Calling Stanford Fall 2008 Applicants

That I am leaving upto dabots and river.

Oh yeah, HBS then [:)]

Kryzak,

I am very troubled with C-2 ("Tell us about a time when you had a significant impact on a person, group or organization").

What kind of impact are they asking about? Is it an influence, relationships and a personal interaction or smth else? When does the impact become "significant"?

What does "a time" mean? Is it a single event or a certain period of time when I had this "significant impact"?

I have a lot of examples of some sorts of impacts in my life but feel that I can't choose the relevant one The wording of Stan's essay questions is so weak...

Nick_sun

I've not researched the Stan essays yet .. so I am sure kryzak will have better inputs to give. But let me try analyzing it.

They are giving you a lot of freedom in defining "impact" (By hinting that the impact can be on a person or group). I think "impact" simply means anything that changes / effects a person or group. If you talk about impacting a person, the impact can be at a very personal level (But not necessarily). If you talk about impacting a group, the impact can be at a professional level (Again, not necessarily).

Now, which impact you find "significant" is part of what they are trying to get from this essay. So, which impact is "significant"? The one that you think is "significant". Which impact did you value more in terms of significance will tell them a lot about who you are.

Finally, what does "a time" mean? Again, it can be a single event or a time-period. Nothing very tricky about it. Basically "a time" just hints that perhaps you should stay away from life-long impacts. So you can't write an essay about how you've significantly impacted your younger brother over all your life.

I think mNeo just answered the question perfectly. I have nothing more to add.

Thank you, guys! That clarifies a lot this question

Significant or not significant in my eyes, that's the question!

Nick_sun

So I have a question about the education history (I that is what it is called). It asks you to list all institutions that you have attended for any classes for credit or not. It then says that if you attended for over one year you will have to provide transcripts upon acceptance. I am assuming they want you to list all institutions, not just ones you attended for 1+ years. I have four such institutions (two of which are on college transcript without grades), but there are four blanks. Do I just choose and put the ones I feel are most important (going off my theory from their activities section)? That doesn't seem right here....

Thanks, Sarah

One of Stan's requirements is that "your answers for all three essay questions cannot exceed seven pages (in total), double-spaced using a 12-point font". Do we count the space taken by the questions themselves?

"Essay A: What matters most to you, and why?
Essay B: What are your aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?
Essay C-1: Tell us about a time when you empowered others.
Essay C-4: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected"

There are about 50 words in these questions (1/6 - 1/7 of a typical Stanford essay page)

And another question - What are the standard Microsoft Word document's margins in the USA? I am worried about the possible differences in the American and European standard documents...

Nick

Btw, I have just noticed this misprint in the official instructions

"your answers for all three essay questions"

Actually, there are four essay questions: A + B + 2 Cs

Essay C: Please answer [b]two of the questions listed below.

Tell us about a time when you empowered others.
Tell us about a time when you had a significant impact on a person, group, or organization.
Tell us about a time when you tried to reach a goal or complete a task that was challenging, difficult, or frustrating.
Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected.[/b]

Nick

I think it includes the essay questions, which REALLY suck. I'm barely over, and if I can remove the questions, I can fit it in...

OK - I was in for a surprise (shock!!) when I started filling my Stan application.
Well, there seems to be yet another essay for the P4D fellowship which I just discovered a few days back!!
Are any of you writing that essay? Is it worth applying for the P4D?

The thing is, it targets at diversity, but it talks about the diversity that we will bring to the classroom and the community - not limited to race/gender and all that good stuff.

However, I also came across this line which strongly encourages the race based minorities - hispanics/native indians et al to apply ..

So my question is - Is it even worth it to apply for the P4D being an Indian?

At first I was going to apply for P4D, but after reading the fine print (and the instructions), I think it is intended for black/hispanic/native americans and at most women. Being Asian (Chinese or Indian) probably won't get us anywhere.

I was dreading having to write one more essay, but I don't think we have much of a chance unless again, we climbed Mt. everest and can bring some sort of crazy diversity to the class.

"seven pages (in total)"


Do they care about number of words in essays or amount of wood (environmental issue)?

Can we make 9 pages of seghmented essays? For example, 2.2 pages - essay A, 1.5 - essay B, 1.6 - essay C1, 1.7 - essay C4 - totally 9 woody pages

Shall we make round pages, i.e. 1 pages + 2 pages + 2 pages + 2 pages?

What do you think, guys? What are those seven pages in total? Woody or wordy?

Nick

Hmmmm ... I am still fighting my laziness here ..

"In addition, how will the experiences as a P4D intern help you to be a better leader?"

This is the final part of the P4D essay question!

1) How do I know the specific details of a P4D internship for me to even attempt this question?
2) Stanford paints a VERY vauge picture of the internship
- The sponsoring company is not known
- The type of internship is not known (summer or 1 whole yr)
- To top this, it also says that the structure of P4D may change significantly in the coming months!!

So any inputs on tackling this question?? or am I missing anything?

there is language in there that says you may have to defer your MBA for a year if the sponsoring company wants you to do a 1-year internship.

Hi Kryzak, yes I did see that clause. My confusion was whether it will be a summer or 1 yr internship - if so which company.
Just wondering how to pen down 'how the P4D will help me' without knowing the details of the intetnship -