The Application Brand: What Is It and Why Is It So Important?
January 8, 2023 | By Daniel Strom
Every year, admission to competitive colleges becomes more, well, COMPETITIVE!
No surprise, right?
With so many talented applicants and so few slots at top-tier universities, admissions officers are forced to make decisions that can be arbitrary at times.
So how can students stand out against such outrageously fierce competition?
Personal branding is the answer.
Through my experience as an admissions representative and interviewer at Northwestern University, I noticed that many applicants had succumbed to a common misconception in admissions: the need to be “well-rounded.”
While it is true that successful applicants will usually have a variety of skills and interests, I have seen far too many applicants feel the need to be involved in every extracurricular activity under the sun. However, by doing this, their application often lacks a common thread connecting each activity to their core interest and future goals.
Let me explain.
I remember interviewing an applicant with an exceptional background. She had a 4.55 weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, was president of five clubs, created a non-profit organization that she had maintained since 9th grade, and even had a part-time job at a local coffee shop. She appeared to be the most impressive applicant I had interviewed until I asked her to tell me about her future goals.
“I want to become a pediatric surgeon,” she said confidently.
I was surprised by this answer, and initially thought she may have been joking. This student’s background was not even remotely related to this career trajectory. While she had taken a few STEM courses, her high school offered many others that she had not taken advantage of. Furthermore, none of her extracurricular activities were related to STEM or children. When she spoke of her most meaningful classes and teachers, they were all humanities-based. To her credit, she demonstrated strong interviewing skills and had personal anecdotes to support each experience she mentioned. Still, none of her responses to my previous questions even slightly suggested the possibility that she would be interested in becoming a pediatric surgeon, let alone a doctor.
She was ultimately rejected by Northwestern.
Now, as an admissions consultant, I am sitting on the other side of the table, where I can help talented students avoid this pitfall by developing an Application Brand.
An Application Brand is a 1-2 sentence summary that captures a student's essence. The Application Brand serves as a compass to guide a student through every aspect of the application, including personal essays, CV/activities list, and interviews.
“Where on my application do I write my Application Brand?”
You don’t. The Application Brand is an internal strategy, which is not meant to appear explicitly on the application. Rather, it is intended to help the students highlight the most relevant aspects of themselves that will appeal to a college admissions committee.
For example, take a look at one of my previous student’s Application Brands:
"I am a loyal and caring philanthropist who publishes children's books about helping those in poverty, with the intention of starting a non-profit organization that teaches underprivileged people to read a second language for free."
As you can see, this Application Brand covers the student’s essence, which includes his:
Personal Characteristics (Loyal, caring)
Hobbies (Writing children's books, philanthropy)
Career Interests (Education, social activism, non-profit)
“So how can this student use his Application Brand strategically?”
Remember that every aspect of your application should follow your Application Brand. This student did so by using the Activities List to highlight his experiences with philanthropy, tutoring, and writing. He channeled his Application Brand into his Personal Statement by writing about his multicultural upbringing (his father is from Ukraine and his mother is from Russia), which helped him develop a sense of loyalty and pride, despite a public discourse that has made it difficult to do so. His supplemental essays also hinted at his Application Brand, and one in particular focused on a life-changing experience with a medical non-profit that ultimately motivated him to write a book about it (which he then translated into two additional languages!). This student ultimately ended up being admitted to his top choices: University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, and University of Southern California.
Overall, developing a strong Application Brand is absolutely crucial for an applicant to stand out. By developing a strong Application Brand, students can effectively showcase their core interests and future goals, providing admissions committees with a clear understanding of their essence. Rather than striving to be "well-rounded," applicants should focus on creating a cohesive narrative throughout their application that truly represents who they are. Embracing this strategy can ultimately make a significant difference in the admissions system!
About Daniel Strom
Daniel Strom co-founded Elite Scholar Advising, which provides tailored advice to college applicants worldwide. He is a proud graduate of Northwestern University and the Kellogg School of Management, where he also developed admissions experience through his role as an admissions representative. In addition, he also served on the Northwestern Alumni Admissions Interviewing Council. Daniel has helped hundreds of college applicants across the world realize their full potential by gaining admission to their dream schools.