“the greatest asset of these relaxed superstars is not the quality of their activities, but the fact that they’re genuinely interesting people. This trait, which I call interestingness, permeates their application – from their essay to recommendations – and has a profoundly positive impact on their admissions chance”

1. Don’t include the weakness

An often overlooked option for weaknesses is to not include them at all. This is highly recommended if the weakness was not addressed with positive actions.

For example, one of my clients had a lackluster academic performance throughout college. Although this was a weakness, she had taken little steps to improve her GPA. She had, however, excellent examples of leadership at work. Instead of explaining her poor GPA, we wrote the optional essay about additional leadership examples at work. By focusing on her strengths, she got accepted into her top choice.

1. State the weakness and bridge to strengths

If you overcame a weakness, fixed a wrong, or proved that it won’t happen again, weaknesses can actually becomes strengths. To do this effectively, you must make the reader focus on the positives. This is done by stating the weakness as an unapologetic fact then moving on to the positives.

For example, one of my clients had plagiarized a paragraph in his last college paper. He had, however, admitted to his error and learned from his mistake. Instead of writing the essay about why he plagiarized, we addressed the issue in a way that stressed his strengths. Here is an example of what he wrote:

“In the last semester of college, I plagiarized a paragraph in a paper that resulted in a one semester off punish before graduating [unapologetic statement of the weakness]. The school’s response was forgiving because I admitted to the mistake and had such a strong academic record to this point [bridged to positive]. From this experience, I have learned that the best way to overcome a problem is to be honest and forthright [transition to positives]”. (The rest of the essay included the stories of how he addressed the issue properly.)

With this bridging technique, the essay, which was supposed to be about plagiarizing, was filled with stories of honesty, integrity and growth.

Remember that the application process is about selling and marketing. It is not a confession, diary, or journal. Weaknesses should be address with the end goal in mind: to win the application game.

The Superstar Effect is a mathematical explanation for why the best receive disproportional rewards to all others. For example, a website that is ranked 1^st on Google search is clicked on almost 4 times (42.13%) more than the 2^nd link (11.90%). For the applicant, these results are no different:

A Sociologist, Paul Atwell, studied the Superstar Effect on applicants to Dartmouth College. He found that valedictorians had a 75% acceptance as opposed to the fifth-ranked student that had only 25%.To gain admission in such a competitive time, you must create the Superstar Effect in whatever field you do best. You can achieve this by not only establishing your skills but also eliminating your completion.

This application method is what helped me gain acceptance into Tuck School of Business with a modest GPA and GMAT and Harvard University with similarly credentials.  In my application, I managed to establish myself as the best in a field. For my clients, I work with them to do the same.

Contact me for more questions as I would love to help you gain admission to your top choice school.

Pick your interests, know who you are and stick with it throughout the application.

This post was inspired by a great article from 37Signals.

2. Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?

3. What is the greatest challenge or hurdle you have overcome, either personally or professionally, and how did you manage to do so?

4. Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?

5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.

• Understand that this is a zero-sum game

Don’t think of the application process as an academic paper to get an A. It’s a competition to beat other people out of a limited number of spots.

• Know your competition

Figure out who is your competition and how you can beat them. It’s pretty easy. For example, I was in a white, male, athletic pool. By knowing your competition, you can more easily beat them.

• Find a smaller pool

The less people you compete against, the more likely you’ll get accepted. Once you know your competition, position yourself so you compete against the smallest group.  I had a 680 GMAT and a 2.9 GPA, do you think I wanted to compete with all the white males applying? I would have been destroyed.

• Be the best

Once you position yourself against your competition, find a niche. Figure out what makes you special and be the best at it.

• Understand that people ultimately decide

A group of 5-10 admissions officers are going to sit in a room and decide your fate. These people have emotions, biases, generalities, and assumptions. Use this to your advantage. Win these people over and you get accepted.