Sweet Endings - How to leave your audience in AWE!
Ever wonder what it takes to leave your audience thinking "WOW" after reading your essay? Here are a few successful examples Panache in Ballet Dancers always make dancing on stage looks so effortless. However, behind the scenes, it actually takes years of painstaking practice to do a perfect pirouette and arabesque. Every girl wants to put on pointe shoes and pink tutus but not everyone can make it through the pain and hardships. My ballet experiences have shaped my personali

Engaging Hooks - How to capture attention straight away!
Many college and master's application committees spend no more than 20 minutes reviewing an applicant's information. To get the readers excited, here are some fantastic hooks that draw readers right into the essay: The Ballet Dancer When I was ten, I was the only one who could not do a split, and my teacher told me if I couldn’t perform a split, I wouldn’t be able to join the Christmas performance as it was a required move. You cannot imagine how crucial the Christmas perform

Passion Essay - What to Write!
Many admissions committee members and job recruiters want to get to know their potential employees in person. As a result, many of them ask you about your passions - so that they can gauge whether or not you would be a good fit for their school / job. Here is a short essay I wrote on my passion for cooking! Happy reading! Hope it helps :D I am passionate about… Cooking! I have taken over 80 hours of cooking classes at the San Francisco Cooking School. I love cooking and exper

Superhero Series: How to Write Essays like Batman
Do you remember the last time you were emotionally touched by a television scene or after reading a heartbreaking chapter? In real life, shit happens, and these events may either directly or indirectly change the course of your journey. As Alfred Pennyworth (Batman’s Butler) once said, “Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.” The following is an essay I wrote to successfully get into the Haas Business School. ___________________________________________

Recycling Essays for Different Applications? Here’s Our Advice and a Sample!
Applying to a school, whether it is for undergraduate or graduate studies is a lot of work. However, there are ways to maximize the time you spend on each essay. One of these ways is recycling the optional essay, or a more open-ended question. We highly recommend applicants customize their essays for each application – researching intensively on specific professors, classes, and immersion experiences. However, in certain cases, recycling an essay makes sense, and even works!

Strategies for value creation in private equity investing
Over the years, private equity buyout funds outperformed public markets in all major regions over longer time horizons. Both the number of buyout funds and the value of buyout capital sought were up in 2015. Finally, positive cash flow from distributions supported new PE buyout fund commitments in all major regions. The trends outlined are a direct function of value creation by private equity funds. Some of the strategies for value creation are outlined below. Transparency: t

Best Sponsorship Companies for International Students Looking to Enter Finance
There have been many times when I attended a career fair, only to realize that my opportunities were severely limited because of my international student status. Many employers do not want the added uncertainty of hiring an international student, because they are not guaranteed permanent working visas. This article will suggest the main companies that are known to hire international students for full time jobs: Big 4: The Big 4 accounting firms include Deloitte, Ernst and You

Advanced Valuation Topics – Purchase Price Allocations
Once an acquisition has been made, have you ever wondered which companies or departments does the transaction accounting for these deals? Valuation and business modelling departments are mostly in charge of purchase price accounting, especially when the company acquired is a technology company or a similar firm with significant amounts of intangible assets. A purchase price allocation is essentially what its name suggests. It is a form of transaction accounting where one figu

5 Ways TO dress in an Investment Banking Interview (for Men)
In a previous article, we covered how NOT to dress in investment banking / finance interviews. Today we cover what you can wear to these interviews. Wear traditionally light colors: These colors include really light shades of blue and grey, and white. Other light colors may be okay, but typically you cannot go wrong with a classic white shirt. Business Casual means wear a full suit and tie: Better to stay on the safe side and dress-up rather than down. Have your belt color ma

Sample Day Series: Debt Private Placements Analyst
6 am: Wake up, check mail to see if there are any updates to a few pitches my managing director was presenting on his Europe trip. 7 – 8 am: Leave the apartment with earphones on, tuned in to the 7 am global DCM team update call. The flavor of the day is the Greek bailout and impending referendum. The teams from the UK and US mention how a few public bond deals were pulled due to the European turmoil and volatility. The conversation then turns to a few organizational changes
