It’s been great traveling through Israel, India, China, South Korea and Japan over the past two weeks. I have so enjoyed meeting so many people and am inspired by the many stories I heard over those two weeks. One common question was how do you put together a great application and how can you be distinctive in a competitive pool. While this may seem daunting, it relates back to “Know Thyself!” and choosing schools carefully based on the resources they provide to support your goals (”What is Fit?”).
Once you’ve completed your self-assessment, you should have a list of stories, attributes, hobbies, passions that you want to convey in your application. Each school is very different in what they ask in the application, from data forms, resumes, recommendations to essays. What is important is that you try to map your messages into each school’s application requirements. Judgment plays a very big role in what you present to the committee, so ask yourself the “relevance” question — is this important to the admissions committee to know you better? For Booth, once you’ve mapped everything into your essays and data forms, take a look at what’s left in your list of things that you have not yet had a chance to cover — that’s where the powerpoint presentation comes in. I would recommend that you start using words describing what you want to cover, then take some time to think about how best to convey those messages. Content is far more important than creativity. Remember, at Booth, we’re more interested in the learnings from your experiences and why you choose to do what you do.
Well, they’ve just announced that boarding for my flight back to Chicago has begun. I’ll write a bit more next week when I begin getting caught up. Have a great weekend! Rose
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