{"id":53141,"date":"2021-09-19T16:52:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-19T23:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/stanford-mba-how-to-get-into-stanford-gsb\/"},"modified":"2021-09-19T16:52:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T23:52:25","slug":"stanford-mba-how-to-get-into-stanford-gsb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/stanford-mba-how-to-get-into-stanford-gsb\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford MBA: How to Get Into Stanford GSB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re considering an MBA; it won\u2019t be all too long before you come across the Stanford Graduate School of Business, universally recognized as one of the world\u2019s premiere Graduate Schools of Business.  Stanford offers three full-time degree programs: the MBA, the MSx (a compressed one-year program generally pursued by mid-career professionals), and a Ph.D.  We\u2019ll focus on the Stanford MBA in this article.<\/p>\n<h2>Stanford MBA Profile<\/h2>\n<p>An inordinate amount of the buzz surrounding the Stanford Graduate School of Business addresses its continually increasing selectivity. The Class of 2022 had 7324 applicants, and 436 new students were accepted.<\/p>\n<p>If we grind a few numbers, we see that the Stanford MBA acceptance rate is just under 6%, or just over 1 of every 16 is admitted. It is indeed a tight cut, but that ought not to discourage you when you believe you\u2019ve got the academic chops to be a serious candidate.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Total enrollment<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>436<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Median GRE score<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>164 - 84th percentile (Q)<br \/>\n165 - 96th percentile (V)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Median GMAT score<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>733 - 96th percentile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Median TOEFL score<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>113 - 96th percentile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Median GPA<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>3.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Acceptance rate<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Women<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>47%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>First generation university students<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Students of Color<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>37%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>International citizens<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>35%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Average work experience<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>4.7 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Undergraduate majors<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>\n<ul><\/p>\n<li>44% Business<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>37% Engineering, math, and natural sciences<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>18% Humanities<\/li>\n<p>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><!-- #tablepress-122 from cache --><\/p>\n<p>(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/admission\/class-profile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stanford Graduate School of Business<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>The takeaway from this data is that you can take the Stanford GSB adcom at its word when it tells you to be yourself and to put your best foot as you see it forward. In its admissions process, the university will give you every opportunity to show how you will both contribute to the program as a student and how you will use your education, to, in the words of the university, \u201cChange lives, change organizations, change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of ways to demonstrate these qualities <em>in addition to<\/em> strong academics. If you\u2019ve got the stuff, they want to consider your application!<\/p>\n<h3>Rankings<\/h3>\n<p>Both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/best-graduate-schools\/top-business-schools\/mba-rankings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US News<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/rankings.ft.com\/schools\/166\/stanford-university-gsb\/rankings\/2837\/global-mba-ranking-2020\/ranking-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Financial Times<\/a> ranked Stanford as the #1 business school of 2021, while <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/education\/business\/mba\/rankings\/best-mba-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fortune<\/a> ranked it as #2 in their 2021 Best MBA Program rankings.<\/p>\n<h3>General Evaluation Criteria<\/h3>\n<p>Intellectual vitality, demonstrated leadership potential, and personal qualities and contributions<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/files\/2021\/09\/GMAT-Stanford-MBA.jpg\" alt=\"Stanford University\" width=\"1200\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11108\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>What are the requirements for a Stanford MBA?<\/h2>\n<p>At risk of repetition, if you believe you\u2019ve got the academic capabilities and like the program, you really ought to apply.  Stanford has a well-deserved reputation of being far more friendly and less competitive than many of its similarly ranked peers, and the admissions criteria reflect this approach. Stanford GSB has no preferred undergraduate curriculum and no minimum GPA.<\/p>\n<p>There really is no prototypical student. Furthermore, DACA recipients and undocumented students who otherwise meet the criteria are encouraged to apply.<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/admission\/application\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">application process<\/a>, you can show them how you shine via a number of paths: undergraduate GPA, GMAT or GRE Scores (or TOEFL scores if appropriate), examples of activities and awards, a recounting of your professional experience, and two letters of reference.<\/p>\n<h3>Stanford GMAT Scores<\/h3>\n<p>Stanford GSB has one of the highest average GMAT scores around; the score range of those admitted to the class of 2022 ranges from 600&ndash;790 (the 99<sup>th<\/sup> percentile!). Even candidates with strong scores will need some luck or some pull.<\/p>\n<p>See where your score falls below:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Score Range<\/th>\n<th>Assessment<\/th>\n<th>What You Need<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>750&ndash;800<\/td>\n<td>The safe zone<\/td>\n<td>Make sure the rest of your application is on track, and keep your fingers crossed just in case!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>710&ndash;750<\/td>\n<td>The go-for-it zone<\/td>\n<td>You have a chance, but make sure the rest of your application is impressive, or helps round out the diversity of the class.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>660&ndash;710<\/td>\n<td>The questionable zone<\/td>\n<td>You'll face scrutiny, so you'll have to offer something no one else is bringing (or do some serious prep to help your scores).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>500&ndash;660<\/td>\n<td>The shot-in-the-dark zone<\/td>\n<td>To get in with this score, Stanford has to consider you exceptional. Do some serious prep, consider another test, or look at alternative schools.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><!-- #tablepress-123 from cache --><\/p>\n<p>If your scores are in the \u201cquestionable\u201d or \u201cshot-in-the-dark\u201d ranges, I highly recommend you do some serious GMAT prep (75% of the class of 2022 submitted GMAT scores) or consider the GRE as an alternative. For more information on the relative merits of the GMAT and the GRE as vehicles for admission to a top MBA program, see our <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gmat-vs-gre\/\">GMAT vs. GRE comparison<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Essays<\/h3>\n<p>Additional parts of the application include two essays whose combined total word count is less than 1,050 words. They address two very broad topics that permit you to show Stanford what a great match you and the Graduate School of Business will be: \u201cWhat matters most to you, and why?\u201d and \u201cWhy Stanford?\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Letters of Recommendation<\/h3>\n<p>The recommendations are particularly important at Stanford; it is here that you get to shine and at the same time be reasonably humble, so choose your recommendations authors carefully \u2013 try to show your leadership \/ contributions to something larger than yourself here.<\/p>\n<h3>Optional Items<\/h3>\n<p>There are also two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/admission\/application\/optional-short-answer-questions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">optional essay questions<\/a> that permit you to add any information you\u2019d like the committee to know about that did not come up elsewhere in your package.<\/p>\n<h2>Stanford MBA Program: Curriculum, Cost, and More<\/h2>\n<p>There are a lot of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/admission\/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-person and virtual admissions events<\/a> that offer great opportunities to learn more about the program, and the university strongly encourages applicants to attend.<\/p>\n<p>\nThe program itself is a high-end intellectual playground.  The Stanford GSB faculty of 111 is chock full of Nobel Laureates, including recipients of 5 Nobel prizes for economics alone since 1990, not to mention the countless recipients of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/faculty-research\/faculty\/awards-honors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">additional academic awards<\/a>.  These scholars are distributed across eight broadly defined academic areas \u2013 Accounting, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Operations, Information and Technology, Organizational Behavior, and Political Economy.<\/p>\n<h3>Curriculum<\/h3>\n<p>The Graduate School of Business operates on a quarter system.  First-year MBA students typically take core courses, with one or two electives in the Winter and Spring quarters.  This is typically followed by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/academic-experience\/global-experiences\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Global Management Immersion Experience requirement<\/a>&#8211;four weeks abroad with a group of 20\u201330 students and a professor, working in a sponsoring organization.  Student may also self-design and direct an individual Global Experience.  COVID has of course had an effect on this program\u2019s recent implementation, but Stanford GSB is keeping its finger on the pulse as circumstances evolve.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/academic-experience\/curriculum\/second-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Second year students<\/a> take almost exclusively elective courses.  These courses come from the following disciplines, and at least 100 courses change year to year. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Accounting\n<li>Entrepreneurship\n<li>Finance\n<li>Global management\n<li>Human resources\n<li>Information technology\n<li>Leadership\n<li>Managerial economics\n<li>Marketing\n<li>Operations\n<li>Organizational behavior\n<li>Political economics\n<li>Public management\n<li>Strategic management\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Students will also complete 12 additional academic credits which can come from any of the six schools that comprise the whole of Stanford University, including the Schools of Business, the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Engineering, the School of Humanities and Sciences, the School of Law, and the School of Medicine.  (12% of the class of 2020\u2019s graduates\u2019 new ventures were in healthcare.)<\/p>\n<h3>Dual Degrees<\/h3>\n<p>One Graduate School of Business alumnus in 6 gets a joint or dual degree.  While the standard JD\/MBA is certainly popular, 2020\u2019s class also included MBA graduates who combined their degrees with an MA in education, an MPP in Public Planning, as well as with Masters degrees in engineering and computers.   At the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the world really is your oyster!<\/p>\n<h3>How much does a Stanford MBA cost?<\/h3>\n<p>Once you manage to get in, can you afford it?  As is the case with all the top programs, it\u2019s expensive. Stanford estimates the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/tuition-financial-aid\/cost-attendance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cost per year<\/a> for all tuition and expenses with a \u201cmoderate\u201d lifestyle in Palo Alto at $119,964 for a single student at $144.042 for married students.  You\u2019ll need to add between $3,000 and $4,500 for the Global Experience requirement.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the good news.  Once you get in, they\u2019ll help you to get through.  <\/p>\n<p>More than $20 million in fellowships are awarded annually.  The average need-based award (that\u2019s right, \u201caward\u201d \u2013 you won\u2019t be asked to pay it back) is $80,000 spread over the two years.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s just the beginning; there\u2019s a load of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsb.stanford.edu\/programs\/mba\/tuition-financial-aid\/types-aid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">financial aid<\/a> Stanford makes available in addition to the above-mentioned fellowships.  These include, but are by no means limited to, the Stanford GSB BOLD fellows fund, aimed at low-income students and\/or those subject to intergenerational wealth disparities.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of aid is based upon race and ethnicity, and a lot is further based upon geographic origins, religious beliefs, and even veteran status and a student\u2019s need to support family members.  Other FA opportunities include fellowships and loan forgiveness for students who pursue employment in the nonprofit and public service sectors, and Stanford has a web page dedicated to referrals to external scholarships available to international students as well as to US citizens and permanent residents.<\/p>\n<h2>Stanford GSB Employment Outcomes<\/h2>\n<p>\nOne is naturally inclined to ask what the ROI on this heavy investment in intellectual excellence looks like.  In a word (OK, two words), it looks <strong>bright and brilliant<\/strong>.  Stanford MBA graduates are among the most heavily recruited students, and they are recruited by the world\u2019s most innovative organizations.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nData for the class of 2020:\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>91% received offers within 90 days of graduation\n<ul>\n<li>34% in finance<\/li>\n<li>24% technology<\/li>\n<li>15% consulting<\/li>\n<li>Other 27% of grads spread across a number of industries, with 18% starting new ventures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>63% of those reporting said they changed their function or industry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not only will you be recruited, but you\u2019ll be also well paid.  The highest mean starting salary was in Finance, $182,706 annually.  The lowest mean salary, not surprisingly in a category characterized as \u201cOther\u201d, was $129,088 annually.<\/p>\n<p>As a point of comparison, the mean starting salary of all 2020 MBA graduates in California was $85,331. (Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/articles\/personal-finance\/031215\/what-average-salary-mba-graduate.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Investopedia<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Add to the above that 41% of the Stanford MBA class of 2020 got stock compensation of some sort, and 71% expect to receive a performance bonus, and the ROI looks impressive indeed.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Get Into Stanford GSB: Takeaways<\/h2>\n<p>The Stanford MBA is clearly an outstanding academic opportunity \u2013 indeed, a collection of outstanding academic opportunities.  The hard part is getting accepted.<\/p>\n<p>Some common threads:<\/p>\n<p>Stanford Graduate School of Business likes students who are successful as a result of pursuing their passions to the fullest, as opposed to those who check off a large number of boxes as an end in itself.<\/p>\n<p>Community involvement is highly valued; the school offers academic programs through the Center for Social Innovation and the Public Management program, and offers loan reduction for graduates who pursue employment in this space.  Stanford is not a competitive cutthroat environment, but rather a place where differences are accepted and students support each other.<\/p>\n<p>If you are an authentic person who\u2019s a team player, the Stanford Graduate School of Management is a definite \u201cmust-see\u201d during your exploration of top-notch MBA programs!<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/stanford-mba\/\">Stanford MBA: How to Get Into Stanford GSB<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\">Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re considering an MBA; it won\u2019t be all too long before you come across the Stanford Graduate School of Business, universally recognized as one of the world\u2019s premiere Graduate Schools&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,783,243,940],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-magoosh-blog","category-blog","category-gmat-prep-gmat","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}