FIRST MEETING

You’ve come a long way. Your diverse set of personal, professional, and academic experiences taught you unforgettable lessons and helped expand your world. You've accomplished so much.  Now, you’re ready to take the next step. The application process to an academic program in higher education can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be stressful.

The first meeting with Apply Point is an effective way to review our services and gauge the fit between you and your consulting team (a former director of admissions of the graduate program to which you are applying and a communications specialist). We look forward to meeting you and helping you begin this exhilarating process.

RECOMMENDATION MANAGEMENT

We will help you to identify the most effective recommenders based on your previous experience. And we will also help you craft and manage all requests and communications with your recommenders.

While you will not have direct control over the content in a recommendation, through a series of strategic communications, you can guide your recommender to emphasize the specific areas of strength that will set you apart. We will also ensure their messages align with your overall application strategy.

CV/RESUME CONSTRUCTION

The resume is your profile sheet, your brand brief, your snapshot. It is meant to be a concise yet powerful piece containing key information about your professional experiences and academic accomplishments. We will help you build one that is visibly appealing and verbally succinct.

Scholarship Preparation

Your application for admission is also your application for merit-based scholarships at most graduate programs. If you’ve been admitted to multiple programs and have received scholarship offers, your admissions journey isn’t over yet. Merit-based scholarships are negotiable, so you don’t have to settle on the first offer. Apply Point will not only advise you on the scholarship negotiation process, but our experts can also assist in applications for outside scholarships and grants.

Denial Analysis

If you have been denied by a particular program, we will meet with you to develop a contingency plan. You will have the option to either accept an offer at one of the other programs to which you’ve been admitted or you can re-apply to the program that sent the denial notice. If you decide to re-apply, we will help you get to the bottom of the weak spots and better prepare you for reapplication the following season. Please know that in the world of graduate admissions, re-applicants are highly regarded for their perseverance.

APPLICANT EVALUATION

During our second meeting, we look forward to learning more about you. How did you get to where you are today? What are your greatest strengths? How about your weaknesses to overcome? What are your objectives in higher education? What sets you apart? Not only do we want to assess your skill-sets and professional goals, but we look forward to getting to know you a bit better and brainstorming compelling topics for essay content development.

What have been your most unforgettable experiences and lessons we could use to inspire a memorable essay? To get started, we will review your responses on the Applicant Evaluation form you will complete before the evaluation session.

ESSAY CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

If anything is going to push an applicant over the edge, it is going to be the essay. It is the first time, before you meet an admissions director face-to-face, that you can make a memorable statement about who you are, what you feel strongly about, and how your journey has influenced your choices and your passions. Most essay questions are broad, so you will have a lot of freedom to make each response uniquely yours alone.

We will guide and encourage you to use the space to capture and carry the reader through a carefully crafted and thought-provoking piece that leaves them feeling inspired and enlightened about your candidacy and fit. Ask any admissions director and they will be able to tell you about a time when a powerful essay prompted them to ‘fight for’ and ‘win’ an applicant, even if this applicant had other factors, like the standardized test score, stacked against them.

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT

An admissions officer's first impression of you won't be contained entirely in the polished application package you’ve been refining for months.

It is important to be cautious about the material you post online through social networking sites and review the information posted about you by others or people with your name. According to a survey by education company Kaplan, 38% of MBA programs that investigate social networking profiles have seen something that has "negatively affected" their view of an applicant. Only a quarter of the schools checking online presence said their views were improved by what they found, according to the survey.

A profile that lacks solid judgment can create a disadvantage for you in the application process. A well-written profile highlighting personal and professional achievements could help you stand out from the crowd. Apply Point will help you present content that will only strengthen your candidacy.

Strategic Plan

How are we going to position you to gain admission to multiple high-quality institutions? Based on the information gathered in the applicant evaluation meeting, we will put together a plan of action for achieving your educational goals.

We will finalize your list of schools based on your objectives and abilities, identify recommenders, create an application timeline, and identify and coordinate any additional actions like campus visits that may be necessary for you.

Essay Editing

During the editing process, we encourage you to make every word count. Is your essay telling the school who you are and what you hope to gain from their program? We will help you flesh out your stories with thought-provoking questions and candid (but kind) advice. We will also pay particular attention to sentence structure, grammar, style, and flow. Your final product will be polished and clear—and something you can be proud to send to schools.

Final Application Review

We take the final reviews of your application very seriously. A consultant and communications specialist will review your final package multiple times. With keen eyes for detail, we will strive to get your application to the best place possible.

Mock Interview

The interview can make or break your candidacy for admission. Therefore, you must prepare and practice as much as possible. A face-to-face mock interview done in person or on Zoom or Skype will stimulate the real thing. You will be asked real questions and be forced to think on your feet and respond under pressure. After the interview, we will provide you with feedback, a written assessment, and an improvement plan that we will continue to address should you need further coaching.

*Apply Point prefers to do face-to-face interviews in New York City, but mock interviews can also be done via phone. Zoom, or Skype.

Waitlist Positioning

Our goal is your acceptance, however, in the case you are either waitlisted or denied from a program, there is more we can do. The waitlist is most commonly used with borderline applications to bide time for the admissions committee. Before making the final decision, admissions officers will compare the quality of the waitlisted applications to those that arrive later in the cycle.

Once you hear you’ve been waitlisted, we will talk immediately, evaluate all possibilities, and devise a strategy that will pinpoint and address possible weaknesses. We will also assist you in crafting letters of intent to those top-choice schools at which you’ve been waitlisted.