BY DHAIRYYA AGARWAL*
In 2024, I applied to Stanford’s Master of Science in Management Science and Engineering. The application was polished, professional, and listed all my accomplishments. I thought it checked every box — until it was rejected in March 2025. When I finally sat down after the sting and read it with an open mind, I understood why: it could have been written by anyone. It never answered who I am, why I was applying, how this program would help me, or what drives me forward. It was just a typical social media profile — all the highlights, none of the person behind it.
I’m sharing this because every March, students open rejection letters and assume they aren’t good enough. I did too. But the problem with my application wasn’t that I wasn’t qualified. It was that it wasn’t personal.
I visited the campus and connected with people in the program who gave me feedback I couldn’t have found on my own. I even reviewed it with a coach. What they helped me understand is that an application is not a test of credentials — it is a window into who you are for someone who will never meet you but needs to advocate for you. Every essay has to work together with the letters of recommendation and the resume, each revealing a different side of who you are, so that a complete person emerges by the end.
So I started over. Not from the last draft — from scratch. I spent close to eight months rebuilding the entire application with one guiding principle: a person should appear from every paragraph. The statement of purpose went through three complete rewrites and over thirty iterations. Each additional essay had to reveal a different dimension of who I am. It was not about being impressive. It was about showing who I was.
When the final version was done, I could feel the difference. It felt honest, transparent, authentic, and my best possible work. For the first time, reading my own application, I felt satisfied with my effort. Not confident of the outcome — satisfied that a real person was finally present. I submitted my application in November 2025.
Towards the end of February 2026, I was admitted to the same program.
I don’t know exactly what tipped the scale. External factors are real, and I won’t pretend otherwise. What I do know is that the first application was strong, but the second one connected. If you are reading this after a rejection, the feeling is real, and you are not alone in it. Lean on your friends, your family, and your colleagues — they will carry you through more than you expect. Once the sting settles, go back and read your application honestly. Ask yourself: Does a person appear? Does it answer who you are, why this program, and how it fits into your journey? If the answer is no, that is not a failure. That is your opening. Come back and show yourself who you really are.
*Dhairyya Agarwal is a leapling and first-generation college graduate from India, now based in the Bay Area. Having lived across three countries — India, Canada, and the United States — he will join Stanford University this fall.
