As Admissions Director at INSEAD, I often saw highly capable candidates undermine their own chances – not because they weren’t qualified, but because they made avoidable mistakes that created doubt, confusion, or a sense that the application simply wasn’t ready. And here’s the thing about doubt in admissions: it’s contagious. Once a reader starts to hesitate, they tend to question other elements in the file. In a competitive pool, small errors can take on outsized weight.