Not Always Right:
https://notalwaysright.com/parental-advice-is-always-welcome-but-not-always-up-to-date/135732/A teen's parents insist they need to go in person to the fast food place where they want to work, when in fact the teen knows all applications must be submitted online. It's not really much of a story, but it got me thinking about other people I've encountered who thought that showing up in person, or doing some other thing the opposite of what I asked for, would somehow give them an advantage. Um, no. It just shows me you can't read and follow directions, which is kind of crucial for the job.
At my work, I was the contact person for applicants when we posted a job, and everything was always done online up until the person came for an interview. I'm on my email all day, and so is our worker pool (college students), so normally it's not a problem. I was gone for a bit one day and when I came back there was a paper application, printed from the one I'd emailed them, on my desk. One of my colleagues said the applicant brought it in by hand and "looked annoyed" that I wasn't there to speak to. I put the application in the trash and treated that person as though they'd never replied to my email with the application attached (which is to say, no further contact on my part). My instructions clearly said, "Fill out this form and return it to me by email."
From a pragmatic point of view, I have a pipeline for processing, saving, and evaluating electronic applications--I have no process for paper forms. It just becomes difficult to collect and organize the information from a separate piece of paper, and why should I bother doing that amount of work for someone I barely know? These are entry-level positions that get over a hundred applicants--if we get to the point where we like someone on paper enough to offer an interview, I do much more individualized work to accommodate them. But not for someone who is, at that point, just #45 out of 102.
More philosophically, I work in a place where reading and following directions and paying attention to details is crucial--we work with chemicals, unique biological samples, safety rules, living organisms, expensive equipment, etc.. We try to explain and train people very thoroughly and make sure they have detailed protocols to consult. Questions about why or how are welcome at the appropriate time; but what we
don't need is someone who thinks, "Well, it's my first day here, I think I know a better way to do this than what they told me," and screws everything up. Or, someone who simply doesn't pay attention to instructions or use the resources around them, but just goes with what they prefer to do. Again, that could lead to personal injury, damaged equipment, ruined experiments, lost time and money.
I understand it's dispiriting to realize you are just #45 out of 102, and you want to do something to stand out... but presumably you want to stand out in a
positive manner, not a negative one. In my case I would say, show that by filling out the application carefully and completely--you'd be surprised how many people simply don't do that--and then honestly there's some important stuff you can't control, like if your schedule meshes with ours. 99 ways out of 100 to "stand out" are bad, in this situation.