How to stand out in the MBA application pool

Most admissions consultants will say ‘focus in on your strengths,’ but when I worked in admissions, I would see that most applicants had the same strengths: they’ve all run marathons, they traveled the world, they were promoted. It was kind of all the same thing. So what I wouldn’t do is focus in on your strengths. What I would do is focus in on your uniqueness. What makes you different than everybody else? Are you from the Philippines? Not a lot of people are applying to business school from the Philippines. Did you take a gap year after high school? Well, that’s pretty interesting. Not everyone did that. Maybe you had a startup. Even if it failed miserably, you have some lessons learned which built your character. Think strategically about what sets you apart in the application pool. That’s what you want to zero in on with this application.