ADCOM pet peeves

One of my pet peeves from when I was in adcom was when people did not complete the application data forms. They would have this perfectly crafted essay, this spectacular resume, and it was clear they spent hours and had multiple people involved in this process, but then when it came time for the application itself, those questions about demographics, about employer history, they just sort of whooshed through it and threw a bunch of things on paper. All parts of the application are important. Don’t think that any one part isn’t important. You have to do the maximum. You have to really showcase that you’re thinking hard about this, you’re committed to this program and that you have thoughtful responses for everything, even the one-off questions about demographics. If the question is optional, I always think, why wouldn’t you answer it? If there was an optional photo you can upload, why wouldn’t you upload it? The more that you can put out there, the more you make it clear that you’ve spent time on this because this is really important to you. My recommendation always for my clients is to open the application data forms early so that you can whittle away at this, because it’s not usually a fun part or a creative part of the application. Don’t do it all in one day in a rush. Take some time with it and make sure that it’s all checked: the ‘T’s are crossed and the ‘I’s are dotted and you’re ready to go with the best application possible for yourself.