With this guide, we will offer you lots of helpful tips here to help you succeed in your application. Here are a few things we are going to touch on:
-Reference letters
-Answering essay questions, and writing personal statements
-Casper preparation
Most students do not ask for reference letters the right way. Firstly, they choose the wrong individuals to complete a reference letter. Some make the mistake of asking professors or other individuals who do not know them too well and so the reference letter lacks a personal touch. One client once told us that after asking a referee for a reference letter, the referee asked for their picture because they didn’t remember them- that’s a sign you should not be asking that individual for a reference.
Others make the mistake of not giving enough time or material for the referees to complete the reference letter. You need to provide them with ample time to complete it because if you ask them a week before it’s due, the individual is not going to be happy with you. Furthermore, what we mean by “material” is a list of things you would like the referee to reflect on in the reference letter. This includes a list of your accomplishments in the specific position, any particular skills you think you gained or demonstrated, and any significant events that took place. For example, you can attach a document to your reference letter request email with the following subheadings:
Referees are busy people, and if you do not remind them of what you did, they may forget about it and not include it in the reference letter. They would appreciate the fact that you are making their work more manageable when you send them the list of accomplishments.
Reviewers often look for evidence that the candidate demonstrates important roles such as being a communicator, a collaborator, an advocate, a scholar, and being overall professional. If you can specifically mention these roles to your referees and ask them to reflect on them in the letter, this will undoubtedly help assess the quality of your reference letter.
Your essays should be interesting enough so that the tired reviewer does not fall asleep reading them. For example, it’s preferable not to start an essay with “I believe that...” – come up with a more original introduction! Also, try to avoid things like run-on sentences, overly-complex statements, and overly-abstract ideas. When a reviewer has an easy time reading your essay, they will rate it more favourably. Make sure your essays have lots of examples to back-up your points- this is a trend we see in essays that get accepted!
You cannot have your essays edited “too many times”. You should always be looking for ways to express your ideas and describe your experiences more efficiently. You should also ask as many people as possible to edit your application. When one of our consultants wrote their application, they gave it to their mom to read the day before it was due. Even though English is not her first language, she was able to pick up two spelling mistakes that none of the editors picked up before. This does not mean you have to incorporate every edit that someone suggests but at least you’ll have options!
The Casper is an online assessment tool currently used as part of the admission process for many schools in North America. It involves watching or reading numerous online ethical scenarios and typing out the answers to follow-up questions during the span of five minutes for each scenario. This year, the Casper has recently changed a bit and now involves some of your answers being recorded live on video! It will basically be like a small mini one-sided interview. This link provides details about how the typed-answers and the video-recorded answers are divided: https://acuityinsights.com/admissions/casper-is-changing-for-2022-23/
The Casper is the most “mysterious” aspect of the application since you don’t get feedback on your answers. Preparing for it is another common source of confusion for applicants, and therefore we have some recommendations:
We hope you found this guide helpful! Please reach out to us with any questions you have about the application process by emailing us at admin@acceptedtogether.com