 With thousands of applications flowing in to universities every year, it can seem impossible to find the formula that will help your application earn a second glance. I tell anyone who asks me that the "key" to the whole deal is to find your own way to stand out from the crowd.
Of course, doing this is not easy, so here are a few tips.
What Makes You Unique?
Your mother can answer that one easily, but you're facing a much more critical audience this time.
Consider using a tool called a Positioning Statement that helps you define, in a few simple phrases, what is unique and special about the product you are trying to sell.
The product here is "you", and the principle can be directly applied. A blank Positioning Statement for a Business School applicant might look something like this:
For (target university)
which(statement of need/opportunity)
the applicant (name) is a (key feature/category)
that/who (core benefit proposition).
unlike (primary competitive alternative),
this applicant (point of difference).
How can we apply this framework to you?
Let's say you've been working for a little longer than the average applicant, and have dealt with large teams for many years. Maybe you also worked in some exotic part of the world, preferably one of the flavors of the month in U.S. business circles such as China or Russia. To top it off, your target school-let's call it Stanvard--places special emphasis on global business and managing in large organizations.
What might your Positioning Statement look like? Here's one option.
For Stanvard
which needs diversity in the classroom
the applicant (name) is an experienced manager
that/who has worked in Russia and China.
Unlike most other applicants,
this applicant has excelled in a sport Stanvard happens to take great pride in.
Of course, this framework is just one option to help you figure out the few key points that truly set you apart from the person sitting next to you. However you choose to define yourself, make sure you have that picture in your mind with great clarity as you begin the essays and answers in the application. Refer to it several times as you go along, and critically examine your work to make sure this positioning easily stands out at first reading - that might be the only reading your application gets!
Getting Noticed
So you've got your positioning figured out - now what will make someone pay attention long enough to read the whole essay, and actually remember you? Remember, in the same day they read your essay, an admissions officer reads several other essays: some of those might be by Olympic swimmers working with factories in China, Reconnaissance Marines planning to change the way poverty alleviation works around the world, British schoolteachers who hike through the least known corners of the world taking photographs and meditating, and Bulgarian Tae-Kwon Do playing pilots (these are all real MBA students, no joke).
What are the most interesting stories you can tell about yourself? Not the ones you like to tell - the ones other people want you to re-tell. Ideally, the stories should not be all about you, but should give you an opportunity to gently bring in the positioning you want the reader to remember while keeping them engaged with an interesting narrative.
These stories can be about anything - maybe you will write about how your cricket team came back from a precarious position to win a crucial match, or how the students of your school organized an all-new event, or it might be about something more "relevant"-sounding such as a project at work or a research topic you undertook at university.
Diversity
Coming from a country that most Americans have a hard time locating on a map, you already possess one of the most sought-after attributes of all - diversity. There may be many other factors that contribute to your overall "diversity quotient" - talk about them all. Maybe you are a woman, or you worked in a unique industry, or your age or years of work experience place you outside the normal ranges of the schools you're applying to. Don't play down such facts - express why you think the diversity you bring to the table can make for a particularly rewarding classroom experience for everyone involved. The average student exists only in class statistics; every student deviates from this average in some direction, and admissions officers are always on the lookout for the unusual individual who will bring a fresh perspective to the conversation.
The Developing Nation Angle
In a globalized world, one of the most prized attribute any manager can possess is familiarity with the context of a developing nation. Congratulations, you were born into it. It may not help you during your visa interview, but it will count for a lot in the classroom, and Admissions Officers know it.
Classmates will keep looking to you when such topics some up. In fact, you'll find yourself contributing time and again on a side of life most of your classmates have only read about in elementary school. Make sure you highlight this aspect in your application.
Be the Man (or Woman) with the Plan
Admissions Officers get weak in the knees when applicants lay out clear, well-thought-out plans for how they plan to use their education. This is where all the introspection pays off. Go five, ten, twenty and fifty years into the future and talk about what you want to achieve. Then lay out a rough plan of how you're going to get there, using the education you get at business school as a vital tool. The more authentic and well thought out you can make this, the better the impression you will make.
Don't Stand Out for the Wrong Reasons
By the time you get to the end of your third essay, you won't remember which essay asked which question and where you narrated which story. The price of trying to keep things fresh and unique is that there's so much to keep track of. It's easy to go off topic or leave in entire paragraphs of gibberish.
Get a trusted colleague or family member (one you can freely disagree with on creative points) to read your essays and tell you whether you're clearly talking through your hat and whether they can say it's really you who wrote it.
Have a schoolteacher or education counselor look through the essays for obvious mistakes and to help you with your writing style.
One of the most interesting games to play is to not show them the question or topic and have them guess it instead. This is a good way to figure out whether you are writing to the point and whether your writing is clear enough to convey the message you're going for.
Keep Copies
You're ready to send off the applications complete with proof-read essays and stellar exam scores. Congratulations! But, before you hit the "send" button, save it and print a copy. You may be asked about a particular question, or you may be able to refer to large chunks of it in a different application. You may even apply to the same university next year, when a lot of the information may still be relevant.
J. Charitha Ratwatte (Junior).
Charitha is entering the second year of his MBA program at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, California.
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