When submitting an application for college or graduate school, it’s important to view the application holistically. The application includes multiple elements, such as a CV/resume, a personal statement, and grades, among other things. Because this application is key to receiving an admissions offer, it is important to...

You’ve completed most of your application. Now it’s time to write your personal statement. You want your statement to stand out from the rest, and the way to do this is to tell a compelling story – the tale of your greatest achievements, dreams, and challenges.  You can...

All business school adcom members want to read essays that discuss the time you saved the day at work, right? That is what I thought when I first sat down to write my Kellogg business school essays. I racked my brain to think of heroic stories...

Most of us have heard the saying “less is more,” but how many of us put it into practice when it counts? Your application essays are the perfect forum for reaping the benefits of this deceptively simple principle. What does “less is more” really mean? It’s the...

In our last post, we illustrated 5 key story elements with these opening application essay lines: The moment I found the lump, I suspected my life was about to change – in a big way. It was mid-May 2011. I was a busy consultant in...

Ready to write your personal statement? Then it’s time to conjure your inner storyteller. The best way to distinguish yourself from other applicants is to tell the admissions board a good story, a tale of your greatest achievements, dreams, and challenges. How do you tell a...

One of the many challenges of applying to college or graduate school is showing the admissions committee how you’ll fit in and stand out. Adcoms are trying to build student bodies that will work cohesively towards shared goals and ideals, but that come from different...

This is the first post in a 4-part series that examines INSEAD MBA’s 4 admission criteria. The adcom gives, as its first admission criterion, “ability to contribute.” I take the liberty to add: ability to contribute as a person of quality and substance. All the criteria...

Most applicants – whether applying to med school, law school, business school, or any other grad school or college program – need to deal with rigid character or word limits when writing their application essays or personal statements. You may start out thinking that you...

  This week we are airing an encore of one of the most populars shows of 2017. Many applicants focus on the past - both the good and the bad - to the detriment of their applications. Find out the role your past plays in admissions and...