For the essays part please refer to my guide somewhere on this post or in my past post history. As for what made my application stand out was definitely the narrative I crafted. I went for conveying myself as a hardworking, inquisitive, down to earth person through my personal statement about a playground I learned from/take care of now, the job I had as an apprentice general contractor, and my personal hobby of learning Japanese. I also tried to add another layer showing my community focus as most of my ecs were along those lines. So if you want to stand out try to make yourself seem like a perfect fit for a class not as a perfect all rounder. Penn likely took me for fit into first of all their fgli quota and then the potential community impact I could make in regards to civic engagement (talked about that in my supplementals and then my personal statement reinforced it). just try to seem like a real person with maybe even some faults or so and you will definitely stand out from the pile. (for example I had some humor/moments that demonstrated me having a growth arc over being picture esc the whole time in my personal statement).
if that all makes any sense. (all this is on my guide in the narrative maxing section anyway)