Article: Whom Stanford accepted

[Erin]

From this page.

 

MBA Class of '05 Comes from 51 Countries and All Walks of Life

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Helen K. Chang, 650-723-3358, Fax: 650-725-6750

 

September, 2003

 

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS — In his welcome to the MBA Class of 2005, Director of MBA Admissions Derrick Bolton greeted the 373 enrolled students, chosen from among 5,089 applicants.

 

"We offered admission to only 9 percent of applicants, which again makes the Stanford Graduate School of Business one of the most selective business schools in the world," said Bolton.

 

Women represent 35 percent of the class. Non-U.S. citizens with passports from 51 different nations make up 32 percent (35 percent if counting dual-citizens). Before enrolling, students worked for 277 companies, collectively contributed 1,610 years of work experience, and hail from 177 different colleges and universities. Nine percent have already earned advanced degrees, including one medical doctor, two lawyers, and three accountants. The class also includes Coro, Fulbright, Gardner, Marshall, Mayfield, Rotary, and Truman fellows.

 

Bolton noted that most students "have excelled by doing ordinary things extraordinarily well." Highlighting individual differences, he touched on the rich mix of experiences, accomplishments, and interests embodied in the incoming class:

 

[*]The associate at a New York entertainment company whose Broadway show finished its run in June, garnering three Tony Awards;

[*]The Pakistan government official who developed and implemented an educational incubator enrolling 70,000 Afghan children;

[*]The classmate who threw his hat in the recall ring as a candidate for Governor of California;

[*]The personal assistant to the President of Honduras;

[*]The classmate who played professional baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and New York Yankees;

[*]The monetary policy advisor to the European Central Bank;

[*]The Olympic gold and silver medalist in women's ice hockey;

[*]And the former network anchor in China, with shows reaching 200 million people weekly.

 

"With 14 applicants for every space in the class, we had to make some difficult decisions," said Bolton. He continued, "we turned down every applicant with an 800 GMAT score this year. We also turned down Olympic medalists, entrepreneurs, managers of thriving businesses, Rhodes Scholars — incredible people who, like you, have achieved amazing success in life and who have compelling prospects for the future.

 

"I can say with all sincerity that we would not change a single decision. We simply believed you will make the most of this opportunity for personal, intellectual, and professional transformation."

[eagle]

SIMPLY AMAZING! It must feel very light headed to be given preference over all such successful people on the basis of your potential-Great article.

[alixjung]

What I grabbed from this article:

1. I hope the 800gmat applicants are not rejected because they got 800. I assume their working experiences or other aspects of the applications are not strong.

 

2. It's probably good if an applicant worked for many companies. Although most employers want loyalty, those who jump a lot between companies obtains a variety of industry experiences, which may be attractive to B-schools.

 

3. Gosh, it's so competitive.

[radiofreesrini]

i dunno, i went to stanford undergrad and took a few b-school classes while i was there (i majored in sociology so there was overlap)... i thought the class size was way too large and i found the students pretty dull... but that was back in '93, maybe the internet has changed all of that? impressive PR though, gotta hand it to 'em...

[Dingus]

PR all the way. So this is what Dr. Twitchell was talking about and probably what caught USNews's attention.

[erkki]

That's lame that they brag about turning down people who scored 800. It's almost as if they turn them down just so they can say that they did.

 

I applied to Stanford and got dinged, but I didn't really expect to make it because my essays sucked.