Five Ways to Know if Your Boss is a Supporter or a Hater of your Graduate School Applications

August 25, 2011

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if your boss will be ecstatic or enraged if you ask for a letter of recommendation for graduate school. Rather than make yourself the office guinea pig, look out for these tell-tale signs of a boss who is a supporter of her subordinates leaving the job for graduate school:

Figure out if she went to graduate school.

If your boss has an MBA or related degree, she isn’t going to be completely flabbergasted that you want to leave the job to get your own. If you don’t already know the details on this, a quick LinkedIn or Google Search will reveal this to you.

Listen to how she talks about people who left to go to graduate school.

Does your boss speak fondly of former employees who are now in graduate school? Does she mention receiving emails every now and then from them–or has everyone skedaddled without looking back? People usually keep in touch with bosses who were supportive of their graduate school applications. One reason is that at least one class ALWAYS requires that we contact former bosses for feedback.

Contact people who have left working under her management for graduate school.

You have to do this tactfully and respectfully. Find people (via LinkedIn or asking a trusted peer at work) who left from working under your manager to go to graduate school and contact them for a brief chat. During the chat, share your intention of applying to graduate school and ask if your manager was supportive of their applications, as well as ask if they have any tips for how to best approach her, since they’ve already done it successfully (or not so successfully).

Listen to your intuition.

If you feel terrified to ask your boss for a recommendation, it’s probably for a good reason. Though business and policy schools prefer to get a recommendation from your current supervisor, they know that is not always possible. If your intuition is flashing big red lights when it comes to asking your current supervisor for a recommendation, you want to pause and consider alternative sources for a great letter of recommendation.

Pay close attention to your performance evaluations.

The kind of feedback you receive from your boss in performance evaluations is a good indicator of what she will say in your recommendations. If she takes the time to give detailed, specific feedback, she’ll probably take the time to write a thoughtful letter of recommendation. Furthermore, if you’re receiving primarily positive reviews, you should feel great about asking her whereas mixed reviews with lots of places for improvement means you might not have an enthusiastic recommender on your hands.

Sign up for hourly coaching to plan your strategy for your recommendations here.

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How to Prepare for a Consultation Call with an Admissions Consultant

August 18, 2011

I have been delighted with the response to my offering of a one-hour consultation call. I’ve talked to people living all over the world so far, and it’s been super-fun! One thing I’ve noticed is how prepared my clients have been for these calls. I guess they wanted to make sure they were getting the absolute most for their money. If you’ve been considering having a consultation call with me or (gasp!) another admissions consultant, you may be hesitating because you aren’t quite sure what to ask or how to prepare best for the call. I’ve created a handy guide for getting the most out of a consultation call with an admissions consultant.

How to Get the Most out of a Consultation Call with an Admissions Consultant

1. Clarify how long the call will be and how much it costs. Some admissions consultants give an initial consultation call for free. These calls are usually only about 15 minutes and stay fairly surface level in providing information and soliciting information from you from which to base their feedback. Some people use these calls to simply get a feel for an admissions consultant’s communication style as well as to get a knee-jerk reaction to their chances at admission. One of the reasons I don’t offer these kinds of short calls is that it puts me in the position of trying to “sell” the client on working with me rather than giving the client my 100% honest assessment of their situation as well as what they should do next. Since my clients pay for a one-hour consultation call, I concentrate on giving them as much information as possible to help them with their application process during that time. They’ve already paid for a service, and I do my best to deliver on that service during the time we have together.

2. See if the cost of the call can be rolled into a package purchase. Several admissions consultants–including myself–include the option of having the money you spent on a consultation call roll into a package purchase. In my case, consultation calls as well as hourly packages can be rolled into the purchase of a comprehensive coaching package. Sometimes, people just want to zip in, get their information, and zip out–and the one-hour consultation call is perfect for that. It’s a whole and complete transaction. However, some people may want to use the one-hour consultation call as a low-risk way to sample the admissions consultant’s work. Even if the admissions consultant does not explicitly offer this on their website, ask before scheduling the call or paying if this would be a possibility.

3. Ask the admissions consultant what information you can give them ahead of time. While some admissions consultants have a specific form you fill out where you can put all your information in, others just advise you to send an email or message through the contact form in order to schedule a consultation call. The more information you can provide the admissions consultant about your situation, the better. It will make their advice more specific and based on your particular situation. I’d say there are three levels of information you can provide:

1) your stats and resume

2) your stats, resume, and short summary of your story and goals

3) your stats, resume, and any essays for which you have drafts

Not all admissions consultants will accept all three levels of information–especially if they receive tons of inquiries for consultation calls. However, it’s in your best interest to submit as much information as possible.

4. Send the agenda ahead of time. By sending an agenda of the topics you hope to cover in the call, you proactively manage the conversation to keep it from being too much of a sales pitch rather than a genuinely helpful session. You won’t always be able to cover every single thing you hoped to in the call, but having a clear list of topics you want to cover is always helpful in getting as much helpful information as possible during the call.

5. Be prepared to take notes and take action. My consultation calls should be called live working sessions because we get sh*t done in my calls! Have a Google Doc open as well as good ole pen and paper on hand to quickly record all the information that will be coming your way. Also be sure to take notes on your thoughts and feelings during the call. Is this person making you feel inspired, motivated, and increasing your clarity? Or is the person making you feel more confused than ever? You want to record both information as well as your reactions so that you can review them later.

6. Possible Questions and Topics of Discussion: (can be covered roughly in this order or in any order you want)

  • Briefly introduce yourself: background, current situation, schools or degree you want to apply to, and your progress thus far in the process
  • Tell the consultant what you hope to accomplish during the call and/or what topics you want to cover during the call.
  • From the progress I’ve made so far in my applications, do you think I am well prepared to apply in the upcoming round–or should I consider waiting until the next round?
  • Knowing my profile and goals, what schools do you think might be a good fit for me?
  • Do the schools I already have in mind to apply to seem to be a good fit for me from what I’ve shared with you so far? Why or why not? Do you have additional suggestions?
  • What suggestions do you have for me for strengthening my candidacy?
  • What resources do you suggest I use in my application process?
  • What has been your experience working with applicants whose profiles are similar to mine? (It doesn’t matter if they have a 92% success rate if 100% of their clients have GMATs in the 700′s and yours is a 640 now does it?). Your profile includes things such as: your age, GPA, test scores, country of origin, work experience, career goals, and the school and degree you are applying to (very important)
  • How would you describe your communication and coaching style? What are your particular strengths?
  • What is the most important thing for me to do next in my application process?

7. Urge the admissions consultant to be as specific as possible when providing feedback and guidance. Admissions consultants aren’t psychics so we aren’t going to be able to give you an exact answer for many of your questions (e.g. “Will I get in to Harvard?”). However, we can provide you specific answers (e.g. “In my opinion, you have a 70% chance of getting into Harvard because of these specific reasons…”). Try to get the admissions consultant to be as specific as possible during the conversation so you don’t leave with a bunch of vague guidance and no direction after the call has ended.

8. Ask the admissions consultant what is the most important thing for you to do next. Use the consultation call to propel you into your next action step. Now that you have taken the time to reach out to an admissions consultant, had a call and received some feedback, you should use that momentum to accomplish the next most important thing on your to-do list for your applications. Their answer could be as simple as retake the GMAT to more abstract as think more deeply about why you really want an MBA. This will ensure that you have some sort of homework to do after the call.

9. Process the feedback you received with a filter. Don’t take any advice or feedback from an admissions consultant that violently disagrees with your intuition or common sense. If you leave a conversation with an admissions consultant feeling discouraged, overwhelmed, bullied, or demeaned, you’ve likely spoken to someone who is not a good match for you. I’ve had dozens of consultation calls with people who were bulldozed by admissions consultants–even ones they had paid their hard-earned money to!–and didn’t realize that coaching styles can be entirely different from one consultant to another.

Now that I’ve laid it all out there for you, nothing should be stopping you from reaching out to the admissions consultants you’ve been curious to learn from and getting that information!

Click here to read more about the one-hour consultation call I offer.

TAOA Community: What your other tips for getting the most out of a call with an admission consultant?

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What can you do with an MPP or MPA?

August 11, 2011

I got my MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2010. I now work as a writer and entrepreneur. I write relationship advice books for women and I run an admissions consulting company (psst…you’re looking at it!). While my career is very off the beaten path for an MPA or MPP, I find myself using the skills I learned in policy school on a regular basis. I’ll give you a quick list of the ways I use my degree from HKS and then a long list of jobs of Harvard MPP alumni.

Some Ways I Use my HKS Degree:

  • Communication: The course Arts of Communication taught me to deliver a compelling speech in 4 minutes or less. When I make videos for my company, I force myself to keep them within this 4-min limit and I often run them by the top student that was in that class with me to see what he thinks. I also use what I learned in this class about writing op-eds when writing guest posts as well.
  • Public Narrative: In this course, I was taught how to craft and deliver my personal story to motivate others toward a common purpose. We learned the “Why me?” “Why us?” “Why now?” model of personal storytelling and I actually use that exact model to help convince people that I am the best admissions consultant in the business at getting nontraditionals into top business and policy schools.
  • Financial and Reporting Control for Nonprofits: This accounting class was focused on nonprofits but it taught me all the ways I could get caught up with faulty and fraudulent practices and the importance of having internal controls.
  • Followership: In this course, we learned the importance of looking beyond good leadership to learn what it means to be a good follower. We learned about the power followers have to support and build up leaders as well as tear them down and destroy them. I use what I learned in this class every day as I try to build up a base of raving fans for my business–and my writing!

The types of jobs you can get with an MPP or other similar degree from a top policy school:

Note: These jobs are for MPPs anywhere from 0-15 years out of school. Since professional school always has a focus on both the short-term and the long-term benefits to your career, I included job titles with a mix of years of work experience.

These are real people from my LinkedIn network.

  • Economist at The World Bank
  • Global Cybersecurity Practice Lead at Good Harbor Consulting
  • Project Manager at Ethiopian Global Initiative
  • Economist at International Monetary Fund
  • Policy Coordinator at Innovations for Poverty Action
  • Director, Greenhouse Gas Management at BP
  • Executive VP at Africa Aid
  • Consultant to EOHHS Children Youth and Families at Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services
  • Strategic Planner
  • Manager, Strategic Planning at Boston Public Schools
  • Monitoring & Evaluation Manager at TechnoServe
  • Legislative Correspondent at The United States Senate
  • Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Public Engagement at The White House
  • Program Manager, City Connects at Boston College
  • Program Officer at Millennium Challenge Corporation
  • Energy and Income Generation Specialist at The Earth Institute, Columbia University
  • Associate at the World Resources Institute
  • Associate at Censeo Consulting Group
  • Implementation Manager at McMaster-Carr
  • Strategy Consultant at KPMG Sustainability
  • Fellow at Open Capital Advisory
  • Specialist in African Community Development
  • Director, Recruiting and Career Development at Oblong Industries Inc
  • Case Team Leader at Monitor 360
  • President, Environment & Enterprise Strategies
  • Executive Director at Youth Venture
  • CEO at New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce
  • Director of Business Development, Acumen Fund
  • Executive Director at New Mexico Independent Power Producers
  • Healthcare Entrepreneur and General Manager at DaVita
  • Executive Director at Equality North Carolina
  • Senior Director, Alumni Relations at Harvard Kennedy School
  • Director of Influence Projects at Year Up
  • Consultant at The Bridgespan Group
  • Consultant at The Boston Consulting Group
  • Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company
  • Executive Director at The Cambridge-Roxbury Foundation
  • Economic Policy Legislative Assistant at United States Senate
  • Director of Special Projects at New Teacher Center
  • Consultant at Bain & Company
  • Advisor at Mexico’s Ministry of Finance
  • Lead Research Fellow, UNDP
  • Chief of Staff at The Boston Foundation
  • Manager of Social Media at Dell Services, Strategy and Business Consultant
  • Director of Operations and Strategic Planning at Year Up
  • Managing Director at District Management Council
  • Senior Policy Analyst at 1199 SEIU
  • Associate at Standard & Poor’s – Municipal Enterprise – Housing/Structured Finance
  • Executive Director at Generation Rwanda
  • Chief of Staff at US Congressman Chet Edwards
  • Writer & President at EDUBERRY Institute of Global Education
  • Director of Student Attendance at DC Public Schools
  • Policy Analyst at MassBudget
  • Program Examiner, Health at Office of Management and Budget
  • Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State
  • Revenue & Performance Management at City of Houston
  • Program Development Consultant and Contractor
  • Grade Chair and Lead Teacher at Blackstone Valley Prep
  • Special Assistant for Cyber Policy at the United States Department of Defense
  • Deputy Project Manager at MAXIMUS
  • Founder of Our Global Victory
  • Director of Special Programs, DIV at USAID
  • Adjunct Professor, Social Entrepreneurship at New York University
  • Senior Change Manager at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
  • Managing Director at India Internet Fund
  • Presidential Management Fellow at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • Consultant – Governance for Extractive Industries at The World Bank
  • Managing Partner at The Fuentes Consulting Group
  • Chief Executive Officer at RWL Water, LLC
  • Entrepreneurial Advisory Board at the City of Cambridge
  • Program Manager at Institute for War and Peace Reporting
  • Outreach Director at Wealth for the Common Good
  • Chief of Staff for the Deputy Chief of Teaching and Learning at District of Columbia Public Schools
  • Policy Director at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
  • Associate Client Advisor at Bridgewater Associates

If getting an education that would prepare you for these types of jobs sounds great to you, you should definitely consider getting a policy degree.

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Should you get an MPP and then get an MBA?

August 3, 2011

This is a question that many applicants with nonprofit and public sector work experience contemplate while applying to school. In fact, it’s a question that even current MPP students wrestle with. My first year of graduate school, I was shocked at how many of my HKS classmates began looking into the MBA program once the job recruiting season began and management consulting firms descended on the campus, promising hefty salaries with prestigious firms. Some of those people ended up going on to MBA programs, most commonly HBS, Tuck, and Sloan. As a joint degree and admissions consultant, I feel strongly about this topic and want to give some advice to those of you who are wondering if you should start with an MPP and then get an MBA.

You should never use one degree to springboard to another. I know of people who knew they really wanted an MBA degree, but figured that it would be “easier” to get an MPP first, after which they could more easily get an MBA. If you really want the education and experience of an MBA, apply for an MBA. It’s a waste of time and money to use one degree to get to another. I don’t think that all people who apply to MBA programs while in MPP programs are thinking this way. Some people simply did not ever consider getting an MBA before. Others planned all along to pursue a joint degree and for whatever reason did not apply at the same time as when they applied to policy programs. Deep down you know if you’d rather get an MPP, an MBA, or both. If you are pursuing both degrees just because you think it will facilitate admission to the other degree, you are likely setting yourself up for rejection as most admissions committees can see right through this. You’ll also have to scramble to figure out your purpose if your plan is to springboard from policy to business school but you don’t get accepted to any business schools.

It’s very hard to apply to graduate school while you are currently IN graduate school. If your plan includes applying to business school during your first year of policy school, know that doing this is very challenging. During your first year of policy school, you will be balancing your social life, your extracurricular activities, keeping up in your classes, and adjusting to the harsh Boston winter (at least for those of you who end up at Harvard). To add the grueling task of applying to business school on top of that is just asking to be completely overwhelmed. You may find yourself missing out on some of the best parts of graduate school because you are so busy trying to apply to a different graduate program. If you plan to do a joint degree, I highly recommend applying to both programs at the same time.

Understand what you learn with an MPP vs. an MBA. The reason companies pay MBAs so much money is that MBAs are trained to make companies more money. While business school does emphasize ethical decision-making, the goal of one’s efforts is to maximize shareholder value whereas the goal in the public sector is to maximize public value.  Both MBA and MPP programs emphasize leadership, management, and analytical skills. However, there is much more emphasis on running and leading companies in business school whereas in policy school, the emphasis is on running and leading organizations, communities, and causes. Lots of MPPs go into the public sector and some MBAs choose to go into the nonprofit and public sector. The clearer your professional goals, the more able you will be able to see whether you need or want both degrees. One important thing to remember about both an MBA and an MPP is that you will be competing for jobs with people who have neither degree. Why? Because some people simply have years and years of relevant work experience and decided not to go to school. No degree–even one from Harvard–is going to make you an automatic “in” at a firm.

Know why you want a joint or second degree. Two degrees is not always better than one. Sometimes, a joint degree can be confusing to employers–especially if your work experience is just as varied as your education. When I was recruiting for summer internships in graduate school, I had to convince the private sector companies that I could be happy in a corporate environment and I had to convince the nonprofits that I cared enough about the cause to help enact real change.  My loyalty was always in question and people seemed confused about what I was trying to do with my career. If you don’t know why you want a joint degree or second degree, you are going to have one heck of a time explaining it to recruiters–which is an essential skill, especially in the early years after school.

In conclusion, my answer to the question “Should you get an MPP and then get an MBA?” is No–not if you are using an MPP as a springboard to an MBA. Either get an MPP or get an MBA, but don’t use your MPP as a stepping stone. When I applied to Harvard Business School, it was not to supplement my Harvard Kennedy School education; it was to complement it. I had an outstanding educational experience at Harvard Kennedy School and don’t want anyone considering applying there for a degree to feel pressured to apply to another degree because they see others doing it. The Harvard MPP is a degree that can stand all on its own, but you have to be willing to bring your best recruiting game to the table to make the most of it. Being confident in your reasons for the decision to pursue the degree is the first step in that process.

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How to work with an admissions consultant if you are broke, overwhelmed, or skeptical

July 28, 2011

If any of these sound like you:

  • I know I want to apply to grad school, but I just don’t know where to start. I’m pretty sure I want coaching too, but I don’t know how to get myself organized and ready to take advantage of one-on-one coaching. And I really don’t want to waste my money and end up just as lost as I started. I just feel so paralyzed and overwhelmed.
  • I’m not sure that I need coaching. I applied to college by myself and got into every school I applied to. I’m a pretty good writer. I made fine grades in college, and my scores are decent. I like Kaneisha’s advice, but I’d hate to pay her or some other consultant for coaching and then realize I don’t even need it. I wish there was a way to try it out without too much of a commitment of time or money.
  • I’m ready to work with an admissions consultant but I’m still not sure which one. I like Kaneisha’s style and have found her advice so far to be helpful, but how can I be sure that she will know how to help me with MY particular situation? Sure, she’s helped lots of other people, but they aren’t me. I wish there was a way to tell her about myself, listen to what she has to say, and THEN decide if she is really the consultant for me.

Then this article is for you.

I wrote this article, because I know how anxiety-provoking a large purchase can be (or even a fairly small purchase if you have doubts). I spent 7 months agonizing over what kind of car to buy (chic convertible or super-cheap economy? buy or lease?) only to decide that I was going to forget the entire thing and live car-free (and I still do). As much as I enjoy not having a car payment, it sucks to live in most U.S. cities and not have a car. And anyone who tells you different is lying or delusional.

But that’s why we have Zipcar. Or the way better neighbor-to-neighbor car-sharing option of startup RelayRides. (My friend Shelby from HBS started this company and they are having an amazing time watching it grow.)

Zipcar and RelayRides allow you to have a car when you need one without all the scariness and headache of owning a car. Owning a car has its benefits–and you won’t enjoy some of those if RelayRides is how you get around. But you trade those benefits of 24/7 car ownership for the different benefits of headache-free access to a car when you need one.

If you want to work with an admissions consultant (namely me), but you don’t want to pay a lot / don’t feel quite ready / have doubts or fears, you have options.

Get your questions answered:

Have a one-hour phone consultation with me and ask as many questions as you can squeeze in one hour. Don’t know what questions to ask? Tell me your story and let me lead the conversation. After that one hour, you will have the confidence to move forward with your applications (with or without me) and a plan for making it happen.

Get your resume edited:

No matter how paralyzed you feel about starting on your essays, you already have a resume. Send it to me for a makeover. With your newly smoking hot resume, you can confidently approach your recommenders for recommendations, apply for a cooler job, and more clearly see all the amazing things you’ve accomplished and get started writing those essays.

Have an essay reviewed:

Already have something written but you’re scared it’s crap? Or scared it’s genius and the admissions committee won’t quite get it? Send it to me to be reviewed, edited, commented upon, and gussied up.

All three of the above options are $250 or less. And very low-risk.

With any of the above options, should you decide ever in the next year that you do want comprehensive coaching, I’ll just knock that $250 you spent on one of the above options off of your package. (Obviously, if you pay for an essay edit, your comprehensive package discount has to be for the same school.)

Why? Because I understand that some people dive into the pool cannon ball style and some people like to dip their toe in.

I’m not assuming that my services are for everyone. After all, there is that (rare but real) person who sometimes will dip his toe in the pool and decide, “No, I’m not getting in the water after all.” And that’s okay. That’s exactly what I did after renting cars a few months while I agonized over buying one.

Other decisions–like moving from sunny beachside Santa Monica to the quirky hipster-meets-the hood Baltimore even though I’d never been to Baltimore in my life–I made quickly and completely without one regret. And I’m so happy I did. I actually really like it here!

Some decisions can be made by diving right in. And others are made one hesitant step at a time. But at least there is progress, moving forward, some owning of a decision that you can hold on to rather than the incessant, paralyzing, self-sabotaging process of going back and forth.

So that’s my pitch for those of you who are broke, overwhelmed, or skeptical. Just take one step and see how you feel. You may back away–or you may jump right in and never look back.

Kaneisha

Learn more about:

the one-hour phone consultation

a la carte essay and resume editing

comprehensive coaching

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Soul Inventory Giveaway Winners

July 25, 2011

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who filled out the Soul Inventory. It was really fun reading all of your responses and learning more about you. I hope that you found the exercise somewhat helpful as well. Learning about all of your hopes, dreams, fears and motivations was very energizing and inspiring. I really hope that you find my upcoming products and services hit the sweet spot of addressing your goals and application frustrations while also staying in your budget.

The winners of the Soul Inventory giveaway are the following people:

  • Connie
  • Ezhil
  • Jonas
  • Joshua
As you can see, I decided to have four winners instead of three. I was feeling generous. :) The four above people receive a free 40-min coaching call or a free essay edit between August 1 – September 30. Winners should email me at kaneisha@theartofapplying.com to set up their coaching call or to get their free essay edit.
Although a whopping 52 people intended to take the soul inventory, only a brave 15 people did (29% of those who opted in to the soul inventory giveaway form and a mere 4% of my total mailing list). The fact that those people took the time to fill out the Soul Inventory shows a willingness to be open, a bit vulnerable, and introspective–all qualities that will serve them well in the grad school application process.
A HUGE thank you to everyone who took the Soul Inventory giveaway. The following people receive $100 off essay editing services between August 1 – September 30.
  • Ashutosh
  • Dede
  • Gemma
  • Joanne
  • Michelle
  • Nirban
  • Nishant
  • Pat
  • Quanishia
  • Tanisha
  • Zach
But WAIT! There’s more! (Don’t you just love that line?) For anyone who took the Soul Inventory (i.e. any of the people listed in this post), and who signs up for comprehensive coaching between August 1 – September 30, I’ll throw in a free fellowship application review for every school you work with me on comprehensive coaching. Fellowship applications can sometimes be just as lengthy as full applications, so this is quite a freebie.
Remember: Anyone who wants to know more about my products and services is always welcome to send me an email with your questions.
Once again, thanks for entering the giveaway!
- Kaneisha

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How to Recommend Kaneisha’s Admissions Consulting Services to Friends and Acquaintances

July 20, 2011

If someone you know could use help getting into business or policy school, please do send them to me! Here’s a quick cheat sheet on my business to help you in recommending my services to friends and acquaintances:

The Name of my Business: The Art of Applying with Kaneisha Grayson

Location: I live in Baltimore, MD but all of my clients are served virtually.

How Long I’ve Been Doing This: Unofficially, I’ve been helping people get admitted to top schools for over ten years. I officially started my business in June 2010 after graduating from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

What I Do: I help my clients craft their applications for top business and policy programs. The kinds of things I work with clients on are:

  • choosing which schools to apply to based on your profile and interests
  • discussing “life issues” (such as significant others) and how those affect where you apply to school and the application process in general
  • being there for you when you need to freak out, vent, or rant
  • brainstorming content for essays
  • editing essays multiple times until they are amazing
  • preparing for admissions interviews
  • working to get off of the waitlist (if necessary)
  • negotiating for more financial aid
  • researching and applying to fellowships
  • choosing which school to attend

Ways to Work with Kaneisha:

What to Say if Someone Asks You for Help with Applying to Business or Policy School:

I’m happy to help you with any questions you have, but I also want you to know about my friend Kaneisha Grayson. She has a business that focuses entirely on helping people get into business school and policy school. At this point, she’s worked one-on-one with dozens of clients from all over the world, so she’s probably encountered every possible question and situation. She also has a mailing list to which she sends lots of free tips and discounts on her services. Her website is http://theartofapplying.com. Tell her I sent you!

The next time someone approaches you about help applying to business or policy school, please keep me in mind. This is what I do for a living!

Ciao,

Kaneisha

 

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Day in the Life of an HBS Student

July 19, 2011

Applying to a school or a job is always a mix of excitement, nervousness, hope, and uncertainty. One of the best ways to see what a job or school is like is to get the inside scoop from people who have walked that path before you.

Reading “Day in the Life” pieces are great at helping you get a sense of the pace of a place. When we were in school, my friend Tiera was asked to write up a typical day in her HBS life, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Check it out here (and see if you spot me in the story): http://www.hbs.edu/mba/perspectives/schedule/2010/tbrown.html

Share and enjoy!

Kaneisha

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How to Submit a Successful Application to Harvard Kennedy School

July 13, 2011

Harvard Kennedy School is one of the most popular policy schools that I work on with my coaching clients. As a 2010 Harvard Kennedy School graduate and an admissions consultant who has helped numerous applicants get into HKS (with scholarship money!), I want to provide my top tips for submitting an outstanding application to HKS:

Submit your application on time. You can’t get into a school if you miss the deadline! Make sure that you are 100% clear on when the application for your degree program and any fellowships you are applying to are due. The HKS deadline is usually in early December, but it can vary slightly depending on your degree program.

Get the HKS deadline here.

Know what HKS is looking for in applicants. I’m not talking about years of work experience or prerequisite coursework. (That will be covered later.) I’m talking about the qualities that HKS looks for in applicants. Here are some of the qualities valued by the Adcom:

  • demonstrated leadership abilities (at work, school, and in community service)
  • experience working on and leading teams
  • experience living and/or working abroad
  • a demonstrated commitment to public service (in your full-time job and/or extracurricular/out-of-work activities)
  • openness to providing and receiving feedback
  • ability to handle challenging coursework
  • the ability to analyze a problem or situation and draw conclusions and make decisions
  • a high degree of ethics and integrity

Know which degree program you are applying to. It can be a little confusing keeping all of HKS’ degree programs straight. There’s the MPP, MPA, MC/MPA, MC/MPA Mason Fellows, MPA-ID, and PhDs. Whew! So what’s the difference? First of all, I’m only going to focus on discussing the Master programs, because that’s who I primarily work with. The MPP, the most popular degree, is the Master in Public Policy. It is a 2-year program with one full year of core classes (one elective each semester) and then all electives the second year. The MPA (the degree that I have) is the Master in Public Administration. It is also a 2-year program, but is all electives, and primarily for non-Harvard joint-degree students and/or established professionals. The Mid-Career MPA is an all-elective one-year program for professionals with extensive work experience. The Mid-Career MPA Mason Fellows program is for established professionals from developing and transitional economies. The MPA-ID is intense and highly focused on (you guessed it) international development and economics. I had friends in every program, and while we are all students at the same school with access to almost all of the same courses, you can have very different academic experiences depending on your degree program.

Some helpful hints on figuring out if you should apply to the MPP or MPA progam at HKS:

  • If you have 0-7 years of work experience, you’re probably looking at the MPP.
  • If you have 0-7 years of work experience and you’re applying to a joint degree at Harvard, you’re probably an MPP applicant.
  • If you have 0-7 years of work experience and you’re applying to a joint degree at another school, you might be an MPA applicant.
  • If you have 7 or more years of work experience, look into the Mid-Career MPA program.
  • If you are an economics genius, look into the MPA-ID (I kid, I kid, but know that it is hard).

Obviously, you should read up on each of the degree programs yourself and decide which one is right for you.

Know and meet the prerequisites. Each degree program has its own list of prerequisites for admission. For example, for the MPP the pre-requisites are a Bachelor’s degree and some knowledge of college-level economics, statistics, and calculus is preferred. They also prefer 2-3 years of full-time professional work experience, but there’s no hard line saying that you absolutely must have full-time professional work experience. If you are currently in college and think you want to pursue an MPP in the future, I suggest you take the aforementioned classes. If you have already finished college, you can take supplemental courses online or at your local community college before applying. The prerequisites for the other degree programs are more detailed, so be sure to know what they are and give yourself enough time to meet them.

Click here for a list of prerequisites for Harvard Kennedy School degrees.

Submit all required materials. Having missing materials is not only annoying to the Adcom, it could mean the kiss of death. Get organized and make sure you have all the necessary parts of the application. The requirements for all applicants to HKS are:

  • a submitted online application,
  • payment of the $100 application fee,
  • essays,
  • three letters of recommendation,
  • official academic transcripts, and
  • standardized tests: GRE, GMAT, TOEFL (requirements vary; see online application instructions for details).

Pitch yourself to the Admissions Committee. In your essays and resume, make it very easy for the Adcom to understand why HKS is a great fit for you academically, personally, and professionally. Connect your academic background to the coursework you’ll take at HKS. Explain the preparation you’ve had thus far that will help you be successful at HKS, the gaps in your education that you plan to fill at HKS, and cite specific courses at HKS that you plan on taking to gain the knowledge you need to move forward in your career. HKS has a collegial and tight-knit culture. Research the extracurricular activities of the school, and learn about some of the activities you plan to engage in (especially if you plan to be a leader in one of the clubs), and discuss how those will be an important part of your experience if admitted. Most importantly, discuss your professional experiences thus far and how they have prepared you for making the most of your time at HKS.

Have a clear and compelling vision for your career. HKS is a professional school. This means that its primary purpose is to prepare people to be leaders in their respective professional fields. The goal is not to pump out a bunch of academics (besides the PhD candidates). Therefore, you need to be able to articulate clearly why you need to attend HKS at this time to achieve your professional goals. You need to have a clear vision for your career and a map for how HKS can help you achieve that vision. If the Adcom can’t figure out what you want to be after leaving HKS, it’s hard for them to give you one of the spots in the class.

Show that you have done your research on the school. Read about the research centers, classes, extracurricular activities, leadership programs, and fellowship programs. SO FEW PEOPLE DO A GOOD JOB OF THIS. If you take the time to read about and understand the various research centers, career resources, courses, and extracurricular activities available at HKS, and then identify the ones that are good fits for you in your application, connecting them all together with your career vision, and your past experiences, you will present a compelling and cohesive case for why you should be admitted. For example, below is a little information about my specific experience at HKS. Each HKS-specific resource is highlighted in bold. (Note: This is NOT a sample essay or anything like that. I am just showing how many resources there are at HKS to motivate you to do some research.)

While at HKS, I was involved with a number of extracurricular activities and really loved my classes. Some of my favorite classes were Arts of Communication, Agribusiness, Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector, Public Narrative, and Followership. While I was not required to do a thesis to graduate, I did complete a Reading and Research project about Black women and digital entrepreneurship which also tied in nicely with my course Leadership for a Networked World. I was a Women in the Oval Office program participant, which was offered by the Women and Public Policy Program. I also learned a tremendous amount and really enjoyed being a George Leadership Fellow, which is a part of the Center for Public Leadership. I was active in the African and African Diaspora Collaborative (AADC), and attended many of the speeches held in The Forum by the Institute of Politics.

That’s just a taste of the many, many resources at HKS. Show the Adcom that you really intend to go to HKS if admitted, and let them know about the kinds of things you’ll be involved in.

Here is a list of HKS courses.

Here is a link to the many centers and programs at HKS.

Choose your recommenders wisely and make sure they are prepared to write you great recommendations. Make sure your three recommenders are well-equipped to write you a stellar recommendation. For MPP applicants, I recommend you having 1-2 professional recommendations, an academic recommendation, and perhaps a recommendation from someone who has supervised you in a public service / volunteer / nonprofit capacity. Make sure your recommenders know what your degree program is, what qualities HKS is looking for in a candidate, and that they are able to cite specific examples and stories to back up their recommendations of you.

Attend an admissions event. Throughout the year, HKS admissions officers will travel around the country providing information about the school and the application process. Check to see when they are coming to your area and be sure to attend. The Adcom members do remember people, and it’s an opportunity to make an impression, get some great information, and meet other people in your area who are applying.

Here is the calendar for the admissions events.

Research and apply for financial aid and fellowships. Graduate school is expensive! HKS has lots of fellowship money available, but lots of people get admitted with only loans as their financial aid. Make sure you keep your student debt as low as possible by applying for as many fellowships as possible that you are a good fit for.

Here is the website for Harvard Kennedy School financial aid for incoming students.

Here is a list of the fellowships available at Harvard Kennedy School.

Whether you’re working through the process alone, with a friend, or with a consultant, you want to be well prepared in putting together your application to Harvard Kennedy School.

If you liked this article, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter so you don’t miss any of my free tips!

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Essay Editing / Coaching Call Giveaway! – Ends July 25

July 13, 2011

I start working with my next round of clients this Friday, and I am very excited about it! In preparation for working with them, I have updated and shortened my tried and true Soul Inventory™. I’m interested in learning more about my followers as a whole, so I want to entice you to fill out my Soul Inventory™ with a giveaway.

The Deal:

3 people who fill out my Soul Inventory™ before July 25 will receive either a free essay edit or a free 40-min coaching call where we can talk about anything you want (either are redeemable between Aug 1- Sept. 30).

EVERYONE ELSE who fills out the Soul Inventory™ before July 25 will receive an email with a promo code for $100 off essay editing.

How to Enter:

Put your name and email address in the form below. (If you aren’t already subscribed to my mailing list, you will be.) As soon as you add your name to the form below, you’ll be automatically redirected to the Soul Inventory™ as well as emailed a link to it.

I look forward to seeing into your soul!

- Kaneisha

THE SOUL INVENTORY GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO WON.

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