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Current Status
Our college, law school, and MBA admissions
consultants are using this slower period to
conduct pre admissions consultations, work on the
few fall application essays that have already been
released (such as Wharton), and reconnect with
their former colleagues to ensure we stay abreast
of any new or emerging admissions trends. We
anticipate that once again this summer we will
conduct at least several dozen interviews with
admissions officers across a wide range of
schools.
Special 'Head Start' Offer
As a professional services firm, we do not believe
in running lots of 'specials' at
AdmissionsConsultants. However, we do have a
current special that we believe will be incredibly
valuable to those of you planning to apply to
business school or law school this coming year. We
invite you to sign up for a one-hour 'pre
admissions' consultation. These consultations are
custom-tailored to each unique individual and
contain, in addition to brutally-honest and candid
assessments of your chances at various schools,
valuable positioning tips you will not find in any
books or group seminars. Your candidacy is unique
from everyone else's and the advice you receive
should be unique as well.
So, why exactly is this a special offer? Because
we will allow you to deduct the price of this pre
admissions consultation from a multiple
application package should you decide to retain
our services for a fixed-fee multiple application
package. These packages are comprehensive and
include unlimited telephone support and unlimited
essay revisions as well as comprehensive help that
covers letters of reference, resumes/cvs,
application completion, and interview preparation.
We leave no stones unturned and this comprehensive
approach, combined with our unique qualifications
as former admissions committee members who made
accept/reject/waitlist decisions, has produced an
astounding 95% success rate.
We only require a minimum one hour retainer fee
because we are extremely confident that you will
be happy with our services and you will
voluntarily return to us for additional help with
your applications. With this offer, in addition to
getting our signature, comprehensive service for
your applications, you will also have a few months
to implement a detailed action plan to optimize
your positioning and further increase your chances
of gaining admission to your top-choice schools.
Essentially, you will get a free initial
consultation if you retain us for a fixed-fee
multiple application package and the extra months
to implement your positioning will further boost
your admissions chances!
Let's face it. We know that your service will only
be as good as the consultant with whom you work.
Our consultants earn far more than their
counterparts elsewhere and our prices are very
competitive because we choose to spend our money
on top-notch consultants whose work generates
word-of-mouth support instead of advertising. If
you take advantage of this special offer, you will
be helping yourself and, when you are successful
at gaining admission to your top-choice schools,
you will be helping us as well!
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Business
School Admission Calendar
There are a few programs with July 1 deadlines
that are still barely attainable as of the date of
this newsletter’s publication. However, unless you
are considering a European business school or a
part-time or EMBA program in the US, you are
probably setting your sites on the fall
applications, preparing for the GMAT, and making
last-minute adjustments to your candidacy
positioning.
Expert Thoughts on the Consulting Industry
The following information on the prospects for
future MBAs in the management consulting industry
comes from one of our MBA admissions consultants,
Kent Harrill. Kent is a Cornell MBA who spent two
years on the Johnson School's admissions
committee, and also has degrees from Johns Hopkins
and NC State. In addition to working as a
full-time MBA admissions consultant for us, Kent
also authors reports and books and speaks at
numerous conferences about the management
consulting industry and related topics for Kennedy
Information, publishers of
Consulting
magazine and
Consultants News.
Prior to joining AdmissionsConsultants, Kent was a
Director and Senior Consultant for numerous
healthcare-related consulting firms such as PA
Consulting Group, The Advisory Board Company, The
Wilkerson Group, and CSC Healthcare.
Just as management consulting is among the first
areas to go bust during an economic downturn, it
is usually also the first industry to rebound
during good economic times, as we’re now
witnessing. Even the leading MBA programs saw the
percentage of their graduates going into
consulting go from 35% to 50% in the early 2000s
to just 20% to 25% last year, while second-tier
schools saw consulting nearly evaporate as one of
the leading recruiting areas.
Now the top schools are seeing consulting firms
return at full tilt, especially for internships as
the industry prepares for strong growth over the
next three years, at the least. Overall, the
consulting industry should expand by at least 5%
annually through 2006.
Still, first as an MBA applicant and then a
student searching for a consulting career, certain
areas are booming in the industry while others
continue to suffer. According to comprehensive
research reports I wrote about two sectors of the
industry and published by Kennedy Information –
The Global
Healthcare Consulting Marketplace (2003)
and The
Global Government and Public Sector Consulting
Marketplace (2004) – those two sectors
of the marketplace are expanding the fastest, with
healthcare consulting growing by 13% annually and
public sector consulting by 8% annually. So if
you’re a scientist or medical professional looking
for healthcare consulting after your MBA, or a
military officer considering government consulting
for a post-MBA career, you’re in great shape and
will be in high demand by both the schools and
their recruiters. The utilities and manufacturing
areas of consulting will also grow above the
industry average, and financial services
consulting is just now rebounding.
However, other sectors are to be avoided either as
a post-MBA career or for your MBA applications,
unless you have a very strong story to tell and
passion for the specific area of consulting. Areas
such as communications, media/entertainment, and
transportation consulting will continue to shrink
in the next few years, while high tech and
energy/oil/gas will remain flat.
Overall, I told my MBA clients in the past two
years to be very careful in describing management
consulting as their preferred post-MBA emphasis,
as the admissions committees were very worried
about the possibility of placement after
graduating. This year, however, I think it’s a
much safer route for those candidates who have
significant work experience (not necessarily
consulting) in a certain industry field.
Were you dinged at your top-choice schools this
past year?
We can help determine the most probable reasons
for your ding. We can also tell you if, and how,
we can improve your chances as a re-applicant this
coming fall. Finally, we will provide you with a
personalized and detailed action plan to ensure
you are optimally positioned for next fall's
applications and we will also advise you on which
schools you should be targeting.
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We provide professional assistance to all high
school students and our college admissions news is
organized by high school class for this coming
fall.
High School Seniors (Class of 2005):
Register for the next SAT and/or ACT exam date if you have not taken these
exams yet or if you are not satisfied that your
current scores reflect your abilities. Now is also
the time to begin – if you haven’t already –
thinking seriously about the college selection
process. You also have a little bit of time left
to develop your story and themes for this coming
fall’s applications. Don’t hesitate to contact us
directly if you would like to schedule an
appointment with one of our highly-qualified
consultants to receive an in-depth and
brutally-honest assessment of your candidacy,
advice on school selection, and strategy
formulation.
High School Juniors (Class of 2006):
One of the biggest dilemmas facing many members of
the high school class of 2006 is determining the
version of the SAT I for which they should
prepare. (Other members of this high school class
will have to decide if they wish to sit for the
30-minute ACT Writing Test that will become an
optional component on February 12, 2005.)
Harvard,
Yale, Columbia, and Cornell are amongst the Ivy
League schools that will be accepting both
versions of these tests. Princeton strongly
prefers the new SAT but will accept the old
version if it is “impossible” for the student to
sit for the new SAT. Penn, and Brown have not yet
decided on a standardized testing policy.
Dartmouth has not made a decision either but is
leaning towards only accepting the new tests.
While MIT has stated they will also accept both
old and new SAT scores, Duke and the University of
California schools have reportedly announced that
they will only consider scores from the new SAT
and ACT tests beginning with the high school class
of 2006.
Consequently, one of the first things students
should do is determine to which colleges and
universities they plan to apply as different
schools are planning to implement different
policies. (We expect that 75% to 80% of the
American colleges and universities will end up
accepting both versions of these tests.)
Our advice to the Class of 2006 is to consider the
transitioning of these tests as a unique
opportunity that presents you with an attractive
option. If you feel you will be ready to sit for
the current version of the SAT, then you should
take this test. If you are targeting the majority
of schools that will be accepting both test
versions and you get a very high score, then you
are probably set. If you do not do as well as you
would like, then you have the option of sitting
for the new SAT. (The last test date for the
current version of the SAT will be January 22,
2005 and the new version debuts on March 12,
2005.)
If you do decide to sit for the current version of
the SAT and you are targeting the more selective
schools, then we strongly encourage you to
complete the SAT II Writing Exam. Even though the
SAT II Writing Exam is not the same as the writing
component of the new SAT I, most colleges will
accept the results of this SAT II in lieu of this
new writing component.
Sara Hernández, a college admissions consultant
and former Assistant Director of Admissions at
Cornell University, states, "It is especially
important that students applying to college in
this transitional year for standardized
testing remain focused. The college admissions
process is an exciting yet stressful period in the
lives of many students. However, students can
maintain their control over this situation by
being prepared for what lies ahead and by staying
focused. These actions will help students manage
their time and stress better, which in turn will
help prevent what should be an incredible
experience from becoming an overwhelming
one. Although students need to be prepared to meet
all admissions requirements, within this process
they should not allow any one requirement to let
them lose sight of what is really important -
finding the colleges that fit their overall
academic and personal needs the best so that they
may realize their tremendous potential for
success!"
SAT expert Bara Sapir adds, “The new SAT has included
some very coachable sections, namely the writing
section (aka SAT II). First, you can augment your
summer reading list by reading articles from such
magazines as
The New York Times,
Business Week,
The Economist
and the Wall
Street Journal – but I happen to also
think that magazines such as
Utne Reader,
Atlantic
Monthly and
Mother Jones
also contain fun and solid writing styles to
emulate. Keep in mind the writing you'll do should
support and develop an idea in an organized way.
Also remember that sentence corrections, still an
important section on the test, is best done when
you don't rely on the answer choices: isolate the
relationship of the blank to the rest of the
sentence. The key to the blank will always be in
the sentence itself – and this key has a direct
relationship to the blank(s). Paraphrase the
sentence to make sure you understand its intent.”
Sophomores, Freshmen, and Eighth Graders (Classes
of 2007 – 2009):
You are strongly encouraged to register for the
most competitive curriculum for which you are
prepared. In addition to studying hard in your
classes, now is also the time to begin thinking
about summer enrichment programs and positioning
your future college candidacies with
extracurricular activities that can provide the
‘wow’ factor necessary to successfully
differentiate you from the many other applicants
to the top colleges who will also have high grades
and test scores.
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Law
School Placement Data
According to the National Association of Law
Placement (NALP), employment for 2003 law
graduates remained essentially unchanged from
2002. In 2003, 88.9% of graduates (for whom
employment status was known) were employed
compared with 89% in 2002, 90% in 2001 and 91.5%
in 2000. A complete breakdown, including job
types, of the 2003 employment statistics can be
found at nalp.org.
Application Volumes and Trends
LSAT tests administered during the 2003-04
application year declined for the first time since
the 1997-98 application year. In 2003-04, 147,617
tests were administered versus 148,014 tests in
2002-03, a 0.3% decline. Don't get too excited
though! The 2003-04 application year still
represents the second highest application volume
in LSAT history. What does this mean for law
school applicants?
Heike Spahn, a law school admission consultant and
former Assistant Dean at Valaparaiso University
School of Law and the
University of Chicago Law School,
states "Law schools will complete a careful
analysis of their applicant pool this year and
determine if there are any variations from the
past
years. Schools might make slight adjustments in
their process, but I wouldn't expect any big
changes for the next year." That being said, Heike
believes that applying early will strengthen an
applicant's chance for success. "I've seen almost
perfect applications denied because they applied
too late in the process."
Take Advantage of Our Special 'Head Start' Offer!
Now is the time to begin thinking about which
schools will best help you meet your educational
and career goals and how best to position your
application. You can sign up today for a highly
customized 'pre admissions' consultation, and we
will allow you to deduct the price of this
one-hour consultation from a multiple application
package should you decide to retain our services
for a Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond
application package. We only require a minimum one
hour retainer fee because we are that confident
that you will be happy with our services and you
will voluntarily return to us for additional help
with your applications. With this offer, in
addition to getting our signature, comprehensive
service for your applications, you will also have
a few months to implement a detailed action plan
to optimize your positioning and further increase
your chances of gaining admission to your
top-choice law schools.
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Medical
School Admission Calendar
We have already helped many aspiring medical
school students submit their applications.
Assuming your current MCAT score will allow you to
clear the academic qualifications hurdle, you
should be aiming to submit your applications as
soon as possible. The medical school admissions
committees have a rolling admissions policy, i.e.
as qualified applicants come through, they are
accepted to the incoming class. Completing your
application as early as possible means you have
just increased your chances of being accepted –
there are more interview spots to give out and
more seats still open in the class.
2005 Applicant Considerations
Medical school admissions consultant Dr. Wesley
Hsu states, “I am often asked the question, ‘What
sort of activities do I need to do to get into
medical school?’ I feel a better question is, ‘How
can I focus my personal interests and goals into
concrete activities that will both help me get
into medical school AND (perhaps more importantly)
allow me to have a great time doing them?’ It is
clear to me that people accomplish so much more
when they pursue activities that are truly
meaningful to them as opposed to grinding through
activities in order to build a CV. While I was on
the admissions committee at
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
some of the most impressive applicants combined
their personal interests (music, computers,
athletics, etc.) into meaningful leadership and
community service activities. The most impressive
candidate I saw was a gentleman who focused his
love for computers into community service projects
that set up computer labs in the inner cities as
well as in multiple third-world countries! This
example of leadership, energy, and
entrepreneurship in an applicant who clearly
pursued these community service activities for the
love of it is worthy of emulation, and I encourage
all of my clients to follow his example.”
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AdmissionsConsultants is a full-service admissions
consultancy that maximizes the admissions chances
of its clients. Our consultants have admissions
committee experience, meaning they have made
accept/reject/waitlist decisions and, therefore,
truly have expert knowledge of the application
process. It is this admissions committee
experience that enables us to know exactly what
differentiates successful from unsuccessful
applicants including: strategies, essays/personal
statements, letters of reference, resumes/cvs/activity
statements, applications, and admissions
interviews. We understand that admissions
committees care about more than just typo-free
essays and our sincere desire to maximize our
clients’ chances is why we have offered
comprehensive services since our company’s
inception nearly 8 years ago.
We recently assisted a former undergraduate
admissions officer with some graduate school
applications. She chose us because she recognized
she would benefit from the expert advice of
someone with the appropriate admissions committee
experience. We can provide this same expert level
of service to you.
If you would like more information about our
services, you can visit our website at
www.admissionsconsultants.com, email us at
info@admissionsconsultants.com, or call us at
703.242.5885. We will be glad to guide you through
the application process and ensure that you
maximize your admissions chances!
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Support our Feature Sponsor
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for admissions-related topics. It is also
vigilantly moderated so you can enjoy
intellectually-stimulating debate without being
harassed by flamers and spammers. Stop by, ask a
question, and make some new friends. Visit us at
www.admissionsboards.com.
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Copyright
Copyright 2004
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
All rights reserved. While we ask that you not
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