What Stanford Really Seeks In MBAs…From Former Adcoms

Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA Students. Elena Zhukova photo

Ranked number one in our ‘Top Business Schools’ ranking, Stanford Graduate School of Business boasts the most selective and prestigious MBA program in the world. In 2021, Stanford GSB had an acceptance rate of just 6.2%. The GSB has long been known to be highly selective in admissions—much due to Stanford’s focus on smaller sized programs.

Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting, recently “deconstructed” Stanford GSB’s notorious acceptance rate and examined how the business school’s admit patterns have become increasingly reliant on qualitative factors.

WHAT STANFORD LOOKS FOR

As part of this exercise, Blackman’s team broke down client data from recent admissions cycles. For there, they broke down the qualities of their GSB admits into three domains: personal, extracurricular, and professional domains.

According to Blackman’s team, Stanford GSB admissions specifically seeks out talented, diverse, and smart people who can make a significant impact in business and society. She calls it having an ‘X’ factor.

“Stanford GSB students seem to have this ‘X’ factor associated with them, almost like an ‘unexpected’ trait or experience,” Blackman explains. “They take risks, push beyond the imaginable and lead with passion.”

When Blackman surveyed former GSB admissions staff on her team, there was one point that was clear. If you’re looking to pursue an MBA simply to move up or boost your credentials, you’re better off applying elsewhere. Stanford GSB isn’t the place for “hyper-competitive types.”

“Stanford cares a lot that students have a genuine interest in making some larger, positive, social impact on the world,” according to Blackman. “Yes, the point of business school is for your own career advancement. But GSB wants that career advancement to amount to broader social advancement, too.”

Contrary to conventional wisdom, according to the former GSB adcoms on Blackman’s team, Stanford GSB isn’t seeking candidates with an unbroken string of successes. Rather, failure is sometimes an advantage.

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“GSB is more willing to consider candidates that took risks, failed, learned from their experiences, and returned more resilient than ever,” according to Blackman’s team.

FOCUS ON THE ESSAY

One of the best ways to demonstrate your ‘X’ factor is through Stanford’s admission essay. A big part of the essay portion is answering: “Why Stanford?”

Experts say it’s important to focus on what’s most important to you—and find a way to tie your personal goals to Stanford’s resources.

“Tie together how the things that matter the most to you have influenced the things that you’ve done,” Chris Aitken, cofounder of MBA Prep School, tells Fortune. “Have a consistent theme of how that would influence the things that you would do in the Stanford class and community.”

To learn more about the methodology used, click here.

Here are the qualities of Stanford GSB admits according to a sampling of Stacy Blackman Consulting clients:

Sources: Stacy Blackman Consulting, P&Q, Fortune

Next Page: Handling Deferrals

Every year, business schools defer a select number of applicants from one MBA round to the next one. Getting deferred often can be stressful as you haven’t quite been accepted, but you also haven’t quite been rejected either.

Shaifali Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Ivy Groupe, a boutique MBA admissions consulting company, recently offered a few tips on what applicants can do if they get deferred.

THINK POSITIVELY

Often, applicants will see a deferral as a negative outcome. But Aggarwal says that isn’t the case.

“In the case of a deferral, while it is understandably not the ideal result, you are still in the running; essentially, a school has decided to push a decision about your candidacy to a subsequent round because they want to see what the full pool of applicants looks like (for instance, those in oversubscribed industries are often deferred),” Aggarwal explains. “Note that a deferral does not disadvantage you in any way come the subsequent round; it should definitely be viewed as a strength of your candidacy.”

BE PATIENT AND FOLLOW THE RULES

Unfortunately, business schools usually won’t give a reason for why you’ve been deferred. As eager as you may be to find out the reason, Aggarwal recommends being patient and heeding to the school’s specific policies.

“For instance, some schools will ask that you sit tight while others may allow you to provide an update letter outlining anything new in your candidacy as the subsequent round’s deadline approaches,” Aggarwal says. “Whatever the steps may be, follow them.”

STRENGTHEN YOUR PROFILE

Deferred applicants will typically have an opportunity to provide updates on their profile in the next admissions round. Experts say it’s important to look into how you can strengthen your candidacy if you’ve been deferred.

“Take a look at your application and understand where your weaknesses might be. Retake the GRE/GMAT if you can, or get a colleague, mentor, or boss to write you another letter of recommendation,” Nathan Wilgeroth, of Abound MBA, says. “Especially for a business-related program, you can demonstrate your proficiency through proof of a raise or promotion at work.”

Sources: Ivy Groupe, Abound MBA

Next Page: Handling Rejections

Getting a rejection letter is never ideal. And while it’s okay to feel disappointed, it’s important to stay focused on what lies ahead in the next admissions round. US News recently offered a few tips on how rejected applicants can better prepare themselves for the second round of applications.

“This is an ideal window, despite the stress and anxiety, to make lemonade out of lemons, because the round two deadlines – which correspond to early January for almost all top U.S. MBA programs – are around the corner,” Esther Magna, a principal at the MBA admissions consulting company Stacy Blackman Consulting and an alumna of the MBA-M.P.H. program at the University of California—Los Angeles, says.

ARE YOUR TARGET SCHOOLS THE RIGHT FIT?

If you’ve been rejected from your target schools, it may be wise to consider whether you’re targeting the right type of MBA program. MBA fit, experts say, goes both ways.

“Are your personal interactions consistent with the school’s stated values? When you speak with alumni and current students, do you get the sense of a supportive and collaborative climate or a more competitive classroom? Nothing will give you a better sense of a school’s culture and identity than a visit to its campus,” Caroline Diarte Edwards, Director of Fortuna Admissions and former Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at INSEAD, says. “But if that’s not possible, much can be gleaned by participating in MBA fairs and networking events with alumni and students in your areas of interest. Remember: It’s not just about whether you’re a fit for the program, but also whether the program is a good fit for you.”

Additionally, it can be helpful to apply to a greater number of schools in the next round.

“Certainly, the wider of a net the applicant is willing to cast for MBA programs, the more of these programs that they decide to apply for … the better the admit chances are, all else equal,” Magna says.

TAILOR YOUR ESSAYS

The essay is the perfect opportunity to communicate your fit for an MBA program. But, experts say, applicants often make the mistake of reusing their essay material across multiple B-school applications.

“That is typically a sure bet to get dinged, because all these programs, they compete against each other to some extent, and they have a radar,” Magna says. “They are aware when there is a sense of copy-paste or tweaking from their sister school … So we oftentimes, depending on the school, encourage starting from scratch.”

Sources: US News, P&Q

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