Stanford 2012 - Calling All Applicants

My guess is that all the interview invites for R3 have already gone out. Oh well, hopefully my "magic power" is to create miracles.

did any WL applicants get an interview invite?

I guess that is it from Stanford? Havent heard any activity since Monday, and dont see why they would wait for so long before having another wave... Truly depressing, I think I need a couple more days of mourning to get over the imminent ding

I think that's all, but what did you expect? The chances in round 3 are close to 0!

I just called the Stanford hotline. They said interview invites would be extended through May 15. However, this would seem to conflict with this from the email confirmation: "Invitations for interviews will be sent up until the week prior to the decision date for the round in which you applied." However, as I just laid off I have other issues to contend with at the moment...

What do you mean by hotline rboots? The admissions office? And they said May 15th?! I'm really confused.

Yes, the admissions office number. Sorry, kinda disoriented after getting cut loose...

Posted from my mobile device

No updates, no clarity, the GSB adcom way. Blog filled with random stories.

At this point they might be saying that to stop people from reaching out to them and probably will just send out a few odd invites. Seems there was just one invite wave last monday, so they prolly have been trickling out invites. I just wouldn't understand why GSB would be the only business school that doesnt have its stuff together. It must be one of those years when they got more acceptances than expected in round 2.

Really really wish they were more transparent, but understand at the same time its mighty competitive so time to adjust to reality.

I guess you guys have heard the decision by now. Good luck for those who are accepted

Ding here. Good luck to everyone!

I will be waiting for Haas EWMBA, june1. Any body has info about the program

has anyone heard this rumor before, that stanford does not accept, or is less likely to accept people over 30 years of age? any takers on this?

I don't have data on this but I hear Stanford skews younger than some other schools. That being said, if you're a strong applicant, I feel regardless of age you should be able to prove yourself in the application process.

Stanford does skew younger but it's moreso a function of the applicant pool and less an issue of a bias against over 30 applicants. There really aren't that many 30+ applicants to top FT MBA programs. I know several 30+ (non military) people at Stanford.

I had a very similar question about MBA courses in general. On the online forums, the general consensus is 'no, age does not matter'. I did ask an admissions officer at Northwestern Kellogg in a casual setting , here is what he/she said

"Age per se does not matter, but what matters is if age will hamper your fit into the program. Will an older person not contribute as much back to the program, as in , will they not take part in activities, clubs and class discussions? That is the question the admissions committee is asking. The advantage of being older is that you will have a lot more work experience, and you need to sell the fact that you will be a good fit."

I am 33, which is older than most candidates and outside the age range statistic of some of the top schools from last year, so this is definitely an issue for me.

Last year I interviewed at Ross, Michigan, and the student who interviewed me was younger and inexperienced. He was very rude, would not let me finish my answers. He even went on to say my long term goals were not good enough and described his goals and how mine should basically resonate to his , needless to say that ruined my Ross experience and impression of Michigan. Another interview I had, the younger person, just read of a script. When somebody reads off a script,I can only assume that their assessment of the candidate will also be poor. I have to conduct interviews as part of my job so I am familiar with both sides of the table.

here are my conclusions
1. Officially age does not matter, in fact in the USA it is against the law to discriminate on age, so no school will openly say that they reject based on age. Age is an important factor of the class diversity, so they will definitely be including it inthe decision process.
2. I don't think any candidate will get outright rejected because of age, might get some negative points at the most.
3. If you are not in the age "sweet spot" for a school, then you need to sell the rest of your application. For younger people, they need to sell that lack of experience will not hinder them, older people need to sell that they will participate in the program.
4. But, for that matter, I don't have much faith in the admissions committee in general being able to read between the lines or piece a candidates story together (maybe because of all my rejections!!). As a candidate , you need to assume that the ad com will not get the whole picture, unless you explicitly draw it for them. Some of them might have a mental block against age because of a bad experience. They might see age up front and assume the rest of the application is going to be crap. Remember an application and essay gets about 15 mins at the most to make an impression. I am hoping that this year will be better.
5. I think most ad com members are not qualified to be doing that job, and it is just something most of them fell into (at the lower levels at least), so as a candidate it is in your best interest to spell out all your attributes in the easiest possible manner.