Calling Stanford Fall 2008 Applicants

CONGRATS SUDDEN!!!! Woohoo! Nice!

Status - 3/18/2008
[b]Stanford Applicants R2: Total - 20
ghgirl - R2 - Invited to Interview
sudden - R2 - Invited to Interview
UTdub - R2 - Invited to Interview
elhajoui - R2 - Invited to Interview
bherronp - R2 - Submitted 12/30
togafoot - R2 - Submitted Dec 18th
hbs.aspirant - R2 - Submitting 1/7
dox - R2 - Submitted
uphillclimb - R2 - Submitted
kwam - R2 - Submitted
BCC145 - R2 - Submitted 1/7
trojan812 - R2 - Submitted 1/7
futuredukemba - R2 - Submitted 1/7
poochandi - R2 - Submitted 1/7
ryguy904 - R2 - Submitted 1/7
JJGooden - R2 - Submitted
malumier - R2 - Submitted
JingChan - R2 - Submitted?
iamjoesargeant - R2 - Submitted?
senseshnal - R2 - Submitted?

Congrats sudden and ghgirl...I hope you make the conversion from invite to admit

Terrific, sudden. Good luck!

Add me to the "interviewed" list
wait continutes...

our R2 people are doing much better than R1, good work!

Stanford Applicants R2: Total - 20
ghgirl - R2 - Invited to Interview
sudden - R2 - Invited to Interview
UTdub - R2 - Invited to Interview
elhajoui - R2 - Invited to Interview
bherronp - R2 - Submitted 12/30
togafoot - R2 - Submitted Dec 18th
hbs.aspirant - R2 - Submitting 1/7
dox - R2 - Submitted
uphillclimb - R2 - Submitted
kwam - R2 - Submitted
BCC145 - R2 - Submitted 1/7
trojan812 - R2 - Submitted 1/7
futuredukemba - R2 - Submitted 1/7
poochandi - R2 - Submitted 1/7
ryguy904 - R2 - Submitted 1/7
JJGooden - R2 - Submitted
malumier - R2 - Submitted
JingChan - R2 - Submitted?
iamjoesargeant - R2 - Submitted?
senseshnal - R2 - Submitted?

I just scheduled my interview for next week. The last possible interview date is 3/26, which I guess means I was one of the last people to squeak by and get an interview. Final decisions come out on 4/3. At least the wait will be short.

I wonder why it took such a long time to receive the invite? I am not complaining at all, but it seems that they just sent out a last (small) batch of invites. A few people on BW forums received invites as well. I had assumed I was already dinged.

Does anyone know what the chances are? I know it's pointless to ask, but I am going to torture myself anyway, so I might as well at least have some numbers to go off.

Estimate:

Given that S claims to interview 800 - 1000 and accept ~400 for a class of ~360 (assume ~7000 apps):

% Interviewed: 11.4 - 14.3%
% Accepted after interview: 40-50%

Does that look right? If so, GMATClub seems to be doing quite well for Round2 -- 20% invite rate! If those numbers are right, I am flattered to even receive an invite. Any tips? I read terry12's guide, which was quite helpful.

Sudden, I was kinda hoping for some app/admit stats at Admit Weekend, but none were forthcoming. The numbers you've calculated line up with those found in Derrick's November blog post.

I really think Stanford interview invites go out in random order based on whenever the application happens to be read. I've met several other admits who got invites pretty late in the cycle... on the other hand, at Wharton's admit weekend, I met a couple people who had relatively early Stanford invites but didn't get accepted there.

So don't sweat the timing of the invite... just go out and kick some tail!

Ok, so finally I applied to Stan R3, less than 2 minutes before the deadline.

In at Wharton today

Stanford has been my first choice all along - loved absolutely everything about the school, alums, curriculum, size, mentality...I am crossing fingers, toes, etc. Interview went really well, but this is just a crap shoot who knows...

Terry12, pray for me. Hoping we end up in the same place.

Good Luck!

You're already good, but I hope you get into Stanford.

Although S GSB was also my first choice, my chances are nill with no interview so far.
I'm heading GSB anyways .

congrats elhajoui!

Stanford GSB is very random... If they don't accept you (or anyone else here), it doesn't mean anything regarding your candidacy. Remember that. People who get into Stanford GSB are a very special breed (like our terry12 ), but excellent candidates also do not get in. With Stanford (and to some extent, Harvard), just move on.

First off, I don't think I'm all that special With respect to Stanford admission decisions... I have no idea how they're made. Plenty of amazing candidates get dinged, and I'm not sure what differentiates the accepted folks from others. There does appear to be a touch of randomness to the process.

Second, elhajoui, congrats again on Wharton! I _really_ loved Wharton and Winter Welcome weekend, and I hope you get a chance to head to Philly for the main Welcome Weekend. Stanford was my first choice (like you), but Wharton made my decision really difficult.

Last, it sounds like you had a really solid interview. I know your numbers, etc. are top notch as well. So, I would think your chances for a happy outcome next week are good Try not to stress too much...

Thanks all for the encouraging words

I interviewed last night and I was thinking about this on the drive home. I don't know for sure, but I think a lot of the admit decision is based on character as much, if not more, than accomplishments. I know that every school wants accomplished people who demonstrate good character, but I think Stanford really goes out of its way to admit people who have put themselves "out there" for something they believe in, have succeeded at it and grown as a person through their experience. You can see this in the people you meet at the GSB and in the essay questions. For example, Stanford asks "What matters to you and why?" whereas, for example, Harvard asks "What are your three biggest accomplishments and why?" I'm sure Harvard has its own way of evaluating character, but Stanford seems to really want to know what makes people tick, not just what they have done. As they say on the website, you don't have to have saved the world, but you do need to know the person inside your own skin -- and I believe that you have to convincingly show this person to the GSB to get an admit (or even an interview for that matter), irrespective of how great your academic and work accomplishments may be.

On a personal note, I won some grants during my senior year that allowed me to travel extensively to several countries around the world (most expenses paid!). During this time, I wrote and published about twenty travel writing pieces, among other things. Although this is on my resume, none of my non-Stanford interviewers asked about this, instead focusing solely on work experience. My Stanford interviewer really drilled down into why I chose to travel, where I went, what I learned and how it shaped me as a person. It seemed that he could not care less about what I did at work (I'm sure he got the gist of it based on my resume), but instead was trying to evaluate me as a person, not just a potential manager. It's just one anecdote, but I think it gives some clue as to "what is important to Stanford and why." Character is petty hard to evaluate and is definitely not something that we can judge as third parties reading profiles over the internet, which may lead to some of the perceived "randomness."

Excellent post sudden, you may be on to something there. From my own experience, Stanford was by far the most enjoyable of my interviews... my interviewer really wanted to get to know me as a person. So he didn't ask many of the standard "describe a time you showed leadership" questions. It was really conversational, centering on interactions with some of my patients as well as my jazz interest (fanaticism?). Stanford was the only interview where I got to talk about jazz in any real detail. Set things off on a good note

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"Stanford really goes out of its way to admit people who have put themselves "out there" for something they believe in."
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Agree with you on this one. You often hear about Stanford people wanting to "save the world." It's no joke... people there are as ambitious as those found anywhere else, but there's an idealism (bordering on naivete at times ) that pervades the place.

Anyway, sounds like the interview went well. Good luck!

very good post sudden. I think I agree with what you're saying. Of course, it doesn't explain why many of us do not even get an interview... haha.