In this week’s installment of “Getting Into Graduate School” we provide some important tips and strategies for getting a great letter of recommendation.
An Easy Technique for Beating Writer’s Block.
Writer’s block can derail your Personal Statement before you even begin! Too often, we let ourselves feel overwhelmed by the stakes involved. We think that every word has to be perfect, and this desire for perfection paralyzes us. This is 100% the WRONG approach to take to the early stages of writing a Personal Statement. Instead, just think in terms of getting your ideas down on paper, and then go from there! Here is a brainstorming exercise designed to jumpstart your mind into thinking about stories and content… and in the process remove you from that place of perfection paralysis.
For more help, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our editors have decades of experience helping clients get into top Masters and Ph.D. programs in STEM, humanities, fine arts, and social sciences. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Writing About Your “Biggest Failure”
Many applications will ask you to write about your “biggest failure.” This can feel like a trap. After all, aren’t your application materials supposed to make you look like an amazing SUCCESSFUL person?
If done correctly, your “Biggest Failure” essay can convey a picture of you that is successful, thoughtful, humble, and persistent. Here are three tips for writing a strong “Biggest Failure” essay!
Take a Chance!
Our ongoing series ‘Getting Into Graduate School‘ is covering a lot of tips, strategies, and insider knowledge to help you get into graduate school. BUT, sometimes the biggest impediment is a lack of confidence. When we think about taking big chances, it can feel intimidating and sometimes we lose our nerve. On a recent trip back to my old graduate school, I started thinking about what I learned and what my thoughts were when I first applied.
My advice: Take a chance!
MBA Podcast Episode 2: Five Common Mistakes for MBA Applicants
When you’ve read as many personal statements as I have, worked with thousands of clients, and helped guide countless people to the schools of their dreams, you get a clear sense of what works and -just as importantly- the common ways that things go wrong. In this podcast, I talk about the five most common mistakes that I see applicants make. By avoiding these errors, they can make their personal statements stronger, improve their chances at admission, separate themselves from the pack by telling a unique story, and also make the whole thing much less stressful. Check it out!
NEW Podcast on MBA Admissions
We’re excited to announce a new collaboration with GMATClub, the Internet’s leading source for information on business school admissions. Each week, we’ll be speaking with admissions directors at leading schools and also offering actionable insights and tips for your MBA applications.
In this episode, we speak with Andrea Flores, the Director of Global Recruitment at IE University in Madrid. We talk about the program’s stellar history nurturing and producing founders of dynamic companies and also how you should think about ROI for business school.
For more help, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our editors have decades of experience helping clients get into top Masters and Ph.D. programs in STEM, humanities, fine arts, and social sciences. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com.
How Do I Choose Which Graduate Schools to Apply To?
In Part 3 of our series ‘Getting Into Grad School’ we explore the three factors you should consider when applying to graduate school. Too often, students get enamored with a fancy name or Ivy League designation. Be more thoughtful about the program you choose and the potential advisors there who can will ultimately have the most impact on your intellectual growth and professional readiness.
For more help, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our editors have decades of experience helping clients get into top Masters and Ph.D. programs in STEM, humanities, fine arts, and social sciences. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com
Should I Go to Grad School? Asking Yourself the Tough Questions
You shouldn’t go to graduate school. When I worked as a professor at Harvard University, this is the advice that I always gave students who came to me asking about graduate school. It’s not that I didn’t think any of them should go, but rather I wanted to see if they would push back, articulate a reason for going, and demonstrate the kind of passion and grit they would need to survive -much less excel- in graduate school and beyond.
DON’T skip this part of the process. In this video, we help you to ask the hard questions you need to ask yourself regarding whether or not grad school is for you. In my decade helping clients earn admission into top graduate schools, I’ve often had to have the tough conversation with clients who are looking to attend graduate school for all the wrong reasons. In this edition of our ongoing series ‘Getting Into Graduate School’ we explore the question “should you go to graduate school?”
We cover common BAD reasons to go, some good ones, and start the difficult conversation about what it entails and what you’re facing once you graduate… IF you graduate. (more on that in future episodes!)
Getting Into Graduate School
We wanted to provide a free and comprehensive guide to getting into graduate school. Since “graduate school” encompasses to many types of programs (Masters, Ph.D., etc.) across so many disciplines, we ended up talking to dozens of professors, admissions committee members, students, and admissions professionals to create this series. It’s exhaustive and detailed, and takes you from the initial question (should I go?) through all he strategies you’ll need to earn admission, and on through selecting from among several programs.
Check it out, and subscribe to our YouTube channel so that you’ll be sure to get all the latest episodes as you prepare for your graduate school admissions process!
Writing A Powerful Personal Statement, Part 2
In Part 2 of my seminar of writing a powerful personal statement, I talk about how you can turn your story ideas into compelling and interesting essays that engage the reader and make them view you as an interesting, prepared, and attractive candidate. Though these seminars were written for MBA applicants, the same basic ideas and approaches will also work for graduate, medical, law, and undergraduate applicants.