ESSAY EDITING TIP OF THE DAY: Don’t just use big words because you think they sound good. You may even be using those words wrongly. The goal with effective communication is to be crisp, clear, and understood. Not “fancy,” confusing and chaotic!

1. Start saving at least one full year before you plan to apply or attend graduate school2. Look into scholarships and fellowships at least one full year in advance, because of deadlines

3. Apply to doctoral programs, if qualified (many of such programs provide stipends and waive tuition)

4. Consider a graduate Resident Assistant position, which will likely shave off your room and board bill

5. Avoid borrowing private loans that come with high interest rates

Dear Application Essay Doctor,

Are there any particular keywords or red flags that count against you when you’re writing your personal statement? Any biases – good or bad?

Sincerely,

Careful

Dear Careful,

Yes – as an essay editing doctor, there are some admissions essays that are absolute horrors – and those include typos, poor structure, irrelevant or silly stories, and applicants who apply to programs for which they’re clearly not qualified. We see these same issues with job applications: applicants who have backgrounds in say, tapestry, applying for legal jobs, for example. The key with personal statements is simply: articulate your brand and demonstrate your fit with the college’s, program’s, or university’s brand!

The greatest task any MBA graduate has after graduation is to put all that business knowledge to use–in an economy that’s a little bit weary of big business makers. Start early in your job search by networking with those in your MBA program: your professors, colleagues and career counselors. Put your MBA skills to use: consult part-time either during your program or after, and stay busy until you secure a full-time job and/or start your post-MBA career.

QUICK TIP: Never write the wrong university name in your personal statement.If you think you’re going to make this huge mistake, then avoid mentioning the name of the university in admissions essay altogether. You can do so creatively and effectively!

1. Start saving in the 9th grade – even $5 a week for 4 years will shave off significant expenses for college.

2. Use the web as a resource for final aid: Fast Web is a good place to start.

3. Avoid borrowing private loans that come with higher interest rates.

4. Aim for scholarships in just about anything: if you run, for example, see if you can get a track scholarship.

5. Most importantly, start your search for aid EARLY!!! Begin at least a year or two in advance.

Dear Admissions Essay Doctor,

I wrote an essay that I thought was full of spirit and showed my character and my personality, but then I gave it to someone else to critique. The person’s edits made me panic because I couldn’t see the essence of what I was going for in my essay any more. How can I remedy this situation?

Sincerely,

Hope Road

Dear Hope Road,

You need to take control of your personal statement at all times, even when you get critiqued. At the end of the day, it’s your application. You can send in your admissions essay to Penn & Paper, if you would like us to have a concrete look, but if not, just stick with an essay that expresses your intents clearly, answers the essay prompts clearly, and is extremely polished. The key to grabbing an admissions officer’s attention is effectively communicating your personal brand, and doing it in a way that’s clear, simple, concise and logical. (You may also ask us about sample personal statements).

When applying for graduate schools, don’t be shy about using some of the ideas and experiences you’ve gathered in the workforce.

Many times, your chances of admission into graduate school could be greatly increased by how you parlay your job knowledge into your application.

This may seem like an obvious one, but: spell-check your personal statement!

Check grammar, check tone, and check the overall polish of your admissions essay. You’re only submitting a personal statement or two. Your submission is a short enough document that you can scrutinize it against an educational decision that affects your life. Take the time to review essay editing details and clean up your work before sending it in. The competition these days is so tough that admissions officers need to use smaller details (such as a poorly polished admissions essay/personal statement/application essay) to count some applicants out!

1. Trying to contour their authentic goals to fit the MBA program and then being disappointed after they graduate and the MBA program falls short of their expectations.
2. Not networking enough before, during and after their MBA applications.
3. Not applying for scholarships at least a year or more in advance.
4. Not taking advantage of the free resources for MBA applicants.
5. Not prepping for the GMAT in enough time (because of work, laziness, or other reasons) and having to settle for a lower score than they can achieve.