This is the fourth of five posts analyzing the Stanford GSB MBA Essay Questions for Class of 2014 Admission. The five posts are overall comments, Essay 1, Essay 2, Essay 3, and additional information/resume/employment history/activities. My analysis of Stanford GSB interviews can be found here. In addition to the Class of 2014 posts, I also recommend reading and/or listening to my presentation, "So you want to get into Stanford GSB?" which was made to a Japanese audience in March 2011. That presentation focuses on issues that are applicable to all applicants as well as some issues specific to Japanese applicants.
"Essay 3: Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.
Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations.
Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization.
Option C: Tell us about a time when you generated support from others for an idea or initiative.
Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined or established."
"Essay 3: Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.
Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations.
Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization.
Option C: Tell us about a time when you generated support from others for an idea or initiative.
Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined or established."
The Place of Essay 3 within the Stanford GSB Application Essays for the Class of 2014
If Essay 1 is ultimately about what you value and Essay 2 is about what you want, Essay 3 is about what you can do.
When Stanford GSB started asking behavioral essay questions, it was clear that they had borrowed this from MIT Sloan. This distinctive style of behavioral essay questions that MIT and Stanford ask have their origins in behavioral interviewing. This method is not old (well, at least for me, since I was born in 1968):
In fact, the STAR technique outlined in MIT’s guide was developed by Byham as THE WAY to answer behavioral questions:
Byham calls an example of past behavior a STAR, because a complete example consists of a situation or task, the specific action you took and the result of your action. The result you describe doesn't have to be positive; it could be that you learned a valuable lesson from doing something the wrong way.
In his book "Landing the Job You Want: How to Have the Best Job Interview of Your Life" (Three Rivers Press, 1997), Byham tells candidates how to identify the skills for a job; explore their own "behavioral dimensions" (the behaviors they use every day to get things done); and recognize and present a STAR with positive impact in an interview.
In his book "Landing the Job You Want: How to Have the Best Job Interview of Your Life" (Three Rivers Press, 1997), Byham tells candidates how to identify the skills for a job; explore their own "behavioral dimensions" (the behaviors they use every day to get things done); and recognize and present a STAR with positive impact in an interview.
The STAR technique is really the core method you need to use for answering behavioral questions in Stanford's essays. It is simply the following, which is taken from the 2005 MIT Sloan Guide (No longer available for easy download, but if you search on "Situation: define the situation or “set the stage.” you can find it. The current guide is is not as helpful.):
• Situation: define the situation or “set the stage.”
• Task: identify the task/project performed.
• Action: describe the action you took.
• Result: summarize the outcome
Just keep in mind that you need to be introspective as well, so write what you thought as well as what you did. Don’t just present “the facts” but actively interpret your actions. There is really nothing overly complicated about this as long as you understand that you need to tell a DETAILED story. Pure abstractions disconnected from a concrete set of action steps are highly likely to result in a weak answer. Similarly, grand actions not told in any depth are also likely to be weak. Identify specific actions that contributed to the result so as to establish a clear link between cause and effect.
As when answering any kind of question, another important consideration is to think very critically about what your story selection, understanding of the task, actions taken, and results say about you. Keep in mind that the whole point of asking behavioral questions is to determine how someone acts and thinks as a basis for selecting or rejecting that person. It is obviously critical to be aware of your own message.
Before looking at the specific questions, lets look at the instructions:
"Essay 3: Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.
Stanford GSB specifically requires that these experiences come from the last three years. This time constraint is important to keep in mind. One of the easiest ways to trash your application is to ignore this time limit. Essay 3 is the space to focus on the present or recent past.
Stanford GSB specifically requires that these experiences come from the last three years. This time constraint is important to keep in mind. One of the easiest ways to trash your application is to ignore this time limit. Essay 3 is the space to focus on the present or recent past.
I will analyze one question at a time, but four things to keep in mind are:
1. You need to show the capacity for analyzing and acting in different ways, so, while both essays should utilize STAR, don’t tell them in the same way. Make sure you are presenting different sides to who you are by telling your stories differently.
2. If at all possible discuss different situations in these essays, not two different stories from the same situation because you are trying present as wide a spectrum of events and qualities about yourself as you can.
3. You should ask yourself “What does this essay reveal about me?” If you can’t answer that clearly, you need to clarify your message. When asking this question, think about both what you intend the reader to think and what you might also be revealing. Control for the possibility of sending out unintended signals. One of the best ways of handling this issue is to have a very careful and intelligent reader review these essays. If you are working with an admissions consultant, they should be able to do this. Getting multiple perspectives on what you wrote will help you better understand your likely impact on an admissions' reader.
4. All four options below allow for great variation and the most important thing is to tell the best stories you can:
THE OPTIONS ARE ALL ABOUT HAVING AN IMPACT:
Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations.Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization.
Option C: Tell us about a time when you generated support from others for an idea or initiative.
Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined or established.
One thing that is common to all four is that you must tell stories that show how you had an impact. Keep in mind what Derrick Bolton has written about this question:
LEADERSHIP IN ACTION STORIES
I have developed the following grid to help you outline leadership stories. The categories this grid employs may go beyond any particular school's essay requirements. Filling it out completely will help you write about your leadership in a way that will convince admissions of your leadership potential.
CLICK TO ENLARGE.
How to use the grid:
1. Decide on a specific story.
2. Identify the most significant things you did in the situation- these are you action steps.
3. For each action step identify:
- What skills or qualities you demonstrated to complete this step
- The strengths you demonstrated to complete this step
- The kind of leadership you demonstrated
- What you still need to learn about leadership
4. Think about the results and identify how they relate to your action steps. So at minimum, you should be able to state the impact on others and/or yourself.
5. After completing the chart you will see that some aspects of your action steps may be repeated. If there is a total duplication and nothing new is shown, either you need to redefine the action step or you may decide not to focus on it very much.
6. Once you think you have two to four fully worked-out action steps, write your first draft.
7. Next start re-writing. Eliminate duplicate points made between action steps. Make choices about what parts of each action to step to highlight. Given that there are usually word limits, you will have to make some decisions about what to include.
Simply providing a description of your actions, is not enough. Think about what it signifies about you. Think about what your actions reveal about your leadership potential.
Finally, thinking and writing about leadership is an important part of preparing for interviews because you can be certain that you will have to talk about leadership. So, you might find that the parts of the outline you jettison now will become valuable when you will want to have alternative stories for your Stanford interview.
Specific Comments about each option:
Given the word limit here, you really need to be focused on your most important action steps. I also suggest you don't just simply a tell story with the following structure: "I led a team of X people. I told them what needed to be done and they agreed. They did it. The result was..." Not only will this be boring, but it will not really highlight why this story best demonstrates your team leadership skills. It will also fail to answer the last part of the question: You need to show how the team went beyond what was expected. Don't be overly dramatic, but get admissions to understand the significance of what you have done. If you have a great extracurricular team story, don’t feel obligated to provide a work related answer to this question even though you may have developed such an answer for another school. Three questions to think about:
1. What skills or qualities did you demonstrate in the process of building or developing the team?
2. What does this story reveal about the way you interact with organizations and/or individuals?
3. Specifically how did your team exceed expectations? If this is measurable, indicate that as clearly as possible.
Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization.Leaving a lasting organizational legacy is another way that leaders have impact. If you think something you have done in the last three years will have a lasting impact on your organization, this is a great topic. Clearly indicate what that impact is and how you achieved it. I think it is particularly important to be very clear on why you think the impact you had will become your organizational legacy.
The one difficulty here is that the three-year limit on the topic means that the impact in question will actually not have been in place for very long. I think this is actually a poorly designed question in that regard. I think it could easily become a trap for those trying to fit an older story into the framework. It will no doubt frustrate those who ignore the three-year limit when they begin writing. The key consideration here is that whatever you did seems like it will have a lasting impact.
If you have the right story this can be a great question to answer.
Option C: Tell us about a time when you generated support from others for an idea or initiative.
Unlike Option A, this need not be focused on a team. It is quite possible that the others you who supported your idea or initiative don't report to you: Colleagues, supervisors, clients, and customers are all possibilities. I imagine this one will be very popular with consultants, analysts, and anyone who leads by their ideas. It is also a great question for those who lead by example. It also an effective for question for those who use strategy to convince others. You might generate support through negotiating tactics. You generate support through personal communication that really does motivate someone. Or you might generate support through eliminating opposition to your position.
Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined or established.
I have to say that I love this question. Going beyond something defined or established may involve breaking the rules. Stanford GSB is place for those who are not traditional and are flexible in their thinking. If you are a maverick, a risk-taker, or simply unconventional in your approach to adding value, this essay option is for you. Show how you alter the very rules of something that you have been a part of and have a positive impact as a result.
IN CONCLUSION
Behavioral questions are not necessarily harder than other types of questions, but they do have their own underlying logic: Past behavior is a guide to future behavior. Keep that in mind, so that Stanford GSB sees what you want them to see and believes in your future potential.
-Adam Markus
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I am a graduate admissions consultant based in Tokyo, Japan with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form, which is publicly available on google docs here, and then send your completed form to adammarkus@gmail.com. You can also send me your resume if it is convenient for you. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. See here for why. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.
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