Myth #2: Background

Myth: If you don’t have a wildly unusual background, don’t bother applying because you won’t stand out from the crowd

This viewpoint results, quite literally, from backwards reasoning. The idea here is that, if the class as a whole will exhibit diversity, then those people who are “most diverse” should have a better chance of getting in. The problem is, there is no such thing as a “diverse” individual! “Diversity” is a term that only applies to groups. Duh! That said, obviously if you’re a junior analyst at an investment bank, or a second-year accountant-in-training, your work experience alone simply will not grab the admissions committee by the collar and make them stand up and take notice. No problem! We don’t deny people simply because they work in commonplace professions. By the same token, we don’t let people into our business schools based solely on the bizarreness quotient of their work experience. Nor does “diversity” in one’s personal background guarantee entrée. The mere fact that an applicant plays first oboe in the Jamaican Philharmonic, speaks fluent Croatian, and knits earmuffs for underprivileged Inuits in her spare time away from her job as a designer of rocket propulsion systems does not guarantee her admission.[1]

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[1] Indeed, anyone exhibiting such a profile would be at pains to weave the disparate pieces of their life into a coherent and compelling story.