. Not only did they have to toggle among many disparate kinds of tasks, ranging from sales to public relations to product design, but they also learned – sometimes the hard way – fundamental rules of business planning and formation. If you write about being an entrepreneur, however, you will have to demonstrate that this was not a euphemism for “unemployed.” Your business may or may not have succeeded, but showing how you planned and executed it will speak volumes about you. It will show how you strategized, how you determined the need in the market for your product or service, and the logical sequence you applied in launching and managing your enterprise.

The kind of work experience you have had and your career progression help the adcoms get to know you better. Furthermore, even two years of full-time, professional employment can lend credibility and substance to your stated career goals. They will not be based on a youthful, fuzzy, naive dream, but on some real-world business experience that has tested and refined those goals, clarified where you are heading, and how you will get there. Finally, work experience puts you at a competitive advantage to snag the best jobs after earning your MBA.

You really don’t want to go further in the MBA admissions process without the succinct, cogent approach presented by Linda Abraham and Judy Gruen, who have been assisting MBA applicants since 1996 in MBA Admission for Smarties. Don’t miss out either on the practical advice or the savings. Order MBA Smarties today!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

- GMAT Course Finder – GMAT Club’s NEW Search Engine for GMAT Courses
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- 770 (Q50, V46) – share your GMAT experience
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Princeton Review 1,012 GMAT Practice Questions (Look up details on Amazon)

The book indeed contains 1,012 questions – counted myself . It starts with a diagnostic test (37q and 41v questions). There are a total of 55 different “drills” targeting various interesting and often neglected areas. The format for Math is not just standard multiple choice, but actually 50% of the quant questions are Data Sufficiency, so one can practice both questions types – PS and DS.

Book Contents and Question Split:

• Quant:
  • Arithmetic (terminology, percents, multiples, fractions, ratios, factors, decimals) – 70 questions
  • Algebra (equations and inequalities, plugging in, pita, quadratics, must be true, Yes/No DS, roots, interest, functions, powers) – 163 questions
  • Statistics, Probability, and Combinations (averages, median, mode, range, stdev, rate, factorials, probability, permutations and combinations, groups) – 117 questions
  • Geometry (lines and angles, triangles, quadraliterlas, circles, 3D figures, coordinate geometry, inscribed figures and shaded regions) – 100 questions
• Quant Subtotal: 450
• Verbal:
  • RC – 30 passages and 150 questions (5 questions per passage)
  • SC (subject/verb agreement, tenses, pronouns, parallel, modifiers, idioms, mixed) – 175 questions
  • CR (weaken, strengthen, assumption, inference, evaluate, ID reasoning, resolve/explain, mixed) – 159 questionss
• Verbal Subtotal: 484
• Total: 934 + diagnostic test (78) = 1,012

I am giving Kudos for these sections: factorials, probability, combinations, groups, Yes/No DS, assumption, and parallel structure questions. These areas are often neglected by test prep companies and I am thrilled to see a guide that actually addresses these.

Issues I have with this book:
- Random House used cheap paper – as always
- RC section is structured by topic (humanities, science, etc rather than by type of questions)
- Verbal questions are a bit off (esp. CR) but that’s to be expected
- Could use more 700-level questions but there are a few in each section

See my other reviews for overview of the latest GMAT Books:

• Amazon Reviews
• Best GMAT Books

Biggest Winners: Manhattan CR Book – up 5 positions as well as PowerScore CR Bible

Biggest Losers: Official Guide for Quantitative GMAT Review,  down 13 positions and Official Guide for Verbal GMAT Review – down 6 positions

Most Popular GMAT Books from March 2009

1 (1) The Official Guide for GMAT Review

2 (2) Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction

3 (3) GMAT 800

4 (6) Kaplan Verbal Workbook

5 (10) Manhattan GMAT CR Book

6 (11) Powerscore Critical Reasoning Bible

7 (9) Kaplan Premier Program

8 (7) Kaplan Math Workbook

9 (16) GMAT for Dummies

10 (4) Official Guide for Verbal Review

11 (8) Cracking the GMAT by Princeton Review

12 (12) Manhattan GMAT Number Properties Guide

13 (13) Project GMAT Advanced Math

14 (14) Manhattan GMAT Word Translations Guide

15 (15) Powerscore Sentence Correction

16 (17) Manhattan GMAT Geometry Guide

17 (20) The Ultimate Math Refresher for the GRE, GMAT, and SAT

18 (5) Official Guide for Quantitative Review

19 (18) Manhattan GMAT Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Guide

20 (19) Manhattan GMAT Equations Inequalities and Vics Guide

The book is said to have about 30% new questions, including some bold CR’s. Overall the format remained the same and some of the older questions have been replaced with newer ones – no new concepts have been introduced and the new questions are still testing the old principles/concepts. This seems to be in line with expectations, though definitely kudos to the GMAC for including new questions, though more new gmat questions would be nice. I will have to wait until later in the week for my book to arrive.

Here is the feedback on the Official Guide 12th edition from one of the GMAT Club’s members:

It is basically the same as the 11th Edition. About 1/3 of the questions are new, all of which test the same concepts as the ones that have been replaced. If you already have the 11th Edition, there’s no need to buy the 12th. There are several boldfaced CR questions, questions that have already been posted in gmatclub. (source: http://gmatclub.com/forum/the-official-guide-for-gmat-12-merged-76806.html)

As a reminder, the Official Guide 12th edition is coming out on March 23 on Amazon – we have written about this book in more detail in this post: http://gmatclub.com/blog/2009/02/the-official-guide-for-gmat-review-12th-edition-is-out-on-march-30th-2009/

Other books in the works by GMAC:

The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2nd Edition – expected in September 2009 with 300 total questions, 75 of which are new.

Other Lists:
January 2010: http://gmatclub.com/blog/2010/02/best-20-gmat-books-gmatclub-ranking-for-january-2010/
August 2009: http://gmatclub.com/blog/2009/08/20-most-popular-gmat-books-from-gmat-club/
March 2009: http://gmatclub.com/blog/2009/04/march-2009-top-20-gmat-books-ranked-by-popularity-on-gmat-club/