Stanford GSB Essay Tips: What the Admissions Committee REALLY Wants

[Music] well hello everyone this is John burn with pots and quants Welcome to our webinar on how to tackle the Stanford

GSB application we have with us an expert in the field uh from Fortuna admissions

which is a dream team of former Gatekeepers from the top Business Schools and with us today we have Marin

Savage who is a senior expert coach at Fortuna uh she had been an admissions reader at Stanford uh she's a Stanford

gsba Alum uh so welcome Marin thank you so much thanks for having me okay everyone knows that Stanford is the most

selective Prestige MBA program in the world last year only 8% of the people who applied were able to get in what's this secret to getting

through that incredible du oh I wish there was one straight straightforward secret right um so I think you know you think about the the

application on a holistic level right so readers read in a holistic manner um so they want to get a strong sense for who you are not just in terms of this evidence around your leadership and how

you've contributed and what sort of impact you've had but also in terms of what is your underlying storyline right on a more personal level so I like to say it's a balance between having that

strong evidence those things that you've done those ways that you've contributed how you've thought differently what your point of view is and how you've acted upon that but also having this this deep

more authentic and vulnerable side to you that's willing to open and share who you are and what's motivated you right so those two things are working hand in hand on the one hand you have the

application that has your transcripts your extracurriculars your work experience and so on I'm getting a really good sense for who you are how you lead what inspires you are there big

problems that you want to solve in the world and how have you gone about doing that but then also I get to those essays right we'll talk about those but the what matters most essay I just love I

love it when I feel like I'm seeing the inner workings of someone's brain right I could see your mind unfolding and how you view problems and how you solve them or I'm walking in your shoes so I kind

of see how where you came from what inspired you who are those people around you that really inspired you what did you learn and what did you do so it's those things coming together that give

me a really strong sense for who you are as a person and those are the sorts of things that really compel and what matters most to you and why has got to be the most iconic MBA

essay in the world yeah how do it how do you tackle it what kinds of things should you be saying you know it'sing yeah yeah I I think that the word matters most to and why I hope that

it never goes away um I love it to death I think it's something that even if you're not applying to Stanford Business School you should probably think about right um true so true with somebody who

can be objective with you right so I think you go back through the history of who you are you have to go way back to what sort of child were you how were you raised what were your values what was the conversation around the dinner table

right what were your core values and how do those experiences those small conversations shape your worldview over time um did you live in different geographical areas if you didn't what

did that mean for you right so some introspection some deep brainstorming some going back in time and then share that with somebody who understands how this process works or you is an MBA who

can then reflect and say well this sounds like this is the sort of storyline does that sound right to you right so what matters most of you and why is getting down to below the surface

of things but then thinks about it in terms of a connection to to a school and a strong program like Stanford Business School you have a recent client that you worked with who you thought approach

that essay in an exceptional way oh my goodness I mean so many um I um again I I become so attached to clients as we go

through that process just because I feel like I know them so well so it's those ones that who are the most vulnerable I had one um in the recent past you talked about some very challenging things that

she grew up with right you know didn't have the the best quote unquote upbringing but she really turned that into self-motivation and she got down to

not just it inspires the way that she leads and connects with people and engages with people but it also was more deeply in terms of when you wake up when

she wakes up every morning it's that problem that she wants to solve it's to connect with people and if you can bring that to work and if you could lead that

way and you could build bigger coalitions of support around that notion that I just seek to connect with people in a meaningful way she happen to do

through technology which is you know which is which is really impressive but that to me was true to her got down to the essence of her so much so that we

got a little weepy about it but um then but it also connects to something that's really important in the world world right technology and still connecting

with people absolutely yeah now the second essay Stanford s MBA applicants to complete is something that a number of schools do and it's simply why

Stanford of all other places and how do you really answer that question and not come off as a phony yeah right I know I know um it's sort of at the end of the day you want

it to read like an essay that only you could have written which funny you would think that would be an easier essay to

approach and to write but it often times is the harder one because it does take that bit of research that extension of yourself to understand what the

resources are what the clubs are what the classes are um before you even have undergone the experience right so one of the great thing one one of the good things to do is to talk to students talk

to alums talk to current students if you have access to them and really get a sense for what that school is like visit the school you know if you can't do it um in person then do it virtually get an

idea for what those offerings are what the outcomes really are um and then you can write a more compelling white Stanford so it should be um specific to

you um I want to understand throughout the application and the what matters most what motivates you really drives you you're building in this application a real ground spell to this point in

time where you're saying I've taken it as far as I possibly can in terms of the resources that I have at my disposal but gosh I've read about this that and the

other resources that Stanford Business School if only I had that a plus b equals c and I'm on my way so that's the sort of you know negotiation that you're

bringing to the table that's the sort of compelling story that you're saying it's a no-brainer guys I'm almost there I just need I need this network I need this this set of resources these classes

these professors this knowledge and so on now your a plus b plus C yeah leads me to my next question which is is there an ideal structure to these

essays um there is no fixed structure so a plus b does not a plus c in that case but there's stylistic differences right so what matters most it's oftentimes

narrative I like to think about it being you know um and it and it takes some some mind manipulation for some people but think about these like micro moments

that are real aha moments right that have really inspired so that narrative illustrative style it's not because it's a creative writing experience it's not

you know you don't have to flex back to your undergraduate years of of creative Pros or anything like that but it's going back to this point of I want to be

able to walk in your shoes if I can't really understand how you operate then it's awfully hard to to interpret your evidence in a manner that really comes

alive for me right so it's it's taking somebody and saying here's how my mind works here's what my lived experience looks like let me let me show you why

how that mattered to me otherwise as a reader I don't quite understand because I didn't live your experience the other thing that I think you want to think about for the narrative the what matters

most in the narrative style is that I don't think that there's an unlimited number of responses to what matters most but what is is unlimited is your lived experience right so the to the degree

that you could tell that story it's a lot easier than a lot of people get stuck in what matters most to me that sounds so big that sounds so Grand if I can't come up with this like one answer

that's really going to be so different than everybody else then I don't know what to write about well it doesn't have to be it can be what you would assume it would be right but your lived experience

how you came to be and how you have evidenced and demonstrated that your interest in that um is really your own so that's the what's matters most for the why Stanford essay as we discussed

it's much more straightforward certainly want to bring in your own storyline to it you know it's just solving this problem of gosh I've gotten as far as I can here's where I want to go next um you know and and so bringing in that

story line for sure but it's going to be much more researched much more factual more forward-looking whereas what matters most is more backward working how personal should you get because obviously you meet an American they'll

tell you their life story all their vulnerabilities in the most intimate ways and then from other cultures it's actually difficult to be very personal sure particularly if you're you know

from Asia China India uh it's not as natural right but but should you force yourself to be more personal because after all what matters to you most and

why is an incredibly personal question to start off with yeah it sure is and it's a balance so you certainly want to be introspective you want to dig deep deep kind of get to that core of who you

are so vulnerability and authenticity is most certainly warranted um but you want to be revealing but of course you want to balance that with just relevance and meaning for the purposes of the GSB

right so you know a lot of people talk about challenges they've had in their past and be vulnerable be authentic tiar Point around the differences in in

cultures I think you know you certainly don't don't want to overshare I think there's a way to say it in a very neat Manner and then you're moving on to how

that inspired you um and then how that's going to be a guide path for you going forward so hopefully that sort of dampens a little bit that kind of that that stress and strain or the

emotional um stress that comes with being vulnerable and authentic it doesn't have to be you know a full-blown essay 650 words on um this point in time

that's fair traumatic um you could shorten that you know and then and focus that on where you came from from there and having read a number of Stanford essays I have to say the range is quite

startling I mean you get people who can really tell a great story and it's a beautiful narrative well crafted and then you get others that are just sort

of I would say they're kind of bland um and maybe the essay didn't tip the scale maybe it was something else about them the tip to scale so by looking at an

essay You Don't See the holistic view of a candidate that an admissions official gets right but is storytelling important in these essays you know it is it is

when you think about it from this perspective of again we wanting to see the earner workings of your brain I want to see I want to walk your life to a

degree right so that so that I think that it just resonates at a deeper level when you can show rather than tell um and that's where it's nice to have a coach because they would kind of Co

coach you along the way in terms of where that would make sense to bring through bring in that storytelling not everybody is really good at it I think for a lot of people it's an onoff switch

when you see it then you think oh aha now I understand what you're saying um but it does really bring the abstract values to life so I I I I wish I could

say you could get away with putting together a compelling application without telling any stories about yourself but I'm hardpressed to to agree

with that okay Mary you on the other side not all that long ago uh as an evaluator of essay at Stanford now you're on this other side

helping candidates get into Stanford uh I wonder what common mistakes did you see while you were reading so many applications from

Hopeful candidates for Stamford yeah I think going back to you know our earlier discussion about um you know bringing kind of the narrative to life and

sharing your own authentic story I think some people come at it from an angle of what is it that an MBA a selective MBA program wants to hear from me and I'm

just going to put that out there right I'm just going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at it and see um and

see what happens so I think that is diff it's difficult then as a reader to comprehend what your own differentiated point of view is and how you would be

additive to a class right so you think about the components of a class when you've got 400 500 students around you know

comprising um a class no one individual needs to be all those things instead I want to have these different perspectives these strong meaningful

perspectives that are open to contribution that open to sharing themselves in a manner um that takes in the strengths of those other people and

then we learn from each other so it's the whole class as opposed to that one individual so don't think you need to come in and be everybody the every

person really focus on your point of view and what you've done and then I'll understand more clearly how you would

how you singularly would contribute great advice any other final tips start early yes start early be ready to

iterate be open to iterating often times in those earlier drafts of your essays you end where you ought to begin so it's

an exhausting process for a lot of people um so stay open to it and um a lot of times it's this scramble to put

together what admissions officers want to hear as opposed to learning about what it is that you want to gain so understand that's a big investment so

that that you know why Stanford or why whatever school it is take some time to really um Choose Your Own Adventure right understand what the program is is

giving you um and vice versa before you before you dive in once you've if you've invested in the time to get to know yourself where you are where you want to

be and what that program has to offer you then you'll be far better off when you start to put um pen to paper which requires a bit of introspection and

thinking and sitting back and reiterating on your thinking and asking others about yourself um make the investment right

make the investment yeah that's right indeed okay so how can applicants get in touch with you or the Fortuna team yeah so um you can go to the Fortuna

admissions website and you'll find all of our profiles there um you can find me on LinkedIn and I'll guide you to the right place so I look forward to hearing

from you sounds good Marin it's been a pleasure thank you all right that's Marin Savage a senior expert coach at forun

admissions The Firm that hires a dream team of NBA admission officers from the top Business Schools to help guide you into a highly selective MBA experience

this is John burn with poets and quants I hope you can tackle that Stanford NBA essay as well as Marin did

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