Time will be the key differentiating factor here, given the factor that bankers are generally on par with applicants from other backgrounds in those perspectives you mentioned, if not better.
I don't do modeling just for fun or trying to save the world. I ONLY do modeling for a living. For sth that's impossible to model, I would rather spend my time reading GQ.
Interesting thread. I am a management consultant as well and just got my HBS R2 interview invite. I've no idea how much the brand of my firm and my WE helped in getting the interview but the one thing that I am sure about is that when I was reading my HBS essays for one last time before submitting, I didn't feel them any worse than those in <65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays>. I would only ask a question like LZ's if I am sure that my essays and interviews are both PERFECT.