Every few months at Knewton, we have something called Hack Day, where team members take a day off from regular work tasks to tackle projects they’ve been itching to develop. These “hacks” typically fall into one of four categories: product, business, culture, or performance.

A Robot for the Office

For my Hack Day project, I worked with my mentor on building a LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot that could serve as a minion around the office. We programmed it to drive around and avoid colliding with obstacles, with help from an infrared sensor. Mounting an Android phone on the robot and having the robot communicate with the phone expanded its capabilities, as the phone had a camera and access to the Web, which the robot did not.

Equipped with a camera and Internet access, the robot was pretty powerful. It could provide virtual tours of the Knewton office, driving around and broadcasting its camera feed to a web page that could be accessed remotely. Viewers could even drive the robot themselves through built-in controls on the page, making the tours extremely flexible and open-ended. With text-to-speech capabilities, the robot could say each of the Knewton team’s SVN commit messages as they came in, and say a phrase typed in by a viewer on the web page. With enough time and Lego bricks, the robot could even be trained to fetch snacks from the kitchen and deliver them personally.

To get the robot to communicate with the phone, we had two options: write something from scratch to send and receive data over Bluetooth, or use the Cellbots app or Python library. The Cellbots team provides software and code libraries to facilitate communication between Android phones and various types of robots, such as the NXT. Using the app would provide many features and controls from the get-go, but we wanted to write and customize code ourselves, so we went with the Python library.

Running Python on Android

Now, the question is, how would Python code run on an Android phone? After all, Android apps are written in Java. That’s where Scripting Layer for Android, a handy Android app, comes in. Once you install it on your phone, you can run files written in a multitude of scripting languages (such as Python) by putting them into the app’s directory on the phone, then opening the app and selecting them. It even comes with “Facades”, which are basically APIs that give you simplified control over things such as Bluetooth and the camera in the scripting language of your choice.

This was our reasoning: If we could run Python scripts on the phone, then we could have the phone host a web server, fetch a video feed using the SL4A Webcam Facade, and display it on the server. Then, whoever wished could navigate to the server’s address and watch a live feed of what the robot “saw” through the Android phone’s camera. Controls could then be placed on the page, allowing someone to turn off the robot’s autonomous navigation and drive it around the office themselves, or even have it speak a given phrase, using the SL4A Text-to-Speech Facade.

Setting Up a Web Server on Your Phone

The first step is to find the IP address of the phone, in order to access the web server from another computer. Check out this blog post (scroll down to “Gleaning your IP address”). Do you want a web page that only lists the contents of some directory on your phone or SD card? If so, you can just use Python’s built-in SimpleHTTPServer, which is the server demonstrated in the previously mentioned blog post. As you can see, it only requires 4 lines of code:

import SimpleHTTPServer
from os import chdir
chdir(‘/sdcard/’)
SimpleHTTPServer.test()

To run the server and view the page, do the following:

1. Save this code in the SL4A directory
2. Open the SL4A app on your phone
3. Run the code you just wrote
4. Open up a web browser on your computer
5. Navigate to the IP address you saved earlier, port 8000
(so if the IP address was 192.168.0.2, you’d go to http://192.168.0.2:8000)

You will then see a listing of the contents of /sdcard/. As you can see, this is a fairly limited web server, and is only useful for, say, browsing your photos. It definitely wouldn’t be enough for what we wanted to do with the robot (embed a video feed and controls). For that, we’d need a more sophisticated web server.

Further Possibilities

Luckily, using SL4A means that anything you can do with Python on your computer, you can do on your phone. That means that you can even run CherryPy on Android with no hassles, or any other Python web server, really. Once that’s done, you can use the SL4A Facades in your server code, meaning you can use the Webcam Facade to stream a video feed from your phone’s camera, the Text-to-Speech Facade to have the robot say out loud a phrase the user typed in, or any of the other Facades in a variety of creative ways to have your very own office robot/minion.

The bottom line is, if you love developing in Python or any other scripting language, you don’t have to suddenly stop just because you’re working on the Android platform, thanks to Scripting Layer for Android.

As many of our readers are aware, letters of recommendation are a central part of the application process.  We would like to take a look at how to handle the snags that often arise for applicants in unique employment situations.

The applicant who is most likely to have trouble finding a suitable recommender is either self-employed or works in his or her family’s business.  First, self-employed entrepreneurs by their very nature do not have a direct supervisor.  Similarly, an applicant who works for the family business may have trouble finding a non-related supervisor, or someone who can offer a truly objective opinion.

Applicants who find themselves in this dilemma should not despair. Some applicants might be in a position to solicit a letter from a client or customer with whom they have worked extensively.  In an ongoing relationship like this one, the applicant is accountable to the client, and in this sense the client may act as a supervisor.  A letter from a client or customer works best, of course, when the relationship has been intensive and ongoing; the writer should be familiar with the applicant’s responsibilities and the way he or she fulfills them, as well as his or her career trajectory.

Another option is to look to former supervisors for a letter of recommendation.  This is a good option for an applicant who has maintained a close relationship with a previous employer. I n this scenario, it is important that the applicant has kept the recommender informed about any developments in his or her career goals.  This way, the letter will be oriented towards the future even if it draws on anecdotes from the past.

For applicants who have pursued extensive community involvement outside of work, yet another recommendation option may exist within a volunteer organization.  Someone who has contributed to a nonprofit for several years and has taken on responsibilities at the organizational level would be in a great position to explore this option.  Again, applicants in this position should look for a recommender who ranks above them in the organization’s hierarchy and has first-hand knowledge of their contributions.

Following these criteria, in conjunction with some of the more general guidelines, applicants can acquire insightful, enthusiastic recommendations that bolster their entire applications.

With applicants for the round one deadlines putting the finishing touches on their applications, the question of how strictly applicants need to adhere to word limits is perhaps more popular than ever. MBA candidates naturally have a good deal of information they want – and need – to convey in their materials, and getting the important ideas down under restrictive word counts is a difficult task. While it might be tempting to run a bit beyond the guidelines to slip in that one extra thought, it’s important to keep the reasons for word limits in mind.

In addition to being a forum for explaining your goals and sharing your story, the essays also serve as a test of the applicant’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely, not to mention follow directions and answer a question. Because business schools and post-MBA employers place a premium on all of these elements, adhering to word counts ultimately works to the candidate’s advantage.

The other consideration is the reader’s time. Because of high application volume and the need to give every applicant fair and thorough consideration, schools are forced to limit the amount of information in each file. If you consistently extend your answers beyond the suggested limits, you are essentially asking the reader to give you more time than they are devoting to the other applicants. In other words, if you were to ignore the word limits and overshoot by 30% throughout, this might imply that you consider yourself to be 20% more interesting than everyone else who applied.

That being said, there is some leeway. For the vast majority of programs, it’s generally acceptable to exceed the word limit by 10%. There are, of course, a few exceptions:

Caveat #1: If a school gives you a range (e.g. 250-750 words), you should ideally stay within that range.
Caveat #2: If a school gives you a page limit (e.g. 2 pages), you should stay within that limit – without excessive margin manipulation or font size reduction.

In terms of the other end of the length issue, it is likely unwise to consistently fall more than 10% below the word limits, as this is valuable room in which to share further information about your candidacy (and might signal a lack of effort, experience, or accomplishments).

Best of luck to all those working on their application essays!

With MBA programs’ Round One deadlines just around the corner, we wanted to offer some words of advice about an often overlooked element of one’s file: the application data forms. All too often, we see candidates leave these online application forms for the last minute, even rushing to enter all the required information from work on “deadline day.” The truth is that a weak effort on these forms can do serious harm to one’s candidacy, as it might reflect poorly on the applicant’s professional polish or commitment to the application process. This being the case, here are a few tips for those who are in the midst of completing this component of the application:

1) Don’t be lazy. We know that many applicants feel “burned out” from their essays and that it’s tempting to zip through the application forms and provide a bare minimum of information. While it’s fine to use your resume as a starting point, make sure that you think beyond this ready-made content and consider other information that might be of interest. In many cases, the forms are a great opportunity for you to list outside activities in depth, offer a quick explanation of a bad semester, share the significance of some professional awards you’ve received, and so on. In fact, your application forms will often be the starting point for the admissions officer’s review of your file, so it’s important to put your best foot forward.

2) Follow instructions. If a school asks you to list activities in order of importance to you, then do not list them chronologically (as you may have done for another school). If the school asks for a contact person, title or the number of hours/week, do not leave these fields blank. As attention to detail is very important, spell checking another important step in this process. In fact, many admissions officers have stated that they use the application forms as a way to see whether or not candidates have the ability to follow instructions and show attention to detail.

3) Make everything clear. The last thing you want is for your reader to have to play detective in understanding your career progression, making sense of gaps in employment, or evaluating your undergraduate performance. If your listings are not clear, the reader may assume you are hiding something – a conclusion that could seriously damage your chances. By the same token, you should avoid using industry jargon and be sure that all of your statements will make sense to a reader who is not familiar with your industry or function. Given the level of competition in the applicant pool, the admissions office can afford to dismiss files that are confusing or difficult to follow.

4) Don’t go overboard. Admissions officers typically review several files in a sitting – devoting much less time than you might imagine to each file. With this in mind, avoid listing 18 activities, 22 awards and 17 publications – especially if some of those items date back to high school (or are more than 10 years old). Stay focused on the elements of your background that are most relevant, while following the instructions that have been outlined. Remember that the application process is an exercise in marketing, and that the schools appreciate applicants who are discerning about what details to share and know how to present themselves most effectively.

As always, best of luck to those of you who are applying!

As Round One deadlines approach,  applicants are coming to understand that applying to business school is an incredibly demanding process. In addition to taking the GMAT, assembling academic transcripts and providing recommendation letters, candidates are required to draft multiple essays, job descriptions, lists of activities and more.

With the obvious incentive to save time where ever possible, it’s understandable that many applicants simply cut and paste content from an existing resume and write about their work in the manner that comes most naturally. However, in doing so, countless candidates each year assemble their materials without ever asking a fundamental question:

Who will read my application?

While the answer to this question may vary from school to school, one thing is certain: It is unlikely that the person reading your file will have an intimate level of familiarity with your specific industry or job function. This being the case, if you use industry-specific jargon or assume prior knowledge of your field on the part of the admissions officer, you undoubtedly will lose your reader.

It’s also important to keep the big picture in mind; many applicants become so mired in the details of their own work and role that they fail to provide sufficient context for a company outsider to understand the importance of one’s efforts to the department or organization as a whole. The solution is to write about your experiences in a way that the average person will understand. While this is easier said than done, it underlines the importance of sharing your materials with an unbiased adviser (ideally not a work colleague or family member) to make sure that you aren’t off base with some of your assumptions.

To learn more about who will actually read your essays at the various schools, or to inquire about our application editing services, simply contact Clear Admit with your CV/resume and sign up for a free initial assessment.

We realize that the questions of whether to answer an optional essay and, if so, what to say, are ones that loom large for many b-school applicants at this time of year. While we’ve been offering a great deal of school-specific essay advice over the past few months, we wanted to take some time to suggest a few considerations that applicants might want to take into account when making this call.

For all those applicants who have recently opened a calendar to plot out the next few months only to realize they can’t possibly fit in campus visits on top of full time jobs and essay writing, never fear!  It’s true that traveling to a school’s campus is the ideal way to learn about their MBA program, but visiting is often not a viable option for applicants who are located remotely or unsure of their level of interest in a given school.  The good news is that business schools might very well come to them.  Many b-schools are getting ready to hit the road and embark on worldwide tours to dispense information and recruit qualified applicants.  Such events offer a great opportunity for interested students to meet with admissions staff (and sometimes current students and/or alumni), learn about the program and ask specific questions.

For centuries, this has been the way that school’s been done.

But now, a new model of teaching is turning the traditional classroom on its head. Under the flipped classroom model, students watch lectures at home, online. Class time is reserved for collaborative activities that help reinforce concepts and increase engagement.

In this infographic, learn about the history of the flipped classroom model, and how it’s improving learning outcomes for today’s students.

Click the image below to go to the full infographic – The Flipped Classroom Infographic

View All Education Infographics ›

As many of our readers know, it has become increasingly common for younger individuals to apply to MBA programs.  Whereas the average age at the leading business schools has traditionally hovered at around 28 and the average amount of work experience at around five years, many programs are now carefully considering the more youthful end of the applicant pool.  Of course, the fact that admissions officers are taking a closer look at younger applicants does not mean that getting accepted to a top program is easy for this group.  In fact, it may be difficult for younger applicants to present themselves as fully prepared to contribute to an MBA program because they often lack leadership experience and extended business exposure.  This is especially true as they will be compared to their fellow applicants who have more years in the working world (often translating to more leadership experience and professional accomplishments).  With this in mind, we’d like to offer a few tips that will help younger MBA candidates leverage the strengths of their candidacies and become increasingly competitive applicants at their choice schools.

Note: For the purposes of this article, we’ll define “younger applicants” as ranging from zero to two years of experience (e.g undergraduate seniors and folks who are one to two years removed from their college graduation).

1) Have an exceptional academic profile. Ideally all MBA candidates will be able to present stellar GPA and GMAT scores, but for younger candidates this is especially crucial.  If younger candidates are likely to fall short in the “work experience” category, then their academic profiles are all the more important to show that they are prepared for the rigors of an MBA classroom.  Therefore it’s better if your scores (GMAT and GPA) are above than the published averages for schools’ incoming classes.  In addition, it will be to your benefit if you have received undergraduate scholarships and awards or graduated at the top of your class, as this indicates that you excelled relative to your peers.

2) Demonstrate your leadership experience and potential. Younger applicants may have only limited full-time professional experience.  Without much time in the working world, there is often less opportunity to move up and gain the responsibilities that lead to management and leadership experiences.  Despite this fact, one way to demonstrate your responsibility and management experience is through your participation in and leadership of extracurricular and undergraduate activities.  In short, as a younger applicant, it is important for you to use whatever experiences you have had thus far (internships, collegiate activities, part-time work, community service, etc.) to demonstrate your leadership and responsibility, displaying your experience as well as your potential for personal growth and ability to benefit your target MBA programs.

3) Have clear goals. Presenting a clear vision for the future is always a good strategy, as the majority of MBA programs are hesitant to accept students who they feel will get lost in the program’s available choices once they arrive.  For younger applicants this is even more crucial, as your relative lack of professional work experience could cause some concern about your ability to pinpoint your short- and long-term goals.  It is therefore important that you provide details about your planned career path, as well as demonstrate confidence that you will stick to this plan.  Applicants who have more years in the working world can draw on their experiences as proof that they understand their interests and work habits; as a younger applicant, you must demonstrate that you are able to do the same despite your relative inexperience.

4) Be able to explain why you are seeking an MBA now as opposed to later. It’s necessary for younger applicants to describe how the timing of their applications relates to their academic or work experiences to date as well as their future goals.  Your challenge will be to convince your target MBA programs that you are able to make a valuable contribution to their schools without further work experience.  In order to do this, you will need to demonstrate that continuing at your current job is not conducive to your future goals at this juncture.  You might also suggest that there is some degree of urgency related to the pursuit of yours goals, due to applicable circumstances such as a closing market opportunity, taking advantage of an industry trend, or making a transition in your career.    Having clear goals and a detailed career plan will help you explain why you must pursue a formal business education now in order to achieve your objectives.

5) Demonstrate your maturity. It’s important that younger applicants don’t let the adcom mistake their youth for immaturity.  One of the ways you can demonstrate your maturity is by showcasing your ability to analyze your actions, accept blame, and grow and learn from mistakes and failures, as these are trademarks of a reflective and mature individual.  An easy opportunity to do this is in essays that ask you to detail a failure, mistake, or setback.  In these essays, it is crucial that you do not appear petty, arrogant, or unable to accept or grow from criticism, as this would only further emphasize your youth.  Another way you can demonstrate your maturity is by focusing on your more recent work experiences and accomplishments.  Some of these might be from college, as you may not have had time to prove yourself in the working world, however, it’s generally best to try and use the most recent experiences possible, as these will provide a clearer picture of who you are today.  You may be tempted to use high school or grade school experiences as examples of leadership, challenges, and accomplishments, but because pre-undergraduate activities will make you appear younger than you are, they should ideally not be discussed in depth.

Several law schools offer applicants the option to enroll in an Early Decision (ED) program. Although this is similar to undergraduate ED programs with which law school applicants may be familiar, today we’d like to take some time to discuss law school ED to help applicants decide whether or not this option is right for them.

Through law school ED programs candidates submit their applications before the regular decision deadline, typically have their applications reviewed earlier than regular decision applicants, and are quickly given an admission decision – admitted, denied, waitlisted, or moved in to the regular decision pool. These admissions decisions are usually administered by mid-February, giving applicants the opportunity to apply to other schools regular decision if they do not receive a favorable admissions decision.

The benefit to applying ED is that applicants are considered earlier in the admissions season, as well as in a smaller pool, thus giving them an advantage in the rolling admissions process. In addition, ED applicants hear about their admissions decision earlier than regular decision applicants, giving admitted ED applicants the opportunity to relax during the spring before they attend law school.

Unlike regular decision, the ED program is binding, and thus applicants must attend the law school if they are accepted; candidates can therefore only apply to one school through a binding ED program. It is therefore important that applicants only apply ED to the law school that they prefer over all others, as being accepted ED means they do not have the opportunity to consider attending other law schools; candidates must withdraw all their applications to other schools after being admitted to their ED school. If it is discovered that applicants have applied to more than one school ED or double-deposited for more than one school in the spring, law schools will revoke their offer of admission. We therefore encourage all law school applicants to take the rules and regulations regarding ED and deposits very seriously.

We hope this post was helpful for all law school candidates considering Early Decision. Good luck with your applications!