Letter Of Admission

Letter Of Admission However, an essay consisting entirely of summary is going to be dry and boring to read. Applerouth is open, and our tutors are eager to help you.Click here for more about how we have adapted to meet our students' current needs. Learn about the growing trend amongst four-year universities to recruit from community college campuses. This is a great strategy because it grabs your reader’s attention and compels them to continue in order to find out what is going on and fill in the gaps in their understanding. These are the parts that make your essay come alive. The first paragraph is mostly summary â€" it tells the reader facts about who you are, things you’ve done, tendencies you have, etc. (e.g. I never saw myself as a cat person). Summaries can be useful for bridging the gap between in-scene moments, or reflecting back on an experience and what it meant to you. The experiences that have brought you to this moment and goal of getting into college. Use what you’ve done and learned to make your essay stand out. The word “essay” comes from the French word “essai,” meaning try or attempt. The 16th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, the father of the essay, described it as a series of attempts. It can be very helpful to ask someone who doesn't know you very well, because they will have no preconceived notions of your character or experiences and will thus be more objective. Ask a good teacher, a counselor, or another professional to go over your draft. Though I had decided that I could not go, I still felt concerned about the potential impact of the group's attendance, and wanted to gain more insight into the situation before deciding on a course of action. I shared my concerns with my partner and another student. My partner agreed with me, and we decided to consult his physician father. I think my writer did an awesome job in a timely manner! Very good service I would return to have service done by the company. Pro tipâ€"Use personal details from your life that differentiate you from others. Essay application instructions will indicate which files types are accepted or supported. She is trying to follow all of the advice out there. She is trying to make this one short essay everything. With this information in hand, I knew I had to contact the organization lead about the excursion. She forbid our group from attending, requesting that I inform the other students, who were obviously disappointed that I had 'gotten the trip cancelled'. Be honest.Just like when you submit anything else, you don’t want to fill out your essay with something that isn’t true. This essay is something that shows what makes you ‘you’. But that’s precisely the pressure my daughter feels. The advice is to “be yourself on paper” and write the story no one else can tell. To write something “unforgettable” and “perfect” that will win you the prize of acceptance to your top choice colleges. In his collections he often merged personal self-examination with psychology. He reflected on his own small experiences, but set them in a larger context. I see a structural problem, as well as too much telling and not enough showing. Enjoy an academic head start and a competitive edge against other applicants by starting first at community college. If a school offers multiple prompt options for the essay, don’t choose too quickly â€" think about how you would answer each prompt and choose the strongest option. Ask that person if you addressed the question, if your essay makes sense, and if your message is clear. Ask them for their impression of the person writing the essay, how would they describe this person? Does that match with what you were trying to convey?

Letter Of Admission

Letter Of Admission However, an essay consisting entirely of summary is going to be dry and boring to read. Applerouth is open, and our tutors are eager to help you.Click here for more about how we have adapted to meet our students' current needs. Learn about the growing trend amongst four-year universities to recruit from community college campuses. This is a great strategy because it grabs your reader’s attention and compels them to continue in order to find out what is going on and fill in the gaps in their understanding. These are the parts that make your essay come alive. The first paragraph is mostly summary â€" it tells the reader facts about who you are, things you’ve done, tendencies you have, etc. (e.g. I never saw myself as a cat person). Summaries can be useful for bridging the gap between in-scene moments, or reflecting back on an experience and what it meant to you. The experiences that have brought you to this moment and goal of getting into college. Use what you’ve done and learned to make your essay stand out. The word “essay” comes from the French word “essai,” meaning try or attempt. The 16th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, the father of the essay, described it as a series of attempts. It can be very helpful to ask someone who doesn't know you very well, because they will have no preconceived notions of your character or experiences and will thus be more objective. Ask a good teacher, a counselor, or another professional to go over your draft. Though I had decided that I could not go, I still felt concerned about the potential impact of the group's attendance, and wanted to gain more insight into the situation before deciding on a course of action. I shared my concerns with my partner and another student. My partner agreed with me, and we decided to consult his physician father. I think my writer did an awesome job in a timely manner! Very good service I would return to have service done by the company. Pro tipâ€"Use personal details from your life that differentiate you from others. Essay application instructions will indicate which files types are accepted or supported. She is trying to follow all of the advice out there. She is trying to make this one short essay everything. With this information in hand, I knew I had to contact the organization lead about the excursion. She forbid our group from attending, requesting that I inform the other students, who were obviously disappointed that I had 'gotten the trip cancelled'. Be honest.Just like when you submit anything else, you don’t want to fill out your essay with something that isn’t true. This essay is something that shows what makes you ‘you’. But that’s precisely the pressure my daughter feels. The advice is to “be yourself on paper” and write the story no one else can tell. To write something “unforgettable” and “perfect” that will win you the prize of acceptance to your top choice colleges. In his collections he often merged personal self-examination with psychology. He reflected on his own small experiences, but set them in a larger context. I see a structural problem, as well as too much telling and not enough showing. Enjoy an academic head start and a competitive edge against other applicants by starting first at community college. If a school offers multiple prompt options for the essay, don’t choose too quickly â€" think about how you would answer each prompt and choose the strongest option. Ask that person if you addressed the question, if your essay makes sense, and if your message is clear. Ask them for their impression of the person writing the essay, how would they describe this person? Does that match with what you were trying to convey?

Essays

Essays On a desk in the left corner, a framed picture of an Asian family is beaming their smiles, buried among US history textbooks and The Great Gatsby. A Korean ballad streams from a pair of tiny computer speakers. Describe what you learned from the experience and how it changed you. It could be an experience, a person, a bookâ€"anything that has had an impact on your life. I have learned to accept my “ambiguity” as “diversity,” as a third-culture student embracing both identities in this diverse community that I am blessed to be a part of. I look around my room, dimly lit by an orange light. You will have to pull out all the stops to make it happen. Here are some practical guidelines you can use to make sure that the essay you create delivers the exact message you want them to receive. Before you start your second draft, set your first draft aside for a few days and then read it again with fresh eyes. You’ll quickly be able to spot what’s wrong and know what to do when you begin your second draft. Make sure to include elements from each of your lists. Influencers may be your high school drama teacher or a famous actor or actress (make sure you detail why they are your influencer. Wrote my first play in the fifth grade and then directed the production for the entire school. After you complete each list, start elaborating by adding in details. Anything you can think of should be added to the list as long as it meets the three criteria we mentioned earlier. These will become the first morsels of truth you will include in your essay. You need a strategy to get all of that into an essay and still tell a compelling story. The theme hook needs to be strong enough to make your message clear and set your essay apart from everyone else’s. The opening hook needs to be intriguing enough to get the reader interested in the story. Make sure that when you set out to write that you write the entire thing from the beginning. Avoid the temptation to cut and past but instead, open up a new file and start all over from the beginning. I analyze why I think this essay works in The Complete Guide, Session 6. Frozen in disbelief, the chicken tries to make sense of her harsh words. We accept incomplete narratives when they serve us well, overlooking their logical gaps. Other times, we exaggerate even the smallest defects and uncertainties in narratives we don’t want to deal with. In a world where we know very little about the nature of “Truth,” it’s very easyâ€"and temptingâ€"to construct stories around truth claims that unfairly legitimize or delegitimize the games we play. As with rock-paper-scissors, we often cut our narratives short to make the games we play easier, ignoring the intricate assumptions that keep the game running smoothly. Like rock-paper-scissors, we tend to accept something not because it’s true, but because it’s the convenient route to getting things accomplished. Pamphlets of American colleges are scattered about on the floor. A cold December wind wafts a strange infusion of ramen and leftover pizza. On the wall in the far back, a Korean flag hangs besides a Led Zeppelin poster. The last step is editing and proofreading your finished essay. Try to identify what the tone of your essay is going to be based on your ideas. Don't reuse an answer to a similar question from another application. Anyone can write about how they won the big game or the summer they spent in Rome. When recalling these events, you need to give more than the play-by-play or itinerary.

Sample Essay 2 With Admissions Feedback

Sample Essay 2 With Admissions Feedback Don’t be overly influenced by others’ ideas or essays other people have written. Don’t let anyone else write any part of your essay. DON’T tell the reader what they already know about you. Instead, tell them what they should know about you. Before you start writing, DO look at what the question is asking for and prepare yourself to respond appropriately. When you are thinking about your answer, ask yourself repeatedly if you are answering what the question is asking for. Nobody is going to learn anything of value from you if you fill your essay with complaints, excuses and self-loathing. One thing you absolutely should DO is read your essay out loud to yourself. To see if your voice and your personality are really on that piece of paper. Don’t repeat what is found elsewhere in your application, unless you’re adding pertinent information to round it out. Do write in your own style and using your own words. Perhaps it was subconscious at the time, but while many of my elementary school friends were playing sports with their dads, I was looking for a way to connect to my donor through music. During middle school and high school, my enthusiasm for music and performing accelerated in tandem with my talent. In addition to pursuing instrumental music, I began singing in theatre and in an a cappella group. Eerily similar to the college application process, there were many qualified donor applicants. Choosing one donor from the pool of applicants was an insurmountable task for my mom until she realized there was an essay buried in the back of each profile. After reading my donor’s essay, she chose him because he spoke so eloquently about his passion for music and the arts. We always aim to provide you with an outstanding service and a great admissions essay. We believe in providing the best value for money and we will write your admissions essay for as cheap as we possibly can without compromising on quality. Are you in that essay or does it just sound like it could be anyone else? When you read it yourself and actually hear your words, you are more inclined to identify areas where your writing doesn’t flow well or where you start to stray from your message. It is easy to buy an admissions essay from Academized. Simply fill in the online order form telling us the question, length and any additional guidelines. Tell us which institution you are applying to and your top writer will make sure that your completed admissions essay hits all the major things that institution values. Buying an admissions essay from a top writer ensures your essay will be snappy and legit. It will catch the admission board attention for the right reasons. Take the time to make sure your essay is something you’re proud of. Do let your unique voice and personality come through in your writing. Do have a teacher, counselor, parent or friend with strong writing skills proofread your essay. Do write as many drafts of your essay as it takes to make it shine brightly. Don’t wait until the last minute to start writing. This knowledge was the catalyst for me to begin exploring my own musical abilities. I quickly learned to play the clarinet and joined the elementary school band. As soon as I was physically big enough to carry around a mini Fender electric guitar, I begged to take guitar lessons. It will be professionally edited and proofread and it will flow perfectly. That’s why Academized.com employ the best professional writers, from whom you can buy admissions essay online. Do tell a story in an interesting and engaging way. Don’t just relay the facts, but pretend you are sitting in a coffee shop talking to a friend.

How To Write A 500 Word Essay In An Hour

How To Write A 500 Word Essay In An Hour Last but not the least, do not forget to use spell checker and correct grammatical errors before attaching it to your application. Aspiring for a college degree is a wonderful thought. You are thinking of a bright and comfortable future for yourself or your family. Having said that you must also think about building up your profile when applying to the college of your choice to pursue a career you are passionate about. Incidentally, for those of you obsessives out there who checked Mike's word count and discovered it to be 670 , keep in mind that this was not a Common Application essay. This was the first time thoughts of death ever cross my mind. The challenge of the internship was that, when it was finished, I had to turn all of the documents I had reviewed into a presentation at a , which I would then deliver to an elementary school class. I spent weeks compiling data, creating visuals, and practicing my delivery. College, where one learns to question the status quo, seems like it would be the perfect place for a tomato living in a . Yet I also recognize that the coming time will be a challenge. Sure, it's risky with potential deadly results, but it gets me where I want to go in a short time. But as my mom and the airline industry have proven, out of the many flights from Chicago to New York, there always are a few memorable crashes. I would try to move my leg or even shift an ankle but I never got a response. Discuss an issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. Join our interest list to receive University and application updates. Our Admissions team is happy to help you along the way. Below are some ways you can reach out and stay in touch. Find a picture and write why it is important to you. Pick a recent event and relate it to a turning point in your life. I will be confronting new ideas, new situations, and new fears, and will have to assimilate these experiences without changing the fabric of my mind. I will have to keep my vision of the world fresh and open, and not succumb to the hardening of established ideas, or onionizing, that I see occurring around me all the time. If you want to study Criminal Justice, and it’s because of some strong sense of justice from some event in your past, explain that. Be precise in your response, and don’t veer off topic or ramble. Try to answer the question in a unique way, displaying your personality and colored by your story. It could have easily performed as a Common App essay, but Mike had other things to say about himself in one of those prompts. Having my mom cut my hair is like flying on an airplane. You have the opportunity with the first line to pique curiosity and entice the reader to continue with interest. You could start part of the line with a quote, or a description of a memory. Another tact could be to explain how the field in which you want to study is important to you because of some prior experience in your life. Select two ideals listed in our literature and relate them to your personal beliefs and convictions. Describe how a song, poem, piece of art, book, etc. influenced your life.

Essay Prompts

Essay Prompts However, it will save you a lot of time in the long run. If you later realize that you misread the prompt, you might need to start the writing process from scratch. Don’t share anything that doesn’t make you sound good, unless you absolutely have to and you can turn it around to show the positive. Sophie grapples with tough issues and shows herself to be eager to learn. She successfully presents herself as a good match for a competitive liberal arts college. Sophie presents herself as someone who is continually learning, rethinking her convictions and embracing her uncertainty. It's important to note that Sophie does have strong convictions, but she is open-minded enough to challenge them. The essay shows Sophie to be an engaged, thoughtful and questioning community member. She takes on challenges, sticks with her convictions, yet she does so with pleasing open-mindedness and humility. For help with your college essay or college guidance, visit or call . You can write conversationally, but the grammar and spelling still need to be correct. And don’t solely rely on your computer’s spell-checker. Creating a schedule, even if you need to modify it later, gets your brain in motion. Like the first item, this isn’t something that should take a lot of time. This is another step that can initially seem completely skippable, but organizing your writing can save you considerable stress and frustration. A good writing plan can streamline or even eliminate the need to do any significant rewrites. With so many other things in your schedule, this process can initially seem like a waste of time. I walked through my home in fuzzy socks, hoping school would delay itself one more week! My Christmas presents no longer had much of my time, and I struggled finding the coziest jacket for ice-cold temperatures. As Christmas time floated away, I began to cherish the moments. I have also included a sample essay from this past application cycle to give you an example of what we consider a strong essay, and it is from “interesting or amusing story” prompt. Create a rough outline, including approximately how long each paragraph needs to be in order to complete the essay within the word count limits. Summarize your admission essay with a sound conclusion to bring your essay to completion. Your conclusion must impart upon your audience the a sense of completion. Be certain to relate statements included in the introduction and body of your admission essay in the conclusion of your essay. After you have written your essay, be sure to share it with friends, family, and teachers for feedback. Make sure you and someone who hasn't read the essay before give it a final read for spelling and grammar mistakes before you submit it. “There are 745 colleges with at least 1 application file on AdmitSee.com, and 286 colleges with 10+ application files on the site,” Fayal said. Exhilaration filled my body with new year jitters and reminders that half a school year remained. Sadness marinated as winter break ended, and 3AM bedtimes became nonexistent. Leverage your native culture, traditions, and experiences. If you’re an international applicant, Native American, or otherwise non-traditional student, don’t try to “Americanize” or “mainstream” your application. The goal is to stand out and not appear to be like all the other applicants. Always think about what information you want colleges to know and use when evaluating your application. “If you take out diversity candidates and student athletes, the difference between legacy and non-legacy students gets really scary,” Fayal said. Thousands will be applying to the same colleges as you are. Let us enhance your essay so that it stands out from the crowd. Even in such a badly broken system, however, there is one component that does not need to be fixed. I am talking about the dread personal essay, which is too easy to falsify, and mostly worthless even when it hasn’t been faked.

Top 10 Tips For College Admissions Essays

Top 10 Tips For College Admissions Essays She figuratively reached out, grabbed a tired and disinterested reader and made him/her want to find out how the writer was possibly going to reconcile her opening with what was supposed to be an application essay. Like the Ucas personal statement, an attention-grabbing opening sentence is crucial if you’re going to highlight yourself as an interesting person who the admissions faculty would want on their course. The Common Application and the UCA are used by many US universities and colleges, and you’ll find that if you can write an essay for one of these, you’ll have no problems with any other individual applications. Visit our Writing Lab for more writing tips, pertaining both to your college essay, and to the array of other writing challenges you’ll face in college or graduate school. Putting your ideas into the right words may take time. You should absolutely ask others to take a look at your essay before you submit it. As we work on things, we become blind to mistakes that will be glaringly apparent to others. However, limit the number of people you ask to two or three. Asking too many people for feedback will only confuse you and result in a lower quality essay as you revise the essay according to each person’s advice. Therefore, look to individuals who have background and expertise in the college admissions process. Now that I've pontificated about the value of humor in essays, let me illustrate -- once again, because it's one of my favorites from over the decades -- using a real-life example. Years ago, I worked with an amazing young man who came from a difficult upbringing. Granted, there are times when a serious tone is appropriate for your essays. In fact, trying to make light of a serious topic can sometimes backfire. I think it would just help with clarification because I have always been told to assume the audience has no idea what you are talking about when you start. I would suggest using a stronger transition than “also” in your second paragraph. I’m not positive, but I don’t think College Essay needs to be capitalized, maybe you could do Common Application Essay. I also don’t think you need the subtitles while changing the topic, maybe just make them into a topic sentence. As technology has advanced throughout the course of the development of academic institutions, the manners in which students have succeeded in achieving their goal of acceptance has also changed. Many will tell you, “Admission Boards get tired of weeding through thousands of boring essays every day, you need to do something to stand out! Though this is true now, how long did it take to get to this point? While AdmitSee's findings focused specifically on applications submitted by students who were accepted to Ivy League institutions, the site has application materials for a wide variety of schools on its site. I asked so many people for advice â€" some said I bragged too much, others said I needed to brag more, while quite a few said I didn’t brag at all and that my essay was boring. When I stopped letting other people’s voices overshadow my own, my writing process truly began. I ultimately chose to write about it after I acknowledged the fact that my past actions don’t define me. I never write my essays in order due to the way I think. If you’ve visited the campus, writing about the content of a lecture that you sat in on, or the reflections of current students in the same program can demonstrate your interest in the school. It would also provide a strong basis for your belief that you and Rice’s environment are a match. If you haven’t had such opportunities, do extensive online research to show that you’ve carefully reflected on your compatibility with Rice. Rice University is a highly-ranked private research institution composed of eight undergraduate schools, including a renowned engineering program. Rice’s residential college system coupled with its location in Houston provides students with the opportunity to experience a close-knit collegiate community within a broad urban setting. I would start with the introduction, then halfway through, I would have a really good idea for the second paragraph. I would start writing the conclusion which might lead to two other strong ideas that could go in the first and third paragraphs, etc. Could you add Acceptance or Admission to your title and sometimes in the first paragraph? When I read college essay I was given a sense that it would be an essay for a class, not the admission essay. There had to have been many groups of initial applicants in which the content of their essays mattered less than say their grammar or punctuation. But as the years went on, the genre itself eroded into, “Who has the most interesting and original content? Additionally, the College Essay itself has effectively created even more sub genres in itself by allowing students to think outside the box and stray away from the traditional paragraph writing style. The most prevalent essay types seem to be either a normally structured essay, or a creative outside the box essay. Want help on your college essays to get into your dream schools? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses, as well as our Essay Manager. For example, instead of centering your piece around the theoretical importance of medicine in society, write about how your pediatrician’s comforting bedside manner made you feel safe when you were young. Connect this experience to a future doctor’s need for knowledge of the social sciences and humanities. Instead of writing only about the thrill of medical innovation, write about the first time you saw a medical device such as a pacemaker positively contribute to someone else’s life.

College Admission Essay Help

College Admission Essay Help They have to decide whether you are a good fitâ€"both for their institution and higher education in general. Our personal statement writer service has experience writing MBA admission essays; we know all main requirements, rules of a winning essay. The application essay is not a résumé, nor is it an epic. They also don’t expect you to have survived trauma or carried out heroic feats by your senior year in high school. Colleges are not looking for the next Ernest Hemingway or Toni Morrison. You will sound smart when you use your own words and your own voice to tell a genuine story that shows who you are. Get too much help.There is a fine line between asking someone you trust to review your essay and getting too much help. When your mom, dad, teacher or tutor starts giving you words to use or edits too much, your voice disappears. There aren’t too many things you can do to ensure rejection, but plagiarism, also known as cheating, is one of them. If you use a thesaurus to find words rather than trust the words you know and use every day, you will not sound like yourself. What’s more, you might use a few big words incorrectly, which will never impress an admissions officer. Your enthusiasm for wood carving, slam poetry, Coen Brothers movies, or whatever, is what will jump off the page. You can’t make up that passion, and you shouldn’t try. More than that, college admission essays and personal statements give you the chance to tell your story. The decision your admissions officer must make is about more than just your grades and your extracurricular activities. They want to know about your interests, your values, and your character. So always represent yourself in the best way possible, but make sure you keep that depiction truthful. Now that you have decided on the story that you want to tell, the next logical step would be to write it. You need to create an outline that you will use when writing your essay. Word order means more than word choiceâ€"you need to check, double-check, sit for a while and check again to make sure your admissions essay is as polished as possible. Basic grammar is really, really, important; it won’t get you into a school on its own, but without it, you could cost yourself a spot. Making sure you have the right punctuation in the right place and using active voice over passive is vital. Each essay should focus on different qualities and events, and should help you become 3-D for the admissions officers. 2) Make sure you know what you want the college to know about you before you decide what story to tell. Read the prompt before, during and after you write your draft, then ask someone else to tell you whether or not you responded to it. This mistake shows that you don’t care enough to proofread your application. Admissions committees might forgive a typo, but they don’t like to hear that you wish you were going to school somewhere else. Most times, an outline should not be based on the college admission essay format which will be discussed below. However, this format may vary depending on your university of choice or the course you intend to pursue, as will be explained below. High school senior year marks one of the most anxious periods in a student’s life. That said, make sure your good grammar doesn’t keep the essay from sounding like you. Don’t push to use fancier language or longer sentences than you normally would. Use the simplest word you need to get a point acrossâ€"every time. Sell yourself as you really are, so that reading your writing and having a conversation with you both feel like meeting the same person. The genuine article onlyâ€"everything is significant when it comes to telling your own story. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve seen, and this is not a time where a reader is judging your list of achievements. The most important factor of your college admissions essay is that you’re writing about what’s truly important to you. Have confidence in your own choicesâ€"what music is special to you, the authors you most value, the activities you participate in. Do tell a great story that communicates some unique qualities you offer a college. Do tell a specific story that grabs the reader’s attention. Don’t focus on a negative event or a struggle without spending more time on what you learned or gain from it? Don’t write about a person without spending 2/3 of the essay focusing on how that person shaped youâ€"specifically.

Sample Essay 2 With Admissions Feedback

Sample Essay 2 With Admissions Feedback Like the phoenix I will continue to rise from the ashes, experienced and renewed. I will not waste time for my life is already in flux. Yet I've realized that life is fickler than I had imagined; it can disappear or change at any time. Several of my family members left this world in one last beating symphony; heart attacks seem to be a trend in my family. I shared my concerns with my partner and another student. My partner agreed with me, and we decided to consult his physician father. With this information in hand, I knew I had to contact the organization lead about the excursion. She forbid our group from attending, requesting that I inform the other students, who were obviously disappointed that I had 'gotten the trip cancelled'. I think my writer did an awesome job in a timely manner! The difference between ADPP and most other organizations is its emphasis on the basics and making changes that last. Working towards those changes to solve real life problems is what excites me. This is a college essay that worked for University of Pennsylvania . This is a college essay that worked for Duke University. So, I will forgive and forget, love and inspire, experience and satire, laugh and cry, accomplish and fail, live and die. This is how I want to live my life, with this optimistic attitude that every day is a second chance. All the time, we have the opportunity to renew our perspective on life, to correct our mistakes, and to simply move on. UMass Amherst provides many resources on campus in order to protect our students from harm. My biggest advice for choosing an idea is to pick something you are passionate about. From this, the voice in your writing will display your passion â€" and be a lot more interesting to read. Ask that person if you addressed the question, if your essay makes sense, and if your message is clear. Using flow cytometry to excite each individually suspended cell with a laser, the scattered light from the cells helped to determine which cells were living, had died from apoptosis or had died from necrosis. Using this collected data, it was possible to determine if the curcumin and/or the nanoparticles had played any significant role on the cervical cancer cells. Later, I was able to image cells in 4D through con-focal microscopy. From growing HeLa cells to trying to kill them with different compounds, I was able to gain the hands-on experience necessary for me to realize once again why I love science. This past summer, I had the privilege of participating in the University of Notre Dame’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program . This is a college essay that worked for Harvard University. If a school offers multiple prompt options for the essay, don’t choose too quickly â€" think about how you would answer each prompt and choose the strongest option. Ask them for their impression of the person writing the essay, how would they describe this person? Does that match with what you were trying to convey? It can be very helpful to ask someone who doesn't know you very well, because they will have no preconceived notions of your character or experiences and will thus be more objective. Ask a good teacher, a counselor, or another professional to go over your draft. Though I had decided that I could not go, I still felt concerned about the potential impact of the group's attendance, and wanted to gain more insight into the situation before deciding on a course of action. Very good service I would return to have service done by the company. Pro tipâ€"Use personal details from your life that differentiate you from others. The word “essay” comes from the French word “essai,” meaning try or attempt. They left like birds; laughing one minute and in a better place the next. Using equipment that a high school student could only dream of using, I was able to map apoptosis versus necrosis in HeLa cells, a cervical cancer line, after treating them with curcumin-bound nanoparticles.

How To Write A College Application Essay

How To Write A College Application Essay The college essay is a page-long assignment given to you by a school, to be completed by a certain date. When your first draft is complete, don’t rely on a spellchecker to correct spelling and grammar mistakes; ask tutors, family and friends to look at it and give you their feedback. Make sure you go through at least several rounds of this, and you’ll achieve a polished essay that will give you the best chance of success with your US college applications. Great essays ideas are oftentimes thrown away because the first version of an essay was executed poorly and readers are unable to even comprehend the message behind it. Before asking others to give feedback, really try to finalize the essay to the best of your ability. Although you don’t have to make final decisions for your college list yet, you want to have a number of schools that you’re stoked to apply to and will stay on your college list. The earlier you can accomplish this, the earlier you can start on the rest of the application work. Do online research, visit campuses if possible, check out schools on CampusReel, attend college fairs, talk to alumni, etc. This is about you figuring out where it is you can academically flourish. Read the top 147 college essays that worked at Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, and more. What will admissions officers know about me prior to my essay from my teachers, counselors, activities and grades,What is it about me that they would need to know to be more apt to want me there. Write a story with a setting, a beginning, a middle and an end. In drafting your essay, focus on the content of the narrative. The conclusion must round off your essay in a way that leaves a lasting good impression upon the admissions tutor. It should be a summary of what you have learned from your experiences and how they have shaped you into the person you are today. Make sure you launch straight into telling the reader why you’re unique, without wasting time restating the prompt or describing what you’re going to write about. Like the Ucas personal statement, an attention-grabbing opening sentence is crucial if you’re going to highlight yourself as an interesting person who the admissions faculty would want on their course. We are true college essay specialists, with a honed professional understanding that is way beyond essay coaching and writing services. Utilizing our experience, knowledge base and deep-level strategies, your writing will be top flight, unique and will stand head and shoulders above your competition. If we met face-to-face, what would you want us to know about you? These personal insight questions allow you to tell us. Whatever questions you answer, make sure you show us your personalityâ€"just as you would in real life. Choose a topic you’re connected to.Your essay is a chance to show who you are beyond your grades and test scores. After looking at the essay prompts, brainstorm ideas and really think about what is important in your life. Do not “write” seven paragraphs of conclusion and your thoughts; content is writer’s craft. By the time someone is considering your essay, they have reviewed your grades, your scores, two teacher recommendations and a guidance report, and your activity list. They know you in most ways that are relevant to admit you to a school. What will get you into college is writing an essay that will be distinguished from the rest. Just like it says, some students are still not satisfied by what they’ve come up with, but think they’re really close to finding the right topic. Remember, your main essay is the only essay that you put THIS much work into because of how important it is. In order to give an essay a proper chance in the editing process, it needs to be crafted to the vision that you have for it. What barriers have you had in your life, and how did you overcome them? Use your experiencesâ€"inside and outside the classroomâ€"to showcase why you’re a great fit for the college. You want to get into a university, but you need to stand out in the highly impressive applicant pool. Remember that these prompts are just that, and not questions that must be “answered”. If you’re applying to institutions that use the UCA or set their own admissions essay, you won’t have to worry about this part, but the advice that follows will still apply. The IvySelect group of first-rate professionals will guide you in crafting personal statement that cut through the clutter in the very competitive admissions landscape at highly selective universities. Get feedback on your two Common App personal statement essays, decide one which one to use, and make final edits. If you’re really hesitant to work on essays because official updated prompts for your schools haven’t come out yet, then working on the UC essays can be a safe alternative. The UCs rarely change the prompts and even if they did change them, the changes would probably be announced by now.

The Rise Of The Outsourced Admissions Essay

The Rise Of The Outsourced Admissions Essay You want to draw the reader in with the first words you say and keep them there until they finish your paper. Next you will compile a list of your personal life experiences. If you do an online search of any university application requirements, this is pretty much the blanket list they will give you. But these are only surface materials that anyone can give. What they are really looking for is the underlying truths they will find in these documents. DON’T use the personal statement essay to repeat your resume. CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit. These will be the words that will draw your reader into the story. Your list will serve as your outline, and the expanded story you create will become the first draft. It won’t be perfect but all of the elements are already in place. Your goal is to make sure that you get all the details of the story in place and that you are following the prompt of the university. Look at the lists you’ve already made and choose one or two topics and boil them down to the bare bones. Remember, you won’t have a lot of time to impress your readers so your story must cut to the chase pretty quickly. Think of it like you are creating a preview to a new movie. Most universities are looking for two different packages when you submit your college application. Using lofty language and complex sentence structure can make you sound sophisticated, but is that really how you speak? Don’t let your voice get lost in the pursuit to impress readers. Instead, write like you speak â€" keeping in mind that proper grammar and spelling is still important. These pieces rarely showcase who you are as an applicant. College essay questions often suggest one or two main ideas or topics of focus. Following this natural progression will make your essay coherent and easy to read. The rules for writing a good essay are no different. Your academic resume, which should include your GPA, completed coursework, and SAT/ACT scores. You should also include some evidence that you are ready for college, a record of your extracurricular activities, work experience, and recommendations. This forces you to read each word individually and increases your chances of finding a typo. Reading aloud will also help you ensure your punctuation is correct, and it’s often easier to hear awkward sentences than see them. Don’t rely solely on the computer spelling and grammar check. Computers can't detect the context in which you're using words, so be sure to review carefully. They might be fine in a text message, but not in your college essay. Let your essay sit for a while before you proofread it. Approaching the essay with a fresh perspective gives your mind a chance to focus on the actual words rather than seeing what you think you wrote. All good stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end, so shape your story so that it has an introduction, body, and conclusion. After you brainstorm, you’ll know what you want to say, but you must decide how you’re going to say it. Create an outline that breaks down the essay into sections. Get your creative juices flowing by brainstorming all the possible ideas you can think of to address your college essay question. Avoid sorting through your existing English class essays to see if the topics fit the bill.

The Rise Of The Outsourced Admissions Essay

The Rise Of The Outsourced Admissions Essay You want to draw the reader in with the first words you say and keep them there until they finish your paper. Next you will compile a list of your personal life experiences. If you do an online search of any university application requirements, this is pretty much the blanket list they will give you. But these are only surface materials that anyone can give. What they are really looking for is the underlying truths they will find in these documents. DON’T use the personal statement essay to repeat your resume. CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit. These will be the words that will draw your reader into the story. Your list will serve as your outline, and the expanded story you create will become the first draft. It won’t be perfect but all of the elements are already in place. Your goal is to make sure that you get all the details of the story in place and that you are following the prompt of the university. Look at the lists you’ve already made and choose one or two topics and boil them down to the bare bones. Remember, you won’t have a lot of time to impress your readers so your story must cut to the chase pretty quickly. Think of it like you are creating a preview to a new movie. Most universities are looking for two different packages when you submit your college application. Using lofty language and complex sentence structure can make you sound sophisticated, but is that really how you speak? Don’t let your voice get lost in the pursuit to impress readers. Instead, write like you speak â€" keeping in mind that proper grammar and spelling is still important. These pieces rarely showcase who you are as an applicant. College essay questions often suggest one or two main ideas or topics of focus. Following this natural progression will make your essay coherent and easy to read. The rules for writing a good essay are no different. Your academic resume, which should include your GPA, completed coursework, and SAT/ACT scores. You should also include some evidence that you are ready for college, a record of your extracurricular activities, work experience, and recommendations. This forces you to read each word individually and increases your chances of finding a typo. Reading aloud will also help you ensure your punctuation is correct, and it’s often easier to hear awkward sentences than see them. Don’t rely solely on the computer spelling and grammar check. Computers can't detect the context in which you're using words, so be sure to review carefully. They might be fine in a text message, but not in your college essay. Let your essay sit for a while before you proofread it. Approaching the essay with a fresh perspective gives your mind a chance to focus on the actual words rather than seeing what you think you wrote. All good stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end, so shape your story so that it has an introduction, body, and conclusion. After you brainstorm, you’ll know what you want to say, but you must decide how you’re going to say it. Create an outline that breaks down the essay into sections. Get your creative juices flowing by brainstorming all the possible ideas you can think of to address your college essay question. Avoid sorting through your existing English class essays to see if the topics fit the bill.

Apply For Freshman Admission

Apply For Freshman Admission The admissions counselors thought the pies were quite tasty but this did not lead to an acceptance. Another student sent a life-size blowup of herself attached to balloons. It was supposed to fly…but alas the balloons didn’t work. And yet another student staged a sit-in in an admissions office lobby, refusing to leave until she was able to speak to a few admissions people. Needless to say, this tactic proved as ineffective as the pies and the blow-up person attached to balloons. Parents can help their child brainstorm topics, encourage them to write multiple drafts, and help him or her meet deadlines. Some parents should not even read their kid’s essays as they want to change too many elements that make the essays lose their unique adolescent voice. I know this is the touchiest of topics, but I always beg parents to believe in their child. And then they are pleasantly surprised when admissions officers write acceptance letters with personal notes about their child’s fabulous essays. A man that she adored but discovered that he was a cocaine addict. She took the reader through the stages of loving, hating, being disappointed, ashamed and finally acceptance, understanding and again loving while “Dad” was going through treatment. I have seen too many essays where parents “helped” and as result, the essay lost the student’s voice. Too many words had been added that just did not reflect the student’s vocabulary or mode of writing. College admissions readers are bright and intuitive and can tell when an essay has been “helped” too much. I see no problem with parents doing a grammar/spelling check as well as offering suggestions on how an essay could be improved. Just be sure that it still reads like it was written by a 17 year old and it shares the story that is important to them and not just an important sounding topic that a parent thinks would be more impressive . Coming up with a good topic for your college admission essays can feel like the ultimate form of writer’s block. After all, what could you possibly write about that will represent you in 500 words or fewer? Be certain the college or university you're applying to received your essay. Through her writing, Callie allows the admissions committee to better understand her approach to learning new perspectives. This essay highlights her personality and values and helps us imagine how she will collaborate with others throughout different spaces on campus in a diverse student body. By broadening her initial anecdote and having the majority of the essay focus on her reflections and takeaways, we were able to spend even more time learning about Callie. The creative process definitely isn’t easy, but these tips and tricks from students who have been through the process should help you get your thoughts flowing and ideas moving. Check out these five tips for choosing an essay topic to help get you started. Aside from mistakes on the essays, college admissions counselors discuss in “The Daily Beast” how one student sent pies, claiming she wasn’t a good athlete but she was a good baker. Quite simply, a great college essay helps illuminate who you are. The worst things you can do is write an essay that is generic, one where if your name was replaced by another, the reader could not tell the difference. The people in the admissions office are trying to learn about you and the essay is often the last chance you have to shape their impression and understanding of you. A great college essay gives the college an opportunity to see who you really are. Pick a meaningful experience and take the reader through your process of self-discovery. Below you’ll find selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. In each of these essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins. Similarly, one topic you should never write about in your college essay is romantic relationships. It’s hard not to be cliché when writing about young love, and a relationship shouldn’t be the main aspect of your life that you want to showcase for college admissions officers. Few things are as eternal as the search for the great college essay. But given the range of factors that go into the decision making process, it is hard to know if the “successful” essays ones really tipped the balance. That being said, the essay is something you can control so you want to make it good.

Sample Personal Statement Essay For College Applications

Sample Personal Statement Essay For College Applications I questioned the point of studying so long for my SAT and ACT and taking a few AP courses that didn’t particularly interest me. Reluctantly, I submitted the deposit to my safety school. Since they are applying to a non-STEM program with a 4.0, it isn’t necessary for this applicant to discuss their grades or relevant coursework. By the time I entered high school, I could converse fluently with both my French and Spanish teachers. Due to my family’s dire financial situation, I initially wanted to pursue a degree in business and finance solely to be more financially secure and allow me the opportunity to raise my own family someday. I took several business-related classes in high school and college. Battling traffic and tricky one-ways, I found the parking garage, slid into a space without bumping my neighbors and stumbled through the building before finding the first set of elevators, “Sky Lobby.” I boarded. A man in his forties joined followed quickly by a college-aged student. More men and women filed in until we crunched together shoulder-to-shoulder. Like many of my classmates, I spent most of my high school years working tirelessly in hopes of attending a prestigious university. With each rejection letter, I wasn’t sure any university would admit me. If you’re an international applicant, Native American, or otherwise non-traditional student, don’t try to “Americanize” or “mainstream” your application. The goal is to stand out and not appear to be like all the other applicants. Always think about what information you want colleges to know and use when evaluating your application. Don’t share anything that doesn’t make you sound good, unless you absolutely have to and you can turn it around to show the positive. Admissions committees are looking for an in-depth essay. Cover too many topics in your essay, and you’ll end up with a list. You can write conversationally, but the grammar and spelling still need to be correct. And don’t solely rely on your computer’s spell-checker. Leverage your native culture, traditions, and experiences. No professional coach would allow an applicant to write about something as obvious and dull as hump day. Sure, some youngsters might come up with such stuff by themselves, but it will be impossible to separate them from the ones who brainstormed with a pro. Even in such a badly broken system, however, there is one component that does not need to be fixed. I am talking about the dread personal essay, which is too easy to falsify, and mostly worthless even when it hasn’t been faked. My goal has always been to transfer to UT and earn a degree in finance. My decision to attend Collin stemmed from my mediocre grades in high school â€" I wanted a fresh start at a college close to home. Though I was accepted at a few well-ranked Texas public universities, I had higher aspirations. I felt that I could improve my grade point average while completing prerequisite courses transferable anywhere. I lived at home allowing me to save money, help my family, and continue working at my job. It seems to me that to be a Longhorn means to be a leader. To be that which “changes the world.” I don’t feel a similar sense of purpose and community at UH, and feel the path to being leader lies in Austin. With the experiences I gained from my descent into Houston’s philanthropic heart, I intend to hone my dream to be the leader of change that UT trains all its students to be. I walked to my car that day feeling like I've lost before I even started. Thousands will be applying to the same colleges as you are. Let us enhance your essay so that it stands out from the crowd. Although they changed their major from RTF to Journalism after arriving on campus, they secured a recent, highly prestigious internship at the CBS Morning Show in Manhattan. They are also involved with Texas Student Television, so there’s no doubt UT extending this student an offer pays dividends for the university. Like the previous example, this straightforward essay addresses all of the things that UT reviewers are looking for. They discuss the context and buyer’s remorse about attending an expensive private university, but they don’t dwell on it.

Admission & Application Essays

Admission & Application Essays â–  doesn’t just repeat things already covered somewhere else on your application. The library has all sorts of materials to help you craft a one-of-a-kind essay that showcases what is special and compelling about YOU. No professional coach would allow an applicant to write about something as obvious and dull as hump day. You are a graduate student if you have completed your Bachelor’s degree and are looking to continue your education with the goal of achieving a post-graduate degree. You can use Application Tracker to determine which application materials have been received, and whether a decision has been made on your application. Automatically be considered for admission to the University Honors Program and for Academic Scholarships. Whatever you decide, make sure your response is highly-personal and shares more of your experiences, rather than being a general essay about why you love architecture. You can also take a longitudinal approach by explaining how your passion for architecture unfolded over time. Pay the $55 application fee within your application platform or submit a fee waiver request. Follow these tips and you will have an essay to be proud of because it represents the real and most polished version of yourself. Save simple sentences for instances when you need to create impact. We use cookies to personalize and improve your browsing experience. If you are a former student looking to return to a degree program from an absence of one year or longer, you must complete an Application for Readmission. Sure, some youngsters might come up with such stuff by themselves, but it will be impossible to separate them from the ones who brainstormed with a pro. For example, the word “completed” has many good synonyms including “concluded” and “ended.” However, don’t use words that are super fancy either, just for the sake of using them. Here, you will find out that those unique niches include everything from heterogeneous cell systems to plasmids in E.coli. This is the level of specificity that you should strive for. Last but not the least, do not forget to use spell checker and correct grammatical errors before attaching it to your application. Aspiring for a college degree is a wonderful thought. For this prompt, you want to discuss the reason behind your intended major and why you want to study that subject at Rice. Instead, consider what excites you about your intended field of study, as well as the specific dimensions of this subject that fit your strengths and ambitions. Checklists & Guides Step-by-step manuals for success.Essay Prompt Database A list of prompts by school. You are a former University of Minnesota student if you are returning to a degree program at the U of M after an absence of one year or longer. You are a current University of Minnesota student if you have confirmed or are enrolled in classes. You are thinking of a bright and comfortable future for yourself or your family. Having said that you must also think about building up your profile when applying to the college of your choice to pursue a career you are passionate about. Lea Giotto is a student at the University of Michigan and a summer 2015 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Fayal was unable to provide exact numbers on this data â€" she said AdmitSee needs to wait to receive more applications containing this type of information. The vast majority of the sentences in your essay should be compound, complex, or a combination of both (compound-complex sentences).

College Admission Essay Format

College Admission Essay Format One-on-One Advising Work with one of CEA’s expert Advisors to conceptualize, edit and refine admissions essays that stick with admissions and make you stand out. Transfer credit will not be awarded for courses included on a student’s high school transcript and used to satisfy high school graduation requirements, i.e. dual credit courses. Only those students who have more than 20 college preparatory courses may have the Office of the Registrar consider for Rice credit their college courses taken in high school. For more information about the transfer credit process, please visit the Transfer Credit page. Every time you start panicking, remember our committed writing service knows its way around college admission! We treat each client with respect, follow his guidelines or even exceed his expectations, adding changes based on his suggestions. We will help you write application essay from scratch. Here, we've provided answers, insights and stories that hopefully make your college decision a little easier. We’re here to support you throughout the college selection process. At the University of Kentucky, you matter, and our community of students, staff and scholars is ready to support and challenge you to succeed beyond what you ever thought possible. Contact your recruiter with any questions you may have. Music applicants are not eligible to apply through QuestBridge or Early Decision. Admitted students must pursue the music program for at least one year before changing schools. For more information, please visit the Shepherd School of Music Admission page. So when meaningful things happen in your life, write them down. A few raw ideas jotted down on how you feel, what you’re thinking, and what you can see and hear and smell can provide enormous freshness and interest to your essays later. Cheap writing services will probably give you poor quality paper. Don’t look for cheap, instead look for professional! Analyze the samples we provide and make sure we are the best team of expert writers who can help you secure your spotlight. We know how important and challenging admission process can be, how much information one must digest and write, and how high the standards of the board are. We search for ways to provide each student with crafted sample he could easily submit during his application. The point isn’t that you’ll one day write your college essays about breakfast â€" or that you should draft an essay after every bowl of cereal. In fact, you don’t really need to write anything down at all for this. Probably nothing, on the surface, but college essays are all about finding meaning in your life â€" even if your life seems dull and ordinary. As is consistent with our holistic review, students will be given full consideration with the information they have provided regardless of their decision to submit their test scores. Early Decision is a binding decision plan designed for students who have selected Rice as their first choice. Students may initiate applications to other colleges under nonbinding plans but must withdraw those applications if admitted to Rice. Students who apply Early Decision must submit their materials by November 1. Admission decisions will be released by mid-December. This piece of writing may be your lucky ticket to the better future! Securing a place at the University of your dream is the first step on the road to success in life. For more information about the AP transfer credit process, please visit the Advanced Placement Credit page. The counselor letter of recommendation serves to highlight the accomplishments of a student within the context of their high school. The letter must come from an applicant’s assigned school counselor, college counselor, principal, or headmaster. Applicants will not be disadvantaged if their high school structure and counselor’s caseload does not allow students the opportunity to build a personal relationship with their counselor. Shepherd School of Music ApplicantsApplicants interested in Shepherd School of Music must submit additional materials depending on their area of study. All application materials must be completed by December 1.

Lsac Awards Dei Writing Competition Winners

Lsac Awards Dei Writing Competition Winners This point is undeniably crucial for you to take into account if you want to compose a winning admission essay. It is essential to reread your paper and check grammar and style since even a small mistake might negatively influence the committee’s decision. You may also ask your friends or relatives to check your paper and provide fair feedback, or address proofreading services. Custom essay writing service is an outstanding option for you if you want to double-check your paper and be certain of its quality. You've been enrolled in college but will have completed fewer than 12 academic post-high school graduation college credits by the time you enroll at Rutgers. “I had never worked with a writing coach before and it was so worth it. Dan is really easy to talk to, super organized and helpful, and just truly great at what he does. To learn more about the talent assessment requirements and deadlines, visit the school’s Audition and Portfolio Information. The SRAR is required for all current high school seniors. High school graduates and transfer students do not complete the SRAR. Every counselor, professor, and friend I have shown my essays to have said they're really strong, captivating, precise, and eloquently written. This cheap essay writing service is created for people who are dreaming to improve their academic performance. For those who have a desire to receive only high marks and praises of their teachers. If this sounds familiar to you, you are welcomed to make your first order and get your admission essay help. Our support team checks each and every essay written by our writers for plagiarism, so all of our works are unique, and there's no plagiarism in there. However, the admission committee will find your essay boring if you merely list your achievements in chronological order. First and foremost, your paper should demonstrate that you are really into design and all activities linked to it. In case you talk about a big amount of activities and achievements, put your soul openly into it. Otherwise, it is probable that the committee will skip boring paragraphs, and that will affect your chances of becoming a design student. The admission committee wants to be sure that you have a clear purpose and goals. You will not find admission essays of such quality anywhere. You’ll have only good impressions about our admission essay writing. Need an admission essay writing to be done as quickly as possible? Get more information on How to Apply including application and decision dates, admissions profile, entrance requirements, preview the application, and how we make decisions. Indeed, turning to academic essay writing service might be a great option for you. Keep in mind that the UW strives to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, values and viewpoints. Our admission essay help is much better than other companies. Thus, it is obligatory to outline a couple of goals that will be linked to your studies. To accomplish this, cut out some time for brainstorming to come up with an idea. Remember to do this in advance, since your admission essay will be unstructured and goals will be vague if you do not list them beforehand. The company will write for you a graduate admission essay or MBA admission that will enable you to acquire better evaluations on any academic level basis. EssayFreelanceWriters.Com is a highly respected company that is recognized based on the quality of the admission essays that it provides to its clients. EssayFreelanceWriters.Com is the leading company largely recognized for the highly proficient admission essay writing services. Admission essays are very important because they determine your rejection or acceptance by the university/college of your choice. Needless to say, it is important to talk about your achievements, works of art, or pieces of design. You should fax or mail your waiver request to Rutgers within one week of submitting your admissions application. Information about activities, employment, community service, and other personal experiences, though not required, can enhance your application. A portfolio, audition, or interview demonstrating artistic talent is required of all Mason Gross School of the Arts applicants. Mason Gross applicants will be emailed a supplemental application five business days after submitting the application for admission.

Prevalence Of Gender Bias In Mauritian Legal Profession Law - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5615 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Tags: Gender Equality Essay Gender Essay Did you like this example? The Historical Exclusion of Women from the legal profession- A Global Perspective. History is rich in its depictions of old professions, their evolution with time and the way they are shaped presently. Dynamic societies, changing demographics, increased access to education, change in perceptions on gender roles, transformations of the law- all these have revolutionized todays professions. Now, women are allowed to gain entry into professions that were hitherto barred to them. Studying womens progression is crucial because of the rarity of such studies. This historical examination will create an adequate context for understanding womens professional employment in the past, the present and pave the way for an improved future. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Prevalence Of Gender Bias In Mauritian Legal Profession Law" essay for you Create order Hence, the previously male-dominated legal profession, and its historical exclusion of women, will be the focal point of this part of the research. In so doing, a case study will be presented on the United States, the United Kingdom and Mauritius. Noteworthy are the major hurdles faced by women in achieving entry into the legal profession: First, decades ago, special legislation was needed in many countries to open the doors to women. Secondly, women had moderate difficulty in obtaining financial and family support to initiate their legal studies. Third, after acquiring the legal status to plead in court, the fight for employment ensued. Then, after many years of struggle, personal qualifications started to count more than social status or gender. Finally the last hurdle was to quash the latent belief that women were not fit for the hardships of legal work. Case Study: The United States In the America of the 1800s the legal profession, similarly to medicine and politics, was closed to women. The quote below sheds light on the situation: Nature has tempered women as little for the judicial conflicts of the courtroom as for the physical conflicts of the battlefieldÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ OurÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ profession has essentiallyÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ to do with all that is selfish and extortionate, knavish and criminal, coarse and brutal, repulsive and obscene in human life. It would be revolting to all female sense of innocence and the sanctity of their sex. (Chief Justice Ryan of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, opposing admitting Lavinia Goodell to the bar, 1895, cited in Epstein, 1993, p. 269) Despite Justice Ryans vivid language, the reasons for mens resistance to women lawyers likely has to do with the laws close relationship to power in our society.(Morello, 1986, cited in Martin and Jurik, 2007, p. 107) According to Epstein (1993, p. 13): members of the legal elite preside over power and property relationships; they play a leading role in the legislative and regulative bodies that write the law; they direct the executive agencies responsible for enforcing the law; they rule the courts that elaborate and apply the law and, they guide the corporate and financial institutions that constitute the most important property interests. Exclusion of women from the legal practice was thus successful up until late 19th century. Then, the early womens movements struggle for civic rights started the mechanism for change- Women were allowed to become legal professionals and they pushed for the professionalization of the legal practice. Schultz and Shaw (2003, p. 13) underline that: Social status as a base for admittance was discarded, allowing formal qualifications to be the ultimate criterion for entry. This led to an increasing proportion of lawyers with formal education. The history of the struggle of women in the United States to enter the legal profession was similar to womens struggles in England, other commonwealth nations and Europe. Case Study: England Guyard Nedelec (2010) certifies that in the United Kingdom, the first application by a woman to be admitted as a solicitor was in the year 1876. Her application was rejected by the Law Society on the grounds that she was not a person within the terms of the Solicitors Act 1843. For Lord Justice Swinfen Eady, in the case of Bebb V. Law Society 1914 1 Ch. 286: the very fact that women had never been solicitors meant that women could not be solicitors. Three decades later, lobbies and public debates wrought a significant change in Britains legislation. In 1919, the Sex Discrimination (Removal) Act was passed, allowing women to be termed as persons. Conductively, England and Wales began to admit a limited number of women around the 1920s. However, Guyard Nedelec , (2010) reports they were only allowed to practice in restricted areas such as family law, matrimonial and probate work. Decades later, around the 1970s, a number of factors caused women to be admitted to the bar in increasing numbers. First, formal education training became the main requirement for entry into law, rather than apprenticeship, and secondly, structural changes led to a rise in the demand for lawyers. (Schultz and Shaw, 2003, p. 143) The table below depicts the historical milestones marking the Entry of Women into the Legal Professions Country First Woman Admitted to Law Faculties First Woman Law Student Graduated First Woman Lawyer First Woman Judge First Woman Legal Academic USA 2nd half of 19th Century 2nd half of 19th Century Canada 1899 Northwest Territories 1892 Ontario 1895 Quebec 1942 Australia Victoria 1905 Tasmania 1935 1st Supreme Court Judge 1965, 1st High Court Judge 1975 New Zealand 1893 1897 1st Maori 1982 1st Pacific Islander 1982 1965 1st Law Lecturer UK 1873 1917 Solicitors: Scotland 1920 England 1922 Barristers: 1920 Country Court 1960, Court of Appeal 1988 Germany 1900-1909 1912 1922 1965 1st Law Professor Netherlands 1903 1947 Poland 1915 1925 1929 Norway 1890 Sweden 1897 Finland 1906 1930s France 1887 1897 1900 1946 1931 1st Law Professor Italy 1876 1777 1919 1963 Korea 1946 1951 1952 Belgium 1921 Denmark 1919 Ireland 1920 Portugal 1918 Venezuela 1936 Table 1, Source: Schultz and Shaw, 2003, p. xxxiv With the table above, it can be seen that countries like Canada (Ontario) admitted women to the Bar as early as 1895, whereas in South Korea it took until the year 1952 to find women in the occupation. The History of Female Lawyers in the Mauritian Legal System Mauritius obtained its independence in 1968. The Constitution which guarantees equal rights to both genders, made it possible for women to gain entry in the legal practice. All the evidences demonstrate that Mauritian women, unlike their American and English counterparts, did not have to struggle for entry into law practice. Besides the supreme law of the country, legislative provisions have also been enacted to ensure equal rights of entry to law. Section 4 of the Legal Practitioners Act entails that any citizen of Mauritius who has been called to the Bar of England and Wales may apply for admission to practice as a barrister. In this context, the first female lawyer in the Mauritian Legal System, Mrs Pillay, was appointed during the late 1960s, whilst the second, Mrs Anita Kumari Bacha, was admitted in 1971. Mrs Bacha, now retired, accorded this research an interview in order to bring light to the situation of female lawyers at that time. [Refer to Appendix A] In Mrs Bachas opinion, no gender discrimination existed when she was practicing law- female members were treated equally. Her promotion as both prosecutor and magistrate substantiates her disagreement on any inequality shrouding the legal system. However after further probing, she admitted that a male magistrate once qualified her as indecent when she appeared to plead in court in her maternity clothes. Moreover, she deplored the way slang terms were allowed to be pronounced in court by counsels. She ascertains that one lawyer in question resorted to the use of crude language to destabilize female counsels and to distress female victims. She believes that women should be aware of this fact before choosing a career in law. Finally she pointed that there are softer areas of the law where women can find themselves at ease. These are family law, adoption law, magistracy and judicial posts. The situation of female lawyers at the time is therefore a subjective matter. It is difficult to attribute a definitive yes or no to the question of the predominance of gender discrimination. A study of the number of male and female lawyers could probably give more light to this research. The table below gives a numerical depiction of the amount of lawyers admitted for practice at the Bar in Mauritius. Year Men Women Total % Women 1950-1960 6 0 6 0 1961-1970 6 1 6 16 1971-1980 40 2 42 5 1981-1990 27 6 33 18 1991-1992 16 2 18 11 1992-1993 0 0 0 0 1993-1994 5 0 5 0 1994-1995 15 2 17 11 1995-1996 10 0 10 0 1996-1997 5 5 10 50 1997-1998 8 2 10 20 1998-1999 5 4 9 44 1999-2000 8 4 12 33 2000-2001 11 4 15 26 2001-2002 9 8 17 47 2002-2003 9 5 14 35 2003-2004 13 10 23 43 2004-2005 20 8 28 28 2005-2006 20 13 33 39 2006-2007 15 12 27 44 2007-2008 23 6 29 20 2008-2009 19 18 37 48 2009-2010 17 7 27 25 Total 307 119 426 28% Table 2, Source: Supreme Court Library as at 17th June 2010 No prescribed pattern can be ascribed to the above data. The amount of women over the years has shown a propensity to change drastically from one year to the other. For instance in 1994-1995 there were 11% of women and the following year 1995-1996 had none. The figures change around the 21st century. Possible factors that can account for the increase in female professionals are: The increase in demand for lawyers, free access to education, increase in standard of living; All these factors helped in shaping the demographics of the legal profession. The amount of women has now reached 28% which is more than the amount of women in the Mauritian Parliament of today. A comparison can be drawn to other countries:- Country % Lawyers USA (2000) 27 Canada (1999) 32 Australia (1994-1995) 24.7 UK (1998) 34 Israel (2000) 34 Germany (2000) 24.6 Netherlands (1993) 30 Poland (1998) Advocates- 29.5 In-house Advisers- 49.3 France (1999) 45 Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) 37.87 Japan (1991) 5.9 South Korea (1998) 1.9 New Zealand (1999) 29 Finland (2000) 43 Table 3, Source: Schultz and Shaw, 2003, p. xxxvi The above data displays an average of one quarter to one third women in the worlds legal jurisdictions. Though, in Brazil, France and Finland, the share of women lawyers is considerably higher. South Korea and Japan show the lowest rates, mainly because of the persistent exclusionary strategies preventing womens participation in law. We will now investigate whether contemporary patterns of inequality exist in the Mauritian legal system. The following themes will be explored: (B) Does womens greater presence improve the legal institution? (C) What are gender stereotypes and what are their effects on female law practitioners? (D) Women lawyers career prospects in Mauritius: Private and Public Sector Glass Ceilings and Income Differentials Family Responsibility Sexual Harassment Senior Counsel Nominations (e) Recommendations Does womens greater presence improve the legal institution? One of the ultimate debates surrounding women in the legal profession has this question as its centerpiece: Do women change the legal profession, or does the legal profession change them? Solimine and Wheatley (1995, cited in Martin, Reynolds and Keith, 2002) argue that: Womens participation will not alter the system or affect how justice is done because the system is guided by objective, gender-neutral laws and practices, in accord with the classical model of judging. Furthermore, many scholars question the claim that the legal institution is substantively and in practice a male and masculine institution that moots womens presence and influence. (Mackinnon, 1987, cited in Martin, Reynolds and Keith, 2002, p.667) On the other side of the coin, McKinnon (1987), Pateman (1989) and Kenney (1995), cited in Martin Reynolds and Keith (2002) dispute that: Since the system was created by men, based on a concept of citizen as men, with laws written from mens standpoint, the ability to take womens standpoint fully into account is undermined. Therefore, womens standpoint, as quoted above can be defined as an intuitive ability for affection and an innate rejection of violence. In a book entitled: Gender trials: emotional lives in contemporary law firms, Pierce (1958, p. 103) wrote on a character in Shakespeares Merchant of Venice. Portia, a female character, disguises herself as a male judge in an attempt to bring the plea for mercy into the halls of justice. She rejected the adversarial method employed where one party loses and the other wins- arguing instead for a solution where none of the parties will be harmed. Carol Gilligan. (1982, p.105) refers to Portias stance as an illustration of morality based on what she calls an ethic of care. However, Gilligan has stated that she did not present the care perspective as either biologically determined or unique to women (1986, p. 327, cited in Schultz and Shaw, 2002) Nevertheless, her research has been seen and used to support that there exists a distinctive and natural (Freyer, 1995, p.201, cited in Schultz and Shaw, 2002, p. 193) female approach to moral problemsÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ [Which] even if the product of male oppression may be deployed to disrupt and reform patriarchal structures and discourses. To endorse the above, Ms Narghis Bundhun, a leading female lawyer in Mauritius, expounded in her interview (Appendix B) that women lawyers, in my opinion, are better listeners and more ethical in their practice of law. Thus there are debates that confirm or reject the women will change the institution thesis. The task is to find whether women lawyers participation will create an innovation and transformation of the practice of law. (Menkel-Meadow 1989:198-9, cited in Schultz and Shaw, 2002, p. 193) To find a corollary, extensive research has to be carried out. However cost and time constraints defy the feasibility of such a research in this dissertation- justifying the need to consider another researchers conclusion: Carrie Menkel Meadow (1995, p. 34-5) found through her research that women lawyers: may be more likely to adopt less confrontational, more meditational approaches to dispute resolutionÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ women will be more sensitive to clients needs and the interests of those who are in relation to each other, for example clients families or employeesÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ women employ less hierarchical managerial stylesÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ are more likely to have social justice or altruistic motives in practicing lawÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ and to develop greater integration between their work and family lives. Gender Stereotypes and their effect on female law practitioners What is meant by the term Gender Stereotype? Stereotyping forms part of the human nature. It helps in categorizing the people around us- making life simpler. However it can have a particularly egregious effect on women. (Cook and Cusack, 2010, p. 1) Interestingly, women themselves may be socially conditioned to absorb negative stereotypes about themselves and to fulfill the subordinate, passive role they consider appropriate to their status. For instance in an article by News On Sunday in 2010, it was outlined that 61% women work as clerks or sales persons and only 19% of them work as legislators, professionals and semi-professionals according to the Central Statistics Office. In its concluding comments on Mauritius, The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2006 wrote: The committee is concerned about the persistence of patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and society, where men are still considered the main breadwinners and womens primary responsibility are still household chores. When societies ignore the existence of such prejudices it may exacerbate a climate of impunity with respect to violation of womens rights. (Cook and Cusack, 2010, p. 1) Thus, naming a gender stereotype and identifying its harm is critical to its eradication. Harms of gender stereotypes can take the form of: Degrading women or diminishing their dignity, and/or Denying them justified benefits or imposing unjust burdens. How do gender stereotypes affect women legal practitioners? In the ABA Commission on Women in the Legal Profession (2001, p. 15), it is said that: The characteristics traditionally associated with women are at odds with many characteristics traditionally associated with professional success such as assertiveness, competitiveness and business judgement. Some lawyers and clients still assume that women lack sufficient aptitude for complex financial transactions or sufficient combativeness for major litigation. Women can as a result be recipients of negative gender constructions. Being too feminine can lead to being qualified as too soft. Being assertive can be perceived as too aggressive. Therefore, gender bias can take an omnipresent form in the livelihoods of female lawyers. They experience pressing needs, namely: The need to socialize and work for long hours, The need to be as competent as men, The need to dress like men in sober suits, The need to face reluctance of some clients to deal with female lawyers, The need to espouse masculine and feminine styles when convenient, and The need to face possible criticism when their assertiveness is graded as aggressiveness. One anonymous female commercial property lawyer, cited in Shultz and Shaw (2003, p. 199), wrote in some detail of the pressure she experienced: I think there is still definitely a view that women are not as strong as men. So with colleagues you always have to appear totally confident and positive- wear a smile and be a superhuman professional- and never talk about problems in your private life- that would be weak. And clients often test you too. I am tough, assertive, and meticulous in preparation, to counter all that. You have to be, because of womens reputation for weakness. Men also tend to confirm womens fears. An interview with a successful Mauritian male senior lawyer [Appendix C] brought the following: Women in general are not seen working as hard as men, in the field of criminal law, from dawn to dusk in and outside the courtroomÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ thus it is justified for them not to be nominated as Senior Counsels. Moreover, in Shultz and Shaw a male insolvency practitioner interviewed in 1999 said: Clients definitely prefer males in my experienceÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ and I notice too that particular judges when faced with a woman on the other side would nearly always decide against herÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ Whether judges really write judgements by adhering to pre-conditioned stereotypes is beyond the scope of this part of the study. An analysis of this question will be carried out in the next part. Ms Gariboo,[Appendix D] a Principal State Attorney in the Attorney Generals Office, said in her interview that she has not been part to, nor seen any overt forms of gender discrimination. However she noticed evident methods of gender stereotyping, where male lawyers would confer tasks upon their female colleagues such as doing secretarial duties [taking notes during meetings] or making tea. Further, Ms Gariboo condemned the way women lawyers were not allowed to wear traditional clothing such as churidars and sarees- Thereby fixing the habitus of the legal profession. Her last two observations were: no male lawyers ever attended the Gender Policy meetings as ascribed in every ministry department, in order to promote gender equality, and Women who are too womanly are not taken seriously and women who are prettier are treated more kindly by male lawyers. This creates the problem for women of knowing when to hide their difference and when to assert it. Thus as the respondents described above, women find themselves in a tricky situation. Conformity may cause professional alienation when women are deemed too manly. On the other side, non-conformity brings its individual sanctions of not earning due respect for being too feminine. Yet, for one woman, the fact that she had to adopt different personas and employ different skills depending on the situation she was in and the people she was with was part of the attraction of the job. She wrote: especially as a woman, I think, you have to act; sometimes hard and aggressive, sometimes soft. I quite enjoy it in factÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ being attractive and a chameleon. (Schultz and Shaw, 2003, p.200-1) Consequently, a womans success in the legal practice may depend on a reflexive ability to change her mannerisms intuitively and quickly, so as to prevent negative gender constructions by the legal environment she evolves in. Women Lawyers Career Prospects in Mauritius Private and Public Sector The legal profession in Mauritius is divided into two branches, barristers and solicitors. It is not possible to be qualified as both at the same time. Traditionally, barristers are self-employed and have an exclusive right of audience in higher courts. Solicitors on the other hand are instructed by lay clients and may instruct a barrister if required. Barristers and Solicitors per the Legal Practitioners Amendment Act 2008, work together in Chambers to share administrative costs. Mauritian barristers must be members of the Bar Council while Mauritian solicitors have a legal obligation to form part of the Law Society. The private sector therefore includes all the barristers and solicitors who are not employed by the government. The public sector on the other hand comprises of The Attorney Generals Office, also referred to as the State Law Office or the Parquet. Under its aegis are the offices of the Solicitor General and the offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Table below shows the amount of men and women lawyers employed in the Public Sector in 2010 Post/Grade No. of Men Employed No. of Women Employed Total Solicitor General 1 1 DPP 1 1 Parliamentary Counsel 1 1 Deputy Solicitor General 1 1 Assistant Solicitor General 2 2 4 Chief Legal Secretary 1 1 Assistant Parliamentary Counsel 1 1 2 Chief State Attorney 1 1 Principal State Attorney 1 1 2 Principal State Counsel 2 3 5 State Counsel 2 11 13 Senior State Attorney 1 3 4 Curator of Vacant Estates 1 1 State Attorney 1 5 6 Legal Research Officer 3 3 Legal Assistant (Cadre) 1 1 Chief Legal Assistant 1 1 Principal Legal Assistant 2 2 Senior Legal Assistant 1 1 2 Legal Assistant 1 10 11 Total 17 46 63 Table 4, Source: Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, Statistics Office In the above data, 26% of the legal professionals working in the government are male. The rest, that is, 74% consists of women. The table has included both temporary employees as well as trainees. The propensity of having more female lawyers in the public sector has been explained by Schultz and Shaw. Women legal practitioners are said to prefer working in softer areas of the law which can bring a flexible timetable and be adapted to their family responsibilities. Furthermore, they are more likely to be encouraged to concentrate on matters of lower visibility, profile and financial rewards, whereas men are more inclined (as well as encouraged) to focus on work which offers prestige and better opportunities to develop legal skills and client contact. When interviewing a male senior barrister [Appendix C], the message that he conveyed was that according to him: women succeed rarely in criminal law. They should perhaps choose other fields more appropriate to them. Some female lawyers also share this belief and they may be right or wrong. Glass Ceilings and Income Differentials Martin and Jurik (2007, p. 145) exhort that women face a glass ceiling, or a limit on opportunities to climb beyond certain lower steps on the career ladder. Glass Ceilings, or Sticky Floors, as scholars describe, prevent women from reaching higher echelons in a profession. This invisibility of women at the top legal positions in Mauritius has been deplored by Mrs. Boollel. In her interview [Appendix E] she said: it is a pain to find women lawyers who have reached to the top in Mauritius. The top in her opinion, would be To find women barristers or solicitors at the head of law chambers, To create precedence in case law, To make a permanent place for oneself in the profession and, To earning respect from peers, clients, and superiors. Moreover, Mrs. Boollel ascertained that gender discrimination, glass ceilings and income differentials are much less in the public sector than in the private practice. According to her, discrimination is crying out in the private legal sector. It is true that income, salaries and wages are determined by the Pay Research Bureau as far as the public sector lawyers are concerned. The same cannot be said of the private sector. The income received by lawyers in the private practice has never been studied through research. Moreover it is quite uncertain and largely kept secret. Thus any assumptions in this research would not be possible. However examples can be drawn from overseas jurisdictions. In Canada, a study made by Hagan (1990, p. 835 cited in Schultz ans Shaw, 2001, p. 62) attempted to find whether any income differentials existed. The following factors were considered: Specialisation, Years of experience, Law school, Ethnicity, and Employment context. Hagan concluded that the gap in earnings remained even after taking into account all the afore-mentioned factors. In Australia, the table below will shed light on income differentials in the state of New South Wales: Gross Income Male % Female % Total % =$50,000 29.9 48.1 35.7 $50,001- $75,000 22.8 27.0 24.2 $75,001- $100,000 14.0 10.6 12.0 $100,001- $150,000 14.1 6.6 11.9 $150,000+ 13.2 4.0 10.6 Unknown 6.0 3.7 5.6 TOTAL 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Table 5, Source: Schultz and Shaw, 2001, p. 96 The table proves that Australian womens earnings are considerably lower on average than those of their male counterparts. This research would like to point out the incidence of lower earnings for women legal professionals in other countries. Without verifiable data, it would be hard to make suppositions. However the small amount of women in upper echelons of the Mauritian legal practice is a factor contributing to lower earnings for women. Family Responsibility The central quest of this sub-part is to investigate whether a practical framework is available for Mauritian lawyers with family responsibility. Section 5(4) of the Mauritian SDA 2002 clearly defines Family Responsibility. It is the responsibility of an employee to care for or support: a dependent child, and members of the family in need of care. Brockman (1992, cited in Schultz and Shaw, 2002, p. 68) on his research of the Canadian legal establishment censured: the lack of accommodation for family commitments, the lack of flexibility to work on a part time basis and the lack of adequate maternity leave arrangements. The Canadian Bar Association proclaimed its agreement with Brockmans study. It underlined in a 1993 report that: Women lawyers with children are discriminated againstÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ and this results in reduced incomes and fewer opportunities for advancement. Thanks to the Employment Rights Act of 2008, employed female lawyers benefit from leave with or without pay, depending on whether they have worked for more or less than 12 months respectively. Self-employed female law practitioners, on the other hand, can normally make this decision singularly; but with the knowledge that cutting back on work can result in reduced income and fewer possibilities for advancement. On the other side, men are usually dispensed from such concerns. This is mainly because women normally assume primary responsibility for family responsibilities. In the News on Sunday article dated 9th April 2010, findings from the central statistics office were echoed: Working women spend more time than working men on household chores. A working woman has around 1 hour free time less than a working man everyday and on Sundays the working woman spends an average of 4 hours 30 minutes on household chores and caring for children and 2 hours at work compared to a man spending 2 hours and 3 hours respectively on these activities. However, men can also be discriminated against as the law provides for a short period of 5 days of paternity leave. (Section 31 Employment Rights Act 08) This measure both diminishes the importance of fathers in household care and attempts to shape social behavior in order to attribute child care responsibilities principally to women. Considering the above, it can be purported that more concrete strategies are needed to accommodate work and family demands for legal professionals. Sexual Harassment The legislative framework for Sexual Harassment Sexual Harassment is defined in our Mauritian law as the act of humiliating, offending or intimidating another person by making- 1- An unwelcome sexual advance, or an unwelcome request for a sexual favour to that other person; or 2- Engaging in any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature towards that other person. (The Sex Discrimination Act 2002, section 20) Further, the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 1998 added a new section 254(1) to the main Criminal Code of 1838 which provides that any person deemed guilty of sexual harassment is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years and to a fine not exceeding 100,000 rupees. Victims of sexual harassment can therefore: Lodge a case in court and sue on the grounds of breach of section 254(1), or Reported the case to the Sexual Discrimination Division [SDD] of the National Human Rights Commission. [NHRC] The SDD employs mediation as a means to settle discrimination and harassment complaints. On August 2006, CEDAW showed its disapproval of the current mediation system: The committee is particularly concerned about the weak enforcement of labour laws by the Sex Discrimination Division of the Human Rights Commission, which apparently opts for mediation rather than the referral of cases of non-compliance with the Sex Discrimination Act to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Mediation is indeed useful when, for example, the SDD persuades an employer to revise his attitudes towards pregnant employees and not terminate their employment. However for cases where the sexual offenders have caused harm to the victim, soft methods such as mediation can hardly be entertained. Sexual Harassment in the legal environment Sexual harassment has been documented as a significant obstacle to womens abilities to develop their careers in the practice of law. In interviews conducted in 1994-4, Brockman (cited in Schultz and Shaw p. 67) found that lawyers described the effects of sexual harassment to include depression, embarrassment, anger, irritation and distress. To counter these negative effects, Canadian legislation created a law precisely for the legal practice, describing sexual harassment as a professional misconduct. This research investigated whether cases of sexual harassment have ever been lodged by Mauritian lawyers. It has been observed that the SDD received complaints from several occupations, but none are derived from the legal profession. This occurrence is worth studying as several factors may influence the lack of complaints. The Australian Human Rights Commission identified these factors in their key findings. In 2008, only 16% of those who have been sexually harassed in the last five years in the workplace formally reported or made a complaint, compared to 32% in 2003. For those who did not make a complaint in the 2008 national telephone survey: 43% didnt think it was serious enough 15% were fearful of a negative impact on themselves 21% had a lack of faith in the complaint process 29% took care of the problem themselves It can be surmised that the above four factors greatly influence lawyers in their choice not to report sexual harassment cases in Mauritius. Senior Counsel Nominations In the 2008 report of the NHRC, the SDD deplored the fact that: No woman has yet been made Senior Counsel. This statement was enhanced when two years later when, out of the sixteen senior counsels nominated, none were of the female gender. This research will focus on female barristers as female solicitors have been acknowledged with the title of Senior Attorney. In her letter, Mrs Pramila Patten, a leading barrister in Mauritius gave an illuminating description of the Senior Counsel title: The appointment of Senior Counsel provides a clear and public identification of those barristers whose skills, legal experience and personal qualities mark them out as being the best within the legal profession. It is recognition of professional eminence, with those achieving the rank being identified by their peers as leaders in the field of law they practice. For the public, it is a mark of excellence and of a continuing expectation that an individual will consistently perform to the highest standards. In the newspaper NewsNow, an article appeared on the 16th of July 2010, explaining the appointment process of Senior Counsels: Generally, for a legal counsel to receive the accolade of SC, he or she must be recommended by the judges, the Queens Counsels (QC), the SCs and the Chief Justice who will then forward the report to the President of the Republic. It is then the prerogative of the president to approve the recommendations. The amount of women senior counsels in Mauritius being zero, it is now of utmost importance to inspect whether the same happens in the UK for Queens Counsel nominations. The table below depicts the number of women nominated as Queens Counsel (QCs) in Britain: Year Women QCs Men QCs Total 1991 6 67 73 1992 7 62 69 1993 6 64 70 1994 9 68 77 1995 8 63 71 1996 4 62 66 1997 5 63 68 1998 10 50 60 1999 9 60 69 Table 6, Source: Schultz and Shaw, 2003, p. 154 It is often suggested that the low number of women QCs results from the fact that women have only been admitted to the Bar only recently. In Mauritius also, it is judicious to note that normally, barristers who can claim a right to the SC title have up to 10 years or 20 years standing at the Bar in Mauritius. Thus considering the small amount of women who have been nominated [ NB: Refer to Table 2] it is but just not to find any on the list of Senior Counsels. This supposition however cannot be endorsed by factual evidence. Indeed around 10 to 15 female barristers have around 10 to 20 years standing at the bar of Mauritius. Therefore, the amount of experience criterion can be questioned. In order to avoid considering criteria which are not official, it is crucial now to consider the guidelines published by the Chief Justice. They are: Standing in the profession, maturity, professionalism in approach; Credibility, integrity and objectivity in the practice of the profession; Contribution to the development of the law and the legal profession; Known empathy and assisting in inculcating in the younger members the time-honoured traditions of the noble professions; Noted interest in and preoccupation with upholding the ethics of respective professions; Any national or international contribution or exposure relevant to the discipline of the law. Mrs Urmila Boolllel, in the interview she offered to this research, stressed the fact that she personally knows many female lawyers who fit the criteria cited above. Mrs Pramila Patten, in her open letter to the Chief Justice, mentioned the opacity of the appointment process and derived examples from the system employed in the United Kingdom. In UK, the reform of the appointment process was partly inspired by an acknowledgement that women lawyers can be victims of either direct or indirect discrimination such as glass ceiling, confinement to certain areas of law, in turn resulting in the low number of women QCs. In Mauritius, the Sex Discrimination Act 2002ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ as well as the more recently adopted Equal Opportunities Act are not enough to remedy the culture of discrimination experienced by women barristers. It might therefore be judicious to consider the appointment process in Britain so as to bring more diversity to those who are officially proclaimed as a credit to the legal profession. This will be further examined in the next chapter entitled Recommendation Recommendations The creation of a draft equality code to be circulated amongst all legal practitioners. The implementation of professional sanctions for gender discrimination and sexual harassment in court or outside. Efforts must be made to educate the public on the negative impacts of gender stereotypes. In this optic, the Ministry of Education may attempt to remove pictures, examples and illustrations of a stereotypical nature from pre-primary, primary and secondary school syllabus. The creation of a Gender Balance goal in nomination of lawyers by the Council of Legal Education. The setting up of an independent body of selection for Senior Counsels and the appointment of meritorious women senior counsels.