Why Does Online Tutoring Work So Well?

Why Does Online Tutoring Work So Well?Online tutoring is one of the many features of the education world. It is still used widely to teach students in most countries. While many people would choose to enroll in a classroom for their course, it is increasingly becoming more acceptable to use the internet for all courses, even continuing education and technical courses.While this can be an excellent idea, if you have a child or student who doesn't like school and prefers to do their own work online, then perhaps you should try online tutoring. It can certainly be beneficial, and many schools these days are already offering online tutoring to their students.By getting students to log into their computers, send text messages and emails, and go through a number of programs, many schools and educational institutions are able to save money, as well as time. All of these tasks can easily be done by someone who is not a teacher, and they don't have to spend any money on tools or materials, as well as supplies.Online tutoring can provide an effective way to get students to pay attention, and it can also help to reinforce learning. While many students appreciate the opportunity to do their own work, others might not appreciate being reminded of something that they need to learn in class. This is where online tutoring becomes very useful.Online tutoring helps to instill professionalism and order into the atmosphere of the classroom. In addition, it provides an alternative to live interaction, which many students find uncomfortable and even traumatizing. With online tutoring, the student is able to get up and complete a study at their own pace, and they aren't burdened with having to come to school and deal with other people.Additionally, it is often cheaper to have the staff help a student online than to have a teacher arrive on campus to teach the class. Online tutoring allows you to save money by letting the student do all of the work, which is important when you conside r that they aren't paying for the materials, as well as having to pay to transport them to and from school.Of course, there are many things to consider when you are thinking about whether or not online tutoring is right for your child or student. While it is certainly a great way to help the student, you will want to take into consideration many of the requirements and regulations that are associated with the program.

How to Keep Your Child Learning Over Summer Break

How to Keep Your Child Learning Over Summer Break Tips From A San Diego Summer Tutor: 5 ways to keep your child learning over summer break Summer break is just around the corner, and kids are thrilled to be able to leave the classroom and run around outside in the sunshine. Parents are equally as excited to enjoy time with their kids but are also concerned about whether or not they will continue to learn over the summer and be prepared for the next school year. Summer offers a great opportunity for parents to supplement their childs education and get them learning with all five senses our private San Diego summer tutors are here to keep your childs studies on track over the summer. 1.   Go beyond the four walls The four walls of a classroom offer a fantastic traditional learning environment where kids can work as a team and discover essential information in books and from their teacher. However, theres so much more out there for kids to learn about in the world. Parents should think about what their kids can discover outside of the four walls of the classroom from nature parks to museums to summer camps. 2. Hands-on learning Kids love to touch and manipulate things so they can understand the world around them. They love to build machines and make models or dig in the dirt and learn about nature. Kids can go to an engineering camp and build their very own robot or collect soil samples and analyze the different minerals in their backyard. Although young students get a ton of audio-visual stimulation during the year, summer is a great time to investigate hands-on learning. 3. Socialization Social skills are so important for young kids to develop so they can learn to get along with people outside of their family and learn about different types of people and personality types. These skills will become more and more important as kids grow up and eventually go out into the world on their own. Socialization can be developed in many forms including community sports teams, art camps, or a day at the playground. Regardless of the specifics, its so important for young kids to get out there and learn to get along with other kids (Irvine Tutoring Tips: Ways to Work on Writing This Summer). 4. DIY field trips Field trips are one of the best things about being in school, but kids dont get to go on as many as they might like. During the summer, families can plan their field trips and enjoy everything their local area has to offer. Every kid should have a chance to visit an art and science museum to cure their curiosity and discover new cultures and periods of history. Parents can also take their kids to nature centers and state parks to learn about their local environment. The great thing about DIY field trips is that parents can choose the location based on their childs interests. 5. Reading! Its incredibly important for young students to read over the summer. Most classroom teachers offer suggested reading lists that are age and skill appropriate for their students, but kids should also investigate which series of books they want to read just for fun. Kids can spend a rainy day at the library exploring picture books or chapter books depending on their age or build a pillow fort and read in their room. Kids will learn about character development, grammar and punctuation, and sentence structure during the school year but summer offers a unique opportunity to develop a love of reading where kids can discover both fact and fiction for years to come. Its not too late to set up your summer San Diego private tutor. Our experienced San Diego tutors work around your schedule so your child will stay academically smart and have fun over break. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.

Get the Most Out of Your Private Orange County Tutor

Get the Most Out of Your Private Orange County Tutor Get the Most Out of Your Private OC Tutor: 3 Quick Tips Get the Most Out of Your Private OC Tutor: 3 Quick Tips Private tutoring is a solution for academic woes that continues to grow in popularity. Whether it be for a difficult high school class, an essential standardized test, a confusing college course, or a looming cumulative final, more adults and young adults are seeking out tutors to help them achieve the best grade possible. After tutoring dozens of students in each of the above categories and more, here are some of my quick tips for how you can achieve the best results with your personal Orange County tutor. Send Them Your Material This tip is first and is first for good reason. If you want to set yourself up for a good tutoring lesson, you should always strive to send your tutor the material you need help with ahead of time. Preferably a full day or two before your session. If you have study guides to review, homework to finish, or just class notes on the topic you are struggling with, then send them to your tutor. If its for standardized tests, then send them any practice tests youve already taken, score reports youve already received, or practice material youve already purchased or been given. The reason is that it will lessen the time at the beginning of your session that your tutor would normally have to take to get acquainted with your specific material and find the best way to proceed. Hiring experienced and qualified tutors is a necessity, but classes are taught by many different teachers with many different curriculums and many different priorities. Your Biology 101 teacher could have wildly different expectations and required topics than other teachers and other schools. Give your tutor some time to review your material to make sure they know what you need help with before your lesson is due to begin. Have Concrete Goals Make sure you know what you want to get out of tutoring. Are you working toward your social science degree and really need to understand everything in your statistics course? Are you trying to get through your last math class and just need to make sure you pass? Is your GPA important to you but you dont really care about AP Lit? These are all things that will be useful for your tutor to know. If youre aiming for specific test scores or working towards a specific goal, a tutor can help you achieve that â€" if you tell them. Teaching someone math whos failing and needs to get a C will have a much different approach than someone who is already doing well but wants to get an A. And both cases are different than teaching someone who really wants to learn and understand to do better in the future rather than someone who wants to get a grade and never do it again. These differences can change how your tutor will approach your lessons and studying recommendations. Show Them Your Grades Anything that you have that youve already finished and is graded: quizzes, tests, practice tests, essays, projects, etc. Seeing how youre doing on these assignments can be instrumental in diagnosing your specific problem areas and finding appropriate solutions. How you do in an Orange County private tutoring session isnt always indicative of how youll do on your own in a classroom or testing setting. Reading a passage and answering questions quickly might be easy when you have your tutor to help, but that doesnt matter if it doesnt make sense and you have to read the paragraph four times when you do it on your own. In math class, you might understand the lesson but make simple mistakes on the test. If your tutor sees this pattern in your grades, they can dedicate more time to repetition or revisiting specific problem areas. Viewing these grades can also give them an idea of what your teacher is looking for, how they make their test, and how strictly they grade. This is all important in how they should proceed with your tutoring. Dont forget that the job of a tutor is to help you achieve your individual academic goals. In order for them to be effective in this task, you should provide them with all of the tools you can. If your experienced tutor knows what your goals, can review your material on their own, and can view and evaluate your performance, they will better be able to tailor specific lessons for you that can best help you succeed. Book your private Orange County tutor from TutorNerds today. Michael C. is currently a private math, science, and standardized test tutor with TutorNerds in Irvine and Anaheim. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.

No degree 5 places to consider teaching English abroad so you can see the world this year

No degree 5 places to consider teaching English abroad so you can see the world this year Teaching English abroad is a dream for many of us. It’s a chance to shake up the ordinary and throw yourself into a new experience. It’s a chance to live somewhere completely different and spend time traveling. It’s a chance to impact the lives of children while learning about what it means to be a teacher. No matter what you hope to gain from teaching abroad, it’s an experience that will change you and your life. Can I teach English abroad without a degree? If this blog title caught your attention, you’re probably wondering what qualifications you need to secure a teaching position abroad - is a degree one of them? And, more than likely, hoping you can still find some awesome ESL jobs abroad without a degree. If you’re still in school (or are doing just fine without college ) and thinking it’s impossible to find a teaching job anywhere in the world without at least a bachelor’s degree - think again! There’s something on this list for you. The lowdown on teaching English abroad without a bachelor's degree Now that we’ve got your eyeballs, it's time for some words of caution and advice. Nowadays, hiring schools in many of the bigger English teaching hotspots overseas will reject applicants who don’t have a bachelor’s degree - or some sort of post-secondary education, like a diploma or certificate. Typically, the most sought-after teaching jobs abroad (those that pay well, in reputable schools) do require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree to apply. Here’s why you can’t teach in, say, Korea or Japan, without a degree The reason for this is a combination of government rules, visa restrictions or, in some cases, simply the school’s preference. Although it’s not the be all and end all in life, a bachelor’s degree provides hiring schools abroad with a uniform level of experience against which to assess candidates. There are certain regions of the world like the Middle East and parts of Asia that are particularly strict when it comes to qualifications. You can’t teach English in China and Korea, for instance, without a degree. You probably can’t teach English online without a degree, either. So, if you’re still eager to jump into teaching abroad before graduation, just know that the search may be more slightly more difficult and time consuming than if you wait until after graduation. However, there are still some wonderful locations to choose from that do accept applications from English teachers without a degree. In these locations, the demand for teachers is so high that the minimum requirements are slightly less strict. Which is great news for you. And, as always, to really enhance your job prospects (with or without a degree), we can’t recommend enough investing in a TEFL course! Recommended reading: Can you get a teaching job in China without a degree? So take note: If you get your TEFL certification first, your chances of finding a teaching position abroad without a degree will greatly improve. In short, no degree and no TEFL is the death knell for your job prospects in the global ESL job market. With that out of the way, let’s get into our favorite countries that don’t require a degree to teach English. Why are these our top 5 places to teach English abroad without a degree? These countries are unique, culturally interesting, on almost all continents on the globe and offer a variety of ESL jobs - no degree needed. In fact, you might be inspired to pick up some handy Spanish phrases after reviewing this list - a whopping four out of five of these places have Spanish as their country’s first language! But don’t worry, English is still a widely spoken and understood language in all of these five places. Where to teach English in Central and South America if you don’t have a degree Mexico Private language schools in Mexico usually require a bachelor’s degree, but not always. In fact, the government of Mexico recently made it possible for English teachers to obtain work permits as long as they hold a TEFL certification. So if you don’t have a degree but are interested in getting your TEFL, you’d be set for Mexico! Most schools in Mexico do not provide accomodation for teachers as part of their package. Luckily, the cost of living and rent is inexpensive so you should be able to live a comfortable lifestyle in this tropical country. You can’t really argue with the perks of teaching in Mexico. Most teachers spend their off time in one of the country’s many resorts in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco or Playa del Carmen. Got a degree? You’re in luck - it’s time to find out which countries pay the most money for teachers abroad! Sign up to Teach Away today for access to the latest teaching jobs around the world. Nicaragua Another one on our list of countries that don't require a degree to teach English is Nicaragua. Nicaragua is a relatively new destination for English teachers abroad, making the competition for positions less intense than other countries. But it’s popularity is growing fast, so you might want to explore this option sooner than later! Non-degree holders will have the opportunity to apply for positions in private schools or language institutes. Positions are available in universities but TEFL certification is required for these roles. The school year runs from February through November, but hiring happens all-year round. As with other countries, your salary depends a lot on your past experience and certifications. Luckily, if you don’t have a degree, rest assured that even with a lower salary the cost of living in Nicaragua is low. Most teachers have found that they are able to live comfortably on a teaching salary. Argentina Argentina is a massive country stretching across the base of South America. When you close your eyes and picture it, you might see snow-capped mountains and beaches (yes it has both!) Argentina is a great option for candidates looking to teaching English abroad without a degree because of its high demand for native (and non-native) English speaking teachers. Most of the English teaching jobs are in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. A TEFL certificate is strongly encouraged to be competitive for positions here, but is not required. It’s not common for schools to provide accomodation for teachers, but many have found a comfortable way of life sharing an apartment with a housemate. The school year takes place from March through to December, so schools normally do their hiring in December, January and February. Some schools will have a second hiring period during the summer months (July and August). Where to teach English in Europe if you don’t have a degree Spain Teaching in Spain - what a dream! It might be surprising to hear that such a popular European country like Spain is an option for teaching English without a degree, but it is. The variety of culture and energy is what draws teachers to Spain. From Barcelona and Madrid, to the southern cities of Seville and Granada - there is something for everyone. Not only is it possible to find teaching positions with no previous experience or qualifications, there are also paid volunteer English teaching jobs available in Spain! That’s a win-win. The only catch is that it might be challenging to apply for all jobs without an EU passport. We recommend checking in with the positions at schools in more detail to find out. Where to teach English in Asia if you don’t have a degree Cambodia Cambodia, located in Southeast Asia, is a vibrant country with a lot to offer English teachers. Currently, there is a high demand for teachers in this location. For English teaching positions in Cambodia, a bachelor’s degree is preferred but not required. If this location interests you, look into the lifestyle and culture of the major cities of Phnom Penh or Siem Reap - this is where the majority of teachers have found positions in the past. Luckily, if Cambodia is one of your top choices, hiring for ESL positions happens all year round - so you can get started on your application right away! No degree? Have you considered volunteer teaching positions abroad? If you don’t have a university or college degree you can also explore volunteer teaching positions in China and other countries overseas. These positions offer a stipend instead of a salary, and their setup means that they are options for you if you haven’t yet graduated or have prior teaching experience. What’s great about these roles is that they are short-term, and allow you to test the waters of teaching without committing to the profession full-time. If you end up loving the experience, you can supplement what you have learned with a TEFL course or certification! Now, close your eyes and imagine your favorite destination. Is it Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, or Cambodia? Picture yourself there, and let us help you make it a reality!

What Will You Get From the Tutoring Center?

What Will You Get From the Tutoring Center?For a few years now, the region of Menlo Park, California has been the focus of a rising trend for tutoring. This is due to the fact that there are so many jobs and options in the area. Plus, the tutoring center in Menlo Park will be able to accommodate all your student needs. Here is a look at what you will get from the tutoring center.You will find a wide variety of resources available in a tutoring center. They will include physical health programs, career planning, tutoring in English and mathematics, and arts programs for children. The center will be able to offer you a lot of services depending on what you want. In most cases, the center will offer career counseling, English tutoring, math tutoring, tutoring in Math and Literature, and reading and writing tutoring.When you first become a tutor, you will be given a CD with different learning modules. This way, you will learn a variety of programs and topics with your students. The instr uctors will often play music and use other entertaining items to help enhance your lesson. This will make the classes a lot more interactive and exciting.Most of the tutoring centers in Menlo Park offer classroom space. The classrooms are usually attached to the tutoring center. This makes it easier for students to get around. There are also rules and regulations for this classroom as well. Sometimes there are classes with 50 students or more, so there is definitely plenty of classroom space available for your students.There are many tutoring centers to choose from in Menlo Park. It is important to ask if the center will be able to accommodate all your student needs. You should also check the hours the center is open in order to find out what the best time is for you to get to the tutoring center.The center also has a help desk. These help desks will have some resources to offer you as well. Many tutoring centers will also offer help with homework help and tests. By using the help d esk, you will be able to keep track of your students' progress, including taking tests.If you are looking for an opportunity to earn some extra money, the tutoring center in Menlo Park will offer you the opportunity to earn some money. By helping your students with homework, you will earn money that can be used to help your family. You may also consider this as a great opportunity to start a family or business after you graduate.

Princeton Review Online Tutoring Jobs - Make Money From Home Working With Tutors

Princeton Review Online Tutoring Jobs - Make Money From Home Working With TutorsIn today's fast-paced world of learning and self-improvement, Princeton Review online tutoring jobs are a great place to make some extra money while doing something you love. If you love studying and love helping others learn and perform better in their studies, tutoring could be a very rewarding job for you.The leading tutoring service on the Internet is one of the best ways to earn money from home through tutoring. In fact, many Princeton Review online tutoring jobs pay very well and allow you to earn as much as a hundred dollars per hour. With just about two years of experience working with the tutoring program, you could easily start earning as much as two hundred dollars per hour and eventually earn six figures a year.If you love to work from home and are looking for a way to earn a nice sum of money, Princeton Review online tutoring jobs could be the best option for you. While you are likely to have your own computer with Internet access and an email account at home, most tutors have their own office. Many offices have professional grade PC's with Internet access, advanced Internet connections, and Wi-Fi. Most tutors will also have a laptop or may work from home with an iPhone.To find tutors who are available for tutoring, use an online search engine like Google or Yahoo to search for tutors offering online tutoring services. You can also visit sites like TutorJobs.com, TutorJobs.net, and TeachersOrg.com, where tutors list their requirements, salaries, and other information about tutoring services.When looking for tutoring jobs, it is important to verify that the tutor you are considering hiring is licensed by the state you live in and has the proper qualifications for being a tutor. Check to see if the tutor has an accredited degree and a master's degree in his or her field of study before hiring a tutor.Once you have decided on a tutor, make sure to find out how much he or s he is paid per hour and what services the tutor offers. Most tutors will offer online, on-campus, and in-class time as part of their tutoring services. Tutors who offer in-class time may charge extra fees.Finding tutors for tutoring at Princeton Review online tutoring jobs will be easy if you use the internet to find tutors. With a few minutes of your time, you could find several tutors who are available to tutor for a fee.

AP Chemistry Exam - Things You Need to Know

AP Chemistry Exam - Things You Need to KnowSo you want to take an AP Chemistry exam for your AP Chemistry exam? Hopefully this will help. If you've taken any AP exam, chances are you know at least some of the things you need to know, but if you're taking the AP Chemistry exam, chances are you'll find a lot more than that.You'll need to know what kind of test to expect. Typically, the AP Chemistry exam is given in two parts. Part one is the writing portion, and part two is the examination. Most students will take the writing portion first because that's how they usually do it, so this is the section to focus on first.The exam you'll receive on the day of the exam is in the form of a multiple choice test. You'll need to take a few practice tests to prepare for this section, but many students find that the best way to learn is to get used to the exam questions. That way, you're less likely to forget some important information about the material, and you'll always have a place to find ou t the answer to your question before reading the answer sheet.Keep in mind that AP Chemistry isn't necessarily the same as AP Physics or AP Biology. There are differences between the two sections as well. There are four different kinds of tests you need to take to graduate from college with a degree in chemistry, and there's a difference between what each one requires. Keep in mind that some of the most common AP test taking strategies are useful for AP Chemistry, and you can take them to great use.The first thing you need to know is what type of question you'll need to study for. Some of the easier questions may only require an answer, while others will be harder, and others will require more thought. This depends on the content of the course. It also depends on the teaching method of the university or college you are studying at.To make sure you don't forget something, you need to be sure you're prepared. While you may be taking the exam with a few different resources, these are o nly going to be your guides to the material. You need to practice like crazy in order to see whether or not you're better prepared to take an exam. This will allow you to come away from the exam knowing exactly what to expect, and that will make you a better student overall.Before you take your AP Chemistry exam, prepare yourself by learning what to expect. This will help you prepare well and keep you focused throughout the test.

Spanish Alphabet Pronunciation

Spanish Alphabet Pronunciation Learn How to Speak Spanish Like a Native ChaptersSpanish Alphabet: A HistoryHow to Pronounce Spanish LettersTake Private Lessons to Master the Spanish AlphabetLearning the Spanish language when you are not native to a Spanish-speaking country, requires constant revision of new information: letters of the Spanish alphabet, learning to write, pronouncing words, understanding accents, getting to grips with sentence structure, Spanish grammar, vocabulary and learning all the verbs...To our readers eager to learn Spanish, here is how to pronounce the alphabet of the Spanish language.The Spanish language has 2 extra letters Photo credit: marcoverch via Visual HuntC: is pronounced as the English k when followed by a, o, or u (caja, colour and culebra). However, c is pronounced as the English s when followed by an e or an I (cerveza, cinta).D: is pronounced the same as in English like in the word Madrid,F: pronounced the same as in EnglishG: is generally soft (like in the English word gem or giraffe) when followed by an e or an I a nd hard (like goose or giraffe) when followed by an a, or u.H: is silent and not pronouncedJ: the  jota  is pronounced like the h in hello but with a raspier soundK: same pronunciation as English kiwi or kayak,L: like in English liquidLL: pronounced like the English y in yardM: like them in MadridN: same pronunciation as EnglishÃ': pronounced like the ny in the word canyonP: same as EnglishQ: pronounced like the English kR: a rolled guttural soundS: sounds like the z in zebra before consonants b, d, g, l, m and n. Otherwise sounds like the s in snakeT: same pronunciation as English as in teaW: there are no words that begin with w in Spanish unless it is an English like WashingtonX: between two vowels sounds like the x in example or like an s before a consonantZ: like the s in severe or snake. In Spain the z often pronounced with a lisp.Note that while the consonants c, r, l and n are often doubled, B,D,F,G,M,P,S,T are never doubled.And when you see the pairing ch it is pronounced li ke the ch in cheque or sketch.Take a language class to improve your Spanish. Source: VisualhuntTake Private Lessons to Master the Spanish AlphabetWhen you don’t have the time or the money to go to Spain to learn Spanish the next best thing is to take private lessons.We have Superprof tutors all over the world so you can find one near you! Learning to speak Spanish in a home language course is one of the best ways to increase your language skills.We have a vast pool of experienced teachers to help you sound like a native speaker!A great technique for learning, especially for children, is singing! Reciting Spanish letters in song will make them easier to remember and you won’t get bored.Fortunately for beginners, you don’t have a completely new alphabet to learn like in Korean or Arabic.So why learn the Spanish alphabet if it’s like ours?Because this revision will limit spelling mistakes when you move onto Spanish writing and it will help with your pronunciation. In addition, it will make learning grammar easier since you will also know which letter to write for each Spanish diphthong.Try reading Spanish news and listen to podcasts or Spanish-language radio programs to improve your comprehension of the Spanish accent.Why?Because you will familiarize yourself with the tonic accent of the language and it is a good way to increase your general knowledge: to learn more, for example about the History of Spain, the History of the Spanish colonization of the Latin-American continent, to learn about politics in Spain, discover Spanish literature or music.In short, immerse yourself linguistically and culturally before you even go on a trip to Spain! You can do this with spanish classes london!

Ask an MBA Admissions Expert Graham Richmond

Ask an MBA Admissions Expert Graham Richmond Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. As he pursued his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Graham Richmond participated as a student admissions officer where he read hundreds of applications. After graduating from the program, Graham returned to the Wharton Admissions Committee and contributed to the redesigning of the schools admissions process while representing the program at conferences internationally as well. Graham eventually left and co-founded Clear Admit, an MBA Admissions Consulting service, where he has assisted thousands of students with their application processes and has earned an impressive reputation as a leading expert in the field. VT: How much time should be set aside to adequately prepare for and complete the application for an MBA program? Graham: Preparation time in terms of hours or months definitely varies per applicant and based on the application season as a whole, e.g., someone applying to one school in Round 2 (January deadlines) would have a very different application timeline than someone applying to six programs across the first two rounds (October and January deadlines). Applicants also need to account for factors outside the process of drafting the application materials themselvesGMAT or GRE preparation, for instance, varies broadly by applicant and could tack on months of intensive study before an online application form is even made. It would also be worthwhile to account for the time needed to, say, visit a class or tour a schools campus depending on applicants schedules and transportation options. Generally though, since most schools release their application deadlines and essay topics in the spring or summer before the admissions season begins, Id advise applicants to start organizing their application calendars then. Knowing when each application will be due and what it entails is first way to see how much time youll need to prepare. We estimate that our hourly clients work with their Clear Admit counselors for an average of 12 to 15 hours per school, and prospective MBA students should also tack on the time it will take them to initially draft their essays and other materials and complete other requirements, like standardized test scores as noted above. VT: What would you say is the single most important thing to focus on for this kind of application? Graham: Theres no right answer to how to ace an application, and Id say the most important thing for an applicant is to create an honest application that is both error-free, attentive to detail and that really lets the admissions committee get to know who you are (while ideally conveying your excitement for the MBA program in question). Admissions committees are looking to find out a lot about who applicants really are so as to determine how they might fit into a carefully balanced MBA class, and submitting applications that are vague or sloppy wont give the admissions committee much to work with or convince them that youre worth admitting. VT: What do MBA admissions officers look for most in the essay questions? Graham: Admissions officers are definitely looking to get you know you from the essays but also for a few other things. They are looking to see if youve done research on the program and can envision yourself on their campus, and they want to see that you have a good sense of your strengths, weaknesses, and preparedness for an MBA. More basically, they are looking to confirm that applicants can follow directions in the essays and write clear and compelling answers to the essay prompts within the guidelines specified. VT: What are the biggest mistakes one can make on this application? Graham: There are quite a few ways that applicants can send up red flags on their application, and I would say that reusing application materials across multiple applications is the main way candidates get themselves in trouble. Most notorious of course is the mistake of actually leaving in the name of School X when writing an application for School Y, which from my own admissions experience signals a definitely lack of respect for the school that receives the wrong name. In relation to my answer to the question above, not answering the question asked in your essay is another big mistake, and this might indicate to the admissions officer that you were either reusing an essay from another school or just not paying attention when you were drafting quickly. Another common mistake, and one that an admissions consultant could certainly help applicants avoid, would be simple grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors that also convey that applicants have put relatively little effort into their files or do not have the communication skills needed for an MBA. Finally, the use of excessive industry jargon can signal to the admissions committee that the applicant is unable to communicate their experiences in terms that are going to be easily understood by their future classmates. VT: What aspects of the MBA admissions process makes it most different from undergraduate admissions process? Graham: I like to describe MBA admissions as a mix of art and science given the fluid nature of schools selection criteria, and this quality actually makes the process more similar to undergraduate admissions than to say law or medical school applications. One important difference between undergraduate and business school admissions is that most applicants will be drawing heavily from their professional experiences when creating their MBA applications, which obviously doesnt come into play in such a way in undergraduate admissions. VT: Is there anything that automatically disqualifies an applicant from being considered for an MBA program (i.e. low GPA, lack of particular work experience, etc.)? Graham: I would say no, unless for instance an applicant is applying to a program whose stated requirements he or she doesnt meet, e.g., a dual degree program that specifies an undergraduate focus an applicant does not have. Some challenging factors of an applicants profile, however, are easier to resolve than others either before or during the application process, but only direct violations of admission policies are automatic disqualifiers. VT: What kind of work experiences should be highlighted in the MBA application? Graham: This is also something that varies really applicant by applicant. Some schools will state what kind of experience they want to see from prospective students, which is wise to take into account before preparing your application, but there is no single right answer. Generally, for example, leadership experiences are great to highlight, but an applicant who doesnt have an obvious record of quantitative achievements might need to focus more on those experiences instead. The balance of different kinds of experience really varies on an individual basis. VT: What advice do you have regarding GMAT test prep? Graham: There are a lot of different test prep services out there that tailor to a range of learning styles, and applicants test prep range from books to free GMAT tips from various online sources to paid one-on-one tutoring. While certainly not all applicants need to use a GMAT prep service, any applicant who wants to raise his or her score should look into the many different services out there to find one that matches their needs in terms of time commitments, teaching approach, etc. VT: Is it absolutely necessary to have work experience prior to starting an MBA degree? Graham: In a word, no, though this kind of requirement varies across different programs and the vast majority of candidates would definitely be well served to have at least two years of experience at the time they apply. Ive also known some programs to conditionally accept applicants provided they gained a certain amount of professional experience before matriculating, and of course Harvard has formalized this through the HBS 2+2 Program. Business schools really range on this issue, though, and applicants who find they are qualified to apply to their target programs without work experience still face somewhat higher stakes than others in the poolits very important that these applicants can clearly explain how an MBA is the only viable next step in their career despite their lack of work experience. VT: What are the characteristics of a great MBA program? Graham: I encourage applicants looking for a great business school experience to start by examining their own professional and academic needs, as well as their preferred lifestyle and location, to find out what program will be great for them. An MBA program isnt great because of ranking alone, and different applicants will have great fits with different programs. An applicant who wants to design his or her first-year curriculum, for instance, wont fit with the Harvard MBA while an applicant who doesnt like an urban environment isnt going to be happy at Columbia. In the end, a great MBA program has the right combination of curriculum offerings, extracurricular and leadership opportunities, campus experiences and career resources to suit its students, be it an aspiring leader in investment banking or a budding global entrepreneur. Go to ClearAdmit.com for more information and insights from Graham and his team.The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.