Calling Stanford Fall 2008 Applicants

I don't know if I would try to reduce it down to 1.5 space... that would be very noticeable. 1.8 might work...

It is interesting that Stanford updated their Admissions requirements page... especially added the stuff about "coaching" essays...

From Stanford website:

Below are some guidelines but you may write as much or as little as you like on any question as long as you do not exceed 7 pages total.

* Essay A: 3 pages
* Essay B: 2 pages
* Essay C: 1 page each
* Use a 12-point font, double spaced, and make sure it is easy to read.

How much detail are people getting into for Stanford's Extracurricular and Work History part of the application?

It seems like they want your essays to be PURELY about who you are, and have you fill out all your work and extracurricular accomplishments in the application area. Any comments on this? Just wondering.

Thanks!

Lemme see if i'm gettin this correct...12 pt font, times new roman, DOUBLE spaced in MS Word....that's only 200 words max per page??
So they're asking:

Essay 1 - 600 words?
Essay 2 - 400 words?
Essays 3 and 4 - 200 words each?

That CAN'T be correct can it?? It's way to few words!!!

380 words per page, 0.8" margins, 1.8 line spacing. You can probably get away with 0.7" margins too...

I see..interesting, thanks for the tips.

But still though, I don't understand why they would allow the other types of manipulation. They must be able to see different margins if they can tell 1.5 spacing?...i mean if I was adcom, I would MUCH rather look at a piece of text in 1.5 spacing rather than the ugly ass double spacing...don't you all agree double spacing looks like crap?

yes, I think we all agree double spacing looks like crap... but almost every school essay back in college required double spacing... so go figure.

you can definitely tweak margins since it doesn't affect their reading ability or note taking ability... line spacing I would only tweak very slightly though... that's why I'm suggesting 0.8" margins and 1.8 or 1.9 spacing.

A Stanford alum made my day the other day, he said my profile was a "perfect fit" for the school based on his classmates... I'm encouraged to say the least...

As for being 31 by the time I matriculate, he said Stanford is going for younger folks, but the students are against it since the older folks are the ones that teaches the class a lot of things. But Stanford wants to make more fiercely loyal alums that will give lots of money, and you gotta start "young" to do that But there were many over 30's in the class, so he said not to worry too much.

His tips: Talk about yourself. Your personality, your history, who you are. They want you to be BRUTALLY honest but within professional boundaries. They want to know more about who you are than what you did. They look for students with exceptional Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Hope that helps!

It just opened 8pm EST. Go register for Class visits, infosessions, lunch with students and GSB tour!

https://schedule.applyyourself.com/?id=su-mba&pid=822

I signed up for 10/19 (Lunch and Tour) and 10/9 for class visits (10/8 I'm at UCLA for class visits). Let me know if you'll be in the area and we can meet up for coffee or something.

What's up, guys. I'm also aiming for Stanford R1, so I wanted to introduce myself. Just getting started on the essays and looking for a time to visit campus this fall.

Oh, I can't wait till i have a personal life again

Welcome Jamie! Hope to meet you in person sometime in the near future! I can't wait till November 5th... when my last app is submitted!

Is it me or are Stanford's Essay C's 4 choices are all basically the SAME topic worded differently??

they have subtle differences... make sure you talk about something different in each of them. 1 page is also really short, roughly 400 words if play with the margins.

Hi folks.

Stanford doesn't ask for a "career progression" in the essays. Where do you talk about what you've done in your career professionally?

Do you just have to fit it within different essays? That would kinda suck wouldn't it, since the details would be scattered and you wouldn't be able to paint a clear picture of your career. Like in the essays you can talk a bit about one specific event here and then maybe another incidence there...you can't talk about your career as a whole?

Your goals / aspirations essay naturally needs you to take a brief look at your past growth - as that defines where you want to go from here. Your resume is another place that shows the progression. And if the Stanford application is anything like the Wharton application, then while filling in your employment information, you'll get enough opportunity to explain your progression and the driving forces behind it.

ps. The combination of essays that a school asks you to write gives you the biggest hint on what matters to a school. If Stanford is not giving you much opportunity to show your career progression, then perhaps Stanford is not that much interested in getting a lot of details about you career progression. So do not try to "fit in" the career progression into another essay just because you couldn't fit it anywhere else. You may end up weakening your essay for no reason.

you can briefly discuss career progression in the Career Goals essay. I mean, you gotta tell them "why MBA" and "why now", so that usually links to progression.

Stanford also has a place where you can list your career and accomplishments, so I think you can talk about it there too.

From what I heard, Stanford is all about who YOU are. They know that whomever they pick, that person will be a superstar in terms of grades, career, and extracurriculars, so the only differentiator left is your uniqueness and emotional maturity.

Guys, have any of you tried requesting for specifc class visits ? I visited the campus in May but had to sit through a totally unrelated hedge funds class !
Is there any way I can get a hold of the class schedule so that I can book the slot accordingly?
I did ask the AdComs, but wasn fruitful
Any pointers?

good point, the class visit schedule is very vague. I would suggest you ask a student when you befriend one. I'll check if I can get one for you too, as I'm supposed to meet with one soon now that he's back in town (Palo Alto).

I'm pretty much just sitting in these classes to say I've done one. And the website wouldn't let you sign up for more than one class visit, bummers. I'll just have to sneak in using any connections I have then!