What are they looking for in your application?

Link: Stanford MBA Admissions Newsletter.

If you've been following this blog, you know that I like Stanford GSB's newsletter. I particularly like the Director's Corner, and make it a point to read it every single month. If you are applying to top MBA programs, you should to.

One of the paragraphs in the Director's Corner summarizes the evaluation process:

You can influence the first aspect of the process - evaluating the individual applicant file - by writing thoughtful essays; working with your recommenders to ensure that they write descriptive, candid letters of reference; and sharing insights from your experiences via your interview. However, you cannot fully control the final outcome since you have neither knowledge of nor influence over the quality and quantity of applicants in the pool within which you are being considered. This is why your strategy in applying to highly selective schools should be to focus on your individual application, making it represent you as clearly as possible - as opposed to trying to show yourself as unique. You will stand out from others because you have honestly communicated who you are; differentiation is a byproduct, not a goal, of telling your own story.

Derrick Bolton, Stanford's Director of MBA Admissions, has hit the nail on the head when he writes both about the importance of revealing, honest essays, and your inability to control the outcome -- no matter how good your scores, essays, and work experience are. You can influence, but you can't control. This process is not a mathematical formula or a computer program where certain inputs will always produce the same results.

Admissions is a process partially based on merit. That's the part you can influence and that's the element he is focusing on in this article. However, in another part of the article, he also acknowledges that there is another element to the process: Creating a diverse class when you have more qualified applicants than spaces. That element is entirely subjective.

Ironically, in discussing the importance of uniqueness, Mr. Bolton's insider perspective is less than helpful. He writes:

You will stand out from others because you have honestly communicated who you are; differentiation is a byproduct, not a goal, of telling your own story.

That's sounds good, but it's not so simple. "Your own story" will reveal what's most important to you, as it should. That's one criterion you should use in choosing what to write about, but it's not the only one. You should focus your essays on what's most important to you and distinctive about you.

Uniqueness is important because the schools value diversity. The fact that you are a cross-country skier or concert violinist or old movie collector, or that you have an unusual blend of professional experience, adds color to you as an individual and means that you may be able to contribute a unique hue to the class mosaic that the adcom is creating.

Frankly, if you have lived twenty-five or thirty years, you have a lot of stories to tell, many facets to your life, and varied experiences to choose from. They are all part of your story, part of YOU . You have to select which experiences, facets, and details to include. As Mr. Bolton recommends, engage in self-reflection, be authentic, and then choose what's most important to you. However, if you also want to show that you can contribute to the diversity of the class, don't ignore the uniqueness factor in admissions.

What if you feel you haven't done anything unique? You're probably the individual that Mr. Bolton is addressing. Never make anything up or try to be something that you are not. If you have had what Cindy Tokumitsu and I call a French Vanilla life in The Finance Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions Success, then let the details of your experiences and the distinctiveness of your insights differentiate you from your competition.