INTOTHEBEST's Blog

I attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business information night at Goldman Sachs on Tuesday.

Here are my notes:

Siebel scholars are the top 5% of students at the end of the 1st year.

At Stanford, classes are 60% case, 25% lecture, and 15% simulations.

Stanford’s focus is:
Leadership
Entrepreneurship
Global Economy
Social Awareness

Derrick Bolton, head of MBA Admissions at Stanford, said “Entrepreneurs are the ultimate general manager.”

Stanford offers a Global Management Certificate, Global Management Immersion Experience (GMIX) that includes 4 weeks of working internationally, International study strips (2 weeks), Global Speaker series, and regional clubs.

SMIF is a loan forgiveness program that is essentially a social sector job subsidy.

What matters most in applications to Stanford’s Graduate School of Business?

1. Demonstrated Leadership Potential
Employment history, extracurricular or community activities, 3 reference letters. 2 professional (current direct supervisor or reason you didn’t choose a direct supervisor, 1 client)
1 peer or teammate

2. Intellectual vitality (no academic reference) Stanford’s GMAT range was 530-790.
3. Diversity
Class of 370 people - different perspectives. Who are you, why you’ve done the things you’ve done. Look back at people who have influenced you and changed your perspective.
Write about what makes you a person, don’t try to show how you stand out.

2nd essay.
Whom do you aspire to be? 20 year goals, 5 year goals.
Why do you need an MBA? Why should that MBA come from Stanford?
Looking for forethought. Why is Stanford the best fit for you?

Round 1. October 28th 2004 (decision Jan. 18th, 2005).

Interviews are by invitation only. They only see your resume and not your application.

Need-blind admission. Annual tuition is $37,998. 1/2 of students receive fellowship funds, 2/3 borrow to finance their MBA. 20-25% of financing is in scholarships, the rest is in loans.

The Partnership 4 Diversity Program provides scholarships for students that work at the companies in the summer with no requirement to return to the company after graduation.

The alumni panel consisted of:
Before Stanford GSB Now
Farrah Kahn ‘04 analyst Goldman Sachs, private equity venture capital
someone else NAVY Goldman Sachs/hedge fund
Allasandra i-banking Goldman Sachs
Don Cornwell ‘98 McKinsey, NFL Morgan Stanley
John Abamondy ‘04 NAVY pilot Major League Baseball

Did any of your classmates go on to work at the World Bank, International Management Group, or become sports agents? The panelists didn’t know, but referred me to a CMC Web site that lists number of students at each company. I called Rebecca at the Stanford CMC office and she helped me find the list of recruiting organizations. It turns out that the International Finance Corporation, and the World Bank recruit at Stanford and actually hired some people from Stanford. International Management Group and Octagon Sports did not hire anyone from Stanford. Rebecca was not aware of anyone becoming an agent after graduation from Stanford.