Agree with the being passionate part. I’m not so sure having something distinguishing is overrated. Every single med school D applied to in some way or another wanted to know “how will you bring diversity to our school?” What if on the surface you really aren’t diverse? You aren’t an URM, you are middle class, your life has been pretty uneventful - stable family, no personal tragedies, or maybe just ones that would ring false compared to those who’ve had real challenges. Yes you can talk about your diverse thoughts or diverse friends or diverse experiences shadowing, but when a school gets thousands of applicants, many with similar stats are saying the same thing. To be noticed you MUST distinguish yourself. D has an EC that she has done her whole life that has nothing to do with medicine, but it is an integral part if who she is. She wrote about it in her personal statement, tied it to why she wants to be a Dr. This very activity and her personal statement seemed to make an impression on several interviewers.