When guiding potential MBA students through their applications, New York University's Stern School of Business has this year included a rather unusual stipulation: a limit to the size of objects that can be submitted by applicants.

The school encourages potential students to be creative by submitting materials that reveal something of their character and interests. However, Stern's admissions department has found the arrival of personalised guitars, skis and snowboards a little hard to handle. "We tell people we want them to think outside the box - it just needs to fit inside a box," says Isser Gallogly, Stern's executive director of MBA admissions.