Stanford: Graduate School of Business - 2012 - Calling All Applicants Stanford Business School Guide Stanford Applicant Summary (Real Time) Quick Glance: GMAT Club vs. Latest Intake (Class of 2013) Application Tracker Feed Detailed Applicant List: Add Yourself to This List (add Stanford to your profile) GMAT Club's Real-time Admissions Statistics Add Your Profile to This List Essays You have 1800 words that you can allocate in any way you feel appropriate across the four essays. Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why? The best examples of Essay 1 reflect the process of self-examination that you have undertaken to write them. They give us a vivid and genuine image of who you are—and they also convey how you became the person you are. They do not focus merely on what you've done or accomplished. Instead, they share with us the values, experiences, and lessons that have shaped your perspectives. They are written from the heart and address not only a person, situation, or event, but also how that person, situation, or event has influenced your life. Essay 2: What do you want to do—REALLY—and why Stanford? Use this essay to explain your view of your future, not to repeat accomplishments from your past. You should address three distinct topics: your career aspirations the role of an MBA education in achieving those aspirations and your rationale for earning that MBA at Stanford, in particular. The best examples of Essay 2 express your passions or focused interests; explain why you have decided to pursue graduate education in management; and demonstrate your desire to take advantage of the opportunities that are distinctive to the Stanford MBA Program. Essay 3: Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years. Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations. Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization. Option C: Tell us about a time when you generated support from others for an idea or initiative. Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined or established. Deadlines ROUND 1: Submit by: 12 Oct 2011 Notified by: 14 Dec 2011 Deposit due: 01 Mar 2012 ROUND 2: (Ongoing) Submit by: 11 Jan 2012 Notified by: 28 Mar 2012 Deposit due: 03 May 2012 ROUND 3: Submit by: 04 Apr 2012 Notified by: 16 May 2012 Deposit due: 31 May 2012

Anyone have trouble with the black & white requirement for the transcript? I was using Bullzip PDF creator and it wouldn't do B&W. I had to save to XPS format and then convert to PDF again to get B&W. Serves me right for waiting down to the wire.

Someone in the 2010 forum said he was over by 40 words but still admitted to Stanford.

I found several articles about it. Below is one of them. (Sorry I can't post URLs as I just registered today. But I guess you can find the source by googling the words below.) Alumni do up to 90% of the interviews at Stanford and it's well known that the interview is more of a marketing device to get alumni involved. You have to do something really dramatic to commit suicide in a Stanford interview.

I've also seen that about the interviews. In the end though, adcom still gets a report from the interviewer... Might not be too different in practice unless other schools speak in depth with the interviewer or weigh their opinions quantitatively.

Just turned in my application at 2:15pm PST. What.a.relief. Done with my application cycle. Now the wait begins

I uploaded my essays as PDFs to prevent any weird Word formatting. I'm 20 words over (20 REALLY great words). I imagine they print applications for reading. But even if they read on a computer, they'd have to convert back to Word, run the word count, factor OUT the extra words from the prompts.... I don't see them spending the time to do that, but maybe I'm wrong. I bet if it's more than 10% over they can tell and it counts against you.

Yea I think the 10% rule is due to the threshold where they can feel a difference, reading so many. They also make everyone use the same font and spacing so length is probably fairly predictable.

I was over 80 words and was admitted.

i read your source. that's true, but like i said, if you do poorly you get dinged and if you do well you stay in the pool. the interview can break you but not make you.