Admissions Straight Talk (Linda Abraham)
Explore every episode of Admissions Straight Talk
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Jun 2024 | Do You Have the Spike for Toronto Rotman MBA? [Episode 581] | 00:44:28 | |
Mohammad Salhia, Managing Director of Recruitment, Admissions, and Business Development at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, discusses the distinctive features of the Rotman MBA program. Mohammad highlights the various MBA program options at Rotman, including full-time, morning/evening, and executive MBA programs. He emphasizes the comprehensive nature of the full-time MBA program, which includes academic study, elective courses, and a four-month internship. He also discusses the unique features of the program, such as the Self-Development Lab and the Leadership Development Lab, which focus on fostering communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. Additionally, he shares his tips for how to determine and present a “spike factor.” Relevant Links:
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| 25 Jun 2024 | MS in Finance, MS in Business Analytics, and MS in Management: Admissions in Three Flavors [Episode 582] | 00:36:26 | |
Kelly Wilson, an Accepted consultant and former admissions director takes a deep dive into master's degrees in graduate management education. Kelly provides insights into the differences between various master's degrees, such as master's in management, master's in finance, and master's in business analytics. She highlights the importance of understanding the specific program and school you are applying to, considering factors such as career outcomes, STEM certification for international students, curriculum, and timing of the program. Kelly also advises applicants to avoid common mistakes, such as a mismatch of skills and a lack of clarity in goals. She suggests seeking experiential learning opportunities and talking to current students and alumni to gain insights into different career paths.
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| 02 Jul 2024 | Getting Into Med School Isn’t Easy…But This Applicant Did It! [Episode 583] | 00:32:16 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham interviews Yael Bruk, a recent graduate from Binghamton University who was accepted to multiple medical schools. Yael shares her advice for pre-med students, including the importance of taking notes during clinical experiences and writing down meaningful stories to include in applications. She also discusses her own journey straight from college to medical school, including her exploration of different career paths within the healthcare field and her decision to major in biology and philosophy. Yael emphasizes the importance of staying organized during the application process. She also offers tips for preparing for medical school interviews, such as reviewing common interview questions and taking a moment to think before answering difficult questions. Follow Us | |||
| 09 Jul 2024 | Ace the New Michigan Ross MBA Essay Questions [Bonus Episode] | 00:24:41 | |
Andrea McHale, the Director of the Michigan Ross Full-time MBA and Global MBA Admissions, returns to Admissions Straight Talk to discuss the newly released essay prompts for the Michigan Ross MBA program. Andrea shares an overview of each of the four questions and gives an inside look at exactly what the admissions committee hopes to learn from applicants. Andrea emphasizes the importance of impact and motivation in the application process. She also discusses the potential use of AI in the admissions process. Relevant Links:
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| 16 Jul 2024 | How to Get Into George Washington School of Law [Episode 584] | 00:39:00 | |
In this episode, Linda Abraham interviews Dean Sophia Sim of George Washington School of Law. They discuss various aspects of the law school admissions process, including what makes a standout personal statement, the importance of a balanced program, the acceptance of alternative standardized tests, the use of AI tools in the application process, and the introduction of interviews at GW Law.
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| 23 Jul 2024 | How to Respond to the New Harvard MBA Essay Questions [Episode 585] | 00:52:17 | |
In this episode, Linda Abraham invites Accepted consultants Esmeralda Cardenal and Kelly Wilson to discuss the updates to the Harvard Business School application and provide insights into how applicants can approach the essays. They emphasize that HBS is still looking for leaders who have made an impact and can grow in any environment. While the criteria may be similar to before, the way applicants communicate their experiences has changed. The panelists advise applicants to focus on the entire application, not just the essays, and to demonstrate growth, leadership, and curiosity throughout. They also discuss the potential impact of the new essay requirements and the importance of authenticity in the application process.
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| 30 Jul 2024 | How to Get Accepted to Cornell Johnson MBA [Episode 586] | 00:47:21 | |
In this episode, Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, shares an overview of the admissions process. He provides insights into the application process at Cornell Johnson, including the testing and test waiver policy, the interview process, and advice for re-applicants. He offers details on the new essay questions for the upcoming application cycle and shares his thoughts on using AI for essays. Relevant Links: Relevant shows:
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| 06 Aug 2024 | How To Get Into UVA Darden’s MBA Program [Episode 587] | 00:49:42 | |
Dawna Clarke, Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions at UVA Darden, returns to Admissions Straight Talk to discuss various aspects of the Darden MBA program, including experiential learning opportunities, global study opportunities, the use of AI in the program, the application process, and common mistakes made by applicants. Dawna emphasizes the importance of authenticity in the application and provides examples of successful essays. She also discusses the interview process and suggests that applicants ask thoughtful and probing questions to demonstrate their research and interest in the program. Relevant Links: Relevant shows:
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| 13 Aug 2024 | How to Prepare for the Shorter GRE and GMAT Focus [Episode 588] | 00:33:40 | |
Bara Sapir joins Admissions Straight Talk to discuss the benefits and challenges of the GRE and GMAT exams. She delves into the structure and length of the exams and also discusses the challenges unique to each one. Bara shares her expert tips on how to overcome these challenges, including being an active participant in test preparation and developing test-taking strategies. Bara and Linda have a discussion on the value of these exams and the importance of reframing the test-taking experience. Relevant Links:
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| 20 Aug 2024 | How to Get a U.S. Student Visa – Even When There Are Complications [Episode 589] | 00:42:07 | |
This week, we hear from Marla Schechter, a US immigration lawyer with 20+ years of experience. Marla shares her expertise on various topics related to obtaining a visa for studying in the United States. She covers the process of obtaining an F-1 visa, the advantages of studying in a STEM-certified program, the H-1B visa for working in the US, and the Green Card process. She also highlights common mistakes made by student applicants and the potential challenges of obtaining a visa for individuals with criminal records. Relevant Links: Relevant Admission Straight Talk Episodes:
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| 27 Aug 2024 | Get Accepted to Cornell School of Law [Episode 590] | 00:41:22 | |
This week, Linda Abraham welcomes Dean Shane Cooper, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions, Financial Aid and Student Services at Cornell School of Law. Dean Cooper shares insights into the admissions process at Cornell Law School, emphasizing the mutual goal of finding the right fit between the school and the applicant. We discuss the benefits of small class sizes, close faculty interaction, and strong international programs. Despite its Ithaca location, the school offers abundant opportunities for experiential learning. Dean Cooper explains that Cornell accepts LSAT, GRE, or GMAT scores without preference, with financial aid linked to the strength of these scores. He highlights the importance of diverse experiences and well-rounded characters in applicants, and we explore how interviews, re-applicant growth, and the Why Cornell essay play significant roles in the admissions process. Dean Cooper underscores Cornell Law’s commitment to opening doors for students and making a positive impact on the legal community.
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| 03 Sep 2024 | How To Get Accepted To Duke’s Physician Assistant Program [Episode 591] | 00:34:13 | |
Dr. April Stouder, Associate Program Director and Director of Admissions at the Duke Physician Assistant Program, discusses what it takes to gain a spot in the competitive program. She discusses Duke PA program’s emphasis on community service, particularly in underserved communities and healthcare roles. April highlights the value of non-clinical volunteering, especially in healthcare or with underserved populations. She explains the admissions process, including the CASPA application and the GPA and GRE requirements. April walks us through the interview process, which is designed to assess both cognitive and non-cognitive attributes like maturity and resilience.
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| 10 Sep 2024 | How to Get Accepted to UCLA Anderson [Episode 592] | 00:45:37 | |
Alex Lawrence, Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA Anderson School of Management, describes the program’s offerings. Students are offered a customizable curriculum with a wide range of elective courses and specializations. The program also includes a capstone project and focuses on developing leadership skills. The summer quarter provides students with foundational elements and an opportunity to get acclimated to the program. The program also offers a business creation program for students with an entrepreneurial mindset and an applied management research project for students to work on real business challenges. Alex discusses the flexible testing policy and shares who should take the test. Alex also highlights the program’s values and how applicants can demonstrate them in resumes, letters of recommendation, and interviews.
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| 17 Sep 2024 | Deep Dive into Duke Medical: An Interview with Dr. Linton Yee, Associate Dean of Admissions [Episode 593] | 00:46:34 | |
Dr. Linton Yee, Associate Dean for Admissions at Duke University School of Medicine joins us to discuss how applicants can earn a spot in this highly competitive program. Dr. Yee walks listeners through the unique curriculum which focuses on integrating basic science and clinical experiences from the first year. In addition to strong academic performance, Duke looks for clinical and research experiences, as well as a vision for the future in medicine. Dr. Yee gives an inside look at what applicants can expect from the MMI interviews. Relevant Links: Related Admissions Straight Talk Episodes:
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| 24 Sep 2024 | The Write Stuff: How to Create Successful MBA Applications [Episode 594] | 00:26:49 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham shares a strategic framework for a successful MBA application, with tips that can benefit applicants to any program. She discusses how to choose the right schools to apply to, demonstrate your knowledge of the programs you are applying to, effectively present yourself throughout the application, and review the application materials before submission. Follow Us | |||
| 01 Oct 2024 | Get Accepted to the Washington University School of Medicine [Episode 595] | 00:56:18 | |
In this episode, Dr. Valerie Ratts, the Associate Dean for Admissions at The Washington University School of Medicine, offers an overview of the unique program. She describes the "Gateway Curriculum" which provides early clinical exposure and flexibility for students to explore different areas of medicine, including research, innovation, advocacy, and education. Dr. Ratts overviews Wash U’s holistic approach to admissions and the multi-step interview process. Listeners will also learn about the school’s robust student success program, with faculty coaches to provide personalized guidance and support throughout medical school. Relevant Links: Related Admission Straight Talk Episodes
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| 15 Oct 2024 | Mastering MIT Sloan MBA Admissions: Insights and Tips [Episode 596] | 00:26:09 | |
Dawna Levenson, Assistant Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management, provides a thorough examination into the MIT Sloan School of Management's full-time MBA program, which is mission-driven, focused on identifying and solving the world's biggest and most complex problems. The program offers flexibility with a one-semester core and three semesters of electives, allowing students to pursue seven different certificates or concentrations. Dawna discusses the comprehensive application process, which includes a cover letter, one-page resume, 60-second video, and a behavioral video interview. She shares her tips on how to successfully approach the application. Dawna also highlights the early admission program for current college students and graduate students. Related Admissions Straight Talk Episodes
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| 29 Oct 2024 | Get Into NYU Stern’s MSBAi aka Masters of Business Analytics and AI [Episode 597] | 00:27:29 | |
The NYU Stern Masters of Business Analytics and AI (MSBAAI) program is a one-year specialized degree program that trains students to make data-driven decisions. Dr. Anindya Ghose, Heinz Riehl Chair Professor of Technology and Marketing at New York University's Leonard Stern School of Business and Director of the Masters of Business Analytics and AI Program at Stern discusses everything applicants need to know. He shares the core aim of the program which is to impart cross-functional skills that can be applied across industries. Additionally, Dr. Ghose highlights the career path for graduates of the program. Show Links:
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| 12 Nov 2024 | How to Get Into Yale SOM 2025 [Episode 598] | 00:37:25 | |
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| 10 Dec 2024 | Accepted: Your Guide to CU School of Medicine [Episode 599] | 00:44:47 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham interviews Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo, Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. They discuss the unique aspects of the Colorado medical curriculum, including the new Trek curriculum, the importance of longitudinal integrated clerkships, and the various tracks available for students. Dr. SooHoo also shares insights into the secondary application process, the role of the CASPER test, and the criteria for interview invitations. The conversation highlights common mistakes applicants make, the importance of research experience, and the support systems in place for medical students. Dr. SooHoo emphasizes the competitive nature of medical school admissions and the holistic review process used to evaluate applicants. Takeaways:
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| 07 Jan 2025 | Inside Geisinger Med School Admissions with Dr. Michelle Schmude [Episode 600] | 00:38:47 | |
Welcome to the 600th episode of Admissions Straight Talk! In this milestone episode, host Linda Abraham sits down with Dr. Michelle Schmude, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Professor of Medical Education at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, to explore the innovative and comprehensive Total Health Curriculum. Dr. Schmude shares how this evidence-based program prepares medical students for the complexities of 21st-century healthcare through early clinical experiences, team-based learning, and a focus on systems-based and humanistic medicine. Listeners will also learn about exciting updates at Geisinger, including the evolution to Geisinger College of Health Sciences and its impact on healthcare education, as well as details on the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program, which allows students to graduate debt-free in exchange for service in underserved areas.
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| 11 Feb 2025 | Navigating Admissions at the University of Washington School of Medicine [Episode 601] | 00:58:43 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham interviews Dr. LeeAnna Muzquiz, Associate Dean for Admissions at the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM). Dr. Muzquiz, a graduate of UWSOM and a family physician with ties to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, discusses the unique five-state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) curriculum, which allows students to complete their foundational training in their home states. Follow Us | |||
| 11 Mar 2025 | Inside Pitt Med School: Innovations in Medical Education [Episode 602] | 00:36:09 | |
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Dr. Beth Piraino, Associate Dean of Admissions at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPSOM), explores the school’s innovative Three Rivers Curriculum, emphasizing small-group learning, early clinical exposure, and the integration of "Streams" (special interest areas) and Threads" (core competencies like leadership and clinical reasoning). Dr. Piraino also discusses the role of secondary essays in evaluating applicants and explores why teamwork, resilience, and cultural awareness are important in the admissions process. She goes on to highlight a common mistake applicants make in the application process. Relevant Links: Related Shows:
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| 18 Jul 2023 | Can the Consortium Help You Get Accepted and Fund Your MBA? | 00:29:55 | |
Our consultants receive a lot of questions from clients about applying to MBA programs through The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. I’ve heard myths that suggest that applying to one (or more) of the 22 Consortium schools through The Consortium’s application is disadvantageous. But as the former director at two Consortium schools, I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth — provided you meet The Consortium’s minimum qualifications.Though the requirements, participating schools, and corporate partners have changed over The Consortium’s 57-year history, not only is the organization the best deal in town but it also gives its members an alumni network that extends throughout the 22 member schools.The Consortium history and missionInitially, The Consortium provided opportunities for young African-American men to have a fair chance at rising up the corporate ladder via the MBA. Later, The Consortium added Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and women to its mix. Membership came along with the fellowship.However, after the Supreme Court decided the Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger cases, The Consortium opened its doors to offer membership to selected applicants that further The Consortium’s mission to promote the “inclusion in global business education and leadership . . . of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans.” Members do not need to belong to one of these groups but must demonstrate the mission through community and professional action and impact. Thus, membership is no longer race based but rather mission driven. Applicants must also demonstrate the ability to succeed in a Consortium member school’s MBA program.Consortium member benefitsLike the undergraduate Common App, candidates can apply to up to six schools with only one application for a fraction of the cost that the candidate would incur by applying to each school separately. The Consortium membership grants the candidate access to the orientation and corporate partners. Many members receive internship offers before the start of school.To summarize the benefits:Applicants can use a single application for up to six schools at one low cost.Members gain access to a vast alumni network of 22 schools, including mentorship from among the approximately 9,000 Consortium alumni (formal or informal).Students gain access to corporate sponsors at orientation if selected as a member.If selected as a fellow, students receive full tuition and a stipend.READ: The Consortium Application: Tips for Your CGSM Essays >>Consortium member schoolsConsortium Member SchoolAverage GMAT Score (Class of 2024)Average Undergraduate GPA(Class of 2024)Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business7023.33Columbia University, Columbia Business School7293.60Cornell University, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management7103.30Dartmouth College, Tuck School of Business7263.52Emory University, Goizueta Business School7003.38Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business6973.29Indiana University-Bloomington, Kelley School of Business6853.38New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business7333.62Indiana University-Bloomington, Kelley School of Business6853.38Northwestern Kellogg7293.7New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business7333.62Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business7023.43Stanford University, Stanford Graduate School of Business7373.76The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School 7063.43The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business7063.48U Follow Us | |||
| 05 Mar 2024 | How to Get into HEC Paris MBA? [Episode 565] | 00:39:01 | |
Don’t miss our Admissions Straight Talk podcast interview with Sara Vanos, the Executive Director of Marketing and Admissions for HEC Paris MBA Programs. Sara highlights the unique aspects of the full-time MBA program, such as the 16-month duration, on-campus housing, and flexibility in specialization and electives. She also mentions the New Horizons program, which focuses on anticipating trends and thinking creatively. Listen below or click the image to read the full transcript.The HEC Paris MBA application essays – and there are many compared to most MBA applications these days –give the adcom a well-rounded view of you. They go beyond what you’ve done to capture how you think and respond, even how you imagine. Moreover, they require you to communicate complex thoughts and experiences succinctly. For the four shorter essays especially, don’t waste words on conventional introductory and concluding paragraphs. Jump right into your point or story and use straightforward sentences that avoid wordy constructions (e.g. “had the opportunity to”); don’t hesitate to use direct, declarative sentences. This writing approach has an added benefit: it conveys confidence.Since there are several essays, I suggest first sketching out ideas for them all, then stepping back to assess how all these facets add up as a whole, and adjusting topics if/as necessary to avoid redundancy and ensure a well-rounded presentation that will make the adcom feel that they must invite you for an interview.HEC Paris MBA application essaysHEC MBA essay #1Why are you applying to the HEC MBA Program now? What is the professional objective that will guide your career choice after your MBA, and how will the HEC MBA contribute to the achievement of this objective? (500 words maximum)This is a traditional goals question with a couple of twists.First, the “why now” part should be explicitly addressed, even if it seems obvious. Briefly is fine – the essay overall should make this case ultimately.Second, the “professional objective” is essentially your long-term career vision. The question implies that this vision or goal will drive your preceding steps, so present your shorter-term goal(s) in that context: show how they pave the way for you to pursue and achieve your ultimate professional objective.Be brief but specific when discussing the HEC MBA – tie its program directly to achievement of your goals, and detail the 2-3 points about the program that are most meaningful to you.Finally, connect the dots. This essay, well done, will convey how your goals grow organically from your experience and are achievable given your previous experience and an MBA from HEC. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '9bb31be0-3cf6-45f0-be3d-3791cc1bd9bd', {}); HEC MBA essay #2What do you consider your most significant life achievement? (250 words maximum)Most significant life achievement – Wow. It probably didn’t happen yesterday. And for many people it didn’t happen at work… Few work accomplishments rise to the level of MOST SIGNIFICANT LIFE ACHIEVEMENT. Imagine if, for example, you state that boosting your organization’s bottom-line (by whatever amount) is your greatest life achievement – the adcom might wonder about your values or whether you really have a life. Although, if you can say that at work you saved jobs or lessened negative environmental impacts or were instrumental in developing a new medical advancement, that would be more substantial and could possibly fit the bill.For many people, this story will be personal – I think of clients who have persevered through, managed, and overcome major fam Follow Us | |||
| 23 May 2024 | How to Get Accepted to UC Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program | 00:50:47 | |
While the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, has made it very clear that applicants need outstanding academics to get in, the program will not compromise its values to maintain it high stats. Haas’s four Defining Leadership Principles are taken very seriously by the school’s administration and admissions team. You will need to show that you share and live by those principles if you are to receive serious consideration as an candidate. The four principles are as follows:Question the Status QuoConfidence Without AttitudeStudents AlwaysBeyond YourselfKeep those principles very much at the forefront of your mind as you prepare your Haas application.Ready to get to work on your Haas application? Read on. Haas application essay tipsHaas application deadlines Haas class profileDon’t miss our Admissions Straight Talk podcast interview with Eric Askins, Executive Director of Full-time MBA Admissions at UC Berkeley Haas. He reveals why prospective applicants are encouraged to focus in their applications on their overall story and narrative, and how they can demonstrate their ability to handle the academic rigor of the program. Askins also encourages candidates to engage with students and alumni to learn more about the program and its opportunities. Listen via the link below, or click the image to read the full transcript.Haas application essay tipsHaas Essay #1What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (300 words maximum)This essay question is not just an opportunity for the admissions committee to gain an authentic perspective of an activity that is important to you, it’s a key to unlocking a deeper understanding of your character and values. It’s a chance for you to share what motivates and energizes you and why. Beyond what matters to you, this question seeks an answer to why the activity fills you with a sense of being on top of the world. There are no limitations on the areas of your life you can explore for the answer. However, considering the broader application, there are specific areas that serve to highlight your professional experience and academic achievements. This essay is your chance to showcase a side of yourself that might not be immediately apparent in your application, providing a more comprehensive view of your interests and motivations. Paint a picture of a specific experience by describing it in a way that will take the reader into the experience with you and convey why the activity has had an immense impact on you. You might, for example, explain how you feel when you save a life as a volunteer emergency medical technician – from the adrenaline rush of immediately arriving on the scene to the elation and relief you feel when you know your quick thinking and actions have saved a life, your gratitude for the training that had provided you with the necessary tools, and the humility that renews your commitment to making a difference in this way. Alternatively, you could share your experience leading a community effort to save stray dogs from certain death. For a dog lover, this activity is emotionally rich and deeply fulfilling. Driven by empathy, it might be sad, considering the extreme challenges a stray dog faces, but knowing your act of kindness and commitment to help such animals provides you with optimism for the life they have yet ahead. This fulfillment drives the cycle of advocating for stray animals and continued participation in these activities.Your aim is to reveal important aspects of your character and values and highlight the unique contribution you can make Follow Us | |||
| 17 Oct 2023 | What’s New at Penn’s The Wharton School. And How to Get In. | 00:42:38 | |
Wharton has not changed its application essay questions for several seasons now. This is usually a sign that the admissions committee is happy with the kind of essays applicants are providing in response. Wharton asks candidates to share what they plan to do with their MBA in the short and long term and to discuss what they can contribute to the school’s community. The school’s optional essay then lets applicants address any issues with their profile, if needed.And don’t miss our Admissions Straight Talk podcast interview with Blair Mannix, Executive Director of Graduate Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. She encourages applicants to take risks and be themselves in their applications. The interview also covers the team-based discussion component of the admissions process and provides advice for reapplicants and those considering applying in the future. Listen below or click the image to read the full transcript.Ready to get to work on your Wharton application? Read on.Wharton application essay tipsWharton application deadlinesWharton class profileWharton application essay tipsWharton Essay #1How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)This question is future focused and exclusively professional. What do you want to do professionally that you can’t do now and that a Wharton MBA will enable you to do? What “soft” and “hard” skills do you hope to acquire at Wharton? How will a Wharton MBA (the education, credential, and experience), combined with your past experience and education, help you achieve your dreams?Wharton Director of Admissions Blair Mannix explains:“We want students to do self-reflection on why they want this degree. We want students to explore the pivot moment – when they decided they wanted to do this – and unpack the talent and treasure they can bring to the MBA. Spend the time and really think about the top three things you will get out of the program.”As with most MBA goals questions, Wharton wants to see how you plan to connect your MBA education to your future. Keep in mind that Wharton has an incredibly rich curriculum. How will you take advantage of its premier offerings to prepare yourself to realize your vision?To answer this question well, you need to have professional direction and you need to know which of Wharton’s myriad resources make it the perfect next stop on your professional journey.There are many ways you could structure your response. You might start with a pivotal experience that either illustrates what you seek to accomplish or shaped your short- and long-term goals. Then explain why this experience – ideally, an accomplishment – is important to you and how it relates to the question. In doing so, make sure you answer all the elements of Wharton’s essay question.Wharton Essay #2Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)For this essay, start with the end in mind: How do you intend to contribute to the Wharton community?To answer that question, research the cocurricular opportunities and pedagogical approach at Wharton. How will you add to the program and its community? Based on your experience, what difference do you intend to make? How will you participate and, yes, contribute?Now decide on the aspects of your experience and background that have prepared you Follow Us | |||
| 15 Aug 2023 | How to get into Duke Fuqua | 00:53:04 | |
Leadership, teamwork, and ethics are essential elements of the Duke Fuqua MBA, which is why you’ll need to make sure you express your passion for these qualities in your application essays. Impress the Fuqua adcom by positioning yourself as an innovative leader and team player, as someone who can see the big picture, work collaboratively, and shape global business.To learn more about the school, listen to our podcast interview with Shari Hubert, Duke Fuqua’s associate dean of admissions.Ready to get to work on your Duke Fuqua application? Read on. Duke Fuqua application essay tipsDuke Fuqua application deadlinesDuke Fuqua class profileDuke Fuqua application essay tipsYou’ll need to provide your thoughts on one short answer question and two longer essay questions as part of your application.Instructions for all written submissions:Responses should use 1.5-line spacing and a font size no smaller than 10-point. Do not repeat the question in the document you upload with your application as this will cause the essay to be flagged for plagiarism. Respond fully and concisely. Length requirements vary by question and are detailed below.Responses must be completed before submitting your application.All submissions are scanned using plagiarism detection software. Plagiarism is considered a cheating violation within the Honor Code and will not be tolerated in the admissions process.Required short-answer essay questionInstructions: Answer the following question in 100 words.What are your post-MBA career goals? Share with us your first-choice career plan and your alternate plan.What’s your professional direction? And if you cannot progress in your career in the most direct way, what is another way of reaching your desired destination? Since you are dealing with a 100-word maximum, you will have to think long before you start drafting and then write succinctly to get your point across. Required essay #1 (25 random things about yourself)The ‘Team Fuqua’ spirit and community is one of the things that sets the MBA experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and administration. Please share with us “25 Random Things” about you. The Admissions Committee wants to get to know YOU – beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. Share with us important life experiences, your hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are.Your list will be limited to 2 pages (750 words maximum). Please present your response in list form, numbered 1 to 25. Some points may be brief, while others may be longer.Have some fun with this list. It certainly allows for a more creative approach than most essay prompts permit. Note that the question asks you to go “beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript.” So, you can list your Pez collection or perhaps your brief membership in a rock band, or the fact that you took violin from ages 6 to 18, your membership in a gospel choir, your volunteer work in a hospital, your needlepoint, your favorite recipe or photo. Gosh – the list is endless. Just let it reflect you. Think of this list as an introduction to potential friends.Watch: Shari Hubert, Associate Dean of Admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business on How to answer the 25 Random Things Question:https://youtu.be/Vzbd3AdrLE8Required essay #2 (The Fuqua community and you)Fuqua prides itself on cultivating a culture of engagement. Our students enjoy a wide range o Follow Us | |||
| 08 Aug 2023 | Tuft’s MS in Biomedical Sciences: Your Pathway to Med School? | 00:32:49 | |
The Tufts University School of Medicine describes its fundamental mission as promoting human health, with an emphasis on leadership and clinical care. It is looking for students with a strong background in the fundamentals of science who want to apply that work in a clinical setting. The school’s curriculum emphasizes early patient contact along with full integration of the sciences. Because the Tufts medical school is focused on classes where there is a dynamic environment with a great deal of peer-to-peer work, you should emphasize your ability to lead and contribute to a medical school class in your application.Tufts Medical School secondary application essay questionsTufts secondary essay #1Do you wish to include any comments (in addition to those already provided in your AMCAS application) to the Admissions Committee at Tufts University School of Medicine? Please explain briefly. (1000 characters)You can use this space to write about anything not in the AMCAS. Be sure you do not repeat your personal statement. This is a good place to indicate anything specific about Tufts or about your personal background that relates to your med school application. Some applicants use this space to write about a personal experience that is particularly relevant and not included elsewhere in their application. Others write about a personal circumstance, an opportunity or job offer that arose at some point after they submitted the AMCAS primary application.This is also a great place to say why you want to attend Tufts Medical School.Tufts secondary essay #2Please briefly describe your plans for the coming year. Include in this explanation if you will be a student, working, conducting research, volunteering, etc. (1000 characters)A thousand characters is approximately 200 words – not a lot. Discuss what you plan to do in the upcoming year that most shows your fit with Tufts’ vision, mission, and values. If you are a rising senior, will you have any leadership positions? What do you hope to accomplish in those roles? What research, if any, will you conduct? What community service will you do? Where will you participate as a clinician?If you are taking a gap year, show, as discussed in this Admissions Straight Talk episode, that it’s going to be a growth year. What will you accomplish at work? How will you immerse yourself in different populations? Will you work as a scribe (excellent clinical exposure)? Will you participate in a research project? Be included as an author?Highlight plans that demonstrate your commitment to medicine as Tufts sees it and that indicate that you will be a valuable member of the school’s next incoming class.Tufts secondary essay #3How might you contribute to the diversity of the student body of Tufts University School of Medicine? (1000 characters)For this question, you should consider diversity in all its forms: race, ethnicity, language, family background, economic circumstances, education, gender identity, sexuality, ability, and past experience. Consider how you might interact with a diverse group of medical students and contribute to your class. It is not enough to simply say that you are diverse; you need to explain how that makes you a more appealing applicant. If you are struggling to come up with ways to describe your individuality, I encourage you to interpret the question broadly and explain how your experiences make you a unique and worthwhile candidate who is going to contribute a special background, perspective, or experience to Tuft’s class.Tufts secondary essay #4Given how the COVID-19 pandemic ha Follow Us | |||
| 26 Jul 2023 | How To Get Accepted To Johns Hopkins School of Medicine | 00:50:39 | |
Do you want to know how to get into Johns Hopkins School of Medicine? Are you wondering what Johns Hopkins' program is like? How is it adapting to the post-COVID era, and AI? Continue reading and you'll learn more from its Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs.Don't miss Linda Abraham's previous interview with Dean Paul White: What Med School Applicants Must Know About Johns Hopkins [Episode 392]Are you struggling to keep up and write the essays with the specificity and coherence they require? Check out Accepted's Ultimate Guide to Secondary Essay Questions. Download your free copy today.Today's guest, Paul White, Assistant Dean for Admissions at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, attended Yale for undergrad, Georgetown for his law degree, but he has worked in admissions, both undergrad and medical school, since 1988. Since 2012, he has served the applicant community as the Assistant Dean for Admissions at Johns Hopkins. He was last on Admissions Straight Talk in November 2020 when the pandemic was raging. People were hunkering down and working and attending school at home. I'm thrilled that the pandemic seems to be in the past, and that today, Paul White has found time to join us again. Paul, welcome back to Admission Straight Talk. [1:41]Thank you very much, Linda. Nice to see you. Can I make one correction though?Absolutely. [1:47]Yes. I actually started in admissions in June of 1979 and then took a four-year break in which I worked, and then went and got my JD, so I'm in my 40th year in admissions.I came back to admissions in 1986, but so all the way back to when I started, it was 1979. Wow, that's when I got my MBA. [2:08]Oh, okay. I've been doing my medical school admissions since the year 2000. Also, I'm in my 40th year of admissions, of the last 44.Okay, great. Well, you obviously have a lot of perspective, experience, and expertise to share, and I'm glad you corrected me. [2:23]Yeah, no problem.Can you give an overview, just to start, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:32]Sure. Absolutely. Well, Hopkins is a MD program. Let's start there. It's allopathic as opposed to osteopathic. Osteopathic schools will work the osteopathic type of medicine. Hopkins is one of 160 plus allopathic schools in the US that awards the MD. We have been around since, oh, I would say 1893 or so as a medical school. We were one of the first medical schools to establish the need for prerequisites and we are also the institution where the term rounding was developed. Our dome, which is an iconic image of our medical school is where rounding first took place, and Hopkins is one of the schools in 1911 or 1912, that the Flexner Report said got it right. That's all to say we have a history, but Hopkins doesn't believe in, nor will have you rest, on your laurels. It's just that we recognize that we do have histories behind us, but this is a fascinating place. We have 120 medical students come in every year who are either MD or MD-PhD. Several thousand applications, so it's a very long process for the applicant, but also for us, our mission is research, patient care, and education, and that is a part of everything we do here, and we are also a very incredibly inclusive community, and that is also a part of what we do and recognize that everyone brings something to the table. This is a wonderful environment for the student, but also to be a member of the community as a professional, however it might be teaching or a member of the greater staff.It's very team-oriented. We're the t Follow Us | |||
| 26 Mar 2023 | How To Get Into Dental School | 00:41:28 | |
In our 464th episode of Admissions Straight Talk Podcast, Dr. Barry Rothman shares everything students should know about the dental school application process drawing on his knowledge as an Accepted Admissions Consultant and former Health Professions Advisor and Director of SFSU’s Pre-Health Profession Certificate Program.Interview with Barry Rothman, Dental School admissions expertWelcome to the 464th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. The challenge at the heart of admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools, and stand out in the applicant pool. Accepted's free download Fitting in and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions will show you how to do both. Master this paradox, and you are well on your way to acceptance.Our guest today, Dr. Barry Rothman, is the former Health Professions Advisor and Director of San Francisco State University's Pre-Health Profession Certificate Program, which served pre-med, pre-dental, pre-nursing, and other pre-healthcare students who are preparing themselves to apply to their graduate professional schools of choice. Since 2015, Dr. Rothman has helped Accepted's clients in all aspects of the application process to graduate healthcare programs and graduate schools and life sciences, including of course dental school, which is the subject of today's podcast.How did you get involved in dental school admissions? [2:17]I think around 1995, I was asked by my university to be the Health Professions Advisor. This was something I had never even thought about. I had been teaching in the Biology Department for nine years at that point. I taught Molecular Medicine and I was interested in Physiology. I had a number of pre-meds and pre-dents in my classes, and I was kind of interested so I figured I'd give it a try.What I discovered was that there was a huge need at my university, and probably in many universities, to have a Health Professions Advisor who could relate to the students and really give them service. I decided to take it on, and I fell in love with it. I fell in love with being the Health Professions Advisor for all sorts of health professions, including dentistry. Also, I had had some contact with the UCSF Dental Post Bac Program, which was doing well at UCSF, and because I was the Health Professions Advisor at SF State, and UCSF is two miles down the road, we put our forces together and I joined them.I got to learn how they ran their post-bacc program. Then I took my own ideas about having programs that were extremely supportive of students, and had lots of mutual support, and not competitive, a nurturing environment, and decided after a year or two delay to create my own post-bacc program at San Francisco State, starting with a sort of multipurpose pre-health program mainly for pre-meds and some pre-dents. The students at SF State actually asked me to create this program.At that time, pre-meds were allowed to be Second Baccalaureates in the whole CSU system, but they weren't given much in the way of service. It was more like, "Okay, you can take classes, but don't expect anything." They were willing to pay more money for a post-bacc program in order to get more service. Over a period of a year, the Dean, the Academic Senate, and I put our heads together and created the program.It was a win/win situation. It made me happy. I continued running the post-bacc program, and actually expanded it into dental and into nursing over the next nine years.What are the prerequisites for applying to dental school? [5:24]They're very much like the med Follow Us | |||
| 19 Sep 2023 | All You Need to Know about BU’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine | 00:50:26 | |
If you want to know how much of BU medical school's recent $100 million gift it intends to use for scholarships, or what happens to applications to ensure a genuinely holistic process, or what its associate dean of admissions wants to see in students read on! In this interview, Dr. Kristen Goodell, associate Dean of Admissions at Boston University’s Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine answers all these questions and more.Welcome to the 541st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. DON'T MISS Linda Abraham's 2021 interview with Dr. Kristen Goodall: All About BU School of Medicine, a Social Justice-Minded Med School [Episode 405]. Click here for a full transcript!Today's guest, Dr. Kristen Goodell, associate Dean of Admissions at BU's Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, earned her bachelor's degree at Colby College and her MD at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her residency in family medicine at Tufts and has been a practicing physician ever since 2007. In addition, from 2012 to 2017, Dr. Goodell served as a Director for Innovation in Medical Education at the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care. In 2017, she was appointed Assistant Dean of Admissions at the Boston University School of Medicine and became Associate Dean in 2018. Dr. Goodell, welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:57]Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here.Can you give an overview of Boston University’s Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:03]Sure. So the most important thing to know about BU School of Medicine is that we are a social justice medical school, and you see our social justice focus come through in many different ways. It is woven into the curriculum quite explicitly. You see it in what our students do with their free time. You see it in the particular areas of expertise of our faculty, and of course it's in the patients that we serve at our primary hospital, which is really on the same campus with the medical school.Now I normally ask what's new and I will ask what's new, but the obvious thing that's new is the school's name. So why don't we start with that; then you can tell me what else is new in addition to the name. [2:44]Sure. So last year we got a new name for our medical school along with a hundred million dollar gift.That's a big gift. [3:00]Right. And it was a wonderful gift and in my mind, perhaps the most exciting thing about that is that $50 million of it, so half of the gift was specifically earmarked for financial aid. Ever since I have been here, we’ve been really focusing on increasing the amount of scholarship aid that we have available to give students, and the maximum scholarship award has almost doubled just since I've been here. It's gone from $30,000 to $55,000 per year, and that's just only for scholarships and it’s need based. And so that increase has been really remarkable, but now we know that it's going to increase even more. So I think that is amazing. As a private school, we know that our tuition is high. As a school that is in Boston, we know that living expenses here are high. So anything that we can do to offset the cost I think is really good, obviously for our students and makes us a mor Follow Us | |||
| 16 May 2023 | Rejection and Reapplication: How to Respond | 00:21:08 | |
Rejection and Reapplication: How to Respond [Show summary]Admissions guru Linda Abraham highlights four reasons that could cause a rejection and offers concrete, practical suggestions for moving forward. Rejection and Reapplication: How to Respond [Show notes]Some of you unfortunately are facing a fistful of dings. Some of you haven't heard definitively. You are either in waitlist limbo or haven't heard anything, but you know that rejection at this point in time for the previous application cycle is a distinct and increasingly likely possibility. How can you respond to rejection? How should you respond to rejection? How can you reapply successfully if that's what you choose to do?One of the challenges of admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools and are a standout in the applicant pool. Accepted's free download, Fitting In and Standing Out, The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions, will show you how to do exactly that, and both of them. Master this paradox and you will be well on your way to acceptance. I'm going to do a solo show today as I addressed the questions I raised a minute ago. It's going to be one where I both give a little high-level encouragement and then get down to brass tacks advice on what you should do if you decide to reapply.Rejection reality [1:42]First of all, let's face it, rejection is disappointing. It's frustrating. It's painful. It's maybe even a little embarrassing. Acknowledge your negative feelings. It's okay. You put a lot of effort into this year's applications. You spent money and time on them. You invested emotionally in this whole project, and some of you may feel that this is the end of the road for your particular career dream. Maybe you've applied before. Maybe you find rejection to be a terrible blow. Realize that rejection is disappointing. It is a setback. It is not a tragedy. No one has died, no blood has been spilled. You haven't lost your livelihood.What about my dreams and goals [2:23]You may say, "But what about my dreams, my goals?" Well, I have two thoughts for you. You may not need to give up your dreams and goals. You may decide to reapply and we'll get to how you should do that more effectively in a few minutes. You may apply to different schools that are easier to get into and that still support your goals. You may decide to achieve your goals in another way that doesn't require a graduate degree or perhaps would benefit from a different graduate degree. You may need to modify your dreams and goals and replace them with new dreams. In other words, to re-dream instead of reapply. I can tell you that there have been many times when my husband and I seemingly hit a dead end on a dream and had to re-dream, and things frankly worked out better than we had ever hoped. For an example of someone who had to dream differently, please check out episode 234 for the story of Andrea Benedict, who had to abandon her dream of becoming a physician, became a PA instead, and absolutely loves her work and her career.Handling the stress of reapplying [3:23]If you are faced with a rejection, give yourself an hour or two, and if it's the final rejection, maybe even a day or two to be a little down and then move on. In fact, pat yourself on the back for your effort and initiative in applying in the first place. You tried to improve your skills and education. You tried to move forward. You tried to grow and improve. That effort deserves to be acknowledged and praised. I, for one, salute you. And again, if nobody else is going to do it, take it from me or give yourself a pat on Follow Us | |||
| 01 Aug 2023 | The New, Shorter GMAT Focus: Your Questions Answers | 00:34:33 | |
Thank you to Apex for contributing this informative article!With an industry-leading syllabus Apex offers the most comprehensive GMAT & GMAT Focus preparation on the market today. We exclusively offer 1-on-1 private GMAT tutoring, both in person and online, in order to deliver the strongest results for clients who simply want the best, most efficient preparation available.And don't miss our Admissions Straight Talk podcast interview with Manish Dharma, Director of Product Marketing at the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), where he chats with Accepted's Linda Abraham about the new, shorter GMAT Focus exam. Listen below or click the image to read the full transcript.The GMAT is one of the greatest challenges that many people face on the road to their MBA acceptance, but it doesn’t have to be. For many, the anxiety surrounding the GMAT is due to it being a largely misunderstood challenge. Contrary to what you might think, the GMAT represents an opportunity to illustrate your creativity and improve your critical and creative thinking skills, not just revise your knowledge of high school math and grammar. When properly preparing for the exam you’ll develop:new ways to approach solving problems of all sortsnovel techniques for organizing and characterizing informationthe ability to curate your own thought process to become a more effective thinkerWith this in mind, I’d like to discuss five key points to help you get into the correct mindset for a successful (read: transformative) and low-stress GMAT preparation experience.1. You are not your GMAT.Many people use their GMAT score to define their abilities across a range of fields, their value as an applicant, or, even more insidiously, in a greater self-esteem context.You are not your GMAT!Your GMAT score doesn’t represent how smart you are or how capable you are as a person, student, or professional. It certainly doesn’t deliver the distinct mix of characteristics that make you, well, you. What admissions committees are seeking when they look at your GMAT score is a set of skills that are valuable in a number of ways (more on this later), but tying your self-worth up in a number is perilous, to say the least. hbspt.cta.load(58291, 'a7004604-d7d1-4d1f-98ef-a0ec53d7e590', {}); Putting the self-esteem aspect aside for a moment, identifying yourself with your GMAT means that you are giving short shrift to who you are as a person outside of a testing environment - you know who I’m talking about, the badass who has already achieved so much and is on track for so much more. There is no need to put additional pressure on yourself to perform well on the GMAT to prove to yourself, or to your family, friends, or an admissions committee how “valuable” you are, how smart you are, or how capable you are.From our perspective as teachers, we also see this occur frequently in the other direction, with tutors who apply to work with us. They define themselves by their GMAT success rather than their ability as educators. We reject many potential tutors out of hand, despite their having a 770+ score, because a score is simply a number on a piece of paper; we seek people who understand others, are strong communicators, and who are always growing as educators.Takeaway: By focusing on your score, rather than developing stronger critical and creative thinking skills, you’re missing the point of the GMAT.2. The GMAT is both easier and harder than you think.I know this sounds counterintuitive, but bear with me.The stigma of the GMAT - that it’s a terribly difficult exam - affects the performance Follow Us | |||
| 10 Oct 2023 | How to Get Accepted to Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University | 00:42:00 | |
Please join me as I speak with Dr. Michael Ellison, Associate Dean for Admissions at Chicago Medical School at the Rosalind Franklin University. Dr. Ellison shares his insights on what makes Chicago Medical School unique, how to impress its admissions committee, and what all this information means for you as an applicant.Thanks for joining me for this, the 544th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. I'd like to highlight for today's listeners a wonderful resource when you're invited to a medical school interview, and that is Accepted's free download, The Ultimate Guide to Medical School Interview Success. In the guide, you will learn how to prepare for interviews (including those difficult questions), how to make sure your body language matches your intent, and proper interview follow-up. Download your complimentary copy today!Now, let's move into today's interview. With a focus on interprofessionalism, the Chicago Medical School is one of five graduate schools in healthcare at Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago.I'm delighted to have as a return guest on Admissions Straight Talk, Dr. Michael Ellison, Associate Dean for Admissions at Chicago Medical School. Dr. Ellison earned his doctorate in educational leadership from Roosevelt University of Chicago. He has worked in higher education, and specifically in medical school admissions and administration, for decades. Dr. Ellison, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. Thank you so much for joining me today. [1:53]Linda, it's my pleasure to be with you again, and thank you for asking me to come back.My pleasure. Can you give us an overview of the Chicago Medical School program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:02]Sure. I think the university itself is really focused and dedicated on improving healthcare outcomes for the patients that our future providers will provide. And in doing so, interprofessionalism is really a strong tenant for the university and for the medical school, and other programs as well. You mentioned about five colleges. Now, we have a sixth college, which is the College of Nursing, that have some entry-level programs for those who are seeking advanced degrees, and it is now an additional tool in our toolkit to help with interprofessionalism. And so you'll see, again, students from the medical school taking courses with students from other health science programs, whether it be podiatry, pharmacy, physician assistant, path assistant, and then nursing.And so when I talk to students, they certainly talk about their level of excitement of sitting in a class with a classmate who is in a different program and kind of learning from them and how they will be looking at the patient that will be a little different from the way that the medical physician will be looking at the patient and they feel that it's very helpful for them. We are certainly moving into a society that it is... we're more team-based and team-approached.And so I think incorporating that into our learning structure, our learning environment is most helpful for our students. And so we continue to work on this interprofessionaism. Our students also work in the sim lab with students from other programs as well, so not only do they get to learn theory, collaboratively, they also get to do practical kinds of opportunities as well in terms of our simulation lab.What's new since we last spoke in 2021? Hopefully, the pandemic is in our rearview mirror, which was not the case then. [4:08]Well, again, I just mentioned the new College of Nursing that is on board, so that is something that is new. The me Follow Us | |||
| 12 Sep 2023 | How to Get Into Yale SOM | 00:44:34 | |
How to Get Into Yale SOM [Episode 542]Are you looking for a mission-driven school that aims to educate leaders for business and society? Would you like to know how to get into that MBA program, which happens to be at the Yale School of Management? Tune in for this interview with its Assistant Dean for Admissions, Bruce DelMonico.Welcome to the 542nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk, thanks for tuning in. Sometimes I'm asked, "Is the MBA worth it?" And my answer is, "It depends on your individual circumstances." But I've got good news, we've developed a tool that will help you evaluate whether an MBA is worth it for you and your individual circumstances and it also estimates by how much. Check out how much you're likely to benefit, or not, from taking an MBA education. Using the tool won't set you back even one cent because it's free.Don't miss Linda Abraham's 2021 interview with Yale SOM Dean, Bruce DelMonico - full transcript below!It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Yale School of Management. He's been on the admissions Team at Yale since 2004. He became the director in 2006 and the assistant dean in 2012. He was last on Admissions Straight Talk almost two years ago in November 2021. Bruce, welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:44]Thank you so much, Linda. It's great to be hereI'm so pleased to have you join me today. Now, let's start with a basic overview of the Yale SOM MBA program for listeners who may not be that familiar with it, and if you could focus on the more distinctive or perhaps the newer elements of the program. [1:48]Sure, happy to do that. So just briefly, we're a two-year, full-time, in-residence MBA on the Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticut. There are some things similar to other programs, some things I think are a little bit distinctive, as you say. So when you join us at Yale for your two years, the first year is primarily our core curriculum. Then you start to take electives in the spring the first year, and your entire second year are all electives. I would say a couple of the distinctive things, first of all, our integrated curriculum in the core I think is a little bit different than what you might experience in other MBA programs, the way the material is organized. A lot of the same concepts and same material, but organized differently and presented differently, and we think it teaches you to learn and think differently.In addition, I mentioned the electives, you could take those across Yale without limit and there are other features of the program that I think really heightened the connectivity to the larger Yale community. I think that's one of the nice features of being in an institution like Yale, is taking advantage of all the resources that the entire university has to offer, so I think that's another distinctive aspect of our program. I think a third thing I would point to is our global footprint. A lot of MBA programs have global programming and I think the way that we've assembled our Global Network for Advanced Management and the kind of opportunities that flow from that, I think are rather unique and I think do give our students a rather special global perspective in their two years with us at Yale.That was a great summary, thank you. Now, you mentioned the Global Network. Yale was a leader in global education for its students, innovating before the pandemic, the Global Network for Advanced Management, which allowed students to take classes around the world from New Haven. It also had several st Follow Us | |||
| 12 Jul 2022 | How to Get Accepted to the University of Colorado School of Medicine | 00:41:24 | |
Find out what's new to the U. of Colorado SOM curriculum [Show Summary]The University of Colorado School of Medicine has introduced a new curriculum that includes clinical training starting in year two and a longitudinal approach to patient care. Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo, the Assistant Dean for Admissions explains everything applicants will want to know about these changes and gives the inside scoop on how to get accepted.Interview with Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo, Assistant Dean for Admissions, U. of Colorado SOM [Show Notes]Welcome to the 478th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Do you know how to get accepted to medical school? Accepted's Dr. Suzi Schweikert does and she shares her knowledge and insight in Accepted's free guide, Med School Admissions: What You Need to Know to Get Accepted. Download your free copy!Also, thank you and a shoutout to Nareg Keshisian who left a five-star review for Admissions Straight Talk on Apple Podcasts. He wrote:"Linda does a great job answering many of the questions that are on students' minds. These podcasts give greater insight into what schools are looking for in applicants that would be otherwise difficult to find elsewhere. I would highly recommend them to other applicants who are looking for more information about the admissions process for particular schools."Thank you again, Nareg. Your feedback is deeply appreciated. Giving insight to applicants into what schools are looking for is exactly the goal of Admissions Straight Talk. Your words are high praise.The next step in achieving Admissions Straight Talk’s goal is introducing today's guest, Dr. Jeffrey SooHoo. After attending Boston College as an undergrad, Dr. SooHoo earned his MD at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in 2009. He did his residency at the University of Colorado in Ophthalmology and a fellowship in glaucoma, also at the University of Colorado. He has been Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of Colorado School of Medicine since 2020. The University of Colorado School of Medicine introduced a new curriculum almost exactly a year ago. Can you walk us through it, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:14]Absolutely. Our new curriculum is called the Trek Curriculum and all the different elements are named after elements of a hike in Colorado. It was named by our students. You start out in the Plains and progress to the Foothills followed by the Alpine and finally the Summit.There's a number of things that I'll point out as being unique features of the curriculum. I think the biggest change is the move of the core clinical year from the third year of training to the second year of training. That decreases our core preclinical time from two years in the classroom to just one. A question I get often is, "Dean SooHoo, do you now expect me to learn two years of material in one year?" And the answer to that is no. We thought really critically about the elements of our preclinical curriculum and what needed to be in there to prepare you to be a clinical student. I think there was a lot of in those first two years that, while interesting and maybe relevant to medicine in some way, didn't necessarily need to be learned during the time before you went out into the clinical space.Students are eager to get into the clinical space. We also think it's better for learning for them to have clinical experiences earlier because it allows them to think more about the science behind the medicine. It also gives them a human framework in which to place that knowledge. Then they ask better questions because they say, Follow Us | |||
| 19 Jul 2022 | How to Get Into Duke Law | 00:48:51 | |
Hear about possible changes to the law admissions process and how to get accepted [Show Summary]Mark Hill, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law, has worked in admissions for twenty years. In this episode, he shares his thoughts on how law schools will be affected by a potential recession and the possible elimination of a test requirement. Mark explores how applicants, especially those hoping to get accepted to Duke, should handle the shifting landscape. (Please note: Between the recording and publication of our interview, Mark Hill was promoted to Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law. The recording has his old title; the show notes reflect his new title.)Interview with Mark Hill, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law [Show Notes]Thanks for joining me for the 481st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you applying to law school this cycle? Are you planning ahead to apply to law school next year or later? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Law School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/law-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to improve your qualifications and your chances of acceptance. And it's all free. I'm delighted to have an Admissions Straight Talk, Mark Hill, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Duke Law. Mark earned his bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology from Duke, and then later earned a master's in Higher Ed from Northwestern, where he also served as Assistant Director of Admissions. In 2002, joined Duke Law as an Admissions officer. Since 2013, he has served Duke Law as Senior Director/Assistant Dean of Admissions. Can you give us an overview of the more distinctive elements of the Duke Law School JD program? [2:21]The way that I think about it, there are two elements that characterize Duke. One is that we're among a handful of really top-tier national law schools with students who come from all over and have really great job prospects all across the country. Most of our grads don't stay in North Carolina. They're looking elsewhere. There's a handful of law schools like that. The other thing that makes us distinctive is that we have a relatively small class size. We're in a smaller city and so we’re a smaller school. We can really give individual attention to students. We help everybody who comes here craft their own course through the opportunities at Duke to get to where they want to end up.Because it's a smaller school and a smaller city, we really attract folks who are intending to be full-time law students. They're focused on engaging with one another and with their professors. I suppose it's not for everybody, but for people who want that kind of full-on focused experience, it can be really great. I've often mentioned a couple of distinctive dual degrees. We have two JD/LLM degrees that can be completed in the three years that it would take to do a JD so they don't add any additional time. You can get a really good concentration and an LLM focusing either on international and comparative law and all the spectrum of the things that means from public law to finance and corporate transactions. The other one focuses on law and entrepreneurship. Maybe you want to be a lawyer who works in the startup space or who works with venture capital. Maybe you have entrepreneurial ideas of your own. Maybe you just want to work for law firms that help provide legal services to those kinds of companies. The JD/LLM in law and entrepreneurship is a great thing there. Those are Duke-specific dual degrees. Of c Follow Us | |||
| 26 Jul 2022 | How to Prep for the MCAT | 00:25:15 | |
Expert tips for MCAT success [Show Summary]Todd Bennett, co-founder of The Berkeley Review and expert MCAT instructor, shares his best tips for preparing for and taking the test. Todd Bennett, co-founder of The Berkeley Review and expert MCAT instructor [Show Notes]Welcome to the 480th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, thanks for joining me. Before I introduce our guest today, I'd like to invite you to take Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz. Ask yourself, "Am I ready to apply to my dream medical schools? Am I competitive at my target programs?" Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check, just go to accepted.com/medquiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also actionable tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '6f21f36c-c988-4e9c-b947-0b9d4af1557f', {"region":"na1"}); Our guest today is Todd Bennett, whom I met many years ago. He was, at the time, the CEO of the Berkeley Review, and for the entire time, since I met him those many moons ago, he's been an expert MCAT instructor, both for the Berkeley Review and on his own. Is there anything new in terms of the MCAT and the MCAT prep world since we last spoke about a year ago? [1:55]Well, the biggest thing is that COVID restrictions have basically simmered away and it's no longer the same concern it was. The content hasn't seemed to change much, but the delivery and all the stress and weird times looks like it's just going to go back to the regular shot. So that's the biggest thing. There are still some basic protocols, but it's so much less stressful than it was during the pandemic.How do you recommend students prepare for the MCAT? [2:42]The biggest thing at the very start is to look at what you're studying. The only company that puts out realistic questions that have been on the MCAT, or are very similar, is the AAMC. It’s the company that is responsible for the test. Start with their materials. They have an MCAT guide that's the best thing on the market. All these people with “super secrets” are pretty much just people who've read that book from start to finish.They're pretty straightforward in what percentages of the questions they give, how they ask their questions, and what they're looking for. If you start there and really analyze and break that down, you will realize that you don't have to know the material at the same level you studied for college. It's not that it's harder or easier. It's different in that you have to apply it.I'll take physics, for instance. It’s one of the topics I taught for many years. In college, people memorize equations, learn to do problems, show their work, box their answer, and pray for partial credit. That's physics in a nutshell. On the MCAT, they're going to talk about some experiment they do in biochemistry with some machine that uses an electric field, and they'll want to know, "What's true of this electric field if we turn up the voltage", or, "What's true if we move the plates further apart or closer together?" Suddenly you have to take that physics, and apply it to a bio experiment. Getting used to that is the hardest thing I find people have to do. They spend so much time memorizing facts that they never take time to get used to what the questions and passages are like, and they get shocked when they start doing AAMC materials. It’s the number one reason why people postpone or have to repeat. My best advice is to start with the real deal, analyze it, learn what you can from it, and then start your study.How much time sho Follow Us | |||
| 02 Aug 2022 | Ace the Executive Assessment | 00:37:20 | |
Tune in to hear all you need to know about the Executive Assessment [Show Summary]Who is the Executive Assessment for? What is it? And how to prepare for it? Introduced by GMAC a few years ago, for the Executive MBA, the “EA” has gained credibility and acceptability for a variety of MBA programs. Brett Ethridge, test prep expert, weighs in and answers all these questions in this informative interview. Interview with Brett Ethridge, founder and president of Dominate Test Prep [Show Notes]Welcome to the 483rd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for listening. You've seen the stats that most people have a great return on their MBA investment. But what about you? Are you going to see that return? How much could it be? We've created a tool that will help you assess whether the MBA is likely to be a good investment for you individually. Just go to accepted.com/mbaroicalc, complete the brief questionnaire, and you’ll not only get an assessment but also the opportunity to calculate different scenarios. And it's all free. Try the MBA ROI Calculator!It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Brett Ethridge, founder and president of Dominate Test Prep. Brett earned his Bachelor's in Public Policy Studies from Duke in 2000 and then joined the Peace Corps for two years where he worked in Madagascar. He then earned a Master's in International Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration from the University of Denver. In 2010, he founded Dominate the GMAT, which became Dominate Test Prep. Today, Dominate Test Prep provides test preparation for the GMAT, the GRE, SAT, ACT, LSAT, and most importantly for today's conversation, GMAC's Executive Assessment. The Executive Assessment is accepted by many Executive MBA programs, an increasing number of part-time MBA programs, and even several highly ranked full-time MBA programs, including Columbia, Darden, Duke Fuqua, Georgetown, NYU Stern, UT McCombs, and Vanderbilt. Let's learn all about the Executive Assessment. Let's start with a basic question. What is the Executive Assessment? [2:42]It's a standardized test used as part of the admissions process for a wide range of primarily Executive MBA programs in the United States, but also overseas. It’s also being used by an increasing number of online MBA programs, part-time MBA programs, and full-time MBA programs. It's very similar in a lot of ways to the GMAT exam, which is the widely used entrance exam for business school, but different in distinct ways as well. In short, it's a standardized test that a lot of students are taking right now to get into various MBA programs.Why did GMAC develop the Executive Assessment if it already had the GMAT? [3:32]Because they were asked to (if the story is correct). I actually first learned about the Executive Assessment myself at a forum that the GMAC hosted at their headquarters in Ruston, Virginia back in 2018. I think the Executive Assessment had been around for maybe a year or so at that point. It's a fairly new exam at four or five years old. It was my first time really learning about the exam. At that point, only a couple dozen schools were even using it. The story they told us, so this is straight from the GMAC's mouth, is that the admissions directors at a lot of the top executive MBA programs came to them and said, "Look, we love the GMAT. We're currently asking applicants for our Executive MBA programs to take the GMAT. But it's a really steep hurdle in the application process for a demographic of applicants who are in their forties, sometimes fifties. These people have bee Follow Us | |||
| 09 Aug 2022 | An Inside Look at The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine | 00:44:08 | |
Wondering if you're a good fit for the Geisinger Commonwealth SOM? [Show Summary]Dr. Michelle Schmude, Associate Dean of Admissions at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, shares everything that’s new in the program, including a revised curriculum and a unique opportunity that allows students to graduate debt free. Interview with Dr. Michelle Schmude, Associate Dean of Admissions at Geisinger Commonwealth SOM [Show Notes]Welcome to the 482nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Do you know how to get accepted to medical school? Well, Dr. Suzi Schweikert does, and she shares her knowledge and insight in Accepted's free guide, Med School Admissions: What You Need to Know to Get Accepted. Download your free copy at accepted.com/482download.Today's guest, Dr. Michelle Schmude, has spent her career in higher ed administration and med school admissions. After earning her BA in History and Business, she went on to earn an MBA and then a Doctorate in Education from Wilkes University. Since 1996, she has worked in admissions, first as Dean of Full-Time Admissions at Point Park University, then at Kings College, and since 2015, as Director and then as Associate Dean of Admissions, Enrollment Management and Financial Aid at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. She's also an Associate Professor of Medical Education at Geisinger. Now that you know a little bit about Dr. Schmude, let's find out about Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and its admissions policies. Can you give us an overview of the Geisinger Commonwealth Med School program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:57]Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine offers the MD degree, which is the Doctorate of Medicine, and we are an allopathic medical school. We are located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and we were founded in 2008 as the Commonwealth Medical College, which transformed into Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in 2017.Right now, we enroll 115 students in each medical school class. Our MD curriculum is known as the Total Health Curriculum, and it is divided into three phases. The first phase prepares our students in terms of the principles of medical sciences and practices. The second phase would be our core clinical immersion. And the last phase is our career differentiation and exploration, which prepares students for the transition to residency.Also, highlighted within our MD curriculum and our Total Health curriculum, we have six longitudinal themes, where our students are immersed in Health Equity and Justice, Personal and Professional Development, Health System Citizenship, Primary Care, Community Immersion, and Population Health. These themes are interwoven throughout the four years of our medical school program in both our basic sciences as well as our clinical sciences.Are the themes something that a student chooses to focus on or does everybody cover all six themes through the three stages? [3:44]That's a great question. All of our students participate in the six themes. Additionally, our students participate in active learning sessions. In our medical school curriculum, along with the six themes, we do not have any lectures. So our students prepare ahead of time and they come to class as active participants in their learning experiences. They’ll engage in small groups, workshops, reflection, and case-based learning. They also engage in early clinical experiences, and those experiences do have the six themes woven throughout.It sounds like it's very much of a flipped classroom kind of experience. [4:39]It abso Follow Us | |||
| 16 Aug 2022 | University of Michigan's Ross MBA program: Everything You Need to Know | 00:28:12 | |
What’s new at Michigan Ross? [Show Summary]Taya Sapp, Senior Associate Director of Admissions, shares all of the latest updates including a new dean, new testing policy, and a new essay question.Interview with Taya Sapp, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Michigan Ross School of Business [Show Notes]Welcome to the 479th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for listening. You've seen the stats that most people have a great return on their MBA investment, but what about you? Are you going to see that return? And how much will it be? We've created a tool that will help you assess whether the MBA is likely to be a good investment for you individually. Just go to accepted.com/mbaroicalc, complete the brief questionnaire, and you will not only get an assessment but also the opportunity to calculate different scenarios. And it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have on Admissions Straight Talk for the first time Taya Sapp, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Michigan Ross School of Business. Taya practically bleeds Michigan blue. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in American Culture in 2003 and then worked as an Admissions Counselor at another college for several years before returning to Michigan. She joined the admissions staff at Michigan Ross in 2011, rose through the ranks, and today is the Senior Associate Director of Admissions. Could you start with a basic overview of Ross's full-time MBA program for listeners who may not be that familiar with it, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:09]I think the one thing that we are really known for is learning by doing. I always like to tell people if you learn best by doing, there's no better place to be than Michigan Ross. I can give a couple of examples of that. The cornerstone is MAP which stands for Multidisciplinary Action Projects. It's a seven-week consulting project that every single student does at the end of their first year at Ross. This past year we had projects with Blue Origin, a social responsibility project with Amazon, and we also had nonprofit students analyzing data sets to help design fundraising campaigns. There’s a pretty big variety in the projects. It's a huge differentiator for us because students spend a full seven weeks doing it and then get to do their internship. A lot of times, people think of it as almost two internships. It's also a great opportunity for travel. We did start sending people internationally again this year, and the nice thing is the sponsor covers all travel expenses.Can you tell us a little more about what's new in the Ross MBA program? [3:33]We have a new Dean starting on August 1st. We are really excited to have her come to Ross and see her vision for leading our community here. There are a few other things I'm excited about. We started something called the Business+Tech initiative this past year which is a hub for everything tech. They launched a tech literacy week, which is basically a bunch of workshops to help people orient themselves to different areas of tech. It covers everything from how a lack of diversity can impact artificial intelligence to boot camps and machine learning and different programs like Python and Blockchain. They’re really helping prepare students for not just the recruiting aspect but also the actual knowledge in tech.We have seven different student investment funds at Ross, and the newest one just started this year. It's called the Michigan Clean Venture, and it's focused on clean tech investments. I think it’s really exciting that our st Follow Us | |||
| 23 Aug 2022 | How to Get Accepted to UCLA Anderson | 00:43:34 | |
Everything you need to know about the UCLA Anderson MBA program [Show Summary]Alex Lawrence, UCLA Anderson’s Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions explores the hallmarks of the program and discusses what makes a competitive application. Interview with Alex Lawrence, Asst. Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA Anderson School of Management [Show Notes]Welcome to the 484th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Before we get to our wonderful guest, I want to invite you to take advantage of a fantastic tool at Accepted, the MBA Admissions Quiz. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at those programs? Accepted's MBA Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just complete the quiz, which should only take about five minutes, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to actually improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. hbspt.cta.load(58291, 'a7004604-d7d1-4d1f-98ef-a0ec53d7e590', {}); It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk Alex Lawrence, Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA Anderson School of Management, which just happens to be where I earned my MBA. Alex is a fellow Anderson alum who earned his MBA in 1999. Prior to that, he earned a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. After earning his MBA, he worked in management consulting for four years and then returned to UCLA Anderson as Director of the Riordan Program. In 2012, he became first the director and then the Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions. Can you give an overview of the Anderson full-time MBA program for those listeners who aren't that familiar with it, focusing on its more distinctive element? [2:15]The UCLA Anderson MBA is obviously near and dear to my heart, being an alumnus of the program and now running the admission side of things. My relationship with the school goes back over 25 years.It’s a two-year program that balances the opportunity to go through the traditional core elements while also taking what you learn in the classroom to actually participate in a number of different experiential or practicum types of activities. We actually started school yesterday and today is day two for the class of 2024. One of the things I think shows how we're always innovating in our program is that beyond traditional summer internships, more and more of our students are doing academic internships. Part of the graduation requirements is to satisfy a global requirement. Our students have been taking on some of those different opportunities for almost 10 years now, where they do a consulting project with a global company or perhaps they travel overseas. We're a smallish class size of around 330 students. We don't necessarily look at students with just a business background. It's really diverse domestically, internationally, and across genders also career interests as well. We have students who go to a lot of different areas, not just consulting and finance, but real estate, entertainment, and more.We're always trying to push the envelope, and we added a course in ethics to the core classes students need to take in order to graduate. Students have to participate in that. In our career services, there's a required class as well that our students have to take. There are a lot of different elements. Once you peel back the layers and learn more about Anderson, there's a lot to find out. I hope we'll get a chance to talk about a lot of that and more.How does the Anderson course in ethics differ from traditional corporate socia Follow Us | |||
| 30 Aug 2022 | How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. Louis | 00:46:44 | |
What's new at Washington University School of Medicine? [Show Summary]Dr. Valerie Ratts, Associate Dean for Admissions at Washington University School of Medicine, shares what's new in the program, including the Gateway Curriculum and the virtual interview experience. Interview with Dr. Valerie Ratts, Associate Dean for Admissions at Washington University School of Medicine [Show Notes]Welcome to the 485th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/medquiz, complete the quiz, and you will not only get an assessment, but also tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Today's guest, Dr. Valerie Ratts, earned her MD at Johns Hopkins, where she also did her residency in obstetrics and gynecology as well as a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology. She joined the Washington University faculty in 1994 and currently serves as Associate Dean for Admissions and a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine. Can you give us an overview of the WashU School of Medicine program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:52]Well, actually, our curriculum has changed since I last spoke to you. We're very excited about it. It's called the Gateway Curriculum. We're reimagining how we should best be educating medical students for the future and we deliver that in three phases.In phase one, we concentrate on the fundamentals and foundational modules in medicine. But we're integrating it the entire time. When you're getting basic science courses, we're integrating clinical problems, social sciences, health equity, and justice. All of those things come up during phase one. We also have clinical immersions during that period where students go into the clinical spaces for three weeks at three times during phase one. They’ll go to inpatient, outpatient, and peri-procedural spaces. The goal is not to be the physician. Yes, you get some clinical skills. Yes, you see how the different units work. But the goal is to get a perspective of how all the other healthcare providers in that space, including social workers, nurses, and pharmacists, work together. We think that medical students, at that point in their education, haven't quite learned all the bad habits that physicians get. They have a very unique perspective. We have small group sessions where the medical students will meet with other medical students and their professors to talk about the things that they observed in those spaces, good and bad. The thought is that when they become the physician down the road, they can reflect upon that period of time, and it will hopefully make them better doctors in the future. That's one of the things that we're doing in phase one, getting them very quickly into the clinical spaces and using that unique perspective that an early medical student has. Then we have phase two. This is the gateway to clinical medicine. This is when students rotate through the six big specialties in medicine, OB/GYN, medicine, surgery, neurology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. All medical schools require you to rotate through these clinical services. You're basically trying on all the hats to learn what type of medicine you really enjoy. What we do uniquely in this phase of the curriculum is we have the clerkship start with bookends. In the beginning, we review foundational modules and science that w Follow Us | |||
| 12 May 2023 | How to Get Accepted to Graduate Engineering Programs | 00:27:20 | |
How should you approach an application to a graduate engineering program? Dr. Karin Ash, an admissions consultant and career coach for aspiring engineers, and former director of the career management center at Cornell's Johnson School, career coach at Cornell's College of Engineering, and director of Cornell Career Services, shares everything you need to know. Welcome to the 486th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Do you know how to get accepted to graduate engineering programs? Dr. Karin Ash does, and she shares her knowledge and insight in Accepted's guide, “Applying to Engineering Programs: What You Need to Know.” Download your free copy at accepted.com/486download. Our guest today is Dr. Karin Ash, author of the guide that I just mentioned, and the former Director of Cornell University's Career Services, Director of the Career Management Center at Cornell Johnson School, and a career coach at Cornell's College of Engineering. Dr. Ash joined Accepted in 2015 as an admissions consultant and career coach. She has been guiding clients to acceptance at leading masters and PhD programs in engineering at top universities, including UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Cal Tech, Cambridge University, Columbia, Cornell, Duke Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, NYU, Stanford, UCLA, USC, University of Michigan, UT, UVA, and University of Washington, among others. She's here to discuss how to get accepted to graduate engineering programs.Much of your experience before joining Accepted was in the career guidance side of graduate and undergraduate education, how do employers influence admissions decisions? [2:16]They can influence it in a couple of ways. Let's say all of a sudden, a lot of employers decide they need more computer scientists. The programs at a university might expand the number of candidates that they are willing to bring in. It can also make a difference if they emphasize certain areas within an academic area. For example, they can say they need more calculus because the new hires are coming in with not as much math skills as they might need. So they can affect the curriculum. The other way is if I'm sitting on an admissions committee and I going through files trying to decide who should be interviewed for a possible spot and an applicant’s story seems very clear, and it seems like they would not have a hard time finding employment. It can make a difference if I think the story doesn't make sense, and I don't think they're going to have an easy time getting employment. It doesn't mean they're totally out of the picture, but I might put them in another pile because schools get ranked somewhat based on what percentage of graduates find employment and what their salary level is. Those are some ways employers can influence admissions.I think teamwork has been a skill that employers have increasingly valued over the last 20-40 years. Is that something schools are emphasizing more in admissions decisions? [4:19]Absolutely. That's a good point, Linda. I think that's been true in the MBA world for quite a while, but with engineers, more and more companies are insisting that people work on teams. They realize that there's more productivity and a more creative outcome when you have diverse teams working together, not only within a department but across departments. You can get into a school without having great leadership or communication skills, but if you have them, it's an asset and there's more assurity that you'll get in.It also depends on the department. If you're being hired for a coding position, it Follow Us | |||
| 13 Sep 2022 | How to Get Accepted to Cornell Johnson MBA | 00:47:32 | |
Tune in to hear all that Cornell Johnson's dynamic MBA program has to offer, and more [Show Summary]Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, dives into this dynamic program that equips students for careers in finance, tech, healthcare, and more. Interview with Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management [Show Notes]Welcome to the 488th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Before we speak with our wonderful guest, I want to invite you to take advantage of a fantastic tool at Accepted, the MBA Admissions Quiz. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at those programs? Accepted's MBA Admissions Quiz can not only give you a quick reality check, but also tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. Use the calculator at accepted.com/mbaquiz.It gives me great pleasure to have, for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management. Eddie earned his bachelor's in communications from the University at Buffalo and a masters from SUNY Buffalo in Student Personnel Administration. Between his undergraduate and graduate degrees, he worked at SUNY Buffalo and while in grad school, he served as an Admissions Advisor at the University of Buffalo. He joined the Johnson School in 2012 as an Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid and became the Executive Director of Admissions and Scholarship in June 2021. Can you give an overview of the Cornell Johnson full-time MBA program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:16]We're located in Ithaca, New York, which is in central New York. Our MBA program is a general management MBA program that allows our students to really get the basic business fundamentals while also expanding personally and professionally throughout their career goals. We are known for elements of our program, such as our immersion learning program, which gives our students the opportunity to immerse themselves in their particular career paths. This happens in the spring semester of their first year. It gives students that hands-on experience while taking advanced level courses in their particular immersions so they can ultimately be able to hit the ground running with the internship itself.We also have Cornell Tech, MBA program located in New York City. If you are looking for a residential two-year program, there are opportunities for our program to collaborate with the Cornell Tech campus in New York City. There are a lot of other great features like flexibility in the program to work with other departments. Our program really gives you the opportunity to customize the program the way you best see fit. We understand it's a business school, but we also understand the direction that our students are going into spans so many different industries, whether it is hospitality, healthcare, tech, or anything else. We have some great programs here at Cornell that allow students to be able to tap into other areas.Is there anything new at Cornell Johnson that you'd like to highlight? [4:49]I will say that within my time here at Johnson, we've done a pretty good job of making sure that we stay relevant with what's happening and changes to our curriculum. One of the new exciting things that I would like to share is the opportunity to do a 1+1 program, which is a full year here in Ithaca, along with a full year at Corne Follow Us | |||
| 20 Sep 2022 | Approaching Your MBA Application | 00:19:07 | |
Expert tips on how to approach your MBA application [Show Summary]What’s the right way to approach an MBA application? Like a productivity challenge? A jigsaw puzzle? A to-do list? Linda Abraham weighs in and shares her expert tips to master this process. Linda Abraham, Founder and CEO of Accepted, shares her insights into how best to approach your MBA application [Show Notes]Welcome to the 487th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Today is going to be a solo show where I answer common questions while also providing information on how to approach your MBA application. If you're not applying for an MBA, there's still going to be a lot for you to learn from this episode, specifically from its strategic approach to the application process and its focus on using every element of the application to your advantage, not to mention thinking about where you want to end up after you get the degree.For you, MBAs, when you finish listening to this episode, you're invited to take a free six-question quiz at Accepted.com/MapMBA to see how well you've absorbed the lessons in this show. You'll also gain access to other relevant resources, both free and paid, that you can use as you attempt to incorporate the advice contained in this podcast into your strategy for a successful MBA application. I realize it is an enormous effort to apply successfully to an MBA program, especially if you're applying to top MBA programs with acceptance rates like 6%, 10%, and 20%. That means they reject the overwhelming majority of applicants who submit applications.Indeed, the elite programs reject many, if not most, admissible candidates. You have a challenge, even if you have good stats, and that challenge is even greater if you don't. Actually, it's really a few challenges:How can you make your application as impressive as possible?How are you going to tell your story and effectively present the non-statistical elements of your application, specifically the essays and, when necessary, a video?How can you make the process efficient?Those are the questions I'm going to address. Listen in. There's a lot to cover here.How to choose the right schools [2:47]The foundation of any effective application process is choosing the right schools to apply to. In order to determine what those schools are, you must have professional direction, defined for MBAs as having a preferred industry in which you want to work and a function you would like to perform. Note that this is not necessarily what you want to study. It's different. The basic question is, where do you want to end up? What's your goal for the MBA? Because that goal, or direction, becomes your north star in the application process and when you arrive on campus.You also need competitive academic qualifications. You're going to have to show through your application that you can handle both the communications and quantitative demands of a top MBA program. These qualifications are usually revealed via your transcript and your test score, but they can also be revealed via certifications and work experience, your application itself, your writing, and your interview. The third thing you're going to need is a sense of what's important to you in an MBA program. It might be location. This can also be a part of your professional direction. For example, you may want to work in London or you might want to work on Wall Street or you might want to work in Silicon Valley. Those are more professional, goal-oriented location questions. What I'm talking about is just personal preference. Do you prefer being in Follow Us | |||
| 28 Sep 2022 | How to Get Into Georgetown Law | 00:49:12 | |
Dreaming of a spot at Georgetown Law? Here's all you need to know [Show Summary]It’s hard to get a law education any closer to the heartbeat of policy and legal action than at Washington D.C.’s Georgetown Law School, labeled by the Washington Post as “the country’s most popular law school.” Andrew Cornblatt, the Dean of Admissions explains exactly what it takes to get accepted to this top-ranked and highly competitive program.Interview with Andrew Cornblatt, Dean of Admissions at Georgetown Law [Show Notes]Thanks for joining me for the 489th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you applying to law school this cycle? Are you planning ahead to apply to law school next year or perhaps later? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Law School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/law-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus it's all free. For today's interview, I'm delighted to have Andrew Cornblatt, Metta and Keith Krach Dean of Admissions and Associate Vice President of Graduate Admissions and Enrollment at Georgetown Law. A graduate of Harvard University and Boston College School of Law, Dean Cornblatt has been a member of the Georgetown community since 1980. He became Dean of Admissions at Georgetown Law in 1991 and served as Dean of Admissions at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, now the McCourt School of Public Policy from 2002 to 2016. It's hard to find someone with more experience in admissions.Can you give an overview of the more distinctive elements of the Georgetown Law School JD program? [2:36]I think the two things that are most unique about Georgetown are its size and its location. Georgetown Law is a large law school. I think it's among the largest in the United States, with 575 entering students. Even though it’s a big law school, we work very hard to make it a big law school with a small law school feel. These are small classes and the campus is beautiful. It's like a small college with lots of different buildings. We pay particular attention to individual students and their needs. We have big programs, but we have individual people who deserve individual attention and that's what we focus on. As far as location goes, we’re right at the heart of Washington D.C. in the center of law in the USA. This is where everything gets made, interpreted, enforced, and implemented. That all happens within a 10-block radius of where I'm sitting right now in my office. When you have that as a resource, and that's available to you, it enhances the electricity of what you're studying. It's hands-on stuff, but it allows Georgetown to be at the crossroads of theory and practice.When I went to law school all those years ago, and when people go to law school now, so much of it is about the theory of law and what happened way back then and cases from the 1800s. All of that's important. I'm not saying it isn't. But this generation of law students is hands-on. They watch it happen on video. They stay attuned to every development every 10th of a second through social media and all of the alerts they get. This is a place that's right at the center of all of that. That's part of our course structure too. The plus side of being at a big law school is you have that many more courses from which to choose. But if you want to know where the heart is beating, it's right outside my window. I think that's what excites students when they come here.What are some of the programs that are unique to Georgeto Follow Us | |||
| 04 Oct 2022 | The Only Online Ivy League Executive MBA Program | 00:32:58 | |
Find out what's new at Wharton's Global EMBA program [Show Summary]Wharton’s first-ever online Global MBA Program for Executives is here and Dean Peggy Bishop Lane is diving into everything this exciting program has to offer for students across the globe.Interview with Peggy Bishop Lane, Vice Dean of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives [Show Notes]Welcome to the 490th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Before I dive into today's interview, I want to invite you to download Ace the EMBA: Expert Advice for the Rising Executive. This free guide will complement today's podcast and give you suggestions on how to choose the right Executive MBA program, differentiate yourself from your competition in a positive way, and present yourself effectively as a future business leader who will bring credit to any program lucky enough to have you. Download Ace the EMBA at accepted.com/aceemba.It gives me great pleasure to have, for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Peggy Bishop Lane, the Vice Dean of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives. Dean Bishop Lane earned her PhD in Accounting from Northwestern University. She started her professorial career at NYU Stern and then moved to Wharton in 1997. She has been the Vice Dean for the MBA Program for Executives and an Adjunct Professor of Accounting since 2012.To start, can you give an overview of the Wharton Global Executive MBA program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:14]Absolutely. I think the main thing to know is that we intend for this global cohort to look very much like our existing Philadelphia and San Francisco cohorts. It's going to be the same curriculum with essentially the same faculty and the same admissions requirements. I hope that it's actually more similar to what people already know about our program than it is different. Of course, what's unique is that you don't have to be in-person every other weekend as you do in Philadelphia and San Francisco. What we've created is a remote opportunity to do our program. With that said, it's very important to us that it's not fully remote because we know how important an in-person experience can be to the student experience. The truly unique part for us is the residential factor here, and we've got six different residential weeks that we've incorporated into the program. The first two are purposely very close together because we want the students to create some relationships and then solidify them very shortly after. Right now, our Philadelphia and San Francisco cohorts start together in Philadelphia and we're going to start our Global cohort with them. So all three groups will start at the same time for about a week in Philadelphia, and our Global cohort will stay on a little bit longer to give them that opportunity to really get to know each other well. Then about three months later, we'll bring them back together in San Francisco. They'll get to see that campus and feel the connection to our group out in San Francisco for about a week as well. The third week to cap off their first year together will probably be in some location outside of the United State, but it’s still to be determined. Then we'll have three more residential weeks in the second year so that they can keep those bonds really alive. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '088cf431-34b3-4030-9c1e-432eee48f613', {}); Are the last three residential weeks intended to be in Philadelphia, San Francisco, or somewhere else? [4:29]The first one will be another one where they get to interact with our Philadelphia and San Francisco Follow Us | |||
| 12 Oct 2022 | Encore: All You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s Admissions | 00:33:00 | |
Welcome to the 491st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me.I am taking a week off for family time this week. As a result, I decided to air an encore of one of our most popular shows of 2022: All You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s Admissions.I chose this interview with Dr. Ellen Dugan, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at Georgetown University School of Medicine not only because of its popularity, but because Dean Dugan gave wonderful insight not only into Georgetown’s admissions process, but into what many schools seek through their admission process.If you like this episode and want to test out whether you are competitive at your target medical schools, take the free Medical School Admissions Quiz at accepted.com/medquiz. It’s a brief assessment that will give you valuable information into your competitiveness as well as suggestions for improving your qualifications and competitiveness. Take it today at accepted.com/medquiz. Thanks as always for listening to Admissions Straight Talk. I’ll talk to you again next week! In the meantime, here is All You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s Admissions with Dean Ellen Dugan.For the complete show notes, check out the original blog post.Related links:Georgetown University School of MedicineMed School Admissions Quiz Are you competitive?Georgetown University School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay TipsAccepted’s Med School Admissions Consulting ServicesRelated shows:How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. LouisAn Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions DeanU Penn Perelman School of Medicine: Interview with Admissions Dean, Dr. Neha VapiwalaUW School of Medicine: Interview with Admissions Dean, Dr. LeeAnna MuzquizAre You Rushing to Attend Rush Medical CollegeWhat Med School Applicants Must Know About Johns HopkinsDeep Dive Into Duke Medical: An Interview With Dr. Linton Yee, Associate Dean of Admissions hbspt.cta.load(58291, '6f21f36c-c988-4e9c-b947-0b9d4af1557f', {"region":"na1"}); Follow Us | |||
| 19 Oct 2022 | How an MBA Can Help Entrepreneurs | 00:33:14 | |
Do you need an MBA as an entrepreneur? [Show Summary]What does it take to become an entrepreneur who drives impact and change? Is an MBA necessary? Inge Kerkloh-Devif, Senior Executive Director and Senior Vice President of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, shares her thoughts.Interview with Inge Kerkloh-Devif, Sr. Exec. Dir. & Sr. Vice President of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center [Show Notes]Welcome to the 492nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Are you trying to figure out how you should approach the four to eight applications that you're planning to submit when applying to an MBA program? You can get tips and answers by taking Accepted's free, short quiz – just six questions – at accepted.com/mapmba. By taking the quiz, you'll get a sense of how well you're approaching this critical process and gain access to relevant resources, both free and paid, that will provide you with an effective and efficient strategy for your MBA application effort. Our guest today, Inge Kerkloh-Devif, earned her masters in Marketing and Communications at HEC Paris in 2006. Since then, she worked in business in Paris and then became Executive Vice President of HEC Paris's Executive Education Program, focusing on Global Business Development. In 2019, she moved into her current role as Senior Executive Director and Senior Vice President of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. In 2021, she added to her responsibilities the role of Co-Site Lead Executive at the Creative Destruction Lab in Paris in partnership with the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '9bb31be0-3cf6-45f0-be3d-3791cc1bd9bd', {}); Can you tell us a little bit about both HEC's Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center and the Creative Destruction Lab in Paris? [2:11]Of course. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center is the whole ecosystem we have built as a school around innovators and entrepreneurs. As we say, we think, we teach, and we act around innovation and entrepreneurship. That means we do research on innovation and entrepreneurship. We have more than 20 programs we are teaching at the school to teach innovation and entrepreneurship to our students. And we have all of our incubator acceleration programs, so students are learning by doing. Entrepreneurship is really part of the DNA of the school. The Creative Destruction Lab, or CDL, was founded 10 years ago in Toronto, Canada at the Rotman Management School. They're now partnering with 12 universities all over the world to offer this objective-based program from massively scalable, seed-stage science and technology-based companies. It's really an acceleration program for deep tech. The program has an intake from more than 600 companies per year. We have one lab in Paris, we have one lab on climate, and one lab on space.What's the difference between deep tech and tech? [4:15]Very good question. I think I can give 10 different answers to this. For us, we can see this really emerging more and more in engineering and scientific projects. Those are really long-term projects. We are working with scientists and engineers to get these projects to grow. For us, it's specifically based on scientific and engineering projects to give this deep tech long-term projects. When I say we are working with scientists and engineers, they're coming out of the laboratories. It's very research-based. If I have a business idea, or maybe I don't yet have a business idea, but I know that I want to be an entrepreneur at some point in my career, how can an MBA hel Follow Us | |||
| 25 Oct 2022 | What was it like to be an ER doctor at the beginning of COVID? | 00:52:01 | |
ER Physician, filmmaker, popular speaker and travel company founder. Here how it all comes together [Show Summary]Dr. Calvin Sun is an emergency room physician, known for his blog-turned-travel company. During the pandemic, his travel content quickly shifted to real-time COVID updates as he chronicled his experience as an emergency room doctor in Manhattan. He has gathered all of these experiences into his newly released book, The Monsoon Diaries: A Doctor’s Journey of Hope and Healing from the ER Frontlines to the Far Reaches of the World.Interview with Dr. Calvin Sun, Founder and CEO, The Monsoon Diaries [Show Notes]Welcome for the 493rd episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for joining me. Given the time of year, I'd like to highlight for today's listeners a wonderful resource if and when you're invited to a medical school interview, Accepted’s free download called The Ultimate Guide to Medical School Interview Success. In the guide, you learn how to prepare for interviews, including the difficult questions, how to make sure your body language matches your intent, and what is proper follow-up after your interview. Grab your free copy at accepted.com/ultimatemediv and enhance your chance of acceptance.It's really hard to summarize Dr. Calvin Sun's bio, but I'll try anyway. Calvin graduated from Columbia in 2008 and in 2014, he graduated from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and then began his residency in emergency medicine at Montefiore and Jacobi Medical Centers. He also was the director of Resident Wellness at Jacobi.In his non-existent spare time during medical school, he somehow managed to found and now runs The Monsoon Diaries, which he describes as a blog-turned-travel company. The Monsoon Diaries organizes flexible budget trips and has gone to over 128 countries in the past six years. He's also a filmmaker, popular speaker and activist in the Asian American community emergency room physician, and, at one time at least, was a clinical assistant professor of Emergency Medicine.Listeners, I invite you to listen to accepted.com/254 for the incredible story of how Calvin Sun became Dr. Sun, founded Monsoon Diaries, the travel company, and portrays his experience as an emergency room physician in Manhattan, the corona pandemic’s epicenter in 2020.To start, I'd like to ask you how you came to write your just-released book, The Monsoon Diaries: A Doctor’s Journey of Hope and Healing from the ER Frontlines to the Far Reaches of the World. What's the story behind the book? [3:12]The story is my life in a nutshell, in a show-don't-tell fashion. It can also be seen as a love letter of gratitude because it's being released at the tail end of what we hope to be the worst or the end of the pandemic. I was approached by a literary agent two years ago. It was a totally cold approach in January 2021, and they asked if I'd be interested in writing a book. I think I had mentioned to you in our prior podcast, episode 254, that I have this habit of writing, which is what caused my Monsoon Diaries blog to turn into a community. I was writing live and blogging live on my travels while I was a full-time medical student. People started following along and it turned itself into a community. During the pandemic, I did the same thing. We couldn't travel during the pandemic. It was not ethical, so I worked all the time, and I blogged about it in the same way I would on a trip because it was all new territory and new frontiers. That's the only thing I knew how to do to keep myself alive when I couldn't travel. It was the Follow Us | |||
| 01 Nov 2022 | Active Learn and Admissions at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine | 00:43:51 | |
All About UVM’s Larner School of Medicine [Show Summary]The University of Vermont’s Larner School of Medicine’s new Associate Dean for Admissions, Leila Amiri, shares the hallmarks of the program, including its active learning curriculum and mission centered around respect, kindness, and cultural humility.Interview with Dr. Leila Amiri, Associate Dean for Admissions at UVM Larner School of Medicine [Show Notes]Welcome to the 494th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's medical school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/medquiz and complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but also tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Dr. Leila Amiri, UVM Larner's new, as of June 2022, Associate Dean for Admissions, comes to Larner from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, where she was Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment. Previously, she was Director of Admissions and Financial Aid for the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She holds a Ph.D. from North Central University and an MA and BS degree from the University of South Florida. Amiri is a member of the Association of American Colleges Advancing Holistic Review and Alignment Working Group, National Chair of the AAMC BA/MD Affiliate Group and National Chair for the Committee on AAMC Professional Development Initiative. Dr. Amiri was also a guest last year in her previous role, and it's a pleasure to have her back on Admissions Straight Talk.Can you give us an overview of UVM Larner's College of Medicine's program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:12]I'll be happy to. At Larner College of Medicine, we have a big history of training medical students. We're actually celebrating our bicentennial, so the class that's meeting for 2023 will be the 200th class that we've seated. We've come a long way in terms of the educational model. We're most known for our active learning model. Students are really at the center of our learning model and its active, student-centered learning all based on educational pedagogy and adult learning principles. There’s a lot of community engagement with our students here and at our clinical sites which are in Vermont and in Connecticut.What does active learning mean in practical terms? [3:11]When you look at educational philosophy and pedagogy, adult learners need to really be invested in what they're learning. Not only do they need to be invested in what they're learning, but they also have to find meaning and value in it. They have to be at the center of constructing the information. There's very little lecturing that happens here for our students. There's time that they spend on their own before they come to class. Think of a flipped classroom model. They spend a lot of time on their own looking at basic information and then when they join us in the classroom setting, there’s a lot of group activity, engaging with their peers, and working through problems. It's not completely problem-based learning, but there's problem-based learning, case-based learning, and team-based learning. We have all of these different models where students are not sitting there just as recipients of information, but really they're constructing the information with each other as they're going through the different phases of their learning.They're getting cases, they're getting problems, and they're working in teams. When you thi Follow Us | |||
| 08 Nov 2022 | Stride Funding: Where Your Education is an Investment and not a Debt | 00:26:45 | |
Find out how you can benefit from Stride Funding [Show Summary]Tess Michaels shares what’s new at Stride Funding, the innovative educational financing company she founded, and reflects on the impact that her Harvard Business School MBA has had on her impressive success today.Interview with Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Stride Funding [Show Notes]Welcome to the 495th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. I don't usually plug Accepted services on this podcast, but Accepted is having a fantastic special, the last one of 2022, and I would be remiss if I didn't share this news with Admissions Straight Talk's listeners. You can save up to $1,000 on Accepted services between now and November 14th. You premeds looking to next year, now is your opportunity to lock in a package at this very special rate AND start your application early. For those of you with December and January deadlines interested in a few hours of invaluable editing and advising, you too can save. Go to accepted.com, choose the type of service that's best for you, and use coupon code SAVENOW. This special ends November 14th. I'd like to welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Stride Funding. Tess graduated from Penn with a Bachelor's in Applied Science and another Bachelor's from the Wharton School in Global Impact Investing and Operations Management. While at Penn, she founded SOCEANA, a platform to democratize giving and promote corporate volunteerism, which was acquired in 2018. After graduating and being accepted to Harvard's 2+2 program, she worked at Goldman Sachs as an analyst for two years, and then at Vista Equity Partners as a private equity associate. As soon as she arrived at Harvard Business School, she founded Stride Funding, which we're going to learn a lot more about in today’s show. Can you give us an overview of Stride Funding's approach to student financing and how it differs from traditional student loans? [2:20]Absolutely. As you mentioned, I was actually inspired by my own experience as a student when founding Stride. I was part of the 2+2 program at Harvard. I knew I was going to pursue my MBA, and candidly went through the back and forth of the question, “Is it worth it to go back to school?” That sticker price is just so hefty, and I realized a lot of my peers were in the same boat. I was even asking everyone, "If you could solve one thing, what would it be?" and everyone kept saying, "I want to go back to school, but the costs are prohibitive and I have no guarantee around the outcomes." I became really fascinated with two concepts. One, how do we actually structure products to align incentives and naturally tie into the outcomes that students receive?And secondly, how do we increase access? I found it so backward that despite going to a great school and great program, almost every lender asks for students to have co-signers. In fact, 92% of private loans require a co-signer which really just means being backed up by a wealthy parent or family member who has a clean credit score and can guarantee your loan. To me, that felt like such a backward system because the whole point of going to school is to do better than your family and to create future potential in your growth. I'm happy to walk through the ways that we've addressed this with Stride's products, but that was really where we started.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkoM2kAG-fMCan you describe Stride Funding's three products? [4:08]We have three products on the market and are continuing to grow our product set. They range on th Follow Us | |||
| 15 Nov 2022 | How to Get Accepted to UNC Kenan-Flagler Full-Time MBA Program | 00:29:30 | |
Discover all you need to know about UNC Kenan-Flagler's MBA program [Show Summary]UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School is a leading MBA program located in North Carolina, an emerging business hotspot. Danielle Richie, UNC’s MBA Admissions Director, describes the qualities that make up the dynamic student body and shares her tips on how to get in.Interview with Danielle Richie, Dir. of Full-Time MBA Admissions and Student Recruitment at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School [Show Notes]Welcome to the 496th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we get to our wonderful guest, you're invited to take the free six-question quiz at accepted.com/mapmba to see how prepared you are to actually apply. You'll also gain access to relevant other resources, both free and paid, that can help you develop an application strategy for acceptance. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk Danielle Richie, Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions and Student Recruitment at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Danielle earned her Bachelor's in Public Relations at Oswego and her Master's in Communications at Syracuse University. She has worked in higher ed admissions and administration at Utica College, Syracuse University, Bentley University, and of course, UNC Kenan-Flagler, where she moved to in 2018 as Senior Associate Director for MBA Admissions and Recruiting. In November 2021, almost exactly a year ago, she became Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions and Recruiting. Can you give an overview of UNC Kenan-Flagler's full-time MBA program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:27]UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We are a two-year MBA program at 62 credits. There are 15 core classes where candidates get the breadth of business. We have 12 concentrations that students can select from to gain more in-depth knowledge. These vary from business analytics to consulting, marketing, healthcare, real estate, and so on and so forth. You really get to create your own journey, if you will, with an MBA from Kenan-Flagler. We are STEM-designated, and it does not matter which concentration you pursue. You actually don't even have to, and about 20% of our students will just do a general MBA and they'll pick and choose from over 125 different electives to make up their program. We do require an internship between year one and year two. A lot of our students will do a "traditional internship" where they will apply and go on to work six to eight weeks in the summer with a company.What's new at Kenan-Flagler? [3:41]There are a lot of exciting things going on at Kenan-Flagler. We had our groundbreaking ceremony in September for a new building that will open up in 2024. We're very excited about that. We're not looking to expand the MBA program, but the building that we're in currently was opened in 1997. We do want to grow our undergrad business program by doubling it, so we are building that facility. Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan Chase came and was one of our guest speakers. We also just launched our Charlotte MBA Executive Program, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It's about two hours from Chapel Hill and is an executive format that working professionals can use to earn their MBA. That’s in-person and is targeted to applicants from North Carolina as well as South Carolina because Charlotte is close to the South Carolina border. As Charlotte continues to grow, especially in the financial space, we saw that it was a great opportunity to offer the Charlotte MBA, a Follow Us | |||
| 22 Nov 2022 | Encore: An Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions Dean | 00:50:03 | |
Welcome to the 497th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me.It’s Thanksgiving week! I want to take this opportunity to thank you again for joining me. Because of the holiday I decided to air one of the most popular shows of 2022: An Interview With the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions DeanI chose this interview with Dr. Jacob Ufberg not only because of its popularity, but because Dean Ufberg gave wonderful insight into Temple Katz’ medical school, its integrated approach to teaching medicine and its tight ties to the community that it serves. If you haven’t tuned in for this interview, please do so. And if you listened already, it might be worth a second listen.Also a quick announcement. If you have parents who are curious about the medical school application process or maybe a little anxious about it. Tell them about the Parents of Preprofessional Applicant Facebook group. They can join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/preprofessionalparents/.If you like this episode and want to test out whether you are competitive at your target medical schools, take the free Medical School Admissions Quiz at accepted.com/medquiz. It’s a brief assessment that will give you valuable information into your competitiveness as well as suggestions for improving your qualifications and competitiveness. Take it today at accepted.com/medquiz.Thanks as always for listening to Admissions Straight Talk.Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’ll talk to you again next week! In the meantime, here is An Interview with the Temple Katz School of Medicine Admissions Dean.For the complete show notes, check out the original blog post.Related links:Temple University – Lewis Katz School of MedicineMed School Essentials Video CourseTemple Katz Secondary Essay TipsAccepted’s Medical School Admissions ConsultingRelated shows:NYMC: How to Get InDeep Dive into Penn Perelman School of Medicine: An Interview with Dr. Neha Vapiwala, Dean for AdmissionsTulane School of Medicine: How to Get InAll You Want to Know About Georgetown Medical School’s AdmissionsTemple University’s Postbac Programs: A Plethora of Possibilities4 Steps for Showing Fit in Your Application hbspt.cta.load(58291, '6f21f36c-c988-4e9c-b947-0b9d4af1557f', {"region":"na1"}); Follow Us | |||
| 29 Nov 2022 | How to Get Accepted to MIT Sloan MBA | 00:29:36 | |
Discover all you need to know about MIT Sloan's MBA program [Show Summary]MIT Sloan is one of the magic M7 MBA programs, and its Assistant Dean, Dawna Levenson, shares everything applicants aiming for acceptance should know. Interview with Dawna Levenson, Assistant Dean at MIT Sloan School of Management [Show Notes]Welcome to the 498th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/mbaquiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but also tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Dawna Levenson, Assistant Dean at MIT Sloan School of Management. Dawna earned her bachelor's and master's in Management Science at MIT Sloan, became a partner at Accenture, and then returned to MIT Sloan in 2007 as Associate Director of Academic Programs. She moved into Admissions in 2012 and became Director of Admissions in 2013 and Assistant Dean in 2018. Can you give us an overview of the MIT Sloan Full-Time MBA program for those listeners who aren't that familiar with it? [2:07]Absolutely. I think I would begin with class size. Our two-year MBA has a class size of roughly 410. You may have some friends who just graduated in the past year or so, and their class size was slightly bigger. That’s a result of the pandemic when there was a fair amount of uncertainty, and we actually grew the class size in 2020. However, it was never intended for that to be permanent, and so we have slowly worked our way back down. Fundamentally, the class that just matriculated, and moving forward, will be approximately 410. We have a one-semester core and then three semesters to really shape the curriculum as you see fit based on your interests. As much as you as a student have flexibility in terms of your classes and shaping that, our faculty have a lot of flexibility, too, in terms of how they teach. Your classes will be a combination of traditional lectures and problem sets, as well as a lot of project-based classes.We have a subset of these project-based classes that are called our Action Learning labs, where you are either on a particular subject matter or focused on a certain geography and working as part of a team to solve a real problem for a real company and make recommendations to them at the end of the project. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '9bb31be0-3cf6-45f0-be3d-3791cc1bd9bd', {}); Are you seeing any trends in terms of hiring? Where do MIT Sloan MBA grads get jobs? [3:42]We just recently published our 2022-2023 employment report, so these numbers are right off of that. For students who graduated in 2022 seeking employment, 31.2% of them went into consulting, 22.6% went into finance, and 22.6% went into technology. An additional 6.8% went into pharma, healthcare, and biotech. It’s a good spread.What's a little misleading is some may have gone into consulting, but they’re focused on the tech industry. So, keep that in mind.Can you explain the optional core electives? [5:02]Our two-year MBA students spend their first semester taking core classes. You’re actually part of a cohort of somewhere between 65 and 70 students who you're taking all of your classes with. You're also assigned to be part of a core team of six or seven people where you're actually doing all of your work together. In addition to your core set of classes, you also have the opt Follow Us | |||
| 06 Dec 2022 | MD/PA/NP/DO/DDS/MPH: What Do They Require? | 00:37:15 | |
Discover the differences between and how to get accepted to common healthcare admissions tracks [Show Summary]Accepted consultant Dr. Valerie Wherley has an impressive and extensive background in pre-health, having advised thousands of students to acceptance at their dream schools and programs. In this highly informative podcast interview, she distinguishes the differences between common healthcare admissions tracks and shares how to craft a compelling application for each one.Interview with Dr. Valerie Wherley, Accepted admissions consultant and former post-bac program director & pre-health advisor [Show Notes]Welcome to the 499th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. We have lots of resources, articles, guides, and podcast episodes that can help you get accepted to the graduate healthcare programs of your choice. Go to accepted.com/healthcare to explore the library of free resources there.Today is all about healthcare, and our guest is Dr. Valerie Wherley, an Accepted consultant. Dr. Wherley earned her BS and MS at the University of Maine in Kinesiology and her Ph.D. in Higher Education/Higher Education Administration from the University of Connecticut. Over the last 20 years, she has served as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, Director of the Pre-Health Post-bac Certification program at Sacred Heart University, and the Director of Pre-health Advisement Sacred Heart University.In those roles, and before joining Accepted earlier this year, she advised thousands of students in the following pre-health tracks: pre-med, pre-PA, pre-vet, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-PT, pre-OT, pre-accelerated nursing, and pre-optometry as well as applicants to master's programs in Exercise Science, Biomedical Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Athletic Training, Public Health, and Applied Nutrition. Let's tap into that amazingly broad and notable experience.What should all applicants in healthcare fields have if they want to apply successfully? What are the common requirements? [2:27]Great question. As you said, I have worked with a variety of pre-health fields during the time I worked at Sacred Heart and at the Beaumont School of Medicine. The commonality that students need to have in their academics is a demonstration of mastery of those prerequisite courses. They need a very strong academic transcript and whatever those prerequisite courses are for their intended path. Typically, that's the sciences. A lot of those pre-health tracks have common courses such as biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and anatomy, with some nuances depending on the track. There's just no way around saying you have to demonstrate competency and mastery of those foundational concepts on your academic transcript. You have to be strong there.From an experience perspective, my suggestion is to demonstrate that you have exposure to your intended career path. Exposure comes from observing, shadowing, and interviewing the people who are doing the work you want to be doing in the future. It's not enough if you have a family member who has said to you, "You'll make a great dentist one day," that's lovely. However, you have to have been in the trenches seeing the work and still know that it is your calling. You can demonstrate that in your personal statement and in your interview when you are applying to graduate school.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXTzQJw5PqcIs shadowing enough? [4:31]Shadowing is the first place to start. When I worked with undergraduate stud Follow Us | |||
| 09 Dec 2022 | Bonus Episode: USN Rankings, LSAT, and Laid-off Workers: What Does it All Mean? | 00:15:46 | |
Find out the latest admissions news and what it all means [Show Summary]It was a very newsy November and in this episode, Linda Abraham is covering the most notable updates in the graduate admissions world: law school test waivers, top school withdrawals from US News rankings, accommodations for laid-off workers, and more!In this bonus episode, Linda Abraham, Accepted founder and CEO, talks about the latest admissions news and what impact this can have on applicants [Show Notes]Thanks for joining me for this bonus episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Last month was indeed a very newsy November. It was full of admissions news and I just decided I'd be remiss if I didn’t touch on it for Admission Straight Talk listeners. Hence this bonus episode.In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or feedback for me on this episode or any other episode, feel free to email me at ast@accepted.com.American Bar Association Ceases Requiring Admissions Tests From Law Schools [0:55]All right, the first news item that I'd like to touch on is the American Bar Association. It looks like it will cease requiring that law schools require admissions tests which would mostly be the LSAT and the GRE. (A couple of schools accept the GMAT) And they're going to do that as of 2025. If this change is finally approved, as is very likely, law schools can individually choose whether to require an admissions test or not. Based on the experience of business schools that have gone with a lot of test optionality, most law schools will either require it of all incoming applicants, or they will require the test, but offer applicants the opportunity to apply for a waiver. Or they might say, "Those who meet certain requirements can automatically get a waiver."How will this apply to you? If you have good grades and tend not to test well, optionality is fantastic news for you, because you won't have to take the test if you apply to schools where the test is optional after 2025. However, schools do want to know that you can do the work. If your academic record leaves something to be desired or doesn't convey your abilities adequately, it would probably still be wise to prepare for and take the test so that it will better show your abilities.It's too early to tell, but in the business school realm, I think it's true that a high test score can enhance somebody's chances of getting a scholarship. As I indicated, it's my gut feeling in the B-school world, and it may become true in the law school world as well.If a scholarship is important to you, even if you have the grades, and particularly if you test well, it may make sense for you to take the test, even if it is optional. Whatever it is, just keep in mind that schools want to admit people they believe can thrive in their programs. Make sure that somehow, you're providing them that confidence.Top Schools Withdrawing From US News Rankings [3:08]Newsy November item number two is that top-15 law schools are withdrawing, with two exceptions, from the US News rankings. It all started when Yale and Harvard withdrew from the US News rankings on November 16th. They were followed by Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Penn, University of Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown, UC Davis, and UC Irvine. Today I read about the University of Washington, and there may be more by the time we get this recording posted. The University of Chicago and Cornell Law announced that they currently intend to stay in the rankings.For the schools that decided to withdraw, what's their motivation? They say that the rankings simply don't jive with their Follow Us | |||
| 13 Dec 2022 | The Questions You SHOULD Be Asking - ANSWERED! | 01:10:24 | |
Invaluable insights into all aspects of the graduate admissions process [Show Summary]In celebration of Admissions Straight Talk’s 500th episode, Linda Abraham invites Accepted consultants to pose and answer the questions that students should be asking – and frequently don’t ask. This conversation is filled with invaluable insights that will benefit anybody preparing for graduate school. Accepted consultants share invaluable insights into the questions that students should be asking [Show Notes]Welcome to the 500th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. This is a very special episode. It's the 500th, and I am very proud of that. We've been working hard to present a particularly informative show. I've invited different Accepted consultants over the course of the past few weeks to respond to one question that each one believes applicants should ask and know the answer to. And they frequently don't ask and, therefore, never learn the answer. So this is a collection of clips with different consultants – all experienced experts in their area of admissions – addressing different issues. I think you'll find it invaluable as you apply. I've been finding it very interesting to hear what they're asking and also what they're answering.I'm going to start with a question right now. What is the paradox at the heart of graduate admissions? I'll tell you, you need to fit in and stand out. You can learn how to master that paradox by downloading Accepted’s free guide, Fitting In and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions.____________________________________________Let's start with our first guest, Cydney Foote, who is one of Accepted’s most experienced and, consequently, most beloved consultants. Before joining Accepted in 2001, Cydney was an administrator at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She has also written three ebooks on med school admissions, and she's guided hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants to acceptance, mostly in the healthcare field. The question for Cydney is: What's a useful tool that applicants can and should use no matter what stage of the application process they're in? [2:57][Cydney Foote] I think one of the most useful things that someone can do before they even start to write their application materials is to keep a journal. It sounds very simple. It sounds like something a little kid would do, but so many people will sit down to write their first question and they don't know what to write about. If you keep a journal for the months, or even the years, before you start writing [applications], you can flip back through it and see what you've done. Often, you'll see patterns arising from things that you enjoyed and things that you did well. It’s kind of the way that the universe is nudging you towards a certain area. A lot of that can just slip by you in your daily life as you're running from one event to the next. If you'll write it down just five minutes a day, then you'll have a whole wealth of material to go back on and look through later. Another really good reason to journal is that it helps you support your claims. This is one of the most severe flaws that I see in a lot of people's writing in their first drafts is they will make claims about things that they did like, “I am a great team player,” “I'm a great leader,” or “I am a great communicator,” but without the examples to support that, there's nothing that will help the person who's reading the application believe that you are that. It's not that they necessarily disbelieve you, but they don't have anything Follow Us | |||
| 20 Dec 2022 | How Can You Prepare for Your Post-MBA Career Before You’re Accepted | 00:37:55 | |
Learn what you can do to prepare for your future employment [Show Summary]Diana Economy, former Head of Admissions at Michigan Ross and Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at Vail Resorts, offers her unique perspective on how students can prepare for future employment even while applying to or completing an MBA program. Interview with Diana Economy, former Head of Admissions at Michigan Ross and Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at Vail Resorts [Show Notes]Welcome to the 501st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for listening. I hope you tuned into our very special 500th episode last week. If not, you can still catch it.You've seen the stats that most people have a great return on their MBA investment, but what about you? Are you going to see that kind of return? How much will it be? How much can you anticipate? We've created a tool that will help you assess whether the MBA is going to be a good investment for you. Just go to accepted.com/mbaroicalc, complete the brief questionnaire, and you'll not only get an assessment but also the opportunity to calculate different scenarios. And it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Diana Economy, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager - Programs and International for Vail Resorts, and formerly the Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions at Michigan Ross. After graduating with a BA in Organization Studies from the University of Michigan, Diana worked in talent management for companies like Kearney and Kirkland & Ellis. She returned to Ross and earned her MBA in 2010, and then again worked for Kirkland & Ellis and BCG before returning to Ross as Associate Director of Admissions. She was the Director of Admissions for the Michigan Ross Full-Time MBA program from 2017 until just this past July when Diana joined Vail Resort. Before we get into the interview, I have to ask how's the skiing? [2:35]Oh my gosh, Linda, I have never thought so much about snow. It's going well so far. It's always kind of fun to hear as the resorts are beginning to get the snow and opening. Especially in the work that we do with talent acquisition, a lot of folks are starting over the course of the next month. It's a really exciting time in the industry.What is the common thread between recruiting MBA students and recruiting talent for Vail Resorts? [3:16]It's really interesting, given the cyclical nature of the admissions cycle and, of course, the cyclical nature of the ski season. A lot of our resorts are open through the summer as well, but no question that we're hitting the Super Bowl timeframe of the operations. As I think about what I learned from my time in admissions, as well as working in talent acquisition and the kinds of things that we look for in our employees, I really find that people who have a good sense of who they are and how they can contribute, those qualities translate both to admissions committees and to our guests.If any of you have been to ski resorts or resorts in general and you think about the people that you interact with, whether it's somebody who's running the lift or doing these other things, they're very engaging, they're very natural in doing that. Of course, an MBA is doing a very different type of work and a different skill set is required to get into the MBA program. But there's something to be said about those who thrive in an MBA program and their ability to build those connections and have the ability to impact and influence those around them that I see as very fluid between both the MBA admissions and recruiting that I did and what we l Follow Us | |||
| 17 Jan 2023 | What Does 2022 Mean for Applicants in 2023 | 00:17:34 | |
Reflecting on trends that impacted graduate admissions in 2022, Linda Abraham shares her predictions for 2023 and offers an action plan for those planning to apply in the new year. [Show Summary]Thanks for joining me for today's solo show. I'm going to review a few trends from 2022 and also attempt to inspire you for the upcoming year. You can email me at ast@accepted.com when my predictions prove wrong in the course of the year.Predictions: More law schools will withdraw from U.S. News rankings [1:16]I predict that more law schools will withdraw from U.S. News rankings. Will the rankings influence end with the withdrawal of these schools? I actually don't think so. U.S. News will use publicly available data and still rank programs. Its rankings will continue to influence admissions, recruiting, and applicant decisions. But are they going to hold as much sway as they have in the past? I don't know. That's hard to say. I don't think the U.S. News is going to just stop ranking schools. I don't think applicants are going to stop looking at rankings, and I don't really think schools are going to stop being influenced by rankings. Perhaps a little less so in the past, but I think you're going to see changes on the margins in that segment. What about other segments of the higher education market?I don't think medical schools are going to stop ranking or participating in the U.S. News ranking. I also think that the rankings are a little bit less influential in the med school arena than they are in law schools or business schools. It'll be really interesting to see if business schools withdraw from the rankings. Certainly, the admissions directors there have no greater love of rankings than the law school admissions directors and deans.I think if you see the M7 schools withdraw, you might see a trend very similar to what you've seen in the law school market, where it's the elite programs that have largely withdrawn, and the lower-down ones are not withdrawing yet. There are some that have but not that many.We'll link to posts that Accepted has on the withdrawal of specific schools from the U.S. News rankings.Prediction: More experimentation with test options and waivers [3:05]What about test optionality? That has been a trend that's been growing and increasing over the last several years. It really took off with COVID. I don't think you're going to see much change in the law school space this year. I think you will see it if, as anticipated, the ABA approves making tests optional for its accredited programs. I think you're going to see more experimentation in the grad and MBA market with test optionality. And you may also see, throughout the graduate and undergraduate arenas, acceptance for a larger variety of tests.Many law schools are accepting the GRE in addition to the LSAT. In the business school world, you're seeing widespread acceptance of the GRE or the GMAT to the extent that the test is required. You're seeing more waivers. You're also seeing greater acceptance of the Executive Assessment, which was originally designed for Executive MBA programs. And at some schools, you're seeing them basically saying, whatever has an alphabet soup in it is fine.I think you're going to see more and more experimentation. You'll see more waiver options and there's been a lot of experimentation with that in the B school market. I'm not sure you're going to see wholesale test optionality at the elite programs. I think med schools will stick with the MCAT. It has some correlation to performance on the USMLE, which is obviously the test that doc Follow Us | |||
| 03 Oct 2023 | ENCORE: Cornell Johnson EMBA Program: 4 Options for the Largest EMBA Program in the U.S. [Episode 543] | 00:50:08 | |
Please enjoy this encore edition of one of Admission Straight Talk’s most popular episodes of 2023: “The Cornell Johnson EMBA Program: Four Options for the Largest EMBA Program in the United States.”This encore was chosen not only due to the episode’s popularity, but also because it’s a fascinating exploration of a well-established, large EMBA program with four distinct components. If you are even considering an Executive MBA, this episode is a must-listen. Alternatively, if you are debating whether to go down the MBA or EMBA path, Dean Mark Nelson and Dr. Manoj Thomas provide unique insight with indispensable advice obtained from their years of experience.To learn more about EMBA admissions, download Accepted’s free guide, Ace the EMBA. Did you know that Cornell Johnson has the largest Executive MBA program in the United States with four distinct flavors? I didn’t, but let’s learn together about Johnson’s EMBA program, its unique distributed classroom, and how to get in from its dean and director. [SHOW SUMMARY]Welcome to the 506th episode of Admission Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Before I dive into today's interview, I want to invite you to download Ace the EMBA, expert advice for the rising executive. This free guide will compliment today's podcast and give you suggestions on how to choose the right EMBA program for you, differentiate yourself from your competition in a positive way and present yourself effectively as a future business leader, who will bring credit to any program that accepts you. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Dean Mark Nelson, the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean and Professor of Accounting at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, and Dr. Manoj Thomas, Senior Director of EMBA and MSBA programs, and the Nakashimato Professor of Marketing, also at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Dr. Nelson and Dr. Thomas, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk.[Dean Mark Nelson]Thanks for having us.[Dr. Manoj Thomas]Thank you, Linda, delighted to be here.Dean Nelson, what makes a Cornell Executive MBA program different from other EMBA programs? [1:55][Dean Mark Nelson]That's a great question, Linda. I mean, first off is the fact that we have these four different flavors of a Cornell MBA. And that's very intentional, it's been developed over time. We started initially with our Metro EMBA program, which is based in New York City, and which is focused on a general management EMBA, providing that jurisdiction, that market.Second, then we have our Americas EMBA program, and that's a really unique program where we're reaching out to executives throughout the Americas using our own unique approach to distributed learning. And then third, we created an FMBA program, a collaboration with Tsinghua University, a finance-focused EMBA, and that's bilingual and offered in Beijing. And then fourth, we have our MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program, which is providing both an EMBA and also an MS in healthcare from two great institutions, the Johnson School and the Weill Cornell Medicine.And so I go through that because the unique combination here is that we've got a general interest EMBA in New York, we've got something focused in the healthcare sector, we've got something that's a unique and leading program in China, and then this Americas program serving the Americas. And I see that as a pretty special and unique roster of great EMBA programs.Now, when you think about what's the spine that relates all these together, there's a couple thi Follow Us | |||
| 31 Jan 2023 | How a Non-Traditional Applicant Gets Into UCLA Law | 00:20:33 | |
Everyone has challenges when applying to top law schools. But combine non-traditional work experience, a low stat or two, and a growing family, and this applicant faced significantly more than the usual hurdles. He overcame them all and got into his top choice program. Let’s find out how he did it, and how he’s doing now. [Show summary]Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining me for this the 507th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Are you ready to apply to your dream law school? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's law school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check and not only that reality check, but an assessment and tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. You can use the calculator at accepted.com/law-quiz, to obtain your complimentary assessment. Again, that's accepted.com/law-quiz Grew up here in LA. Went to school in New York, Yeshiva University. I met my wife and we got married in LA, but we lived in New York for a couple of years and then the weather was just too much. And you can't compete with the weather out here, so we moved back where our families are.to obtain your complimentary assessment.I'd like to welcome to Admissions Straight Talk, Yitzy Frankel, who is a 1L at UCLA law. Yitzy earned his bachelor's in psychology from Yeshiva University in 2013 and a master's in marketing from Sy Syms School of Business in 2018. Before joining Sy Syms, he worked as the marketing and social media manager for fencing in the schools, and that's fencing as in the sword stuff, not the stuff around your backyard. And while fencing in the schools, he managed fencing programs in 10 states. After earning his masters, he worked at a Jewish boy' high school in Los Angeles as Director of Admissions and Marketing, and he did that from 2017 to 2022, when he left to join UCLA Law. Yitzy, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk.Can you tell us a little bit about your background, where did you grow up, that kind of thing? [2:11]Grew up here in LA. Went to school in New York, Yeshiva University. I met my wife and we got married in LA, but we lived in New York for a couple of years and then the weather was just too much. And you can't compete with the weather out here, so we moved back where our families are.Before we get into the admissions and law school stuff, what do you like to do for fun? Just a little background. [2:33]I guess I have three main hobbies. Fencing, obviously.Okay. [2:41]I still fence competitively. Having a little bit of time with COVID and studying for the LSAT, but I still consider myself a fencer. I love biking and I'm a Van Gogh enthusiast.Wow. [2:54]My goal is to see every Van Gogh painting in the world.There was a big Van Gogh exhibit here last year, wasn't there, or two years ago? [2:57]There was one in Santa Barbara recently. And actually, for my break, I'm flying to Detroit for a couple of days with my oldest daughter. We're going to go see a Van Gogh exhibit there.Now let's get to law school stuff. How did you get interested in becoming a lawyer? It's quite a change from psychology and marketing or being an admissions director at a high school. [3:12]It's something that I was interested in when I was 16 in high school and then kind of came back. I'm 34 now. So definitely kind of a second career. But basically, I had a teacher, Mr. Wasserman in high school that gave me a John Grisham book, and I fell in love with it. And at the time, I think there were 16 or 17, and I read all of them in two months.Oh, wow. [3:42]Yeah, I know. Since then, I Follow Us | |||
| 07 Feb 2023 | LSAT and Law School News | 00:27:58 | |
Test optionality seems to be coming to law school admissions. Top schools have withdrawn mostly from the US News rankings. What does it all mean? We ask a law school admissions expert for his input. [Show Summary]Welcome to the 509th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we meet our guests, I'd like to highlight the featured resource for today's show. It is the Accepted Law School Admissions Quiz.Interview with Steve Schwartz from LSAT Unplugged podcast and YouTube channel [Show Notes]Are you ready to apply to your dream law school? Are you competitive at your target programs? Acceptance Law School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/law-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but actionable tips on how to improve your qualifications, plus it's all free. Again, use the calculator at accept.com/law-quiz to obtain your complimentary assessment.Our guest today is Steve Schwartz of the LSAT Blog and the LSAT Unplugged podcast and YouTube channel, which we are going to link to from the show notes at accepted.com/209.Steve graduated from Columbia University in 2008. In high school and college, he tutored students in a variety of subjects and also helped prep test takers for standardized tests, including the LSAT. However, he really began to focus on the LSAT when he was applying for law school. He founded the LSAT blog in 2008 and never looked back. Today, 15 years later, he has helped thousands master the LSAT, get into law school, and sometimes secure scholarships worth tens of thousands of dollars.So Steve, thanks for coming back to Admissions Straight Talk. You've been on the show several times before, and I’m glad you could come back. [1:58]Thanks so much for having me on, Linda. It's great to be back as well.Okay, great. Now let's start first with the changes on the LSAT specifically. The ABA in November moved closer, and it keeps moving closer, to making entrance exams optional for law school accreditation, which means that law schools will be able to choose whether to require the LSAT, GMAT, GRE or any other exam from applicants basically before making an admissions decision. Can you go into that change a little bit more, and what can we expect? [2:07]Yeah, sure, of course, Linda. So there has been a big test optional movement in higher education, of course, for quite a while now, and the legal profession tends to move a bit more slowly than others, a bit more bureaucratic, perhaps, and so it took this long for it to finally reach the LSAT and law schools and the American Bar Association.There have been a few attempts, or at least a few proposals in the past to remove the so-called LSAT requirement, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's ever made it this far, and at this point, we're giving it the full rubber stamp to remove that requirement. At this point, it's largely a formality, so we can expect they will remove that requirement in February 2023.It will go into effect when? [3:10]That's a great question. A lot of folks are confused about this. There was a last minute amendment added to the proposed revisions stating that their changes, if they go through, will not go into effect until the fall of 2025. So this is all a rather drawn out process now.Okay, and when it goes into effect, assuming it happens, which is likely, although you said it's going to go into effect until2025, but when it goes into effect, how will law school admissions be affected, and do you think they're perhaps even being affected now or in 2024 an Follow Us | |||
| 14 Feb 2023 | CMU Tepper’s MS in Business Analytics: All You Need to Know | 00:39:16 | |
Drawing on her knowledge as the Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, Kari Calvario shares everything students should know about CMU Temper’s MS in Business Analytics program. [Show Summary]Welcome to the 510th episode of Admission Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me.Before we dive into today's episode, I want to mention a resource at Accepted that can help you prepare your statement of purpose to masters programs in business analytics and data science. Download Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose to learn how to avoid the five most common mistakes we see in graduate school statements of purpose, as well as how to write a statement of purpose that makes your story memorable and highlights your qualifications for your target programs.Our guest today is Kari Calvario. She is the Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. She earned her bachelor's in English literature and a masters in education. She joined Tepper in 2014 and has been there ever since. [Show Notes]Thank you for having me. I'm excited to speak with you.We're going to focus on the masters in business analytics programs at CMU Tepper. What are they? Can you provide an overview of both the full-time in-person option and the part-time online option? [2:02]Yeah, happy to. Thanks for that first question. The Tepper School, as any school, is always looking to diversify. We're looking to grow. Our MBA program has been our flagship program, but I think one of the really great things about Tepper is we're always looking to innovate. We're always looking for what's relevant. With lots of conversations with employers, with alums, we found that there was this need for professionals who have not only advanced analytical skills, but then the ability to combine that with a business sense and be able to communicate those business needs, to be able to convince about business needs. The Master of Science in Business Analytics program was initially born as our part-time online version, which still exists to this day, but it was born out of that need of wanting to provide students with analytical skills and be able to combine it with the leadership and business skills that they would need. As that program continued to grow over the last several years, it evolved and kind of branched also into our full-time MS Business Analytics program. Now we carry both of them. They are both really successful programs. It started with this need several years ago after the feedback that we got from employers, industry professionals, alums, and has now grown into two really successful programs.Is AI becoming a more important part in the curriculum? I find it fascinating that it's a program that really seems to combine left brain, right brain, that you're highly statistical and quantitative, but it also is very much about communications. With all the publicity about ChatGPT, AI, et cetera, is it becoming a more important part of the program? [3:39]I don't know that it's a more important part, but certainly it's an integral part of it. We wouldn't be CMU if it wasn't something that was a part of our program. I think the lens that our curriculum is taught from even something like a communication class is all taught from this analytical lens, which of course, lends itself to AI, to machine learning. When we talk about this intelligent future, this background that I have, we talk about data informed, but human decisions. Data can't make decisions, but it's such an important part of it.It's data informe Follow Us | |||
| 21 Feb 2023 | Get Accepted to the Medical College of Wisconsin | 00:40:39 | |
Exciting changes to the curriculum at the Medical College of Wisconsin. [Show Summary]Dr. Jane Machi, Assistant Dean, Admissions and Recruitment at the Medical College of Wisconsin, explores the MCW Fusion Curriculum – and completing med school in three years.Interview with Dr. Jane Machi, Associate Dean for Admissions at the Medical College of Wisconsin. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 511th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to Accepted.com/medquiz. Complete the quiz and you'll not only get an assessment of your chances, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. And it's all free. Again, use a calculator at Accepted.com/medquiz to obtain your free assessment and those tips that I just mentioned.Our guest today is Dr. Jane Machi, Associate Dean of Admissions and Recruitment at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Machi earned her MD at the Medical College of Wisconsin and is a proud alum, as you'll hear shortly. In her clinical practice she specializes in pediatric emergency medicine, in addition to serving at MCW as an associate professor and associate dean of admissions. Dr. Machi, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:43]Thank you.Can you give an overview of MCW's MD program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:53]Sure. The Medical College of Wisconsin has a campus in Milwaukee, and we have two regional campuses, one in Central Wisconsin in a city called Wausau, and then we have a campus in Green Bay. We're a private institution. Our Milwaukee campus has 50% of our students from Wisconsin and 50% are out of state. And then our regional campuses are really geared towards replenishing the physician shortage that everyone is facing. We're not unique in that regard, and the regional campuses were opened with the hopes that the students that we train there when they complete the residencies will return to Wisconsin.Predominantly, those campuses are geared towards Wisconsin residents, so close to 80% on each campus come from Wisconsin. I think one of the most unique things about our curriculum in particular, which our students rave about all the time, is our scholarly pathways. On the Milwaukee campus, they have opportunities to dive deep into a topic that they're really passionate about. Some examples are we have an urban and community health pathway. We have a global health pathway. We have a patient safety and quality improvement pathway. We have research pathways. The students can choose.They go through a series of orientations to each of the pathways, and they choose and they do a scholarly project typically in their first two years. And then on the regional campuses, they also participate in a scholarly pathway, but there is one, and that is the physician in the community pathway. I should say that our Milwaukee campus is a four-year campus, so our students spend four years with us. The regional campuses are three-year campuses, so you get out of medical school one year earlier. The target specialties for those campuses are really primary care and psychiatry oriented, and those are the types of students that we try and recruit.We know very well that students may change their mind once they get into medical school. They may find another field that they're more intrigued by and want to spend more time in. There is an option for them to do a fourth year if it's necessary, depending on the special Follow Us | |||
| 28 Feb 2023 | Casper, A Situational Judgment Test: All You Need to Know | 00:54:40 | |
Shortcuts to Key Insights from this EpisodeHow to prepare and practice for the Casper.A detailed explanation on how the subjective test is scored.The most recent development in making Casper more equitable across all demographics.What happens if raters identify a red flag.Will Casper spread to other fields such as social work and law?Common misconceptions about Casper.Relevant Links and Related ShowsDo you have to take the CASPer for at least some of the programs you are applying to? Are you concerned about? This interview with the co-founder of Acuity Insights, the folks who provide the Casper, is for you! [Show Summary]Dr. Dore discusses everything applicants need to know about taking the Casper and what it truly tests.Interview with Dr. Kelly Dore, Co-Founder & VP of Science and Innovation at Acuity Insights and Adjunct Professor at McMaster University at McMaster University. [Show Notes]Do you need to take the Casper for at least some of the programs you are applying to, are you concerned about it? Well, this interview with the co-founder of Acuity Insights, the folks that bring us the Casper, is for you.Welcome to the 513th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your Dream Medical Schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/med-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Again, take the quiz at accepted.com/med-quiz to obtain your free assessment.Our guest today is Dr. Kelly Dore, co-founder and vice President of Science and Innovation at Acuity Insights, and also adjunct professor at McMaster University. Dr. Dore, welcome to Admission Straight Talk.Can you give an overview of the Casper exam and its structure? What can applicants expect? [1:31]Sure. So the exam most people who are familiar with from Acuity is Casper. Casper is an online situational judgment test. A situational judgment test, it's different than a behavioral interview question you might have. If people are familiar with doing interviews where you say, tell me about a time you managed multiple responsibilities at once. Instead, an SJT presents a scenario in the case of Casper. The majority of those are video scenarios too; you're watching a 60 to 90-second video. You have a role in it that we tell you at the beginning, and you watch that video and then you get a series of questions after it. So you watch the scenario, see what's going on, and there's then three follow up questions talking about what you would do and why you would take that course of action.The total exam takes around 90 minutes, and during that time, there's opportunity for breaks. There's the chance to just reflect, so you'll watch the video. There's a chance to have a reflection period before you go into typing your response or recording your response, depending on the moment In Casper. Now Casper broadly is intended to measure social intelligence and professionalism in applicants. It was developed so that we could get a more holistic picture of applicants supporting that holistic selection process and the Casper exam. We'll go into more detail about it, but it is something that we hope supports the application process.When can applicants take it? I know it's online. Can they take it at six in the morning, wherever they are? Can they take it at 10 o'clock at night? [3:01]Absolutely. So because it is online, and I always say we were onli Follow Us | |||
| 07 Mar 2023 | How to Get Into Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Program | 00:42:42 | |
Shortcuts to Key Insights from this EpisodeAn overview of both Georgetown's MBA programs and the MS in Environmental and Sustainability Management or the ESM.What distinguishes Georgetown's program in Environment and Sustainability Management from other similar programs.Where graduates of Georgetown's MBA program and the MS-ESM program find jobs.The types of academic backgrounds Georgetown is looking for in applicants to the MBA and MS-ESM programs.What an interviewee can expect if they’re lucky enough to get an invitation.A key piece of advice from Shelly Heinrich to all applicants.A common - but avoidable mistake - seen on resumes.Shelly Heinrich, Associate Dean for MBA and MS-ESM admissions, and Director of Marketing at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business, discusses everything applicants need to know about getting into Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program. [Show Summary]Are you interested in sustainability? Also considering an MBA? Well Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business offers and outstanding MBA program AND an MS in Environmental and Sustainability Management. And today’s interview is with the associate dean of admissions for both programs. Pull up a chair. Interview with Shelly Heinrich, Associate Dean for MBA and MS-ESM admissions, and Director of Marketing at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. [Show Notes]Are you interested in sustainability? Are you also considering an MBA? Well, Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business offers an outstanding MBA program and an MS in Environmental and Sustainable Management. And today's interview is with the Associate Dean of Admissions for both programs. Pull up a chair.Welcome to the 512th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to give you a gift, Accepted's free download, Fitting In & Standing Out. This guide will help you navigate the paradox at the heart of admissions. Realize that you need to show in your application simultaneously that you fit in at your target schools, and that you stand out in the applicant pool. It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk Shelly Heinrich, Associate Dean for MBA and MS-ESM admissions, and Director of Marketing at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. Shelly has been leading Georgetown's admissions efforts since 2014 and became Associate Dean in 2017. She earned her BBA from Texas Christian University, her Master's in Educational Administration from UT Austin, and her Executive MBA from Georgetown. Shelly, welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:52]It's wonderful to be back. Thanks, Linda, for having me.Can you provide an overview of both Georgetown's MBA programs and the MS in Environment and Sustainability Management or the ESM? [2:01]Yeah. Absolutely. I'll start it with the MBA. The good news is our three MBAs are the same in that we have a full-time, a flex in-person for working professionals, and a flex online for working professionals.They are all 54 credits. You get the same degree, and you have access to the same experience at Georgetown McDonough, so it makes it very easy to talk about. Full-time is 20 months, like a normal full-time two-year program would be, and then the two flex programs are anywhere between two-and-a-half years to five years. But you're taking the same classes. You have the same core for the first half of the program, and then you get to choose from electives in the second half of the program.At Georgetown, we don't require you to choose a concentration. We really feel that Follow Us | |||
| 14 Mar 2023 | How to Get into Physician Assistant Programs | 00:43:42 | |
Dr. Valerie Wherley, Accepted consultant and past Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, and former Director of Pre-Health Advisement and Director of the Pre-Health Postbac Certificate Program at Sacred Heart University, speaks in depth about the path to becoming a physician assistant. [Show Summary]Healthcare is a field that is growing, but what areas are really booming? According to US News citing Bureau of Labor Statics’ projections, between 2021 and 2031 “an estimated 38,400 jobs should open up” for physician assistants. Sound good? Let’s learn more about becoming a physician assistant.Interview with Dr. Valerie Wherley, Accepted consultant. Dr. Wherley earned her BS and MS at the University of Maine in kinesiology and her PhD in higher education administration from the University of Connecticut. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 515th episode of AdmissionsStraight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. This interview is all about getting accepted to PA school and giving you tips on how you can do it. In addition to listening to today's interview, I invite you to download Accepted's free guide, 10 Tips For Acceptance to a Physician Assistant Program. Grab your free guide for advice on selecting the best PA programs for you, writing your personal statement, interviewing effectively and simply presenting the best application you possibly can.Over the last 20 years, she has served as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, director of pre-health post-bacc certificate program at Sacred Heart University, and the director of the pre-health advisement also at Sacred Heart University. In those roles and before joining Accepted earlier this year, she advised thousands of students in the following pre-health tracks: pre-med, pre-PA, pre-vet, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-PT, pre-OT, pre-accelerated nursing and pre-optometry, as well as applicants to master's programs in exercise science, biomedical sciences, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, athletic training, public health, and applied nutrition. That's her breadth. Right now, we're going to go in depth and we're going to focus on physician assistant admissions. Dr. Wherley, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:32]Thank you for having me.What do physician assistants do? [2:36]Sure. Great question. So a physician assistant or PA, which I may use during this podcast is a licensed medical professional, first and foremost, who holds an advanced degree beyond their undergrad, which is typically a master's degree, and they're licensed to provide direct patient care. So if you've ever received care from a PA, it's important to know they are fully qualified and fully trained, and their scope of practice really encompasses quite a bit. And so their scope of practice starts with the ability to take medical histories, to conduct physical exams, to diagnose and treat illnesses.They can also develop treatment plans and order and interpret tests. They can prescribe medication, which sometimes people may or may not know. They can counsel on preventative care, they can perform certain procedures that's very specific. They can assist in surgeries. They are not the primary care provider in surgeries, but they can assist. They can make rounds in hospitals and nursing homes, and they can also do clinical research. So while that is a long list of their scope of practice, I'm sure it's not exhaustive, but PAs are certainly a team player and a welcome provider on a healthcare team.What Follow Us | |||
| 21 Mar 2023 | It’s All About Authenticity and Community in Graduate Admissions [Episode 518] | 00:35:25 | |
In this episode Sadie Polen, M.Ed Harvard and Accepted consultant, explores authenticity and community in graduate admissions and explains how to get a Harvard graduate degree. [Show Summary]Have you dreamed of attending Harvard for grad school? Would you like to pursue a career in education with the premier brand in education on your resume? Let’s find out how Sadie Polen did it, and how she can help you get into an elite graduate program.An interview with Sadie Polen, Accepted admissions consultant and graduate of University of California - Davis and Harvard Graduate School of Education. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 518th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to mention a free resource at Accepted that can benefit you if you are applying to graduate school. The challenge at the heart of admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools and stand out in the applicant pool. Accepted's free download, https://reports.accepted.com/guide/how-to-fit-in-stand-out-during-the-admissions-process, will show you how to do both. Master this paradox, and you are well on your way to acceptance. I want to welcome today our guest, Sadie Polen. Sadie was raised in Alaska, attended UC Davis where she majored in community and regional development, and then earned her master's in education from Harvard in 2017, concentrating on education and community. She also worked at Harvard’s Center for European Students where she was an interim grants and internship coordinator and assistant to the directors. At Harvard's Kennedy School of Government from 2013 to 2022, she became, first, the program coordinator and then the program director. In that capacity, she directed the largest domestic internship program at Harvard, oversaw grant-making for 200-plus internships worldwide. She also frequently and informally assisted her interns when it came time for them to apply to grad school. As an applicant, Harvard administrator, and advisor, she has learned what elite graduate programs in the social sciences especially in government, education and law are looking for. It gives me great pleasure to have on Admissions Straight Talk for the first time Sadie Polen.Sadie, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:23]Thank you. It's great to be here.Can you tell us a little bit about where you grew up and your attraction to community work, which seems to be a theme in your educational and professional path to date? [2:26]Yes, it definitely is. I grew up in a small town in Alaska. Most towns in Alaska are small by standards outside of Alaska. It's this little town called Homer. It's beautiful. Alaska in general is beautiful. If anyone gets a chance to visit, I highly recommend it.If you like winter, winter is great. It's definitely winter. If snow is not your thing, wait till later, for sure. Small town, it was 250 miles away from a Costco, an hour-and-a-half away from a Fred Meyer, which is the northwest equivalent of a Target. I remember when the first Gap opened up in the whole state, small, small and rural in a way that not a lot of places are, but also a super wonderful place to grow up. The community was very tight-knit, or maybe chunky-knit. Even when it wasn't tightly-knit, there were always connections because, you never knew, my music teacher was also the father of students that I went to school with. There were just all of these connections in a small town. I think also, because I grew up in such a small town, when I went to college, one of the things that I was most excited about Follow Us | |||
| 28 Mar 2023 | What’s New at Cornell’s Masters in Engineering Management | 00:43:52 | |
In this episode Dr. Patrick Reed and Prof. Robert Newman discuss the Engineering Management Program at Cornell and what the Adcom wants to see in applicants. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you an engineer who wants to stay in a technical environment but move into managerial roles? Cornell’s Engineering Management Masters may be the answer to your prayers. And it comes in two flavors: On campus and online. We’re going to learn about both from the directors of the program so tune in.An interview with both the Director of Cornell’s Masters in Engineering Management Program and the Executive Director/Senior Lecturer of Engineering Management at Cornell University. [SHOW NOTES]Welcome to the 516th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to mention a free resource at Accepted that can benefit you if you are applying to graduate engineering programs. Applying to graduate engineering programs, what you need to know is a free downloadable guide that can guide you through a process you've never been through before. It's not the same as applying to college. Download your complimentary copy.Our guests today are Dr. Patrick Reed and Professor Robert Neuman. Dr. Reed is the director of Cornell's Masters in Engineering Management program or the MEM. He's joined today by Professor Robert Newman, Executive Director and Senior Lecturer in Engineering Management at Cornell University.Hello, Dr. Reed and Professor Newman. Welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:37]Dr. Patrick Reed:Good afternoon.I'm delighted to speak with you both. Let's start with how I normally like to start a podcast. Dr. Reed, what is the Engineering Management program at Cornell University? Can you provide an overview of, first of all, the on-campus program? [1:43]Dr. Patrick Reed:Yeah, so the first thing is, just to clarify, what type of degree it is. It's our master's of engineering, so it's a professional degree. Within this, it's in the College of Engineering, and Engineering Management itself is a program where we are bringing folks that typically have engineering or STEM training, and then they want to continue in a technology-driven environment while simultaneously training them into the skill sets that links them into business and putting them into a trajectory where their future career is more focused in transitioning the technologies to market and thinking about management roles. It's that interface where it's a nice balance where you get individuals that can be involved all the way down to the technical specifications and design stage of technology, and translating it into its ultimate societal use and marketing, and the more management-driven, and I would say entrepreneurial driven opportunities.Now, in terms of the on-campus program, can you just go over what people will be studying? ]3:07]Dr. Patrick Reed:Sure. What folks will be doing when they come to the program – it's a typical version of the on-campus – is a two-semester program. When they come, they will be taking a mixture of our core courses and then some of our electives. They'll be taking courses in project management and data analytics, economics and finance, decision making, and leadership seminars. We'll also want them to get a broader training, so they'll be taking electives in organizational behavioral. It's one of those things where it's not just enough to have the technology or the idea or the design. You have to put that within the institution and market context that you want. Then one of the defining traits of our program is that it's op Follow Us | |||
| 04 Apr 2023 | All You Need to Know About University of California Irvine Master of Public Health Program | 00:46:55 | |
Tune in to hear all that University of California Irvine program in public health has to offer and learn about the future UCI School of Population and Public Health. [Show Summary]The Master in Public Health (MPH) degree experienced enormous growth since the COVID lockdown. One of the leading and largest programs in public health is offered by UC Irvine, and we are talking to the director of that program today, Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala.Interview with Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala, Director of the UCI Program in Public Health and Founding Dean of the future UCI School of Population and Public Health. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 517th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. The challenge at the heart of graduate admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools and are a standout in the applicant pool. Accepted's free download, Fitting In and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions, will show you how to do both. Master this paradox, and you are well on your way to acceptance.Our guest today is Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala, director of the UCI Program in Public Health and founding Dean of the future UCI School of Population and Public Health. Dean Boden-Albala, prior to moving to UC Irvine in 2019, served as social epidemiologist at Columbia University and then as professor and senior Associate Dean at NYU. She earned her MPH and her doctorate in Public Health from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Boden-Albala, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:45]Thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here.Can you give us, just for starters, an overview of UCI's MPH program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:52]Sure. So first of all, our MPH degree program was established, oh, almost over a decade ago. 2010. It was accredited, which is critically important, by the Council on Education for Public Health, CEPH, in 2012. And it was really the first professional degree of the UCI public health program, and a big component, again, of this envisioned UCI School of Population and Public Health. And I should say that even before we had an MPH program, we have a very large, one of the largest and most diverse undergraduate programs in public health. And so even though the program started about 12 years ago, we have a wonderful public health faculty that has really been doing public health for a longer time than that. And really the aim of the program is to create public health practitioners who really work independently and collaboratively to develop and implement strategies that are really going to reduce the burden of disease and disability globally, locally and globally.And I would say a real distinction is our focus on community and partnering with community. And I think we have some of the best, if not the best, community-based or community-engaged researchers. And Orange County, which is one of the largest counties in the country, is a very diverse county, and a lot of our faculty are working with all different populations in the county. And so that really is, I think, a huge distinctive feature. And when you're working in partnership with communities, automatically your focus is going to be on health equity. And we were doing health equity long before a lot of people were even talking or thinking about health equity. And so that is the foundation – community engaged work, health equity – of what we do. And then you add on top of that incredible work in public health science. And our MPH students and our MPH used to be a small boutique program, 15, 20 Follow Us | |||
| 11 Apr 2023 | How to Get into Dartmouth Tuck | 00:30:41 | |
In this episode the Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth discusses what the Adcom expects from applicants. [SHOW SUMMARY]Would you like to attend an MBA program with a tight-knit community and a strong foundation in general management, but with enough breadth that you can still do a deep dive into a specific area of interest? Dartmouth Tuck may be the perfect program for you, and today’s guest is its Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid.An interview with Lawrence Mur’ray, the leader of Tuck’s admissions and financial aid teams. [SHOW NOTES]Welcome to the 514th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you ready to apply to your Dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA Admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Lawrence Mur'ray, Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth University's Tuck School of Business. Lawrence has been in higher ed since he graduated high school. He earned his BA and MPA at the University of Arizona and began his career in admissions there. He then became Assistant Director of MBA Admissions at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, followed by a stint at UNC Kenan-Flagler where he rose to become the Director of the Undergraduate Business Program. He then served as Senior Assistant Dean of Graduate Business Programs at Fordham's Gabelli School of Business for over six years and joined Dartmouth Tuck as Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid just this past August. 7;'/Lawrence, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:00]Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm excited to be here.And I'm delighted to speak with you. Now let's start with a basic question, which is typically how I open these interviews. Can you provide an overview of Dartmouth Tuck's MBA program? [2:06]Yeah. Great. Thank you. Again, I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. The Tuck School of Business is at Dartmouth College here in Hanover, New Hampshire. We are an extremely rigorous, two-year, Ivy League MBA, nestled here in the Upper Valley, which provides an opportunity to reflect and focus while you're here. It's an opportunity for students to really connect with one another. Again, it's a rigorous academic program. I think sometimes people think that coming to a small school means there's limited opportunities, but there are boundless opportunities here with a culture of collaboration and community. You can do almost anything you want to do in terms of your career aspirations. We have a culture of co-investment, so we see the students as partners along all dimensions of their journey, whether it's the admissions journey, whether it's the student services journey, or the career journey, and so that co-investment serves as the cornerstone of the Tuck ethos.And in terms of the opportunities, some of the opportunities that struck me in preparing for the call, one of them was the Global Insight Expeditions. Could you touch on that? [3:20]Yeah. Our Global Insight Expeditions are a great opportunity for the students to focus on a particular area of the country with a particular faculty member. They're typically two to three weeks, and it's an opportunity for them to learn about a particular element of a faculty member's research, which is anchored in a particular area. It's also Follow Us | |||
| 18 Apr 2023 | Encore: What Does 2022 Mean for Applicants in 2023 | 00:18:10 | |
Thanks for joining me for the 520th episode of Admissions Straight Talk.I am taking a week off for family time. As a result, I decided to air an encore of our most popular podcast so far in 2023. To my surprise it was the solo show I did in January on preparing to apply this year.While I was mildly surprised that the solo show was the most popular. On second thought I understood why: People are gearing up to apply in the 2023-24 cycle so the topic is timely. One of the points I make in this podcast is the sooner you start, the better your application will be. And that’s true regardless of the degree you are applying for.I assume that many of you also took a spring break be it for a day or two or a whole week or more. I hope you spend it with loved ones, as I am doing so during my week off. I hope you had a wonderful time during your break. Thanks for listening to Admissions Straight Talk and specifically What Does 2022 Mean for Applicants in 2023.For the complete show notes, check out the original blog post.Related Resources:Accepted l Get Admitted to Your Dream SchoolAccepted’s Med School Calculator QuizAccepted’s MBA Calculator QuizThe Law School Admissions CalculatorFitting In and Standing outRelevant Podcasts:It’s All About Authenticity and Community in Graduate Admissions Casper, A Situational Judgment Test: All You Need to Know The Questions You SHOULD Be Asking – ANSWERED!Approaching Your MBA ApplicationHow to Get Accepted to Graduate Engineering ProgramsWhat Does a UVA Law School Application Reader Look For?How To Get Into Dental SchoolEncore: How to Get Into an MD/PhD ProgramSubscribe: Follow Us | |||
| 02 May 2023 | Crush the Test by Crushing Your Test Anxiety | 00:37:56 | |
In this episode Dr. Ben Bernstein, author of Crush Your Test Anxiety, explains the role of mind, body, and spirit in performance enhancement. [SHOW SUMMARY]While aptitude tests are increasingly optional in graduate admissions, tests are a constant in graduate school and frequently in one’s career. How can you manage your stress and anxiety when facing a test, be it the MCAT, LSAT, MCAT, GRE, licensing exams, continuing education exams, or subject exams while in school? How can you perform at your best during a test? Dr. Bernstein will tell you how.An interview with author, coach, psychologist, and educator, Dr. Ben Bernstein, on how to crush text anxiety to raise test scores. [SHOW NOTES]Welcome to the 521st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we meet our guest, I'd like to highlight the featured resource for today's episode, Fitting In & Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions. Realize that the challenge at the heart of admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools and are a standout in the applicant pool. Accepted's free download, Fitting In & Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions, will show you how to do both. Master this paradox and you are well on your way to acceptance.Our guest today is Dr. Ben Bernstein, author of Crush Your Test Anxiety, and presenter of the masterclass by the same name, Dr. Bernstein or Dr. B as he prefers to be known, has been a performance coach for a wide variety of top performers, including Academy Award, Tony Award, and Pulitzer Prize winners, as well as CEOs, athletes, physicians, opera singers, and actors. Dr. Bernstein is the author of Crush Your Test Anxiety and three other books. He also posts regularly on Psychology Today. Dr. Bernstein graduated from Bowdoin College and earned his doctorate in applied psychology from the University of Toronto. In addition, he holds a master's degree in music composition from Mills College. Parallel to his career in psychology and education, Dr. Bernstein has extensive involvement in the performing arts. Dr. Bernstein, thanks for being a guest on Admissions Straight Talk. [2:21]It is totally my pleasure, Linda. Thank you for inviting me.My pleasure. Let's start with something really basic. What is a performance psychologist? [2:29]Well, a performance psychologist is a term that I gave myself because I didn't know that one existed and the reason I gave it to myself was I was trained as a therapist, but when I started in private practice, I found that I didn't really take to that form of work, meaning that I'm a very active guy and I was really wanting to coach people more than do therapy with them, and so that meant I just started looking at where people wanted to perform better in their lives. Early on, it was parents or teachers, but then it became athletes and actors and dentists and doctors, and so that's what I do is that I'm really looking for what a person's potential is and what may be getting in the way of that. So we're looking at their performance, and hence, I'm a performance psychologist.How did you get into it? Was it just a matter of the fact that you didn't care for more traditional forms of therapy or- [3:36]No, thank you though. It's a good question. So I started out, as a young child, I was brought up in New York City, and I was a very prodigious piano player. I love playing piano, and I played very well. However, that got, sidetracked is not quite the right word, but I got pushed into recitals and competitions and national auditions and all the kinds of thing Follow Us | |||
| 25 Apr 2023 | Get Into INSEAD, the Business School for the World | 00:35:52 | |
In this episode the Associate Global Director of Admissions & Financial Aid at INSEAD discusses the school’s unique language requirement, the role of the GRE/GMAT in admissions, and what to include in the optional essay. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you a citizen of the world? Is it your goal to be a leader in international business? Then you should consider the Business School for the World: INSEAD. An interview with INSEAD’s Teresa Peiro, Associate Director of Global Admissions, Degree Programmes. [SHOW NOTES]Welcome to the 520th episode of Admission Straight Talk, Accepted podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Sometimes I am asked, "Is the MBA worth it?" And my answer is, "It depends on your individual circumstances." But I've got good news. We've developed a tool that will help you evaluate whether an MBA is worth it for you and your individual circumstances and by how much. Check how much you're likely to benefit - or not - from the MBA. And using it won't set you back even one cent. It's free.It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk. Teresa Piero, Associate Director of Global Admissions and Financial Aid at INSEAD, the Business School for the World. Teresa worked in marketing for several years before joining INSEAD in 2011. She focused more on MBA programs initially, but in 2021 became the Associate Director of Global Admissions and oversees the entire admissions process for all INSEAD degree programs on all campuses including the EMBA, which is going to be our focus today. Teresa, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:52]Thank you very much, Linda, for having me here today.My pleasure. Now can you give us just a start, an overview of INSEAD's MBA program for those listeners who aren't that familiar with it? [1:57]Yes, of course. Linda, our MBA program is a 10-month program that brings together around 100 nationalities per cohort. You can either start in January or in the August intake. It's a very intense program. It's shorter, but our participants make the most out of it and we commonly hear all of our alumni saying that it was the best year of their lives.How do most students take advantage of that geographic diversity? If it was 10 months in Fontainebleau the whole time, that would already be intense. But if you have all these other options, how do they do it? [2:40]Indeed. So, our applicants have to make a decision of which will be their home campus. So what are the core courses? They will have to stay in their home campus. After that when the electives start, they can either change campuses, so if someone starts in Singapore, they can go to Fontainebleau and vice versa. And then we offer different partnerships, as you mentioned, with different schools in the US and China. So what happens is that they can go to that school while they're, say, in that school, they are full students from the welcoming school and they spend their period there and then they come back to INSEAD-So, where are the three campuses again? I know it's Fontainebleau, Singapore, and the third one- [3:31] There are three campuses. Fontainebleau, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi. And we opened pre COVID San Francisco hub.So it's not considered a full campus yet, is it? [3:43]No, it's a hub.Where are the partnerships? [3:49]The partnerships are with Kellogg and Wharton in the US and with SIPS in China.When you talk about your home campus, how much time are you required to spend there? What do most students do? Or is there a most? [3:56]So there's not statistically something consistent. They have to stay for the core courses. So fo Follow Us | |||
| 09 May 2023 | Get Accepted to the Michigan State’s MD Program | 00:59:43 | |
In this episode, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Admissions at Michigan State’s College of Human Medicine discusses ChatGPT in the admissions process, gives advice for reapplicants, and explains how med school applicants should choose where to apply. [SHOW SUMMARY]Michigan State’s College of Human Medicine provides an innovative, patient-centered curriculum with multiple specialties and multiple opportunities for clinical exposure. Sound appealing? Read on because today I am speaking with the Assistant Dean of Admissions at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine.An interview with Dr. Joel Maurer, the Assistant Dean for Admissions at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine and an Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 522nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you ready to apply to your dream Medical Schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted’s Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. You'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Our guest today is Dr. Joel Maurer, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, and an associate professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at MSUCHM, or College of Human Medicine. Dr. Maurer, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:34]Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.I'm delighted to speak with you today. Can you give an overview of MSU's MD program focusing on its more distinctive elements and specifically the shared discovery curriculum? [1:38]There's a lot going on there and I'll do my best to sort of give you a quick overview. College of Human Medicine is an allopathic medical school, so it grants the MD degree. It was founded in the mid '60s as a response from the people of the state of Michigan to create a brand new medical school that would initially have its primary focus on primary care physician development. The needs of the state at that time were very much in the line of primary care, frontline care. As the college grew and matured, the needs of the state became more encompassing. And so it is a medical school, that although primary care remains a critical component of what they hope to make contributions to, it's a school that appreciates the need of physicians across the wide spectrum of healthcare. The other thing of note, historically: it was the very first four-year MD granting medical school that used the community-based model as its foundation.And so Michigan State has always had a long history of looking at pedagogical approaches and teaching, and how to teach people to teach others. And at that time, they had an opportunity to create a medical school that looked at how everyone else was doing it and trying to figure out, "Is there a way that we can do it differently and maybe better?" One of the key tenets is that it always wanted its students to learn medicine out on the front line where it was happening. And so in order to do that, they decided that maybe it was best in those formative clinical years, years three and four, to put its students more out on the frontline all across the state of Michigan in order to see medicine happening as symptoms were coming forth and not a preexisting diagnosis. And so it's been a medical school that felt that it was always important to have strategic community partners spread throughout the state, such that the first two years of medical school could be conducted Follow Us | |||
| 23 May 2023 | How Service To School Helps Veterans Get Accepted to Grad School | 00:48:52 | |
In this episode, the CEO of Service to School and the Chief Programs Officer at Service to School explore the resources available to active duty service members and veterans through the nonprofit and give practical examples of translating military experience into public sector terms. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you a veteran considering grad school? Are you thinking about entering the military and wondering what you should do after it? Would you just like to hear some great advice about applying to grad school, even if you're not in the military? Please join me for this informative interview with the CEO and the Chief Programs Officer of Service to School, a nonprofit that provides free college and grad school application counseling to military veterans and service members.An interview with Alec Emmert, CEO of Service to School and Sydney Matthes, Chief Programs Officer. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 524th episode of Admission Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/mba-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your qualifications, plus it's all free. In honor of Memorial Day, which the United States will observe this Monday, May 29th, I decided to invite two guests from Service to School, an organization that helps US military veterans gain acceptance to college and graduate programs. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Alec Emmert, CEO of Service to School, and Sydney Matthes, Chief Program Officer at, again, Service to School.A little background about our guests. You could say that Alec really likes school. He holds a BS from the US Naval Academy, an MA in International Relations and Middle Eastern studies from the American Military University, an MS in finance from Georgetown University, and an MBA from Wharton. After serving in the military for almost eight years, Alec joined Booz Allen Hamilton, earned his MBA at Wharton, and then joined McKinsey as a consultant. He became the full-time CEO of Service to School in March of this year. Congratulations on your new position.Sydney also likes education. She has worked in higher ed since 2011 on different college campuses, and is an independent admissions consultant. She earned her bachelor's at West Virginia University and her master's in Higher Education and in Education Administration from George Washington University. Her master's focused on veteran support programs and campus resources. Alec and Sydney, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:40]Sydney Matthes:Thanks. Excited to be here.Glad to have you both. Okay, the first question is a basic one, and let's start with Alec for this one. What is Service to School? [2:45]Alec Emmert:In a nutshell, Service to School is an organization that provides free college application and admissions support to any veteran who wants it. We're talking about everything from community college to PhD programs. So if you are a veteran and you want any form of higher education, you can reach out to Service to School, and we've got a group of about 500 plus volunteer ambassadors who'll be willing to help you out and get you into the program you'd like to go to. We also offer a number of weekly programs, a newsletter, things like that, that veterans can use, to better inform their college decision.I'd like each of you also to give us a little background on your personal journeys t Follow Us | |||
| 30 May 2023 | How to Get Accepted to NYU Stern | 00:30:46 | |
In this episode, the Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern explains Stern’s Change Studio and Frontier Labs, explores what it means to be a Sternie, and gives advice to reapplicants. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you interested in an MBA that has the goal of preparing you to lead in an ever-changing world? Are you considering one- or two-year options? Does being in New York City with all that it offers, appeal to you? Then today's episode is for you, the new Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern is our guest.An interview with Lindsay Loyd, the new Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 525th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to actually improve your profile and qualifications and it's all free.It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Lindsey Lloyd, Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. Lindsey leads the recruiting and admissions efforts for Stern's full-time MBA programs, including the two-year, full-time MBA, the focused one-year MBAs, which are the Andre KooTechnology and Entrepreneurship MBA and the Fashion and Luxury MBA. Lindsay has a BA in economics from Washington State University and an MBA from Chicago Booth. Before joining NYU Stern, she had a 13-year career at American Express, where she ultimately became the Vice President of Strategic Engagement Global Commercial Services. She joined NYU Stern in January, 2023. Lindsey, congratulations on your new role and welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:05]Thanks, Linda. Great to be here.Can you provide an overview of NYU Stern's full-time, two-year MBA program? [2:17]So NYU's two year program, full-time, it's the classic program that you think of when you hear “MBA.” It is a graduate management education that delivers on both breadth and depth. Year one, you're going to jump in with launch orientation and then focus on the core requirements, both the required and some picks from our menu. Then have a summer internship, followed by your second year, when you really jump into electives and your specializations. There are three things that I'd highlight that make Stern special. Firstly being access, and really this is, we are located in the heart of New York City and we fully take advantage of that. We are so connected across businesses and industries, from FinTech to fashion, from media to marketing, you name it, we've got Stern alumni there and the beauty is, they're just a subway right away. So we really are in the heart of the city and take advantage of it.The next thing that I'd highlight is Stern's Solutions. So this is our experiential learning opportunities for students, where they're really jumping in and participating in live business challenges in the moment. This is something that Stern launched in the early two thousands, so this is two decades worth of experience and expansion and development. And lastly, I think Stern MBAs really have the opportunity to customize their experience. So I mentioned specializations earlier, you can pick three from over 20. There are more than 200 electives to choose from, and there are opportunities to study abroad, whether that's for a semester or for one to two weeks, on a Doing Business In (DBI) international intensive.The second year is entirely elective, isn't Follow Us | |||
| 06 Jun 2023 | How to Apply Successfully to Med School from Postbac Programs | 00:31:15 | |
In this episode, the founder and former Director of San Francisco State University Postbac Programs and Accepted consultant since 2015 explains why the fastest way to medical school is slowly and carefully, and explores the advantages and disadvantages of applying to med school from a postbac program. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you in a postbac program or specialized masters program? Are you wondering what are the nuances of applying to medical school from a postbac program? You’re in luck, because that’s the topic of today’s episode - along with a healthy dose of excellent med school admissions advice for any med school applicant.An interview with Dr. Barry S. Rothman, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Biology, founder of SFSU Postbac Programs, and Accepted consultant for 8 years. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 526th episode of Admission Straight Talk. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's med school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus it's all free.Our guest today, Dr. Barry Rothman, is the former health professions advisor and director of San Francisco State University's pre-health profession certificate program which serves pre-med, pre-dental, pre-nursing, and other pre-healthcare students who are preparing themselves to apply to graduate programs in healthcare. This episode focuses on medical school applications, but since 2015, Dr. Rothman has helped Accepted's clients in all aspects of the application process to medical school and specifically those both applying to postbac programs and applying from postbac programs. Dr. Rothman, welcome to Admission Straight Talk. [1:54]Great, Linda, good to be here and good to have been part of the Accepted family for now eight years.Glad to have you as part of the Accepted family. How did you get involved in postbac programs and helping applicants from postbac programs apply successfully to medical school? [2:04]Wow, what a story. At San Francisco State, I've had three careers. Started out very research oriented, leading a postdoctoral fellowship at UC San Francisco, and then transitioning to SF State as a new faculty member and conducting lab research in a lab at SF State. Which I was quite successful at, but it didn't really make me super happy, and I decided to stop doing research and start teaching. I had quite a lot of experience teaching already, and so that made me happier. And then around 20 years into my time at SF State, my dean approached me and said, "How'd you like to be the health professions advisor?" And I thought, sure, it'll be an easy thing, no big deal.And so I naively said yes, and it took over my life. I just loved doing it. I loved working with the students. I actually had been teaching a molecular medicine class, so I was interested in medicine anyhow, and I just took it from there. The students were wonderful to deal with. We created a program that required a lot of political maneuvering through the academic senate, and after a whole year of processing we had a postbac program, a newly formed from zero postbac program.What are the different kinds of postbac programs, and whom are they for? [3:50]Sure. Well, actually there's a bunch of different kinds. First of all, you can do a do-it-yourself postbac program, or you can enter a structured postbac program. So in do-it-yourself, you figure out the classes you take. You could take them at one or more universities as long as i Follow Us | |||
| 13 Jul 2023 | What SCOTUS Decision on Affirmative Action Means for Applicants | 00:14:07 | |
Most higher education institutions promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as core values attached to their institutional mission, because doing so is crucial for ensuring a welcoming and inclusive campus environment for all students, faculty, and staff. Best practice recommends that DEI senior officers answer directly to a university or college’s president, thereby ensuring that DEI concerns have representation and an enduring voice in leadership matters. Schools’ DEI officers design and implement strategies to promote diversity and inclusion, address issues of bias and discrimination, and develop policies and practices that promote equity and fairness on campus. Some schools pair DEI initiatives with Title IX initiatives (Title IX assures gender equity on college campuses) and antidiscrimination human resources procedures related to disability, age, pay, gender, and hiring practices. DEI initiatives promote social justice as a value that is actionable; decisions are made and actions taken to remodel institutional infrastructure so that it aligns with improving all students’ well-being, safety, access to opportunity, and rights to an education for an increasingly diverse student population. DEI also promotes cultural diversity via campus activities such as multicultural events, celebrations, and programs built with diversity and inclusion at their core.However, as of June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a suit brought against Harvard and the University of North Carolina in which an organization named Students for Fair Admissions alleged that both universities discriminated against Asian Americans, a minority group that is largely represented in higher education. The Supreme Court decided that higher education must not consider race in the admissions process. Let us look for a moment at the history of this workplace and educational equity issue. In the early 1960s, the civil rights movement advocated for equal rights and opportunities for marginalized groups, particularly African Americans. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which introduced the concept of affirmative action in the workforce. This order required government contractors to ensure that individuals were employed without regard to their race, color, religion, or national origin. It aimed to promote equal opportunity and to address discrimination in the workplace.This executive order laid the foundation for future affirmative action policies, taking steps to eliminate discriminatory practices and promote equal employment opportunities. Since 1961, higher education policies and practices have aimed to increase access and opportunities for underrepresented groups in admissions. Colleges and universities began to examine demographic deterrents to education and opportunity, turning them into favorable factors in the admissions process to promote diversity and address historical inequality. By considering an applicant’s background, universities can acknowledge and address the systemic barriers and disadvantages certain racial and ethnic groups face, ultimately striving for a more equitable education system.In the 2016 Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the affirmative action policy of the university was challenged. The court ultimately ruled in favor of the university, affirming the constitutionality of its admissions process. The case highlighted the positive impact of affirmative action on promoting diversity and educational benefits. The University of Texas argued that considering race to create Follow Us | |||
| 13 Jun 2023 | Encore: Casper, A Situational Judgment Test: All You Need to Know | 00:55:34 | |
Thanks for joining me for the 527th episode of Admissions Straight Talk.Are you applying to a program that requires a situational judgment test (SJT)? Currently, many top med schools require applicants to submit scores from the Casper, an online, open-response SJT offered by Acuity Insights. This week, we are airing an encore of a popular and timely episode: Casper, A Situational Judgment Test: All You Need to Know.At Accepted we have fielded many questions from med school applicants.How is something as subjective as judgment graded?Do med schools receive the raw score?What is the difference between Casper and DUET, another offering from Acuity Insights?Does Casper complement or replace existing aptitude tests?In this episode, Dr. Kelly Dore, Co-Founder & VP of Science and Innovation at Acuity Insights and Adjunct Professor at McMaster University provides answers to all these questions and more. A video recording of the interview with Dr. Dore is also available on Accepted’s YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk wherever you get your favorite podcasts because we have an exciting summer line up of interesting guests coming up this summer. For the complete show notes, check out the original blog post.Relevant Links:Casper TestDuetThe Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics (CASPer)Situational Judgement Test (SJT): Everything You Need to KnowMed School Acceptance CalculatorRelated Shows:Get Accepted to the Michigan State’s MD Program - Episode 522Rejection and Reapplication: How to Respond - Episode 523Get Accepted to the Medical College of Wisconsin - Episode 511MD/PA/NP/DO/DDS/MPH: What Do They Require? - Episode 499Active Learning and Admissions at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine - Episode 494What was it like to be an ER doctor at the beginning of COVID? - Episode 493An Inside Look at The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine - Episode 482Deep Dive into Penn Perelman School of Medicine: An Interview with Dr. Neha Vapiwala, Dean for Admissions - Episode 455Subscribe: Podcast Feed Follow Us | |||
| 20 Jun 2023 | How to Get an MBA at Columbia Business School | 00:41:00 | |
In this episode, the Senior Associate Dean for Enrollment Management at Columbia Business School explains why there isn’t one right answer to the application essay - but there is a true answer. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you interested in an MBA that has the goal of preparing you for a career in innovation and entrepreneurship? With a record of excellence and a powerful alumni network? Columbia Business School is known for its cluster system of classes that fosters innovation amongst students. Sounds interesting? Listen to this episode where CBS’ Senior Associate Dean for Enrollment Management provides insight on how to get accepted to its elite MBA programs. An interview with Clare Norton, Columbia Business School’s Senior Associate Dean for Enrollment Management. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 528th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment of your chances, but tips on how to improve them. Plus it's all free. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on a Admissions Straight Talk, Clare Norton, Senior Associate Dean for Enrollment Management at Columbia Business School. After earning her bachelor's at Notre Dame in Indiana, Clare became a New Yorker through and through. She started her career as a trader with Citigroup and then moved into admissions first at Hunter College and then at CUNY and Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. Along the way, she also earned her master's in higher education administration from Baruch College. She joined Columbia Business School in January as Senior Associate Dean for Enrollment Management.Congratulations on your new position and welcome, Clare, to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:48]Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.Can you provide an overview of Columbia's MBA program for listeners who may not be that familiar with it? [1:59]I think to me, the key point about the Columbia MBA program is actually the flexibility, is that we do really think of it as something that can be crafted and changed to meet the needs of individual students. I think that that's part of what makes it so exciting is the opportunity to understand about yourself, what your gaps are and what your strengths are, and to really craft an experience that is personalized to get you where you'd like to go.We, or Columbia, have several different kinds of entry points to that MBA. So we have a full-time MBA entry in August. We have a full-time MBA entry in January, and then we also have a number of Executive MBA programs. EMBA programs on both a Friday-Saturday, a Saturday, and a global program that's a dual degree with London School of Business. So a lot of opportunities to come in and do the MBA.This year we have also created a brand new program called MBAxMS, which is a dual degree program with our School of Engineering. So our first cohort will start with us this August.What's new at Columbia Business School in terms of the program changes to the program, innovations to the program, you mentioned, the MBAxMS; anything else you'd like to highlight? [3:23]I'd like to share a little more, about XMS than what I said, which is that it's really a program that equips students with both the management skills and the science and technology core that should enable them to move seamlessly from classroom to product development to large scale innovation, and ultimately help creat Follow Us | |||
| 27 Jun 2023 | How to Get Accepted to Fordham Law | 00:49:45 | |
In this episode, the Assistant Dean of Enrollment at Fordham Law School shares his tips on how to present a winning application. [SHOW SUMMARY]Located in the heart of Manhattan, Fordham Law provides excellent ties to business, as well as options for public law. Does that sound intriguing? Tune into this episode where Fordham Law School’s Assistant Dean of Enrollment describes how to capitalize on this opportunity.An interview with Stephen Brown, Fordham Law School’s Assistant Dean of Enrollment. [Show Notes]Thanks for joining me for the 529th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you applying to law school this cycle? Are you planning ahead to apply to law school next year or perhaps later? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Law School Admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com/law-quiz, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free.I'm delighted to have on Admissions Straight Talk, Stephen Brown, Assistant Dean of Enrollment at Fordham Law. Prior to Fordham Law, Dean Brown worked at NYU Law in financial aid and administration, ending his time as director of student finance, strategic planning, and institutional research. 22 years ago, he returned to Fordham to work in law school financial aid and admissions. He has a special interest in introducing admissions, financial aid, and finance topics to students and new professionals, and in mentoring.Much of his student work has revolved around financial literacy education. Dean Brown is a frequent conference and Bar Association presenter on topics from law school admissions, financing law school, federal aid policy, financial literacy, and planning. He has served on various committees of student financial aid administrators, and the LSAC, and he's also received numerous awards, including the prestigious CLEO EDGE Award for Diversity.Dean Brown reports that his first career in mental health counseling prepared him well for the ever-changing, often stressful, world of law school administration. He earned his bachelor's in psychology and philosophy and his M.S.Ed in counseling and student services from Fordham, followed by his EdM in counseling from Teachers College at Columbia University.Can you give us an overview of the more distinctive elements of the Fordham Law J.D. program? [2:32]Fordham is in New York City. We tend to think of it as the capital of the world. That gives our students lots of opportunities. We're a large school. Some people think that’s a bad thing, but it allows us to have a large faculty. We have 84 full-time faculty. We have more than 100 adjuncts who are leaders in the bench and bar, mostly in New York. So we can have lots of specialties and programs and give our students choices, both for concentrating and focusing their education, and also exploring other areas of the law that they may not have been thinking of.Is Fordham’s House System physical houses? [5:20]We have lots of programs. We have top-rated programs and a variety of ratings and rankings. We have amazing alumni, and we have a lot of them. They are very strong in the New York market and that's an advantage for our students.The other real advantage we have is the House System. Most of our students are first-generation lawyers or even are first-generation college grads. And the House System allows our students to have another hour a week where they’re meeting outside of class. It's introducing you to faculty who teach first-year students but not in your sec Follow Us | |||
| 05 Jul 2023 | Get Accepted to Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine | 00:46:10 | |
In this episode, Professor of Medicine and Medical Education and Associate Dean of Admissions at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University explains the draw of the close-knit community at Dartmouth, why the school doesn’t send secondaries to applicants with an MCAT below 503, and how to ace Geisel’s secondary. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you dreaming of becoming a doctor at an Ivy league medical school, one of the best in the country? Do you want to learn how to ace the admissions process at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine? Tune in to this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, where I interview Dr. Roshini Pinto-Powell, the Associate Dean for Admissions at Geisel, and get her insider tips on what makes a successful applicant.An interview with Dr. Roshini Pinto-Powell, Associate Dean of Admissions at Geisel and Professor of Medicine. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 530th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to a dream medical school? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted’s Med School Admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your qualifications and your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Our guest today is Dr. Roshini Pinto-Powell. Dr. Pinto-Powell grew up and earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry in India. She earned her MD at the Ross School of Medicine. She did two fellowships in infectious disease and returned with her husband to Dartmouth where she actually focused on general internal medicine. She also found that she loved teaching, and today is a professor of medicine and a professor of medical education as well as co-director of On Doctoring at Dartmouth Geisel, Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, . Aand most importantly for our conversation today, aAssociate dDean of aAdmissions at Geisel. Dr. Pinto-Powell, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:08]Thank you.Can you give us an overview of the MD program at Geisel, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:17]I think one of the things I'd start off by saying is that Geisel is a small school, relatively. We have 92 students, 90 MD students, two MD/ PhD students, and this is the largest we've ever been. We were a much smaller school, 65 students, until fairly recently, about a decade and a half to two decades ago, and then have grown to 92. I mentioned that because I think that's one of its distinctive elements. It's small enough that in some ways, I would say, we are the “Cheers” of schools where everybody knows your name and everybody's glad you came. And if you ask any of our students or staff or administrators, what is their favorite thing, they will say the sense of community, the sense of feeling like people know you. Our students don't graduate without personally knowing more than 10-15 faculty, have been to their homes, watched their dogs or animals and things like that. I think that makes it just a wonderful place to learn to be a doctor.Sounds like a very close-knit community. [3:35]I believe so.On the website, it mentioned several times that the medical school has a real determination to graduate what they called “the complete physician.” What does that mean, “the complete physician,” and does it tie into the community that you were just talking about? [3:41]It does. It absolutely does. I'm really glad you asked the question because that is our tagline. My silly joke usually is, well, I don't know any medical school in this country or any other th Follow Us | |||
| 11 Jul 2023 | All You Need to Know About the New, Shorter GRE | 00:33:21 | |
In this episode, Rohit Sharma, Sr. Vice President of Global Higher Education and Workskills, explains how ETS made the GRE almost two hours shorter (without cutting any sections) and why that’s a good thing for test takers - and institutions. [SHOW SUMMARY]Are you wondering what the new shorter GRE is about? What does it mean for you as applicants and test takers? This episode is for you! We’ll be discussing the new shorter GRE format and how it affects test-takers with ETS’ Sr. Vice President of Global Higher Education and Workskills.An interview with Rohit Sharma,Sr. Vice President of Global Higher Education and Workskills at ETS. [Show Notes]Welcome to the 531st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Today's show is all about test prep, and I'd like to start with a quick one-question quiz. What is the paradox at the heart of graduate school admissions? Well, I'll tell you. You have to show that you belong at your target programs and simultaneously that you stand out in the applicant pool. Doing so is paradoxical and challenging. Accepted's free download, Fitting in and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions, will show you how to do both. Master this paradox, and you are well on your way to acceptance. Our guest today is Rohit Sharma, Senior Vice President of Global Higher Education and Workskills at the Educational Testing Service, better known as ETS. Rohit earned his bachelor's in engineering from IIT Kanpur in India and his MBA from UVA Darden. He has worked as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group and for over 20 years he has contributed internationally in management and product design and development in the fields of digital skills training, assessment, and higher education. Rohit, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:03]Thank you, Linda. Thank you for having me.I'm delighted to speak with you today. So GRE is undergoing some transformations, right? ETS is giving us a whole new GRE. How is the new GRE going to be structured? [2:07]Great, thank you. First of all, the GRE is going to be similar in many ways to the old one in terms of having the same three sections that we have always had, which is the verbal reasoning, the quantitative reasoning, as well as the analytical writing section. So those three things remain unchanged. But the big news here is that the time that the test used to take previously, which was close to four hours, is going to be reduced in half to just shy of two hours. So that's a big change that we are making.And then I assume you're not sacrificing any kind of predictability or validity to the test in cutting it in half. [2:51]Of course, that was almost like I left it hanging there so that you asked me that, but it goes without saying-I fell for it. [3:09]Yes, no, thank you. But it goes without saying that as you know, ETS has a very long history of over 75 years that we have been around, and one of the things that we are so proud of is the research that goes behind all of our assessments. So the validity, the reliability of these measures, these assessments, the constructs that they measure continues to remain the same as it was before.So the total time is much less. You still have the same three sections. So is each section just basically cut in half? [3:32]So there's a couple of things that we have done. So in many of these assessments, Linda, historically, there's always been an unscored section. And before the world of generative AI, as well as other technological advances that was needed to make sure that we can test out items that we can then put in Follow Us | |||
| 22 Aug 2023 | How to Get Into MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine | 00:33:36 | |
Michigan State's College of Osteopathic Medicine provides an innovative patient-centered curriculum with multiple specialties and multiple opportunities for clinical exposure. Sound appealing? Well, plug in your earbuds because today I'm speaking with the senior associate dean of admissions at Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine.Welcome to the 537th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's med school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Dr. Katherine Ruger earned her undergraduate degree at Northwood University, her master's in counseling and sports psychology at Wayne State, and her PhD in education and organizational leadership from Pepperdine University. She started at MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine as an admissions' counselor in 2009 and has assumed increasing responsibilities ever since. Since August 2022, almost exactly a year ago, she has served as a senior associate dean of admissions and student affairs at Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Ruger, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:40]Thank you, Linda.Can you give us, just to start, an overview of MSU's DO program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:54]Sure. I'd love to. MSUCOM, which is what I'll refer to it during the course of the session, is a really special place. I think it has a lot to do with the type of people that we recruit and attract, both from an admissions' perspective as well as faculty and staff. Certainly, it's a college of osteopathic medicine, and so our training really revolves around that holistic approach and focusing on preventative medicine. But we're looking for students and faculty and staff who have a commitment to service, a heart for leadership. That type of community just inspires a lot of growth, curiosity, excitement. It's a really wonderful place to be, and I know that I'm biased in saying that perhaps. But I think something that sets us apart is that we are part of Michigan State University, and we have a lot of wonderful access to resources as part of the university.Our college is committed to local community outreach as well as international outreach. A lot of reasons why folks want to be part of our community is because they get to serve different populations of people. We have street medicine, which is where our students, in partnership with clinicians, get to go and work with individuals who are experiencing homelessness. That's more on the local level. Then from an international perspective, we have renowned faculty that are trying to cure malaria in Malawi. We have students going out there and doing medical missions. We have them going to Peru and Guatemala. It's really fun to be able to get them involved in a lot of different ways. It tends to be a reason why, again, folks want to be here.You mentioned the community focus as well as the international focus. That's a balancing act I assume, but I noticed that you have three campuses. You also mentioned that it's obviously an osteopathic school. How do both the ability to study on three different campuses and the osteopathic nature of the program affect the educational experience for MSU students? [3:43]Good question, and one that I've not been asked. The first thing I thought of was the interconnectedness of systems, which Follow Us | |||
| 29 Aug 2023 | Admissions Directors Reveal the Most Common Mistakes Applicants Make | 00:16:04 | |
There is tons of advice on Accepted.com and on previous episodes of Admissions Straight Talk, about what you should do when you're applying to top MBA programs. But what about common mistakes? What about the things that you shouldn't be doing? What are the errors that applicants like you all too frequently make on applications? Today you're going to hear different admissions committee directors from around the world talk about what they think are the most common mistakes in MBA applications, and you're invited to listen in.Welcome to the 538th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Before I turn to those mistakes I mentioned a second ago, I have a question for you: Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. And you’ll not only gett an assessment; you’ll also get tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. If you're a regular listener to Admissions Straight Talk, you know that during most episodes of AST I interview a guest. Occasionally, I do a solo show. Frequently, the guests are admissions directors. I also have many times asked my guests, “What are the most common mistakes that you see when you're reviewing applications?”Today's episode is a collection of guests’ answers to the questions, what are the most common mistakes you have seen during the MBA application process? What are the most common mistakes that you see when reviewing applications? All featured guests are admissions directors at top MBA programs sharing what you should not do when you are applying. The two most common mistakes were in broad categories, Lack of authenticity, a sense that you're not really revealing yourself. And number two, sloppiness, which can come in many forms and you can learn about those forms through the admissions directors’ comments. There are nuances and details that the admissions committee directors provide in their comments, and you want to hear from them in their words what they are - so don't go anywhere. Don't just think that the two items I listed, you're done for the day.In addition, there were some other errors that don't fit into those two categories and still are common and damaging to applicant's chances. For example, one would be to not adjust in your resume for business school, but give in the technical resume that you have used in getting jobs. That's not going to work when you're applying to an MBA program. But again, you're going to want to hear what changes you need to make and you're going to want to hear it from the admissions' director's mouth. In short, to make sure that your applications shine like gems, first, remove the impurities. Those impurities are the common errors discussed in the rest of this episode. I've arranged the episodes in alphabetical order by school name. Teresa Peiro, Associate Director of Global Admissions for Degree Programs at INSEAD [3:22]Linda Abraham: Our first speaker is INSEAD's Teresa Peiro, Associate Director of Global Admissions for Degree Programs. Now, you've been doing this for a few years, what's the most common mistake you see in the application?TP: I would say lack of motivation. We know that the application process is long and it takes time, and our recruitment team is always saying focus on the essays, focus on what you're writing. You need to prepare. So a sloppy application is a no go.TP: Essays that aren't well-structured, essays that are not well-prepared, things that are mismatching, lack of consistency, that would be a killer.And Follow Us | |||
| 05 Sep 2023 | Is Boston University Law For You? | 00:41:53 | |
Located in the heart of vibrant and historic Boston, Boston University School of Law offers enormous breadth to its students, and today, we're speaking with its Dean of Admissions. Are you applying to law school this cycle or are you planning to apply to law school next year or later? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Law School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. I'm delighted to have on Admissions Straight Talk Alissa Leonard, Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions, Financial Aid and Enrollment at Boston University School of Law. Dean Leonard attended Oberlin College and earned her AB in History. She has been in admissions at BU Law since 2008 and brings 15 years of experience to our conversation today.Dean Leonard, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:37]Thanks very much for having me.My pleasure. Can you give an overview of the more distinctive elements of the BU Law JD program? [1:41]Sure, I'd be happy to, and you'll have to stop me when I run on too long because I love this question.We're in the center or heart of Boston obviously. If I look out my window, I've closed my shades, but you would see the Charles River with folks on it on this sunny day. You would see the State House from my office. Boston's obviously a major legal market. It's the hottest biotech city in the country. The First Circuit sits here. We're big on tech and innovation, and of course, it's a very youthful city because of all the schools and colleges here.On top of being in the middle of Boston, we're part of a large research institution of 36,000 students. It has remarkable benefits, concrete as in opportunities for dual degrees or for students to just take up to 12 hours of graduate-level coursework anywhere at BU towards their degrees, but also sort of lifestyle enhancements like an outstanding gym and that sort of thing.Within the law school, we have a deep and broad curriculum. We have an outstanding portfolio of experiential opportunities that maybe we'll talk about. We guarantee a clinical opportunity to any student who wants one. We have a broad range of study abroad programs. We have just expertise, a faculty renowned, not only for their legal research, but for their talent in the classroom.So I think we feel very strongly about a student's ability to find their path, even change their path during the three years, and we might want to talk about that, for all sorts of avenues toward their eventual practice. We also offer students a community of support, by which I mean students are assigned a faculty mentor, career development advisor, an upper-level student and an alumni mentor if they would like one upon entry to the law school. So I think this gives students an extraordinary opportunity of designated people from whom they may seek advice and counsel as they proceed into the building of their professional careers. It really sounds like very robust support. [3:45]Yes, I think so.Now, when I was preparing for the call, I was really struck by the breadth of the law school, and you've touched upon it in your response to my last question. Can you go into a little bit more depth? I noticed that BU Law has, for example, a special program in transactional law as well as study abroad programs and a concentration in international law. There's a lot more, but those two programs caught my eye. [3:49]Sure. I think I'll start with the transactional practice program, which I'd say is Follow Us | |||
| 26 Sep 2023 | How to Get Accepted to Berkeley Haas’ Amazing Master of Financial Engineering Program | 00:28:15 | |
Are you looking for a highly respective quantitative program that will prepare you for a career in the most demanding, analytical, and data-driven areas of financial services? Today’s guest, Jacob Gallice, Executive Director of Berkeley Haas Master in Financial Engineering program, shares what it takes to get accepted to this highly competitive program. Welcome to the 540th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to mention a resource at Accepted that can help you prepare your statement of purpose to a Master in Financial Engineering program as well as the other graduate programs. Download 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose to learn how to avoid the five most common mistakes we see in grad school statements of purpose, as well as tips on how to write a statement of purpose that makes your story memorable and highlights your qualifications for your target graduate program.Our guest today is Jacob Gallice, Executive Director at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business’ Master of Financial Engineering. Jacob earned his bachelor's at Binghamton University and his MBA at NYU Stern. He has worked for Goldman Sachs and Heidrick & Struggles in the financial services world. In 2017, he pivoted to admissions as Associate Director and then Senior Associate Director of Admissions at NYU Stern before deciding he preferred west coast weather and moving to Berkeley in 2021, first as Program Director of the MFE, then he became Executive Director of the MFE in March 2023. So I can still, I think, congratulate you on your promotion, right? Still within 12 months. [1:56]Sure. Thanks.Congratulations, Jacob, and welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:02]Happy to be here.Now let's start with a really basic question. What is the Master in Financial Engineering program at Berkeley Haas, and what does it prepare one to do? [2:06]Excellent question. A financial engineering degree is a specialized master's degree here that prepares one to enter the field of quantitative finance and more largely, can prepare someone to enter the fields of financial technology, namely in roles such as data science, machine learning. But largely speaking, what we're talking about here are individuals who are interested in the intersection of technology and finance and working within the ecosystem of what we kind of call the niche field of quant finance.Can you provide an overview of both the full-time and the part-time options at the MFE program and roughly how many students participate in each of the programs? [2:48]I can indeed. So we enroll about 80 students in our flagship full-time program. We're one of the only programs out there in the market that is a one-year or 12-month program. So the program is intensive, it's immersive, but it prepares students very well to enter and break into this field. So that is the one-year program. We can certainly get into that a little bit more in due course.I contrast that with the part-time program, which gives students the flexibility to do their studies over a two- to three-year period, and it's a much more small specialized cohort. Typically you're looking at roughly 7 to 10 students in that cohort. It's really designed for working professionals who are simply looking to augment their education, their studies, and apply that real world knowledge directly on the job. So we started that program a few years ago to sort of allow those students who otherwise did not feel it was necessary to leave their job, but still wanted to tap into the gr Follow Us | |||
| 24 Oct 2023 | Is the University of Texas School of Law For You? | 00:48:09 | |
The University of Texas School of Law offers academic excellence, affordability, and robust support to its students. In this podcast interview, UT’s Dean of Admissions, Mathiew Le, discusses the distinctive qualities of the UT Austin Law JD program. He highlights the vibrant city of Austin, the healthy and robust Texas legal market, and the focus on building a strong community at UT Law. Le also discusses the Society Program, which helps students navigate the law school experience in a fun and social way, and the Mentorship Program, which provides students with guidance and support throughout their time at UT Law. Le advises applicants to submit their applications early, but only if they have a strong application. He also discusses the acceptance of both the LSAT and GRE, and the importance of tailoring applications to specific law schools. Le emphasizes the importance of leadership, community engagement, and enriching the learning environment in the admissions process. He also advises against trying to be overly creative in personal statements and highlights the availability of financial aid and scholarships at UT Law.Show NotesLocated in the heart of vibrant Austin, Texas Law offers its students academic excellence, affordability, and robust support, plus professional opportunities upon graduation. And today, we're speaking with its Dean of Admissions.Thanks for joining me for this, the 546 episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you applying to law school this cycle? Are you planning ahead to apply to law school next year or later? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's law school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. You'll not only get an assessment, but you'll also get tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Now, for today's interview, I'm delighted to have on Admissions Straight Talk, Mathiew Le, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Texas School of Law. A native of Texas, Dean Le earned his bachelor's from the University of Texas at Austin and his JD from Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law.Prior to joining UT Law, Dean Le was the Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Washington School of Law for almost a decade. He has held numerous national service and leadership positions, including serving as a member of LSACs board of trustees. Dean Le firmly believes in the value of a public education and has a deep commitment to providing access for education to underrepresented groups and helped co-found the National Asian Pacific American Pre-Law conference, now associated with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Annual Convention.Dean Le, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:10]Thank you so much, Linda. It's really a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.I'm delighted to speak with you today. All right, let's start with a very basic question. Can you give an overview of the more distinctive qualities or elements of the UT Austin Law JD program? [2:16]Sure. Absolutely. Well, one of the things that I always like to start off telling students that makes UT special really comes from a place of three colors. The first of which is the City of Austin. Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, and continues to be a city that is grounded in a vibrant music and entertainment culture. Many people know that there's been an infusion of major tech companies like Amazon, Google, Oracle, and Tesla, combined with cultural offerings here. It's just a wonderful pit stop for m Follow Us | |||
| 07 Nov 2023 | Stanford’s MCiM Combines Technology, Healthcare, and Business | 00:33:46 | |
Show SummaryIn this podcast episode, Linda Abraham interviews Dr. Kevin Schulman, the director of Stanford's Master of Science and Clinical Informatics Management Program. They discuss the opportunities available at the intersection of medicine, business, and technology, and the problems that you can solve by combining these interests in your career. The program at Stanford combines business courses, technology courses, and ethics to train leaders who can transform healthcare delivery. The program is designed for working professionals and is a one-year, part-time cohort program. Graduates of the program can pursue careers as Chief Medical Information Officers, start their own companies, work in tech or industry, or advance in clinical leadership roles. Finally, the interview concludes with a discussion on the potential risks and benefits of technology in healthcare, and the importance of personalizing healthcare through technology.Show NotesWhat are the opportunities for you, if you're interested in the intersection of medicine, business, and technology? What problems can you solve if you combine those interests in your career? What education would you require? We're going to find out in this interview with the director of Stanford's Master's program and Clinical Informatics Management.Welcome to the 540th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Whether you are applying to a niche, innovative graduate program or more traditional one, the challenge at the heart of admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools and are a standout in the applicant pool. Accepted's free download, Fitting In and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions will show you how to do both. Master this paradox and you are well on your way to acceptance. Dr. Kevin Schulman, director of Stanford's Master of Science and Clinical Informatics Management Program is also Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and Professor of Operations Information and Technology at Stanford GSB. He is our guest today, and those are just three of his titles. He has several more, along with over 500 publications. His research focuses on organizational innovation and healthcare, healthcare policy and health economics, which leads us directly to Stanford's Master's in Clinical Informatics management or the MCIM. Dr. Schulman, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:00]Oh, thanks so much for having me, Linda.My pleasure. I'm really delighted to be speaking with you. I saw an ad for the program online and it just felt like such a fascinating program that I looked into it and I thought, gee, it'd be great to have you on. So let's start with a couple of really basic questions. I am not a techie and I'm not a healthcare professional. I do have an MBA. What is clinical informatics management? [2:05]That's a great question. As you think about healthcare compared to other services that you receive on a daily basis, we're just lagging so far behind in terms of how we provide digital services to our patients, to consumers, how we do follow-up, how we provide education. So we wanted to build a program to help create leaders that will transform the delivery of healthcare in this country and around the world. To do that, we combine business courses and technology courses and ethics in a year long program for working professionals where we meet every other weekend.So my next question was going to be, can you give us an overview of the MCIM program, and you kind of just did that, but can you go into a little bit more detail a Follow Us | |||
| 14 Nov 2023 | Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi: A Full-Time MBA in the Middle East | 00:31:07 | |
Show SummaryIn this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham interviews Dean Robert Salomon, the inaugural Dean of Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi. They discuss NYU Stern's groundbreaking one-year MBA program in Abu Dhabi. The program is open to applicants from around the world, but it is particularly aimed at those interested in building a career in the Middle East. The program will offer the same core courses as NYU Stern’s MBA program in New York, and students will have the opportunity to study in both Abu Dhabi and New York City. The program also includes an experiential component, with students working on live projects for local companies. Dean Salomon emphasizes the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and the opportunities for students to engage with start-ups and gain hands-on experience. He also discusses the importance of diversity in the student body and the availability of merit-based scholarships. The episode concludes with Dean Salomon discussing the reasons behind choosing Abu Dhabi as the location for the program and the opportunities it offers for students to be part of the region's transition to a knowledge-based economy.Show NotesAre you interested in doing business in the Middle East but want an MBA from a top US business school? And would you prefer a one-year program? Today's episode is all about NYU Stern's groundbreaking one-year MBA program in the UAE's Abu Dhabi.Welcome to the 548th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Sometimes I'm asked, is the MBA worth it? And my answer is, it depends on your individual circumstances, but I've got good news. We've developed a tool, the MBA ROI calculator that will help you evaluate whether an MBA is worth it for you and your individual circumstances and by how much. And using the tool won't set you back even one cent. Use of the tool is free. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Dean Robert Salomon. Dean Salomon earned his bachelor's from Michigan Ross and then moved to NYU Stern, which has been his home almost ever since. He earned his master's in PhD in strategy and international business there and has been a professor of management at Stern since 2005. Dean Salomon will lead the NYU program in Abu Dhabi and will actually be the inaugural Dean of Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi. Dean Salomon, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:49]Thanks for having me.I'm so glad you can join me. As we were talking about before, it's morning for me, night for you. It's amazing that we can... I think you're 12 hours ahead of me, right? [1:53]11 this time of year. Once you change your clocks, I think it'll be 12.So we're literally on other sides of the world and yet we can still have this delightful conversation. Let's start with an overview of NYU's Abu Dhabi MBA program. Can you please provide us with one? [2:07]Sure. So we are opening here a full-time MBA program. It's going to be a 12-month, accelerated MBA program that will run from January through December, and the first class will start in January of 2025.So you're really just getting going. You're not going to have a class this year, you're just getting going for the following year, really? [2:36]We'll start a year from January, although the website is now live, the application is available, it can be downloaded, people can start it, and we are accepting applications now. The first deadline comes up January 15th, but people can start applying now.It takes a while to put together a good application, so that makes a lot of sense. [3:00]Yeah.Is this pr Follow Us | |||
| 21 Nov 2023 | Navigating the Law School Admissions Process [Episode 550] | 00:35:47 | |
Show SummaryBrigitte Suhr, an Accepted law school admissions consultant and a former application reader for UVA Law, shares insights and advice on the law school admissions process in a podcast interview with Linda Abraham. They discuss topics such as changes in law school admissions, the importance of work experience before law school, the personal statement and diversity statement, common mistakes to avoid, and the character and fitness section of the application. Brigitte emphasizes the importance of starting early in the application process and being genuine in one's essays. She also provides guidance on addressing academic weaknesses and navigating the interview process.Show NotesIf you're applying to law school now or in the near future, you're going to love today's show. Brigitte Suhr, Accepted Law School admissions consultant and former application reader for UVA Law, is going to help you get accepted to your dream law school.Welcome to the 550th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Are you ready to apply to your dream law school? Are you competitive at your targeted programs? Accepted's law school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check.Take the quiz and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free. Our guest today, Brigitte Suhr, earned her bachelor's from UT Austin and her JD from UVA. She then went on to travel the world as an international lawyer, working for Human Rights Watch, The International Criminal Court and other foundations and NGOs. For approximately two years, prior to joining accepted in 2019, Brigitte worked as an application reader for her alma mater, UVA School of Law, and in that capacity reviewed over 2,500 applications. She was the one recommending admit, or deny. Let's find out when she made those recommendations and how she helps accept its clients.Brigitte, welcome to Admissions Straight talk. [1:52]Thanks, Linda. I'm happy to be here.Pleasure to have you. Now let's just start with something fairly basic, actually not so basic. What's new in law school admissions this year? [1:56]There's a lot new, Linda, maybe too much new. So from year-to-year it seems like essays don't change that much. Applications don't change that much, but with the Supreme Court decision this past summer, law schools took that opportunity to review what they were doing. They want to be compliant with the decision, but in so doing, they added quite a few changes and in my opinion, maybe overloaded a bit on essays and supplementals and things like that.So it's been a big transition for those of us working in admissions and certainly for students who have even more work to do than ever. And frankly from, I wonder if some admissions committees aren't going to be regretting some of their extra essays at some point, because it's going to be longer and longer to read and I think maybe-Could be maybe more work for them. [2:47]Exactly. We might see some cutting back. I don't have inside information on that, but if I were them I'd be doing some cutting back by next summer.I know business schools used to have many more essays and over the years they've cut back quite a bit. [2:56]Yeah.This is not a change that occurred this year. I think it's a change that's occurred over the last 10, 20 years, and that is that more and more law school applicants or more and more law school students do not go directly from college to law school. They take a year off, I think it's frequently to work for a year. Do you advise applicants to, “take a year off,” Follow Us | |||
| 28 Nov 2023 | Are you rushing to attend Rush Medical College? [Episode 551] | 00:50:43 | |
Show SummaryDr. Cynthia Boyd, Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at Rush Medical College, discusses the distinctive elements of the Rush Medical College program, including its focus on developing critical thinkers and providing excellent clinical care. She also highlights the importance of community service and healthcare exposure in the admissions process. Dr. Boyd emphasizes the need for applicants to present a thoughtful and authentic application that aligns with the school's mission. Ultimately, Dr. Boyd also encourages applicants to seek feedback if they are not successful in the admissions process and to consider areas for improvement before reapplying.Show NotesWould you like to attend a medical school that is outstanding – really outstanding – community service? I'm speaking today to the Associate Dean for Admissions at Rush Medical College, recipient of the 2020 Spencer Foreman Award for outstanding Community Engagement.Thanks for joining me for the 551st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Will you be ready next Spring to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted’s Med School Acceptance Calculator can give you a quick reality check. You'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Now let's move on to today's interview. I'm delighted to have on Admissions Straight Talk, Dr. Cynthia Boyd of Rush Medical College. Dr. Boyd earned her MD at George Washington, where she also did her residency in internal medicine and later earned an MBA from Chicago Booth. She joined Rush Medical Center in 1998 and has served in a variety of roles, including Assistant Dean for Minority Affairs, Director of Medical Staff Operations and Chief Compliance Officer. She moved over to Rush Medical College full-time in 2019, and is now Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, as well as the Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment.Dr. Boyd, thanks for joining me on Admissions Straight Talk. Welcome back. [1:55]Pleasure to be here. Thank you.Let's start with my usual opening question, which is can you give an overview of the Rush Medical College program for MD students, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:01]Absolutely. So just a very quick overview, Rush Medical College was one of the first medical schools in the Midwest, dating back to when it was founded in 1837. And it is a clinical-focused organization or institution or university. We don't have a parent university, so we are dedicated to the health sciences. Rush Medical College, its main goal is to develop students who will be critical thinkers, who will provide excellent clinical care, patient safety and quality.So in 2017, the curriculum was totally changed and more directed at the students becoming the learners, self-directed learning versus sitting in a classroom and so to speak, being fed everything. So practitioner teacher models, our practitioners also teach our students, so they're able to bring to the classroom, to the students, their own practice experience, and they learn from that as well.What's new at Rush since we spoke a little over two years ago? A little over two years ago, we were in the midst of the pandemic, as I'm sure you remember and are aware. But has anything stayed from that period? What's changed? [3:17]I would say the newest is that we went from a grade scale of grading to pass fail.Oh, wow. [3:39]Now for the preclinical years, the pre-clerkship, I should say, years, it is a pass-fail grading system. Flipped classroom Follow Us | |||
| 05 Dec 2023 | ROI and NYU's Part-time MBA [Episode 552] | 00:36:30 | |
Show SummaryIn this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Linda Abraham discusses MBA return on investment (ROI) and NYU Stern's part-time MBA options with Isser Gallogly, Associate Dean of MBA Admissions at NYU Stern School of Business. They discuss how to calculate ROI, the ROI of NYU Stern's part-time MBA program, and the benefits and flexibility of the program. Isser Gallogly also provides tips for applicants and encourages them to create options for themselves by applying to the program.Show NotesAre you concerned about possible lack of ROI if you go for an MBA? Are you considering part-time options? Then today's episode is for you. We're discussing MBA ROI and NYU Stern’s four part-time MBA options.Welcome to the 552nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Sometimes I'm asked, "Is the MBA worth it?" And my answer always is, “It depends on your individual circumstances”, but I've got good news. We've developed a tool that will help you evaluate whether an MBA is worth it for you and your individual circumstances, and by how much. Use Accepted's MBA ROI Calculator and check out how much you are likely to benefit or not from getting an MBA. And using it won't send you back even one cent because it's free.We're going to dive more into the topic of MBA ROI today with our special guest. It gives me great pleasure to have back on Admissions Straight Talk, Isser Gallogly, associate dean of MBA admissions at NYU Stern School of Business. Isser has been involved in MBA admissions at NYU Stern for the last 20 years, and I've probably known you for about 20 years since you started there. Today we're going to talk about MBA, return on investment or ROI, and specifically the ROI provided by Stern's part-time MBA program and then how to get into that program. Isser, welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:53]Great to be here. Thank you.I'm delighted to speak with you today, as always. I want to start by discussing the topic of MBA ROI or return on investment. Since our listeners have not yet earned their MBA, maybe we should start by discussing how to calculate ROI. What is it? I mean, I've seen lots of definitions, not all of which I agree with.Yeah, there are a lot of different ways that you could think about ROI, and I think ultimately it probably comes down to the person and their individual goals in pursuing the part-time MBA. I think for most people, just the notion that they're going to gain useful information, skills, experiences that will help them advance their career, be more effective at their career, might be sufficient. But for some people, they want to do some type of financial calculation and oftentimes they want to look at things like how much does a program cost and then what might that do to my salary over my working life?Right, and the one caution I would give people is every so often I see ROI and the expense part of it includes living expenses, food, and room and board. And I would argue that that should not be part of the calculation in terms of calculating the ROI of an MBA, not because I'm trying to reduce the expenses, but because those are expenses you'd have regardless of whether you did an MBA or not. So, if you're going to calculate the return on investment or just the cost of the MBA degree, while you have to budget for living expenses, it's not really part of the cost of the MBA because those are expenses you would have in any case, under any circumstances. That's just my own thing, but okay, let's go on. What is the ROI of the NYU Stern part-time MBA program? [2:47]Yeah, so we'v Follow Us | |||
| 12 Dec 2023 | How to Get Into CMU Tepper’s NEW MS in Management Program [Episode 553] | 00:39:48 | |
Show SummaryCarnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business is welcoming a newly launched Masters of Science in Management (MSM) program. The one-year program is designed for early-career professionals with zero to two years of work experience who are looking for a career pivot or to gain business skills. If that sounds interesting to you, you don’t want to miss this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, where Linda Abraham sits down with Dr. Kevin Dietrick, director of the MS in Business Analytics and MS in Management Program to learn more about the program and how to get in. Show NotesAre you a college junior or senior with an interest in business and a non-business major? Or maybe you've graduated already and you feel like you need to boost your knowledge of business to propel your career and have a life of impact and consequence. Today's show is with the director of Carnegie Mellon Tepper's brand new Masters of Management. Let's learn all about it, because it might just be the program for you.Welcome to the 553rd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to mention a resource at Accepted that can help you prepare your statement of purpose to a Master's in Management program or other graduate programs. Download Five Fatal Flaws To Avoid In Your Grad School Statement of Purpose to learn how to avoid the five most common mistakes that we see in grad school statements of purpose, as well as tips on how to write a statement of purpose that makes your story memorable and highlights your qualifications for your target program. Our guest today is Dr. Kevin Dietrick, Director of the MS in Business Analytics and MS in Management Program at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. Dr. Dietrick attended Allegheny College as an undergrad and earned his master's in education and his PhD in Higher Education and Higher Education Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He has been working in higher ed for most of the last 12 years. He came to CMU Tepper in 2018 as senior associate director of student services and became the director of the MS in Business Analytics in August and the director of the MS in Management last month. Dr. Dietrick, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk and congratulations on those positions. [2:12]Thank you, Linda. Thanks for the introduction. Thanks for having me.My pleasure. Now let's start with a really basic question. What is the MS in Management at CMU Tepper and who is it for? [2:16]That's a really excellent question and I think a good place for us to start today. The new MS in Management – we just launched it a couple of months ago – is a new venture that we have here at Tepper that falls into what I think is a suite of master's degree programs offered through Tepper. It is a one-year business degree, and to the question of who is it for, it is for folks who are early on in their career. So we talk a lot about pre-experience. That's not necessarily exclusive. It doesn't mean you have to have zero experience, but generally, zero to two years of work experience is the type of student that you'll find in this program starting. Very exciting, the fall of 2024.So what that person looks like, and I know we're going to dig into a little bit of that today, but just to give you a little bit of a sense of what we're anticipating and frankly what we're searching for. I think this is a really neat opportunity for folks who maybe are looking for an early career pivot. And so, I think that looks and manifests in a couple of differe Follow Us | |||
| 19 Dec 2023 | Applying to Medical School? The Pre-Med Competencies are What You Must Show [Episode 554] | 00:41:59 | |
Show SummaryWhat are the pre-med competencies? And if you're pre-med and planning to apply in September 2024, what do they mean to you? That's the subject of this week’s podcast of Admissions Straight Talk, as Linda Abraham and Dr. Valerie Wherley, an Accepted consultant, dive into pre-med competencies. Dr. Wherley gives an overview of the 17 competencies identified by the AAMC as essential for success in medical school and beyond. She leans into her expertises as an Assistant Dean, medical school program director, and advisor to present practical tips on how to develop these traits and demonstrate them in an application. Show NotesOur guest today is Dr. Valerie Wherley, an Accepted consultant. Dr. Wherley earned her B.S. and M.S. at the University of Maine in kinesiology, and her PhD in higher education and higher education administration from the University of Connecticut. Over the last 20 years, she has served as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, Director of Pre-Health Post-Bacc Certificate program at Sacred Heart University, and the Director of Pre-Health Advisement at Sacred Heart University.In those roles, and before joining Accepted in 2022, she advised thousands of students in the following pre-health tracks: pre-med, pre-PPA, pre-vet, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-PT, pre-OT, pre-accelerated nursing, and pre-optometry, as well as applicants to master's programs in exercise science, biomedical sciences, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, athletic training, public health, and applied nutrition.Today we're going to focus on med school admissions, and specifically the AAMC's recently updated pre-med competencies for entering medical students. Dr. Wherley, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:21]Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here.I’m delighted to have you joining me. Now, let's start with the basics. What is a pre-med competency? What's the goal of them? [2:27]Sure. Where I thought that we would start is just looking at the word competency. The National Institutes of Health, or the NIH, define competencies as the following: "Competencies are the knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors that contribute to individual and organizational performance." So, if we keep that word in mind, that helps inform our conversation.Pre-med competencies are now a list of 17 standards that have been identified by the AAMC and others, which I can talk about in a minute, as essential for success for entering medical students, and also people who are going to be practicing medicine in the future. So, it's not just for students in medical education, but our future practitioners.So that's the conceptual framework for the competencies. [3:35]Right.Let's discuss a little bit more in depth. Do you want to focus on some particular ones? I'll let you take the lead here. [3:41]Sure. I can give an overview. The competencies are grouped in three categories, and then within the categories there are specifics. With those specifics there are sort of a deep dive into the definitions. So, without getting too far into the weeds, let's look at the categories, and then maybe the specifics.The three categories are the professional competencies, which has the biggest list now, and then there's thinking and reasoning competencies, and then science competencies. If I start backwards, the thinking and reasoning competencies, that's one category, and the science competencies actually did not get updated in the update that we will talk about. It's the professional competencies that Follow Us | |||
| 26 Dec 2023 | Are You Toast? - Med School Admissions Officers Reveal Interview Timeline [Episode 555] | 00:20:44 | |
Show SummaryIn this episode of Admission Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham addresses the concerns of medical school applicants who have not yet received interview invitations. She debunks the myth that not receiving an invitation by Thanksgiving means rejection and shares insights from several admissions directors. She offers tips for both current med school applicants and those preparing for a reapplication. Show NotesWelcome to the 555th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. This episode is for those of you who applied this cycle to medical school and haven't received any interview invitations or at least haven't received an interview invitation from your top choice schools. We're also going to discuss a little bit about what you should be doing now – neither hitting a panic button nor just worrying and chewing your nails – which is preparing for the possibility of a reapplication.Before we dive in, I have two free resources that I'd like to invite you to take advantage of: The Ultimate Guide to Medical School Interview Success and Medical School Applicant Advice: 6 Tips For Success. Welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:00]If you are a regular listener, you know that during most episodes of Admissions Straight Talk, I interview a guest. Occasionally I give a solo show, but usually I interview a guest and frequently that guest is an admissions directors. I also have many times asked guests who are med school admissions deans or directors, “When do you stop sending out interview invitations?” I started asking this question because many applicants believed incorrectly that if they don't have an interview invitation by Thanksgiving, they are toast. And here we are in the midst of the Christmas and New Year holidays, and if you haven't gotten the invitation by now, are you actually burnt toast? Well, let's hear what five admissions deans and directors have said in response to my question. The five are: Roshini Pinto-Powell, the Associate Dean for Admissions at Dartmouth Geisel School of MedicinePaul White, Assistant Dean for Admissions at Johns Hopkins School of MedicineDr. Kristen Goodell, Associate Dean of Admissions at BU's Chobanian and Avedisian School of MedicineDr. Michael Ellison, Associate Dean for Admissions at Chicago Medical School at the Rosalind Franklin UniversityDr. Cynthia Boyd, Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at Rush Medical CollegeToday's episode is a collection of their answers to that question, “When do you stop sending out interview invitations?” At the end there’s a little commentary from me, but mostly it's admissions directors and their own words. These are admissions directors at top medical programs sharing what you need to know about the interview invitation timeline. Dr. Roshini Pinto-Powell, Professor of Medicine and Medical Education and Associate Dean of Admissions at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University. [4:20][RPP] So, our process is a rolling process. We do rolling admissions and we continue to send out invitations well into March. And similarly with the waitlist, that's another thing that people worry about. This is a long process, which is why I said I feel sorry for our candidates. It's a long year. It's a long year.Paul White, Assistant Dean for Admissions at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. [5:09][PW] Well, when it was in person, the last date would be around the first week of February. With virtual interviews, we literally sometimes invite people three or four days before the interview. I would say at least a week before is ideal.Mid Follow Us | |||