Stanford GSB MBA Program Guide 2026

Interview lasted around 1 hour and 25 mins (schedule for 1 hour). Took place in the Alum’s office ... Read More

Interview lasted around 1 hour and 25 mins (schedule for 1 hour). Took place in the Alum’s office in London. I didn’t get the walk me through your resume/ tell me about yourself question. We just chit chatted about where in Italy I’m from since the alum is also Italian. Before he dove into questions, he told me what to expect: he told me he’d interrupt me because he knows what he’s looking for so if I were going in the wrong direction or if he already got what he wanted he’d move to the next question. Here are the questions he asked: – Tell me about a time you spotted an opportunity/problem. – Tell me about a time you had an obstacle/challenge and how you solved it – Tell me about a time you had to got the support of others to get something done? – Tell me about a time you helped someone develop a skill. – Why GSB? For each question he asked a few follow up questions. The latter half of the interview was spent with him answering my questions about his career to date, his experience at the GSB and giving me life/MBA advice – sharing peals of wisdom I’ll take with me regardless of the outcome of my application. I was actually surprised by how enjoyable the interview was. It very much felt like a conversation and the alum was genuinely interested in getting to know me and did everything to put me at ease. The whole experience just reinforced for me how special the GSB is. Read Less

Alum was a very senior exec. Relaxed, conversational interview, lasted just over an hour. About 30 m... Read More

Alum was a very senior exec. Relaxed, conversational interview, lasted just over an hour. About 30 minutes of behavioral questions followed by 30 minutes of more open chatting. No “tell me about yourself,” “why MBA,” or “why Stanford” questions, just three TMATs that we dug into a bit more detail on. Had a great time. The three TMAT questions were: 1. TMAT you accomplished something you were really proud of. 2. TMAT you went above and beyond. 3. TMAT you helped someone else develop their skill set. These were actually the only “planned” questions for me. All of the others stemmed from the answers I gave and branched out naturally from each story. Read Less

The interview took place in the alum’s office. I turned up at the office 15 mins before: we starte... Read More

The interview took place in the alum’s office. I turned up at the office 15 mins before: we started the interview early and finished 20 mins after the allotted hour. I didn’t get the walk me through your resume/ tell me about yourself question. We just chit chatted about where in Italy I’m from since the alum is also Italian. He told me about what to expect; he told me he’d interrupt me because he knows what he’s looking for so if I were going in the wrong direction or if he already got what he wanted he’d move to the next question. Here are the questions he asked: - Tell me about a time you spotted an opportunity/problem? - Tell me about a time you had an obstacle/challenge and how you solved it - Tell me about a time you had to got the support of others to get something done? - Tell me about a time you helped someone grow, develop a skill? - Why GSB? For each question he asked a few follow up questions. The latter half of the interview was spent with him answering my questions about his career to date, his experience at the GSB etc. Read Less

I think it went super well — almost 3 hours long, but very casual vibe. We had very similar intere... Read More

I think it went super well — almost 3 hours long, but very casual vibe. We had very similar interests / backgrounds. Wonderful person, really enjoyed talking to them. My pre-GSB career plan is different than theirs, but my post-GSB plans are very close to the sort of work that they do now (a very small space), so a lot of our convo after the main questions was just back and forth about that. Main questions: 1) a time when you’ve gone above and beyond 2) something you’re proud of 3) a time you’ve engaged others (basically leadership) 4) a time you’ve developed/mentored others The rest was just sort of chatting back and forth. Really enjoyed the conversation and learned a lot about GSB. Read Less

Interview lasted about 35mins. Interview was very pleasant and I really enjoyed the conversation wit... Read More

Interview lasted about 35mins. Interview was very pleasant and I really enjoyed the conversation with the (adcom) interviewer. For context, I am looking to pivot from semiconductor manufacturing into cleantech industry. I might be missing couple of questions in the list below. 1) How did you get to know about Stanford MSx program? 2) What specifically did you like about the MSx program? 3) Why is this the right time for you to pursue Stanford MSx program? 4) Why do you want to give up your well-established career/job and pursue a new path? 5) Are you open to working in larger organizations post MSx? (My short-term goal is to work in a cleantech startup) 6) Where do you plan to work geographically post MSx? Do you have a geography preference post MSx? 7) Tell me some of the challenges in your industry/company? 8) Describe your org structure and how you and your role fits in the org? 9) How many people do you have reporting to you? Are they all direct reports or do you have people managers reporting to you? 10) Tell me about your experience with a challenging situation? 11) How would you show up to a group study? 12) How do you plan to contribute to the MSx community? 13) How would you introduce yourself in 30 seconds to your future class? 14) Do you have any doubts or concerns about the MSx program? Read Less

Honestly, I had such a wonderful interview experience-- I'd argue that was the best interview experi... Read More

Honestly, I had such a wonderful interview experience-- I'd argue that was the best interview experience I've had, and I interviewed with 5 other schools. It was such a warm conversation and he asked follow-up questions about topics I wasn't expecting him to (like he asked me how my mom is doing after I told him a story about my family). I have a consulting background and he as previously a partner for a competitor consulting firm so when he asked about my work experience, he was pretty targeted with the follow up questions. For example, he asked something specific about the workstreams that I managed that I knew he could only ask because he understands how case teams are set up. I wouldn't say the follow up questions are hard; it's just stuff you would know how to answer if what you're saying is true. For the follow up questions we had an in-depth conversation about some formative life experiences he had at GSB, so he seemed super willing to open up about himself as well. Here are the questions I can remember him asking me: What is your proudest accomplishment? (this is where I spoke about my family) Tell me about a time when you developed someone or a team. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond. Tell me about an obstacle in your professional life and how you overcame it. Tell me about a time when you were effective. Why do you want to go to Stanford? Tell me about a time you developed a business insight and how it changed the course of your project. Read Less

Tell me about a time where you did something you're proud of? Tell me about a time you saw a challen... Read More

Tell me about a time where you did something you're proud of? Tell me about a time you saw a challenge or problem and addressed it? Tell me about a time you taught someone something new or a skill? Why MBA / Stanford? Why are you interested in this specific industry? Read Less

Why MBA Why GSB A time when I had to solve a roadblock to get to something A time when I had to get ... Read More

Why MBA Why GSB A time when I had to solve a roadblock to get to something A time when I had to get resources (money, HR, time, anything) for something A time when I improved a team's culture A time when I saw prevented something bad from happening through foresight Read Less

1. Why MSx program and why now 2. Most challenging situation 3. self-intro to the class 4. A time wh... Read More

1. Why MSx program and why now 2. Most challenging situation 3. self-intro to the class 4. A time when the team did not perform well 5. Biggest accomplishment 6. Questions about my company's offering and history 7. You applied to MBA and MSx together, what were your throughs? 8. Challenges in your industry Read Less

1. Why Mba? 2. Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult team member? 3. Tell me about a time ... Read More

1. Why Mba? 2. Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult team member? 3. Tell me about a time you build something from scratch? 4. Tell me about your proudest achievement 5. What do you want to do post MBA? Read Less