Congratulations appukutty and foodstamp & all the other admits!!!
So a couple people asked about my "waitlist" experience . . . I was put on the waitlist back in January WITHOUT an interview. When I first opened the decision letter (fully expecting a ding, since I had not gotten an interview), my initial reaction was "WTF?!?!" I didnt even know what it meant honestly--so Stanford wasn't interested enough in my app to interview me for R1, but they were interested enough to WL w/o even interviewing me?
I finally received my invitation to interview about 2 weeks before the R2 deadline. I think my interview went really, really well--I was paired with a female '92 alum, who was super-cool and we really hit it off. In all honesty, I wasn't a very good waitlist candidate . . . my decision to accept a place on the waitlist back in January never hit the GSB system, and it wasn't until March 6 (when I happened to submit my change of address information) that I realized they never received my reply, and thankfully that was the deadline to submit your waitlist reply, so I got in under the wire. I didn't even send in a letter like they recommend to advocate for my candidacy--not much had changed at my work (I was called in for jury duty and placed on a 3 month trial Nov-Feb, and promotions freeze @ work, so REALLY nothing to report cuz I wasn't even there for 3 months!) I guess I just figured that if they really wanted me, they would accept me regardless of whether I had written a letter. Maybe that was a little arrogant/stupid, but I was so stressed out and tired I just couldn't deal with the process anymore. When all else fails--apathy!
I have put a lot of thought into why they made they decisions they did. I think I part of it had to do with my work experience. I did public finance investment banking for 3 years before moving into my current strategy/biz dev role, and while I have strong recs from my time there, I was certainly never a "superstar" like some of the other analysts. I suspect they wanted to compare me against the flood of i-banking applicants they expected to get in R2.
I suspect they also waitlisted me because while I have a strong app in many respects, it by no means stands out among the pack. However, I do believe I have a compelling "story" and I am strong on the "soft", non-quant factors--for example my "What Matters to Me Most" essay was pretty kick-ass, and one of my recs was written by my friend who I backpacked around the world with for 8 months. Also, I think they kind of knew I was a good "fit" personality-wise because I went to Stanford for undergrad, so I know the culture/vibe of the school and I know I like it.
Anyways, I know this isn't terribly helpful in terms of what I did to improve my candidacy and stuff, but I hope it does give hope to those still on the WL that you don't have to be a superstar or have brought democracy to the Congo to get off the WL at Stanford. VERY best of luck to all those still on the WL!
02 Apr 2009, 09:21
