Don’t Let Admission Myths Torpedo Your Acceptance Chances

by A Guest Author

There are many myths floating around the internet regarding the admission process. Regardless of whether you apply to college, law, medical or graduate school or an MBA program, there are bound to be myths. Myths about particular programs, about particular school's admission policies or the admission process as a whole.

Whether you get it from forums, social media, specific blogs or websites, these myths are still precisely that - myths, they are false, fake, bogus, not to be believed. Whatever you call it, don't fall for them.

What are these myths? They take many forms. Let's tackle some of the most common ones:

1. Focusing on one school increases your admissions chances.

This one is really self-explanatory and debunks itself. Just the same way you would import all your eggs in one basket, would you put your future college degree or career as a doctor, lawyer or an MBA graduate in just one application to just one institution? Talk about a bad idea.

There are still a lot of versions of this myth floating around the internet and many people are still falling for it. They say that the "logic" behind it is that by being focused on one institution and letting it be known, you are either letting the commissions committee take pity on you or respect your "dedication and focus" to the school. Talk about complete garbage; nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, people lie all the time. They say that they are only applying to one school when in fact they are applying to dozens. However, the admissions committee members do not get snowed by such pleas of exclusivity.

Second, it would be unfair to other more qualified applicants if you get admitted to that particular school just because you pleaded.

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2. Focus on getting a high GPA.

Getting a high GPA is great; however, schools are not dumb. They will also focus on the type of classes you took to get that high GPA. If you took a lot of basket weaving classes, it would be unfair to compare your 4.0 GPA to a person who took all advancement calculus, trigonometry or physics classes and got a 3.9 GPA. See where I'm going with this?

The whole point behind this myth is the logical fallacy of not comparing apples to apples. Don't fall for it, focus instead on the type of classes you will take and do well in them. That's what counts, not your cumulative GPA. Also, high GPA is weighed on how competitive your school is. If you come from a high school class of 12 and most of them are crystal meth addicts, you'd come out as a hero. However, if you come from a city school with thousands of students, all of them gunning to get to Harvard or Stanford, your grades may not look so hot. Admission committee members will pay attention to context so do not let this myth fool you.

3. Recommendations from famous people carry a lot of weight.

Barrack Obama can recommend you all he wants but at the end of the day, it's all about you and your individual potential. All the recommendations from famous people can be placed in your admission package but regardless of who endorsed you, if you don't have the qualifications and potential, you are not getting in.

About The Author

This guest post comes courtesy of Chris Walker, a professional writer of model personal statement examples. You can find a lot of free model admission essay assistance at http://www.examplesofpersonalstatements.com

This post was written by A Guest Author

This post was written by a guest author. If you have high quality, useful information to share with students, send us an email or click Write For Us to learn more. And in case you're wondering - yes, you can promote yourself in this fancy author byline.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Jake C. October 15, 2012 at 3:53 am

Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!

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