This is another post from Taichi Kono, author of two textbooks on TOEFL and one on TOEIC and a highly experienced TOEFL, TOEIC, and GMAT instructor. Most of his posts will be in Japanese. This post is on GMAT sentence correction. His other posts can be found here.
-Adam
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河野塾代表の河野太一です。年来の友人であるAdam Markusさんのご厚意で、"The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition"の解説ブログの内容の一部をこちらにアップさせていただくことになりました。オリジナルは河野太一のGMAT OG12解説でご覧いただけます。なお、オリジナルのほうは予告なく内容を変更することがあり、ここに上げたものと相違があることがありますのでご了承ください。私のこれまでの記事やGMAT以外の話題についてはこちらをご覧ください。
SC23
(A) The weight of ... (S) ... is (V) concentrated (passC) が主節の構造。usedは後ろに目的語がないことと、意味から、後置のdone形容詞で、the discusにかかると判断できる。discusの意味をハッキリ知らずとも、陸上競技（track competition）で使われる道具であろうと想像はつく。track competitionやtrack meet（陸上競技会）のようなtrackの使い方は一応知っておいた方がよい。but now itまで文法・意味とも特に問題はなさそう・・・と見てきて、isがおかしいことに気づく。前にpreviousとあり、butを挟んでnowと対比させているのであれば、主節の動詞は意味上過去形でなければならないはずだ。
(B) 動詞がwasになっているのはいいが、According to a previous designの時点でアウト。according toは「〜に照らして」という意味もあるが、「照らして」とはどういうことなのか、この文における意味があいまいだし、「〜（の発言）によれば」ではなおさらおかしい。
(C) Once designed ...はdone副詞（受身の分詞構文）に、副詞のonce（かつて）が付いた形で、問題なし。意味上の主語は主節の主語the discusで、意味上も問題なし。ここで主節の主語をthe weight of the discusとし、「weightはdesignされないだろ！」というツッコミを入れさせる間違い選択肢をよく作ってくるが、ここは素直。with its weight concentrated ...はいわゆる「withの付帯状況構文」で、She was sitting there with her leg crossed.と同じ用法。
(D) once designedというdone副詞句が主語の後ろに回るのはよいとして、主節の動詞がなくなっている。usedは動詞でないと見抜くことがポイント。
(E) designedまではOKだが、havingは無理矢理感ただよう。という、いわゆる「使役動詞」の使い方はいいとしても、主語がモノなので、モノが意思を持ってits weightがconcentrateされる状況を作り出したかのように受け取れ、違和感を感じる。doing副詞が後ろに回っていること自体はOKだ が、なんともしっくりこない表現だ。さらに後ろを見ると、passCであるlinedに対する動詞がない。このことをもってOGはこの選択肢を切っているが、それは早計。すごく好意的に見れば、linedはandを挟んで、主節の主語であるwasにつながっている（つまりwasの後ろから分岐している）とも解釈できるからだ。しかし、そうするとand nowが過去形の動詞につながることになり、その時点でおかしくなる。また、文の内容的には「以前と現在」が対比されるべきなのであろうから、接続詞は andよりbutのほうが、論理関係がハッキリする。ここまでくれば、(C)を差し置いて(E)を選ぶ理由はなくなる。(C)が正解。
-河野太一
河野塾ではTOEFL/IELTS/GMATの個人授業を提供しております。なかなかスコアが上がらずにお悩みの方、きめの細かい効果的な個人指導をお求めの方は、ぜひinfo@konojuku.comまでお気軽にお問い合わせください。
April 25, 2011
Adam loves reapplicants: A guide to my resources for reapplicants
I loves reapplicants because they approach the admissions process with a level of commitment, realism, and focus that only the best first-time applicants can match. Failure is a harsh teacher, but for intelligent people, a great one. For fall 2011, my reapplicant clients obtained admission at Stanford GSB, Haas, Chicago Booth, INSEAD and Columbia University Law School LL.M as well as number of other programs.
When a client comes to me for reapplication, I typically review one or more their applications and the use that as basis for developing a new set of winning strategies. Most reapplicants are coming to me for the first time, though I have certainly worked with an existing clients who come to me for reapplication after an initial effort has not succeeded. I customize my reapplication service to meet a meet client's specific needs as I offer reapplication counseling as part of both a one-time service and as part of comprehensive counseling.
I wanted to let any new readers to my blog know about my resources for reapplicants. I think the best place to start is my June 2010 Reapplication for Success Webinar Transcript and Slides post. Also see my MBA Reapplication: Why were you dinged? Now what? post. If you are feeling historical, read my 2007 post on learning from failure after first round dings.
-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス
If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form, which is publicly available on google docs here, and then send your completed form to adammarkus@gmail.com. You can also send me your resume if it is convenient for you. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. See here for why.
カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA留学 ビジネススクール, LLM留学
School Selection: academic fit, location and financing
In this post, revised from three that I last updated in 2008, I will consider the role of academic fit, location, and financing in graduate school selection. I suggest reading my posts on fit and prestige as well.
ACADEMIC FIT
ACADEMIC FIT
Whether you are in the process of deciding where to go or are deciding where to attend, academic fit is an important part of school selection.
How difficult is the program?Don't associate difficulty with admission with difficulty of the program itself, though the two are often correlated. Some degree programs are just easier to get through regardless of their ranking or other positive features. Below, I consider this issue in regards to MBA, LL.M., Ph.D., Masters, and the relationship between difficulty and ranking.
MBA: INSEAD, IMD, Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB (first year) and Darden, which at least based on what my previous clients have told me, seem particularly hard. Given the real variation in curriculum, this is partially a function of fit. Be honest with yourself and realistic about what you want to do. For example, HBS is great for some, but a disaster waiting to happen for some of its admits who will be invited not to return after the first year (maybe they can come back in a year or two, maybe not). Those not invited to directly return for the second year of HBS likely would have survived elsewhere, but due to weak communication skills, an inability to have anything useful to say in class, or weak quantitative skills, their two-year path to management greatness has been sidetracked, perhaps permanently.
An LL.M. at Harvard Law School also seems quite hard comparatively because international LL.M. students are not given extra time to complete their exams like they are at many other Masters of Law programs in the US. While most students who are admitted to HLS are likely to go and do well (My clients admitted to HLS have consistently been some of the smartest legal minds I have encountered), it is at least worth keeping this mind. When selecting where do your Masters of Law, as with degree programs, ask current students and alumni to get a sense of how difficult the program is.
Ph.D. programs: The rates of attrition in Ph.D. programs are high, so really think seriously about whether you should be applying for a Ph.D. or a masters program. Inside Higher Ed has a very good article on Ph.D. attrition rates (Yes, it is from 2007, but my attempts to find more updated data on this have failed. If anyone has more updated information, please email me at adammarkus@gmail.com).
Ranking does not necessarily tell you how difficult a program will be to get a degree from. Especially keep in mind that some mid-ranked graduate programs in the humanities and social sciences may often have more stringent requirements for obtaining a graduate degree than their higher ranked rivals. Often such mid-ranked programs have a reputation for providing the kind of master’s level training that gets their graduates into better Ph.D. programs.
Make sure that the faculty, classes, and other resources will support you and motivate you.
Are the program content and teaching methods used compatible with you? Think about what you want to learn and really look deeply into the program to see that it really will be focused on what you want to study. In some disciplines, teaching methods are more consistent, but in others, such as MBA, there is huge variation in what is acceptable. Do an honest self-assessment of what kind of learner you are in order to determine what will work best for you. For more about learning style, see here.
What are the faculty like? For those applying to graduate programs in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and engineering, http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ is a must. If you read that your potential mentor is consistently considered to be an asshole, a drunk, or otherwise undesirable, best find someone else to work with. If there is no one else consider other schools. Asking current students and recent alumni is always a good idea.See my earlier post (2007!) on how to learn about faculty.
What is the quality of the school's research infrastructure (libraries, research centers, and/or laboratories) for your intended field of study? Especially for those planning on doing intensive research, ask yourself whether the school is really equipped to meet your research agenda. Those applying for degrees in the sciences most obviously pay especially close attention to this issue.
To what extent will leading people in my intended field of study come to the school to deliver talks or hold short courses? One thing that often sets a top program apart is the frequency of visits by leading people in your field.
What kind of educational exchange options are there? If educational exchange is something that you are looking for, obviously you need to consider this issue. Many of my past MBA clients have reported wonderful experiences doing exchange programs.
Ask yourself whether you will be sufficiently prepared when you start the program.
If you think there is a gap between what you know and what you need to know when the program commences, ask yourself whether you can fill the gap. Even if you have obtained admission, ask yourself this question. Many admits will be covering those gaps in the summer before school starts and you should as well. If you are in the application phase, put together a plan for how you will cover any prerequisite gaps and decide whether your application needs to address this issue.
Fit with fellow students
One of the best reasons to visit a school or at least to interact with alumni is determine whether you like them. To a greater or lesser extent, your fellow students will impact your graduate experience both in and out of the classroom. Make sure that you feel good about the alums and current students you encounter. Regardless of attempts to diversify, all institutions have a tendency to attract certain kinds of people, so just make sure you are left with the feeling that you would want to be friends with the alums and current students you encounter. Consider what it will be like to be in classrooms, engaged in discussions, in groups, and asking for help from the students in your program.
Trust No Single Perspective
Finally, when looking into these issues, don't simply accept one perspective on the school. You should never let your decision to apply or attend be based simply on the judgment of one other person. Ask around, look around, and ultimately trust no one but yourself to make the decision.
Be sure that you will be able to thrive in whatever kind of place you will be studying in. Some people really do need less distracting (rural) environments, others need warm locations, and students with school age children really do need to think about this issue as well. I certainly would not say location is necessarily the most important factor, but if you are thinking of being somewhere for a year or more, it should certainly be taken into consideration.
Some questions to think about:
1. Will the location help or hinder my studies? For some people, going to school in a small town would be a great way to stay focused, but for other people it would be torture. For some the distractions of a big city would be fatal to their studies, while for others it would only facilitate them. If your studies are highly dependent on or will be greatly enhanced by access to location specific specific resources, think carefully about this issue.
2. Is the school located in a safe place? Everyone has different conceptions of what a safe place is. For US schools, see College and University Campus Crime Statistics. Also take a look at the crime rates in the city that your school will be located in. Risk is always a relative consideration, but those coming from safe countries with their families, it often can be a considerable one.
3. What is the availability, cost, and quality of housing?
Related to location, really think about what kind of place you need/want to live in. There is such huge variation on this and it is unlikely to be fully revealed by the estimated cost of housing that schools will provide you with. I strongly suggest asking students once you are admitted. In addition to the school's housing office, craigslist is one great resource for finding housing.
4. The transportation infrastructure: (public transportation and availability of parking). Invariably campus parking is a pain, but that said, if you are going to be doing a commute to get to school, you should at least look into this. For those who don't know how or don't want to drive (For the record, I fit into both categories), you should really consider this issue.
5. If the school is not located in a major city, how easy is it to get access to a major airport? Easy airport access is quite important if you will need to travel for job interviews, academic conferences, or just to get away from your little college town.
6. Does the school's location support my personal or family's needs? For some individuals, such as observant Jews and Muslims, having easy access to appropriate places of worship as well as acceptable food are critical. For others, it will be access to good schools for their kids. Whatever your personal or family needs are, you should consider them when applying to a school. It is best to do your homework on this issue first and take nothing for granted, especially if you are applying to a school located in a small town.
FINANCING YOUR EDUCATION
DISCLAIMER: While I review scholarship essays, I am in no way an expert on scholarships or financial aid. I help my clients and blog readers with graduate admissions, but once they are admitted, my role has ended. The following comments are made simply for purposes of initial consideration of school selection.
How I can pay for tuition and all related costs? Except for the rich and possibly the company sponsored, the cost of education is always a consideration. You will need to figure this out for any school you attend, so look carefully to see what you will actually need, what you can borrow, and what kind of scholarships might be available. Don't be afraid to ask admissions questions about this because it is too important a topic to guess about.
For those who are deciding where to apply to, you need to have a clear plan for how you will finance your education. Many applications will require that you state this, so you might as well do your homework at the initial stage. If you will be coming to the US as an international student, you will need to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds in order for the school to issue you an I-20 (the document you need to get a student visa). While much of your plan will likely be a function of your finances and those of your family, your plan might also rely upon support from the school or from loans.
What scholarships are available to me and how likely is it that I can get one? Depending on your background, financial need, academics, and GMAT, and the program you are applying to, schools have very different levels of funding available. If you are expecting to get scholarships, look closely at their availability when selecting schools.
The availability of part-time work, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships is another consideration. If you are an international student, your ability to work will greatly vary depending on where you go. The US has very stringent rules on part-time work for those on international student visas, so don't count on being able to work. For those pursuing Ph.D.s one primary source of funding would be a research or teaching assistantship, but the availability of such positions varies widely.
Loans: MBA programs often have great programs for all admitted applicants to obtain loans, but this is less often case with other types of degrees. Look at what will be available to you before you apply. If you are international student, depending on your situation, you may need to obtain loans in your country, so look into this before you apply.
ROI: Return on Investment. Simply calculating costs is not enough, you have to look at the return you can expect as well. It may very well make good financial sense to leave school with $100,000 in debt if the return justifies it. Regardless of what type of program you attend, you really do need to do some cost calculations so that you have a sense of what your graduate degree will be costing you and what kind of potential return you can expect from it. It is an investment of time, energy, and money, so make your decisions carefully. For more about MBA ROI, see the Businessweek ROI calculator. For any international applicants considering obtaining an LL.M. and then practicing law in the United States after passing the bar, I suggest you do an intensive reality check on that option. Those considering application to US law schools should most certainly read abovethelaw.com, but if you do so chances are you might end up applying for an MBA.
-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス
If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form, which is publicly available on google docs here, and then send your completed form to adammarkus@gmail.com. You can also send me your resume if it is convenient for you. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. See here for why.
カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA留学 ビジネススクール, LLM留学
The role of prestige in graduate school selection
This is revised and extended from a post that I wrote in 2008.
In this post I will consider the most nebulous factor of school selection that can have real lifetime consequences: prestige. We can define prestige in this context as the brand value of a school in terms of the status that it confers to its graduates. Beyond other considerations, such as ranking, location, financing your education, and academics, I always think it is worth considering the general prestige value of the degree. For some strategic advice on school selection based on the concept of fit, please read my earlier post here.
To a certain extent, this is always a relative question, but it would be absurd to ignore the fact that a degree from Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, and other internationally recognized brand names carry value beyond whatever the degree is in. You might not be a snob, but the guy who is considering hiring you when you decide to change careers in ten years might be.
In this post I will consider the most nebulous factor of school selection that can have real lifetime consequences: prestige. We can define prestige in this context as the brand value of a school in terms of the status that it confers to its graduates. Beyond other considerations, such as ranking, location, financing your education, and academics, I always think it is worth considering the general prestige value of the degree. For some strategic advice on school selection based on the concept of fit, please read my earlier post here.
To a certain extent, this is always a relative question, but it would be absurd to ignore the fact that a degree from Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, and other internationally recognized brand names carry value beyond whatever the degree is in. You might not be a snob, but the guy who is considering hiring you when you decide to change careers in ten years might be.
Prestige is just one factor: It is critical to keep this in mind. Bad school selection decisions are frequently made solely on the basis of prestige. Applicants can become so focused on the prestige of their dream school(s) that they fail to consider their own actual chance for admission and which schools really fit their fit needs. As an admissions consultant, I try to work with clients who are a good fit for the schools they are applying to because I want to generate win-wins (happy admitted client who is happy with my services) and not just income. One core reason that I might decide not to work with someone is if I feel that they are unrealistic about where they are applying. The desire to attend the most prestigious schools can sometimes blind applicants to the reality of their own personal situation. Instead of pursing a good option that will get them the personal and professional transformation that they are looking for, they become to over focused on a specific high prestige (brand) university.
The Grandmother Factor: One thing that is true about the world's most prestigious schools is that your grandmother will likely have heard of them. The "grandmother factor" applies to the schools that your colleagues, parents, friends, and relatives will know the name of even if they know nothing else. When applicants begin the school selection process for graduate school, especially applicants applying to schools outside of their home country, they often focus on selecting schools using grandmother's selection criteria. While I hope you love and respect your grandmother, it is highly unlikely that you would want to use her level of knowledge to select schools. Most applicants get beyond this, but I have encountered applicants so fixated on what their mommies and daddies would think that their school selection was impacted by this.
School snobbery is ugly, but often inescapable. It is the underside of meritocracy based on education. You may have obtained an excellent education, have a high GPA, but if you graduated from a school without prestige, your education will often not be valued highly as someone who had an inferior performance at a prestigious institution. One can make the decision to simply ignore prestige, but doing so may come at a cost. Unlike what you actually learn, the prestige value or lack of it of a degree, will always be with you and cannot be easily undone (except by obtaining a higher prestige degree). For some, prestige will never matter, but for others it will determine what sort of position they can obtain out of school and limit who will even read their resumes.
The Grandmother Factor: One thing that is true about the world's most prestigious schools is that your grandmother will likely have heard of them. The "grandmother factor" applies to the schools that your colleagues, parents, friends, and relatives will know the name of even if they know nothing else. When applicants begin the school selection process for graduate school, especially applicants applying to schools outside of their home country, they often focus on selecting schools using grandmother's selection criteria. While I hope you love and respect your grandmother, it is highly unlikely that you would want to use her level of knowledge to select schools. Most applicants get beyond this, but I have encountered applicants so fixated on what their mommies and daddies would think that their school selection was impacted by this.
School snobbery is ugly, but often inescapable. It is the underside of meritocracy based on education. You may have obtained an excellent education, have a high GPA, but if you graduated from a school without prestige, your education will often not be valued highly as someone who had an inferior performance at a prestigious institution. One can make the decision to simply ignore prestige, but doing so may come at a cost. Unlike what you actually learn, the prestige value or lack of it of a degree, will always be with you and cannot be easily undone (except by obtaining a higher prestige degree). For some, prestige will never matter, but for others it will determine what sort of position they can obtain out of school and limit who will even read their resumes.
The value of a prestigious degree for hiring is obvious: It is more likely to get you an interview. The degree may not get you the job. I try to never confuse prestige with actual ability. One of worst managers I ever worked with, a perpetual job changer, was a Stanford GSB alumnus. There are always people who look good on paper. I know because when I was doing hiring, I invited them for interviews. Did I miss someone who was good as a result? Probably, but the organizations I was working for imposed standards on me and I followed them. That is one impact of prestige.
The networking value of prestigious varies with the culture of the school and the strength of the alumni organization, but generally speaking, the higher the prestige, the more valuable the network. After all, people want to continue to associate themselves with institutions that bring them status and often avoid those that don't. It is no surprise that many of the world's most prestigious schools have alumni club facilities located in major metropolitan areas or at least regular events, while less prestigious institutions do not.
Prestige can be location specific. There are many schools that have regional prestige by virtue of the fact that they are the best institution in a particular city, region, or even country. If you are residing in an area where the school is perceived as prestigious, you are benefiting from it, but if you are not residing there, the degree may have little or negative prestige value. One example, I think of is HEC, whose Grandes Ecoles graduates are likely to become France's business elite. Yet HEC MBA program has, at best limited, prestige outside of Europe. If one plans to work in France or if one is one going to work with French companies abroad, HEC will carry prestige, but in Japan, US, or India, how many people, even those with MBAs, know HEC?
Prestige can be industry or even company specific. As with location, if you intend to work in an industry or a company where a particular school has prestige, you are obtaining a benefit that may end if your career direction takes a new turn.
Prestige changes: Some schools rise and others fall in prestige. When you look at where to go, especially with newer schools and middle ranked programs, ask yourself whether the school appears to be increasing or decreasing in prestige. Obviously you want to invest in a degree at a school where the prestige is increasing. Looking at rankings, selectivity of admissions, and prominence of graduates are a few ways to gauge this.
Ask yourself: Are there any negative consequences to having a degree from this institution? Just as some schools have a prestige factor, others may carry a negative factor. Be especially careful with distance and online programs. From my perspective, if you do attend a distance or online program, go with a well-established program at a reputable university. I can't comment on the education you might get from a school with very little reputation or history, but if I were being conservative about it, I would avoid such programs.
Prestige is deceptive: Just because a university does is perceived as prestigious, does not mean, the specific graduate school you are applying to is. For example, both Cambridge and Oxford are two of the most prestigious universities in the world, but what about their MBA programs? These are both relatively new programs with variable ranking on how you look at. See here for Oxford. You should consider the difference between reality of a specific graduate school within an institution and the overall reputation of that institution. For instance Yale as university is certainly more prestigious than Dartmouth, but Tuck is consistently ranked higher than Yale SOM.
I would never say that prestige is everything, but it is a real consideration. Prestige is a matter of perception, subject to individual or group whim, damaging to egos, capable of leading some applicants astray, but ultimately an important part of any rational school selection process.
-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス
If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form, which is publicly available on google docs here, and then send your completed form to adammarkus@gmail.com. You can also send me your resume if it is convenient for you. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. See here for why.
April 22, 2011
Graduate School Selection: Start with Fit
In this post, I will provide an overall perspective on fit and to its role in graduate school selection. This post applies to MBA, Masters of Law, public policy, and all other types of graduate programs.
FINDING FIT IN A WORLD OF CHOICES
In a world of choices, it is all about fit, that is finding where you belong. For most people in most times and places, their options for living were extremely circumscribed, but for an increasingly large part percentage of the world's population, the options continue to expand. The views of this expansion in choice vary from the celebratory to the tragic:
Choice is easy.
Choice is fun.
Choice is exciting.
Choice is liberating.
Too much choice is hard.
Too much choice is confusing.
Too much choice is frustrating.
Too much choice is disempowering.
All the above assertions about choice are true. That is what makes finding fit in ones life so difficult.
WHAT DO I MEAN BY FIT?
I am principally concerned with two types of fit: (1) The identification by applicant of schools that they think they fit with (school selection) and (2)The fit of an applicant and their application for a specific school. The vast majority of my clients for MBA, Masters of Law, and other graduate programs have been focused on admission to top US and European graduate programs. Without both kinds of fit present, there is no point in making an application. If you can't both find and demonstrate fit, don't apply. My objective is always to help my clients find both kinds of fit, but sometimes in the very process of counseling, a client realizes a particular school is not for them. I think that is a fine outcome because it allows the client to focus on schools where they can find fit with. Fit thus functions not only as a core rhetorical structure in an essay or interview, but as way for clients to best utilize their own resources.
Start with assumption that you have to prove fit.
My method for helping clients formulate goals is very much based on the assumption that they have no reason to obtain a graduate degree unless they can demonstrate fit. Assuming they have demonstrated why they want a graduate degree in a particular field, I next assume that they have no specific reason to attend a particular school unless they can show that they can. Thus helping my clients find fit is at the core of what I do. I work to help my clients articulate goals to find fit so that when they actually submit an application or do an interview, the admissions reader or interview can easily see the fit.
Fit is at the core of my strategy because it is at the core of any selective applicant admissions process: Admissions officers are looking for applicants whose needs, capabilities, and potential are consistent with the graduate program's academic, professional, interpersonal, and skills requirements as well as the culture of the program.
Fit is also at the core of my strategy because I want applicants to make good decisions about school selection. Sometimes applicants make the wrong choices because they don't actually focus on fit. Instead applicants focus on brand name or ranking without a real sense of what their needs are and/or their own relative chances for admission. Fit also means defining a minimally acceptable anticipated ROI. Unless an applicant must simply get into school, say because of company sponsorship, I see no point in going to a school which does not fit an applicant's minimal ROI. The cost in both time and money of graduate education is usually so high that if an applicant cannot clearly identify why they will benefit from attending a particular school, that is a good indicator not to apply there.
NO SAFETY SCHOOLS, ONLY FIT SCHOOLS!
A school where an applicant can see the fit for their future is always worth considering. A school where they can't see the fit is not. Sometimes I work with applicants who were previously admitted to a "safety school," but actually the school is below their own sense of fit, so it is not really an effective solution. I have noticed that when such applicants apply to a new group of schools, they are far more selective. Sometimes I initiate such a change in strategy, but just as often it is the client who initially comes to me with a better thought out list of options. I think of a safety or backup as one's bottom line acceptable choice. For some applicants that might mean only applying to one school, while for others, it might mean applying to ten or more. Whatever the number of schools applied to, the applicant's objective should be to find fit with all of them.
FINDING FIT IN A WORLD OF CHOICES
In a world of choices, it is all about fit, that is finding where you belong. For most people in most times and places, their options for living were extremely circumscribed, but for an increasingly large part percentage of the world's population, the options continue to expand. The views of this expansion in choice vary from the celebratory to the tragic:
Choice is easy.
Choice is fun.
Choice is exciting.
Choice is liberating.
Too much choice is hard.
Too much choice is confusing.
Too much choice is frustrating.
Too much choice is disempowering.
All the above assertions about choice are true. That is what makes finding fit in ones life so difficult.
WHAT DO I MEAN BY FIT?
I am principally concerned with two types of fit: (1) The identification by applicant of schools that they think they fit with (school selection) and (2)The fit of an applicant and their application for a specific school. The vast majority of my clients for MBA, Masters of Law, and other graduate programs have been focused on admission to top US and European graduate programs. Without both kinds of fit present, there is no point in making an application. If you can't both find and demonstrate fit, don't apply. My objective is always to help my clients find both kinds of fit, but sometimes in the very process of counseling, a client realizes a particular school is not for them. I think that is a fine outcome because it allows the client to focus on schools where they can find fit with. Fit thus functions not only as a core rhetorical structure in an essay or interview, but as way for clients to best utilize their own resources.
Start with assumption that you have to prove fit.
My method for helping clients formulate goals is very much based on the assumption that they have no reason to obtain a graduate degree unless they can demonstrate fit. Assuming they have demonstrated why they want a graduate degree in a particular field, I next assume that they have no specific reason to attend a particular school unless they can show that they can. Thus helping my clients find fit is at the core of what I do. I work to help my clients articulate goals to find fit so that when they actually submit an application or do an interview, the admissions reader or interview can easily see the fit.
Fit is at the core of my strategy because it is at the core of any selective applicant admissions process: Admissions officers are looking for applicants whose needs, capabilities, and potential are consistent with the graduate program's academic, professional, interpersonal, and skills requirements as well as the culture of the program.
Fit is also at the core of my strategy because I want applicants to make good decisions about school selection. Sometimes applicants make the wrong choices because they don't actually focus on fit. Instead applicants focus on brand name or ranking without a real sense of what their needs are and/or their own relative chances for admission. Fit also means defining a minimally acceptable anticipated ROI. Unless an applicant must simply get into school, say because of company sponsorship, I see no point in going to a school which does not fit an applicant's minimal ROI. The cost in both time and money of graduate education is usually so high that if an applicant cannot clearly identify why they will benefit from attending a particular school, that is a good indicator not to apply there.
NO SAFETY SCHOOLS, ONLY FIT SCHOOLS!
A school where an applicant can see the fit for their future is always worth considering. A school where they can't see the fit is not. Sometimes I work with applicants who were previously admitted to a "safety school," but actually the school is below their own sense of fit, so it is not really an effective solution. I have noticed that when such applicants apply to a new group of schools, they are far more selective. Sometimes I initiate such a change in strategy, but just as often it is the client who initially comes to me with a better thought out list of options. I think of a safety or backup as one's bottom line acceptable choice. For some applicants that might mean only applying to one school, while for others, it might mean applying to ten or more. Whatever the number of schools applied to, the applicant's objective should be to find fit with all of them.
-Adam Markus
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If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form, which is publicly available on google docs here, and then send your completed form to adammarkus@gmail.com. You can also send me your resume if it is convenient for you. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. See here for why.
カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA留学 ビジネススクール, LLM留学
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