Ross released its questions, and they are:

Required Questions:

You must answer the following four questions below.

Long Answers: (500 word max)

1. Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influence your decision to apply to Ross?

2. Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization.

Short Answers: (300 word max)

3. If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1 what profession would you pursue instead? (For example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternative interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems?

4. Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it.

Optional Question

Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?

Ross 2010 MBA Deadlines

Many students do not attend medical school immediately following undergrad for a variety of reasons. Many traditional applicants spend the year improving their academic credentials and gaining additional research or clinical experience. Improving pre-med credentials is probably the most common reason for the "gap year."

Some students, however, decide that they want to use this "gap year" more for self development and enrichment. They choose to take this time to go abroad, travel, teach, or even pursue other interests such as writing or dance. These options are all acceptable if your medical school application is solid. Often students seek out unique opportunities, like volunteering at a medical mission or partaking in a service year either here in the states or abroad. Pursuing anything you are passionate about for this year is something that many students feel they want. This “year off” from what has likely been a long journey focused on your medical school aspirations, is often a time of personal growth, allowing students the time they need for reflection and validation of career goals.

Whether you spend the year working in a lab, volunteering in a clinic, taking courses or doing something completely non-medical – you will be experiencing the “real” world and maturing. This experience and process will make you a stronger applicant. During this time you will develop those non-tangible strengths such as leadership , motivation, dedication, and compassion -- attributes admissions committees are looking for in their applicants. The bottom line: spend the year doing what is right for you – get involved, be stimulated, broaden your options and open yourself to new opportunities.  Involve yourself in experiences that will not only supplement your AMCAS application but also those that will allow you to grow both personally and professionally.

By guest blogger Theresa Davies-Heerema, Ph.D., who has advised many medical and dental school applicants during her career in post-graduate education.

Let's see what's happening at Accepted and in the MBA world at large:

• Take 2 -- Accepted is hosting its first-ever MBA reapplicant webinar on Thursday Aug 6 at 1:00 PM ET. The webinar is free. Just register to obtain access information.
• MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Chat. MIT Sloan will launch our 2010 MBA admissions chats on Wednesday Aug 12 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET when Jennifer Burke Barba, MIT Sloan's Assistant Director of MBA Admissions, and other members of the MIT community will participate in this chat devoted to MIT's admissions policies, program, and student life.
• GRE vs the GMAT. Wharton recently joined Harvard, Stanford, and MIT in accepting the GRE in lieu of the GMAT. BW provides background on the competition between the GRE and the GMAT.
• NYU Stern gets new dean. NYU named Peter Blair Henry – the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Economics at Stanford University – as dean of NYU’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He will assume the deanship effective January 15, 2010.
• The disappearing international student.  Alison Damast of Businessweek reports on declining international enrollment at MBA programs in the United States.

In a forum for the School's corporate guests and alumni to reflect and debate with leaders on the global downturn, the Summit consisted of keynote sessions and interactive panels which discussed how businesses can emerge stronger once the recession is over.  The day concluded with a cocktail reception in the presence of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.

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Inside Higher Ed reports that medical schools are increasingly using new technology in conjunction with a greater emphasis on the behavioral sciences. Motivated by advances in medicine, med schools have started to utilize creative approaches to enable students to view patients as human beings rather than collections of symptoms. 

M. Brownell Anderson, senior director of education affairs at the AAMC explains, “Medicine has moved away from the focus on curing disease to wellness and prevention, so the patient is considered in a holistic way. It’s not looking at the diabetic ulcer of the foot, but saying ‘this is Ms. Jones and she has problems maintaining her diabetes.’”

Tremendous change has occurred in curricula at medical schools. One of the more significant changes involves the use of virtual simulations, enabling students to serve as physicians for avatars.

Since they have fewer preconceptions, newer medical schools have a distinct advantage when it comes to innovative curriculum design and technology usage in the classroom. For example, The University of Central Florida Medical Schools, which is about to induct its first class this fall, has developed a program where each student will work with a virtual patient throughout their four years in medical school. Students will treat their avatars from birth to death, following their complete medical history through the life cycle. Creators of the new technology hope to share it with other medical schools, as well.

While perhaps more slowly, some older medical schools have revamped the traditional curriculum:

• Harvard University – The Medical School is reforming its curriculum to bring together clinical education, small group tutorials, and problem-based learning. Students start their clinical experience at a teaching hospital earlier in their medical studies than they have in the past.

• Columbia University – The College of Physicians and Surgeons requires students to take classes in narrative medicine with the goal of helping students understand the emotional aspects of illness and ultimately work more effectively with patients.

• UCSF – The School of Medicine is beginning to use portfolios to help students assess their progress. Mentors review the portfolios to determine whether students are ready to move forward in their medical education.

It's Thursday again and time for our next Thank You Thursday winner on Twitter!

douglb52/ Doug Barg

27 followers

Congratulations on winning your choice of Accepted.com Admissions Ebooks!

We want to thank our Twitter followers. Twice a month, we randomly pick one of our followers as a winner in our Thank You Thursday contest. The Thank You Thursday winner will receive an Accepted ebook of his or her choice. Just our way of saying - "Thanks for Tweeting with us!".

Not on Twitter yet? Join now to stay up to date on the latest admissions news and events and to have a chance to be our next Thank You Thursday winner.