Diversity statements are among the most stressful and uncertain parts of your application package, so we’re going to spend a few posts talking about them. In a recent YouTube post, I talked some about my thoughts on the topic. Start by understanding the purpose of a...

In sales, there’s an old saying that, “it’s the sizzle, not the steak.” When it comes to your Personal Statement, there’s some truth to this, but the fact is that you need to make sure that your personal statement has BOTH genuine substantive and a compelling story....

You've picked your dream school, taken your GRE, and gotten your letters of recommendation. You sit down to write, and the blinking cursor on the blank page taunts you. You're frozen. What to write? Who am I? What makes me special? How do I sum...

Applicants often spend a lot of energy making sure that their introductions are unique and compelling, but then don't invest enough attention in their conclusions. This is a big mistake. After all, your conclusion is the last impression the reader has of you, so you...

Your letter of recommendation is a vital part of your application, and yet many applicants don't approach this process with enough thought and planning. In this video, we cover three common mistakes that applicants make with their letters of recommendation and how to avoid them. For...

"Be yourself." Right after "show, don't tell," it's the most common piece of advice that people get for their personal statements. On the one hand, it's a GREAT bit of advice because authenticity is vital for your personal statement. On the other hand, it's a...

Letters of recommendation are a key part of your application, and yet most people do not approach the process with enough planning and strategy. They wrongly assume that, since somebody else is doing it, their job begins and ends with just emailing a boss or...

Graduate school admissions differ from college, law school, MBA, or medical school admissions in very important ways. In terms of structure, what they look for, and (most importantly) who staffs these admissions boards, they have a markedly different approach to assessing and admitting graduate students...

How specific should your grad school Personal Statement / Statement of Purpose be? In this video, we explore how you thread the needle between not being expert enough and being overly narrow in a way that suggests you’re inflexible. The core challenge that many applicants face...

You've done this before, right? You were 17, looking to get into your dream college, and your school's college counselor told you to "be yourself, have a great hook, show some personality, talk about your passion, blah, blah, blah..." Your graduate school application requires a...