Patent pending 2011. The Truth re: Graduate Apps Sing your own song in your own true voice.

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Patent pending 2011. The Truth re: Graduate Apps Sing your own song in your own true voice.

Transcript of Patent pending 2011. The Truth re: Graduate Apps Sing your own song in your own true voice.

Page 1: Patent pending 2011. The Truth re: Graduate Apps Sing your own song in your own true voice.

Patent pending 2011.

The Truth re: Graduate Apps

Sing your own song inyour own true voice.

Page 2: Patent pending 2011. The Truth re: Graduate Apps Sing your own song in your own true voice.

Patent pending 2011.

This Ppt was created by:

Ned Boudreau, founder & president, Synergy Educational Services LLC, a college advisory firm in Shanghai.

* Go to www.synergyedu-usa.com

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Ned Boudreau

* Boston College: B.A. summa cum laude, Philosophy

* Northeastern University: graphic arts * Harvard University: marketing* Southern New Hampshire University: M.Sc. in

Development Economics• 20 years in U.S. corporate sector (marketing)• 2+ years in Africa* 7 years teaching in Shanghai

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Ned Boudreau

Authored 100+ published works Award-winning creative director Languages: German, French Countries lived in:

England, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Ghana (West Africa), now China

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Synergy Educational Services LLC

Synergy is a legal entity incorporated and registered in the state ofDelaware, USA. (Delaware State File Number: 50117-41)

Mission: to provide informed, appropriate advice regarding colleges in the U.S. or U.K., as well as to provide native-level editorial services.

Synergy guides students through the entire college application process, and ensures that essays and personal statements are polished to a professional level.

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Students admitted to: Partial list, uni:Harvard StanfordColumbia PENNCornellU of ChicagoNorthwestern Duke Rice Vanderbilt

Partial list, college:Amherst

WesleyanSmith HamiltonBarnard Bryn Mar

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The Basic Truth

Truth #1: Your GPA is merely – and only -- your ante into the poker game called Admissions.

Truth #2: Your best approach to grad applications should involve Differentiation, Customization, and Personalization.

Copyright © 2014 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. Patent pending.

All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.

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Ante

From Latin: “before”

A small portion of a bet contributed by each player before the game even begins. Each round of bets requires the ante into the game.

Copyright © 2014 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com

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Ante

That’s all your GPA is: A small portion of a bet, but

crucial: it gets you into the game; allows

you to compete against other applicants

or think of GPA as a ticket, like a movie ticket: You pay to get in.

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Your GPA . . . by itself

Means nothing Zip Zilch Nada

Chinese students – and their parents – find this hard to believe. But it’s true.

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Unless . . .

You have outstanding Extracurricular activities like

research projects, internships GRE score TOEFL scores Essays or Statements of Purpose Recommendations

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Differentiation is Crucial GPA or GRE do not differentiate you

All students applying to any given school will have approximately the same scores

What can differentiate you? Extracurricular activities Statements of Purpose Letters of recommendation

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Shanghai American School, September 2008

Presentations by admissions reps from: Brown University University of Pennsylvania

The reps said: “We look at the entire package.” PENN rep “We look at each candidate holistically.”

Brown rep

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Holistic = entire package Holistic:

of or relating to the medical consideration of the complete person, physically and psychologically, in the treatment of a disease

Pronunciation: /hō-ˈlis-tik/ Function: adj 1 :  of or relating to holism 2 :  relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts < holistic  medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body>

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holistic

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The entire, holistic package means:

GPA plus: Extracurricular activities (research or

internships) GRE score TOEFL scores Statements of Purpose Recommendations

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A thought experiment

Imagine you are a senior admissions rep at a good school.

Two applications land on your desk.

One is from a young lady at SISU. So, too, is the other.

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Thought experiment (cont’d) Student #1:

Highest GPA in her class over 3 years Outstanding GRE TOEFL: 118 Fine SP Letters of rec:

1 all about GPA; 1 about excellent English

No extracurriculars listed

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Thought experiment (cont’d) Student #2:

GPA in Top 3 in her class over 4 years Outstanding GRE TOEFL: 118 Fine SP At least one outstanding letter of rec

That letter of rec (which the author of this document wrote) emphasized equally both academics and a wide variety of extracurriculars Go to synergyedu-usa.com to read rec letter

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Thought experiment (cont’d)

Which candidate would you choose?

Remember: You are judging “the whole package”--“holistically”.

Which candidate represents the more complete “package”?

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Thought experiment (cont’d)

This is based on two of the author’s former students. Student #1 applied to Cornell Student #2 applied to PENN

Student #1 was turned down Student #2 was accepted

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What went wrong?

Student #1, Apple Lin (name changed), came into my office. She was in tears. I asked her why she was crying.

“Mr. Ned, I didn’t get into Cornell.” I was stunned; asked her to show me

her copies of her application documents.

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What went wrong? #1

Her letters of rec were misguided: One emphasized GPA, “fine student” The other emphasized her excellent English

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What went wrong? #2

Both letters of recommendation were misguided:

Approximately 90% of all applicants to U.S. schools are native speakers of English Thus, English does not truly differentiate a student Remember: All students who apply to a specific

school or grad program will have similar (competitive) GPA’s and GRE’s

GPA and GRE’s will not differentiate a student applying to a specific school from all the other students applying to that school who have similar qualifications.

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What went wrong? #3

She did not list any of her many extracurriculars The emphasis solely on GPA, English was just

silly

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What went right?

Student #2, Orange Zhang (name changed), admitted to PENN

After rejections from other Ivies, Apple Lin was admitted to her backup choice, the University of Michigan

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So!

If you do not have impressive extracurriculars, don’t even think of applying to top U.S. schools.

If you don’t have lots of extracurriculars, start now

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Start your own extracurriculars

Publish papers or articles in your major field of study

Do internships at top firms Do research with top professors Invent a device, patent it Solve a problem

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Special note 1 re: SP and Recs Your Statements of Purpose and letters of rec will

“make or break” an application Importance of the SP and recs cannot be

emphasized enough Generally, Chinese students do not do a good job on

the PS: Me, me, me! I, I, I! GPA! + imitation Instead, you should demonstrate how you will add

value to the campus community Teamwork + organizational skills + leadership

You must differentiate yourself Read SP’s that worked at various schools

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Special note 2 re: Customization Ask your teachers to customize your letters of recommendation

as much as possible Include the entire school address, beginning with

Office of Admissions or Admissions Department or Admissions Office Get this right; different schools will use different terms

Go to the schools’ websites for complete details Use “Dear Madame or Sir”

Not “To Whom It May Concern” (impersonal) Or address the Dean or Director of Admissions by title

or name This shows you are doing research, are interested Again, go to the schools’ websites to find addresses,

names and titles

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Special note 2 re: Personalization Letters of rec:

Ask your teachers to include the word “you” at least once

Writers of recs should tell how the applicant will add value to the campus community For ex., “You may rest assured that

(name) will bring his/her fire and energy to campus.”

or “You may rest assured that (your name) will add value to your campus through his/her commitment to excellence and the environment.”

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Recommendation letters In 2009, the school where the author

taught brought in an American consultant to speak about recommendation letters. She had been an Admissions Rep and

Director at top U.S. schools (UConn, Yale) She used the author’s recommendation

letters as handouts. He writes the best, most powerful rec letters

in the known universe. Go to synergyedu-usa.com to read samples.

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Above all (this is Truth #3) Do not imitate or model your SP or essays

on someone else’s. Speak/write with your own voice in your

own words; tell your own story. Admissions reps will know the difference;

they’ve heard and seen all the major “models” on the various websites and chat sites where Chinese students swap info and tips.

And don’t let your teachers copy a standard or form letter of recommendation.

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Case history:

The author heard the following on a flight back from New York:

An American official at the embassy in Beijing had spent a great deal of time listening to visa requests from students who wanted to go to college or grad school in the U.S.

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Case History (cont’d):

He had heard all the usual nonsense about “Contributing to international understanding” and “cross-cultural exchange.”

He also knew most of the stories that were copied from Web chat sites where students swapped successful visa requests.

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Case Study (cont’d):

He grew quite bored and weary, and did not give visas to students who copied their reasons from the Web.

One Friday, a young Chinese student came in who wanted go to MIT or Caltech or some other top school.

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Case History (cont’d): The visa officer asked the student why he

wanted to go to school in the U.S.

The student’s reply went something like this: “My mother was in a car accident when she was very young. Since then, she has never walked without pain. I want to invent a device that will enable her to walk without pain.”

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Case Study (cont’d):

The visa officer was very impressed with the student’s reply, and stamped the visa.

But: The next Monday, all the students who came to request a visa told him the same or a similar story.

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Case Study (cont’d):

Do not do this type of thing. Copying or imitating someone else’s

voice can and will only hurt you. Visa officers surf many of the major

chat sites, thus they are familiar with the major trends in students’ thoughts. And they know the reasons for successful visa applications.

Page 39: Patent pending 2011. The Truth re: Graduate Apps Sing your own song in your own true voice.

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Remember:

Sing your own song inyour own true voice.

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Best wishes & best success

Questions? Changing majors

Email me at: [email protected]

Go to synergyedu-usa.com