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01 Nov 2019, 22:25
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Hi there,
I'm a guy with a non-traditional background at work and school. I have an Ivy-league humanities degree and pretty solid work experience (in terms of both the roles I've held for my age and the prestige of the organizations I've worked for). However, I'm not the kind of guy who has achieved wonderful things in a 9 to 5 office environment with ten promotions in five years or one who has been a favorite with his supervisors. I do, however, have a very unique and colorful personal life story.
So my question is: is it worth applying to Stanford if I won't get a positive recommendation from any of my present or past supervisors? Stanford seems to insist that applicants get recommendations only from present or past supervisors. They also want to use the recommendations to understand what's in my resume, so it seems like a pretty important part of their evaluation process. (Again, the strength of my profile is not in my resume that mentions fancy degrees and organizations but in my unique life story, so this is a turn-off for me)
Also, I find the Stanford essay's word limit to be really limiting when it comes to sharing my personal story. Given the other "drawbacks" in my profile (such as never really getting along very well with any of my supervisors at work or having a resume which shows neat and clean progress along the career ladder), I was hoping that I could make amends with my personal essay, but it seems like that's not happening with the word limit.
I want to start out my own business after my MBA, and I understand Stanford is considered the place for budding entrepreneurs (there are some great courses at Stanford that I could really use!!). But for some reason I find the Stanford application to be really limiting, unlike, say, that of Harvard which has an open-ended essay questions and is open to recommendations from non-supervisors. Stanford, despite its name for nurturing dreamers, seems to be pretty rigid and traditional (at least as far as its application requirements are concerned)
What do you guys think? Is it worth giving Stanford a shot, or should I look elsewhere?
I'm a guy with a non-traditional background at work and school. I have an Ivy-league humanities degree and pretty solid work experience (in terms of both the roles I've held for my age and the prestige of the organizations I've worked for). However, I'm not the kind of guy who has achieved wonderful things in a 9 to 5 office environment with ten promotions in five years or one who has been a favorite with his supervisors. I do, however, have a very unique and colorful personal life story.
So my question is: is it worth applying to Stanford if I won't get a positive recommendation from any of my present or past supervisors? Stanford seems to insist that applicants get recommendations only from present or past supervisors. They also want to use the recommendations to understand what's in my resume, so it seems like a pretty important part of their evaluation process. (Again, the strength of my profile is not in my resume that mentions fancy degrees and organizations but in my unique life story, so this is a turn-off for me)
Also, I find the Stanford essay's word limit to be really limiting when it comes to sharing my personal story. Given the other "drawbacks" in my profile (such as never really getting along very well with any of my supervisors at work or having a resume which shows neat and clean progress along the career ladder), I was hoping that I could make amends with my personal essay, but it seems like that's not happening with the word limit.
I want to start out my own business after my MBA, and I understand Stanford is considered the place for budding entrepreneurs (there are some great courses at Stanford that I could really use!!). But for some reason I find the Stanford application to be really limiting, unlike, say, that of Harvard which has an open-ended essay questions and is open to recommendations from non-supervisors. Stanford, despite its name for nurturing dreamers, seems to be pretty rigid and traditional (at least as far as its application requirements are concerned)
What do you guys think? Is it worth giving Stanford a shot, or should I look elsewhere?
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01 Nov 2019, 23:48
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Well, as rigid as Stanford is, i think it'd be wise to keep looking and applying to the competing bschools. Have you taken the GMAT yet?
I just made it to interview stage at GSB so I feel compelled to share my 2 cents, since I was grappling with the same issues a few months ago. See my comments in line
Non-traditional -> diversity, which the schools want too
Ivy-league degree - > A positive or neutral depending on who you ask, never a negative
You have held many roles - > A positive; you have more stories, more perspectives
Prestigious organization - > A positive or neutral depending on who you ask, never a negative
Unique & Personal Life Story - > Pure gold
I also felt I had not achieved very "wonderful things" but you would be surprised what you can come up with if you took time to really think about what you have done and package it nicely.
I had two former supervisors, a former one whom we didn't quite get along (I couldn't even have him know I am applying to B-school) and a current one whom we get along very well. I got the current supervisor and a peer to write a recommendation.
Also, unless you had an extremely bad relationship with your supervisor, I don't imagine someone writing a negative recommendation. It might not be the most "cheer-leading" but it just needs to be better than neutral.
What do you mean by "I won't get a positive recommendation"? See my last comment above. What is your definition of "positive"?
Actually, Stanford is the school that gives you the most canvas to write your stories. There were more than 5 essays;
- What matters most to you & why?
- Tell us when your background influenced participation at work
- Think about times you've created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? (Up to 3 examples)
I applied to 5 schools this round and no other school had so much opportunities to write my stories.
I strongly disagree with the last 2 sentences. It is the EXACT OPPOSITE in my humble opinion
You just need to be sure what kind of recommendation you will get. Unless you really mean that you will get a negative recommendation, I think you should go for it.
Furthermore, all schools strongly recommend getting a letter from a supervisor so if you are going to pass Stanford for this then I guess you would need to pass all schools - M7 atleast - which ofcourse doesn't make sense.
Somuchako
Non-traditional -> diversity, which the schools want too
Ivy-league degree - > A positive or neutral depending on who you ask, never a negative
You have held many roles - > A positive; you have more stories, more perspectives
Prestigious organization - > A positive or neutral depending on who you ask, never a negative
Unique & Personal Life Story - > Pure gold
I also felt I had not achieved very "wonderful things" but you would be surprised what you can come up with if you took time to really think about what you have done and package it nicely.
I had two former supervisors, a former one whom we didn't quite get along (I couldn't even have him know I am applying to B-school) and a current one whom we get along very well. I got the current supervisor and a peer to write a recommendation.
Also, unless you had an extremely bad relationship with your supervisor, I don't imagine someone writing a negative recommendation. It might not be the most "cheer-leading" but it just needs to be better than neutral.
Somuchako
What do you mean by "I won't get a positive recommendation"? See my last comment above. What is your definition of "positive"?
Somuchako
Actually, Stanford is the school that gives you the most canvas to write your stories. There were more than 5 essays;
- What matters most to you & why?
- Tell us when your background influenced participation at work
- Think about times you've created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? (Up to 3 examples)
I applied to 5 schools this round and no other school had so much opportunities to write my stories.
Somuchako
I strongly disagree with the last 2 sentences. It is the EXACT OPPOSITE in my humble opinion
Somuchako
You just need to be sure what kind of recommendation you will get. Unless you really mean that you will get a negative recommendation, I think you should go for it.
Furthermore, all schools strongly recommend getting a letter from a supervisor so if you are going to pass Stanford for this then I guess you would need to pass all schools - M7 atleast - which ofcourse doesn't make sense.
