{"id":29116,"date":"2017-03-20T01:24:04","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T08:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=29116"},"modified":"2021-12-05T05:21:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-05T12:21:13","slug":"what-stanford-wants-a-moral-compass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/what-stanford-wants-a-moral-compass\/","title":{"rendered":"What Stanford Wants – A Moral Compass"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2015-06-16_19-29-30\"<\/a>By Paul Lanzillotti, Amerasia Consulting Group<\/a><\/p>\n

If you read the\u00a0latest editions of our\u00a0\u201cHow to Apply to Harvard Business School<\/a><\/strong>\u201d and \"How to Apply to Stanford GSB<\/a><\/strong>\"\u00a0guides, you already know that cultivating a real reason for applying to an elite MBA\u00a0goes week beyond the school's name, rank, and prestige.\u00a0\u00a0But more than any other MBA program in the world (yes, even HBS), GSB looks beyond having a great GMAT score, a summa cum laude GPA and a blue chip name as your employer.\u00a0 While these are respectable measures of a person\u2019s perceived worth, they are\u00a0not good enough reasons to apply to GSB.<\/p>\n

Why is this? <\/em>\u00a0Simply put, you could someone\u00a0with a mis-calibrated\u00a0moral\u00a0compass or worse, what your colleagues might call an \"asshole<\/a><\/strong>\" (more on the asshole test here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and the true cost of being an asshole\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>).\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0That's right - more than any other school in the\u00a0world, Stanford has a visceral aversion to those who define themselves by their accomplishments,\u00a0as opposed to the innate values and beliefs that drive those accolades. Apparently,\u00a0Stanford has their pick of the litter <\/a><\/strong>and they can afford to stand absolutely resolute in their aversion to those whose moral\u00a0compass points true south.<\/p>\n

Take a look at GSB\u2019s first essay question \u201cWhat matters most (to you and why)?\u201d\u00a0 Not only is this prompt require you to be introspective, but it also requires you to hit on 750 or so words that overwhelmingly attest to non-professional content. \u00a0And that is just where the fun begins. \u00a0For those of you who define\u00a0yourself (in this essay) by laying out a series of professional and personal professional accomplishments, you will most likely run out of meaningful\u00a0things to say. When I read misguided Stanford essays, I see it all the time.\u00a0The essay either becomes some type of \"super resume\" (AKA \"shit the adcom\u00a0already knows or can assume\")\u00a0or a meandering narrative filled with clich\u00e9s and pipe dreams.\u00a0Stanford admissions\u00a0has often said that no one can tell your story is genuinely as you can<\/a><\/strong>. I suppose writing <\/em>it is another matter altogether.<\/p>\n

What Stanford wants to see is a person who genuinely discusses (maturity and thus authenticity is key here) why they did something, and what they learned from it. \u00a0As opposed to simply how accomplished some feat\u00a0or what they did to earn\u00a0some type of employee of the month\/year\/century\u00a0award. \u00a0It is not as simple as Stanford wanting \"nice\" people. \u00a0You certainly have to be successful, as successful as anybody applying to Harvard, for example. \u00a0It is just that Stanford really focuses on applicants who are actually successful because they are guided by an unwavering moral compass. \u00a0They want people who are successful professionally as a subset of being successful as a person. Ultimately, I believe that this is the key differentiator between what Stanford GSB wants and what HBS seeks.<\/p>\n

Do not get me wrong, HBS definitely vets the character of the people that they are admitting. \u00a0But I would say that HBS believes the ultimate proof (of what you bring to their table and future tables) is in the pudding - what have you led, what have you accomplished, and it better be good, better than the rest. <\/em>Whereas Stanford GSB focuses first on the moral fabric of a person. They believe it\u00a0should never tear, and the truest test of that moral fiber is by overcoming obstacles that threaten\u00a0to tear apart a person's values and beliefs.<\/p>\n

Now not everybody with excellent moral character will be eligible for a seat at Stanford GSB.\u00a0\u00a0I do not want to oversimplify this. But I believe that GSB\u00a0would argue \"how can anybody really be successful in life, if their values are suspect?\u00a0 You cannot fake your values over the long-term, and that is who we are looking for.\" And why are they looking for this person? \u00a0Because you may have the brains and intellectual horsepower to achieve the type of goal that ultimately changes the world in a positive way. But do\u00a0you actually want to do that?\u00a0 Or are you just writing some bullshit in your essays, trying to convince the reader you are the second coming of Mother Teresa?<\/p>\n

I believe that any applicant who thinks that they can pull this off (trickery) as rather unsophisticated. \u00a0I say this because I have seen a lot of Stanford essays. \u00a0People who think they are too smart (for their own good) still try. \u00a0I've been doing admissions consulting work since 2007 and I still see it all the time. \u00a0It is really hard to fake your way through 750 words that require you to connect what you have achieved, to what you have learned, to a sense of purpose - among all the other things that GSB wants to see from you in writing.<\/p>\n

So what are some things you should think about when deciding to apply to\u00a0Stanford?<\/strong><\/p>\n