What makes me unique?

“I can’t figure out what makes me unique.”

It’s the most common question that a college/grad school application indirectly asks. The entire application is built around what makes you unique. Your stats, while may not be unique amongst the Stanford consideration pool (everyone has straight A’s, great test scores), they are the first hurdle. If you have straight A’s, you already are unique. You’re in the top 1% in the country.

BUT…

But that’s not good enough for Stanford.

Here’s who you’re going against:

People who invented successful clubs.

A contestant on Teen Jeopardy if you’re going to undergrad.

A published commercial author if you’re applying to grad school.

A 20-year-old who made millions on Wall Street while in school.

An award winning rower.

A lot of accepted applications will have something like this that makes them stand out.

Are you saying to yourself, ok, I have something like that? Or are you saying, I have nothing like that.

So you know when people say “WHY YOU?” It’s the implicit question admissions officers constantly ask. What what makes this guy/girl unique?

Why you.

Stop thinking of it that way. Think, who am I?

You have to be open. Vulnerable.

What’s a secret about you? I.e. “I’m a guy who loves cheesy romantic movies.”

Write it down.

Then write down another secret. “I’m a girl who spends 2 hours a day looking at makeup videos.”

Now delete them.

You should feel FREE.

You should feel a connection with the page.

Now you can start writing. Write about your life.

And don’t talk about the classroom. Don’t give me a biography though. Give me part of a memoir. Give me something intimate. Focus on a few key experiences. And how they are connected to what you’re studying.

If you tried all those things–the secrets, the memoir material–and you’re still struggling to find what makes you special, ask yourself these things.

– Did you grow up working in your father’s business?
– Did you play a sport all through high school?
– Do you have an ethnic family?
– Do you have a specialty job? A mechanic? A tech guy? Etc.?
– Do you do cool things with your summers?
– Do you have a hobby that not many people your age or in your field do?

If you can answer yes to any of these, then you’re special.

You say you have an ethnic family? Show me the key scenes that demonstrate the spectrum of that ethnic family.

You worked in your father’s business? What was your most memorable experience there? What was the setting like?

Find an experience that shows who you are. Someone tried to rob the store. What was it like attending an arranged marriage? What is it like from your POV when you’re in your favorite candy store.

You’re unique. Use this information to figure out how.

And then write your personal statement.