Calling all NYU Fall '09 applicants!

If any of you are just starting your essays, buy Paul Bodines' "Great Application Essays for Business Schools." I picked this book up when I was waitlisted and figured I'd start on my reapp and although I didn't get to use it, I think it is great and am keeping it as a reference for my scholarship essays I'll need to write again. This is perfect for Q1.

As for the second essay, I feel that you'll need to tie them together somehow. What is your experience and what have you learned means you need to be reflective about your interactions with the community. Here are some hints about what I took out of orientation about what makes Stern different (by what they stressed to us in orientation)
*Stern stresses that it is different from other business schools because people are coolaborative and not cut-throat, especially in recruiting.
*Stern stresses understanding and accepting different cultures/personalities and being culturally sensitive. This can be seen by the 40% women compared to most schools that have 30%. Stern also has the typical 30% interntaional + ??%US minorities.
*Stern facilitates a close-knit community hence the amount of effort they have put into orientation, the SWAP network (stern network to access alumni), and upgrades to facilities to allow space for group work (if you have never been to NYC, you won't understand how great the facilities are!!!)

So the second part is constructive criticism. I don't know but being able to turn a negative into a positive which shows your experience in one of the Stern differentiators would sounds pretty good to me if I was reading it. And it would tie your two questions together in. Anyway, I think the second part needs to be very short on the description and tons on the what you learn + how that'll make Stern strong or make you a better fit.

Good luck all!!!