Interview with Haas Class of 2010 MBA Student

One of the Japanese members of Class of 2010 at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business was kind enough to answer my questions. Prior to starting Haas in Fall 2008, he worked as a management consultant for five years. He is married with no kids and has both an undergraduate and graduate degree in engineering.
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Question: So, what did you learn during your first year at Haas?

Answer: I learned mainly three concepts that I hadn’t known in my previous professional/personal life. First, I acquired fundamental business skills in finance, MOT (management of technology) and global management in classes. Second, I gained some tastes of Silicon Valley ecosystem including global technology firms, venture capitals, and entrepreneurs, through not only various Haas opportunities but many local events. Third, I experienced something I wasn’t interested in before through special classes, such as learning politics by participating at Washington D.C., and conducting social non-profit consulting project in Zambia.

Question: What part of the program have you liked the most? The least?

Answer: I like the most about the very high freedom of choice in the program. Haas effectively leverages faculty from local business people belonging to its fulfilling EWMBA and executive MBA courses, as well as the other prestigious UC Berkeley departments such as engineering and law schools. Therefore, Haas can provide enormous opportunities of classes in various industries and functions, considering the small size of class, 240 students per year. Also, Haas system allows students to customize curriculum very flexibly. For example, if you want to launch start-ups or working with local venture companies rather than joining classes, there are bunch of ways to minimize classes and maximize time for your own business.
I daresay the weakest feature of Haas program is, in general, lack of rigidity. Compared to what I’ve have heard about other top schools, I feel it is very easy at Haas to graduate with “decent” grades, due to many safety-nets for left-behind students, too cooperative faculty/staff/students, basic principle to trust student as business people, and the liberal Berkeley culture. Therefore, I don’t recommend Haas for people who expect business school to train students strictly. I think Haas provides only a place to learn and fully delegates how to use the opportunity to the students, since it chooses relatively mature students and treats them as professionals. Thus, passive people can learn nothing at Haas.

Question: I know you worked hard to organize the Haas Japan Trek. Can you tell my readers about it?

Answer: Haas Japan Trek is a student-organized trip in order to show business, history, and culture in Japan. Our Japan Trek this year was from March 21 to March 27. The first Japan Trek was in 2008. Unlike other treks at Haas or some of the other business schools’ Japan Trek, students do not get credits, nor do professors join it. Thus Japanese students produce everything including gathering requests from participants, scheduling, arranging visitors, negotiating about logistics, asking for sponsors, etc. Personally, I think Japan Trek was a great opportunity for Japanese students to deeply consider the role of Japan in the world, to actually promote our country, and to profoundly network with classmates. Please see the details at http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/japan/Japantrek2009.htm.

Question: How would you describe the culture of Haas?

Answer: I would describe three cultural characteristics: welcoming diversity, confidence without attitude, and encouraging new actions. 39% of students are international and two-thirds can speak more than one language. Then, unlike ordinary US citizens, no students are arrogant. Everyone is helpful each other since all the 240 students have different purposes and think differently. New trials are always welcomed and supported. Maybe admission office carefully chooses such people from more than 4,000 applicants. In addition, students often evolve their mind in the following environmental factors

• Bay Area’s warm weather and atmosphere
• Super liberal city of Berkeley
• State university: selection of faculty and program seems deep rooted to the public
• No open grade policy

Question: Do you actually have any time for clubs? If so, which ones are you active in?
Answer: I belong to following 6 six clubs, although I don’t actively take leadership in any of them. DMEC (Digital Media Entertainment Club) /EA(Entrepreneurship Association) produce many events to know digital media technology/local entrepreneur and venture capital. HTC (Haas Technology Club) and Finance Club introduces tons of recruiting information and events for tech/finance companies. Pacific Rim Club is networking opportunities for students from the Pan-Pacific area. Wine Club produces tasting events, winery and wine bar visits monthly.

Instead, I was actively dedicated to the following two opportunities. One was UC Berkeley business plan competition. Three Haas students including me (lawyer, investment banker, management consultant) supported a local entrepreneur to enhance her business plan. Then, in order to gain some funding, we entered the competition as one of more than 80 teams. Although we lost at the semifinal, developing business plan together, and making a pitch in front of real venture capitalists were very exciting experiences. The other was launching JGRB (Japanese Graduates and Researchers Society at Berkeley), in order to network local Japanese researchers and graduates students at 36 departments at Berkeley. See http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~jgrb/index.html


Question: How has the financial crisis impacted life at Haas?
Answer: Many negative impacts occurred after the financial turmoil. I think the biggest one is the decrease of job opportunities in not only financial/consulting but technology sectors. The effect of shrink in financial industry is limited at Haas compared with other business schools, since not so many students aim at the financial sector. However, this downturn also affect seriously in the Silicon Valley area. International students are in fiercer competition for jobs because companies which recently lay off workers or are financially supported by government, tend to hire U.S. citizen only. Also, the opportunity of scholarship and students loan shrinks. In addition, the fee and tuition will increase significantly due to the worse financial status of the State of California.

One positive impact is that lots of special lectures occurred right after the turmoil. For example, our dean was the chief training officer at an investment bank. Then, he started “Dean’s speaker series” and invited many leading business people and professors in the financial industry and governmental sector. I felt happy to take time to observe what was going on in the financial turmoil as a MBA student.

Question: Do you have any specific advice for those considering application to Haas?

Answer: I recommend applicants to consider “why ONLY Haas can develop you.” I think admission officers wouldn’t accept if they imagine “this person suits better at other schools than at Haas”, no matter how the applicants are brilliant. I think the best way to tackle with this matter is a campus visit. If it is difficult to visit, try to gather as many information as possible from internet, alumni, and current students.

Question: What are your favorite MBA related blogs (English or Japanese sites)?
Answer:
I don’t know any particular interesting MBA blogs in general, but here are Haas related blogs:
Berkeley MBA Student Blogs
Haas Japanese students/alumni blogs

Question: Anything else you would like to tell us?

Answer: Since one of Haas admission officer said to me that the decrease of Japanese students is not preferable, I think more opportunities are available for Japanese students. So, please be prepared and I hope more Japanese students get tickets to Haas.
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I want to thank this member of the Haas Class of 2010 for taking the time to answer my questions. You can find another Q&A with a Haas student here.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. If you are looking for a highly experienced admissions consultant who is passionate about helping his clients succeed, please feel free to contact me at adammarkus@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation. To learn more about my services, see here. Initial consultations are conducted by Skype or telephone. For clients in Tokyo, a free face-to-face consultation is possible after an initial Skype or telephone consultation. I only work with a limited number of clients per year and believe that an initial consultation is the best way to determine whether there is a good fit. Whether you use my service or another, I suggest making certain that the fit feels right to you.

ビジネススクール エッセイ 大学院入学 カウンセリング コンサルティング 合格対策 MBA留学 カリフォルニア大学バークレー ハース

Interview with IMD MBA Class of 2009 Student

Ryo, my former client and a member of the IMD MBA Class of 2009, was kind enough to take time out of his very busy schedule to answer my questions. For more about IMD, please see my analysis of the IMD essay questions for the Class of 2010.
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Adam: So, what have you learned at IMD so far?

Ryo: The first 6 months at IMD have been structured as the Building Block I and II. In those blocks, the students take the same core classes incl. (not exhaustive) Strategy, Finance, Marketing and Innovation. One of the features of the program is that there is “leadership stream” which continues throughout the year. This stream is not graded but we are given many chances to work in groups and to consider group dynamics, peoples’ behaviors and our own leadership styles through many reflections, peer reviews and others.

Adam: What part of the program have you liked the most? The least?

Ryo: I believe the best part of the program is the orientation to the “real-world”. Needless to say, most of the classes are case-based. Not just going through the cases, the program often requires us to analyze, consider and prepare the cases with other diverse students as if we are in an office. Also we have Start-up project (advisory to start-up companies) and International Consulting Project in which the students engage in the consulting to international companies. Also, we go to one of the developing countries to learn the complexities and difficulties there. We closely work with local companies, another hands-on project. There is no emphasis on mere desktop study. We are encouraged to study in the interactions with real world.
I do not have a strong dissatisfaction. If I am forced to say, however, I sometimes felt that I needed time to digest the learning during the classes.

Adam: How would you describe the culture of IMD?

Ryo: The culture of the school is very intense, demanding but warm, I would say. The program requires a lot of preparation within short period. Not only the prep, we are expected to make professional presentations and reports. Frequent and direct feedbacks from the professors and peers are built in the program. At the same time, I feel the school has a very warm culture which mainly comes from the small size of the class (90 people). Every faculty, staff and students have a lot of chances to know each other.

Adam: I know the interview process to get into IMD is harder than any other MBA program, but how hard is the program itself?

Ryo: The program is very tough. I suppose that it partly derives from the curriculum structure. As mentioned above, all core classes are completed within the first 6 months incl. 2 major exams. Therefore, naturally we need to go through a lot of cases and readings in such a short term. In parallel, we have other activities such as the Start-up project and integrative exercises (which force us to mobilize and combine all learning up-to-then).

Adam: Do you actually have any time for clubs? If so, which ones are you active in?

Ryo: There are some clubs set up by students such as Entrepreneurship club, Responsible Leadership club etc. I personally belong to Football club in which we play matches on Sundays and an ad hoc basis.

Adam: Are there any common characteristics you find amongst your classmates?

Ryo: The culture of IMD students is very mature, intimate and international. The average age of the Class of 2009 is 31. Including the partners and children, the students know each other well since we are small school (90 students). I have plenty of opportunities to interact with students in depth, taking about the life, job and future. The 90 students consisted of 38 nationalities. No student group from a country exceeds the 10% of the student number.

Adam: Do you have any specific advice for those considering application to IMD?

Ryo: As is well presented in the recent post by you, IMD has a combination of very unique features. To understand the program and atmosphere, I suggest you to talk to students/ alumni, and check the web-site and other information carefully.

Adam: What are your favorite MBA related blogs (English or Japanese sites)?

Ryo: Let me introduce IMD related blogs. We, IMD MBA 2009 students has IMD MBA diary which you can subscribe to on the IMD web-site. Also IMD MBA 2009 Japanese students have a group blog as well.

Adam: Anything else you would like to tell us else about IMD?

Ryo: There are many opportunities to interact with corporate managers and executives throughout a year. IMD runs many short to long-term business education programs to senior people. It is easy to find the interesting people and have lunch or coffee together at the campus.

Lastly, the city where IMD is located, Lausanne, is very beautiful place. The school is located next to Lake Leman. The access to other cities is easy although you may not have time to do so during the first few months… It takes just 30 minutes to go to Evian in France. We can go to Milan or Paris by train as well.
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I want to thank Ryo for taking the time to answer my questions.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. If you are looking for a highly experienced admissions consultant who is passionate about helping his clients succeed, please feel free to contact me at adammarkus@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation. To learn more about my services, see here. Initial consultations are conducted by Skype or telephone. For clients in Tokyo, a free face-to-face consultation is possible after an initial Skype or telephone consultation. I only work with a limited number of clients per year and believe that an initial consultation is the best way to determine whether there is a good fit. Whether you use my service or another, I suggest making certain that the fit feels right to you.

ヨーロッパのトップランキング ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング 大学院 エッセイMBA留学 スイス

Stanford GSB Essay 2: What are your career aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?

This is the third of five posts analyzing the Stanford GSB MBA Essay Questions for 2008/2009 Admission. The first post provides an overall perspective on applying to Stanford GSB. The second post is on Essay 1. The fourth post is on Essay 3. The fifth post is on additional information, resume, employment history, and activities. My analysis of Stanford GSB interviews can be found here.

Unlike Essay 1, which is a question specific to Stanford, Essay 2 appears to be a fairly standard education and career goals essay:
Essay 2: What are your career aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?

Commenting on Essay 2, Eric Abrams, at the Stanford GSB presentation in 2007 in Tokyo, said to think beyond goals. He suggested thinking of aspirations in terms of the following question: "What do you hope to become?" Given the amount of personal attention you will receive, how will you leverage that attention and your opportunities at Stanford GSB to become as Abrams said, "your best self."

Before reading the rest of the post, you might want to take a look at an interview I conducted with a member of the Class of 2010 as a number of his comments relate directly to Essay 2. Those who read Japanese should also take a look at the blog  sutebuu survival@Stanford GSB by a member of the Class of 2011.

THIS IS A FUTURE DIRECTED QUESTION
Unlike some other "Why MBA" questions, Stanford is not asking about the past. You will write about that in the other essays. Instead focus not just on your goals, but on your mission. How will you make a difference and how can Stanford GSB help you do that?

You need to be ambitious. Simply stating what your goals are and why Stanford is the best place for you to accomplish them is not exactly what you need here. Instead, you need to articulate a vision related to your goals and a vision that is connected to Stanford's mission to train global leaders.

ARE YOUR GOALS HOT?
Making career goals exciting requires thinking about whether your goals are compelling. Admissions committees ask applicants to write about their goals after graduate school, but can applicants actually know what will be on the cutting-edge in two or three years? While many applicants will be able to successfully apply with relatively standard goals ("I want to be a consultant because..."), communicating aspirations requires going beyond the typical.

Be informed. Stanford Admissions needs to believe you know what you are talking about. If you are changing careers, no one expects you to be an expert, but you should come across as having a clear plan based on real research into your future. If you are planning on staying in your present industry, you should be well informed not only about the companies you have worked for, but about the industry as a whole. If you are not already doing so, read industry related publications and network.

Those who are changing fields should most certainly read industry related publications in their intended field. I also suggest conducting informational interviews with at least one peer level and one senior level person in that field. Conduct a peer level interview to get a good idea of what it would be like to actually work in that industry. Conduct a senior level interview to get the perspective of someone who can see the big picture and all the little details as well.

Don't know anyone in your intended field? Network! One great way to start is through LinkedIn. Another is by making use of your undergraduate alumni network and/or career center.

LEARN WHAT IS HOT. No matter whether you are changing fields or not, learn what is hot now and try to figure out what will be hot by the time you graduate. Now, of course, this is just a plan and chances are that what is hot in your industry or field now may very well be cold in the future. The point is to come across to Stanford as someone who is not only well informed, but has CUTTING-EDGE knowledge. Some great general sources for learning what is hot:

From the Business Schools: Feed your brain with cutting-edge ideas from the best business schools in the world. Most Stanford GSB faculty research papers are available for free in PDF format on the Stanford GSB website at https://gsbapps.stanford.edu/researchpapers/. Other great sources of information include Stanford Social Innovation Review, Harvard Working Knowledge, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Publishing, University of Chicago GSB's Working Papers, The University of Chicago's Capital Ideas, Knowledge @ Wharton, and MIT Sloan Management Review.

You may also want to do a search on itunes for podcasts: My favorites are Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (from the Stanford School of Engineering, but totally relevant to the GSB), Chicago GSB Podcast, Net Impact, and Harvard Business IdeaCast. INSEAD, IMD, LBS, and Wharton also have podcasts.

LinkedIn Answers: I would suggest that everyone join LinkedIn and make use of LinkedIn Answers. LinkedIn Answers is a great way to tap into cutting edge expertise. Follow LinkedIn's rules and you will often be able to obtain excellent information.

Hoovers: For information about specific companies, Hoovers is just a great way to learn about key facts including competitors (a very useful way of knowing who else you might want to work for and to learn about an industry). While primarily focused on the US, Hoovers does have listings for companies worldwide.

Vault: For scope of coverage, this site is a must. Vault includes both career and admissions information. It includes both company specific and industry-wide information.

Other sources: Read magazines, websites, and books that relate to your intended field.

DOES IT ALL MAKE SENSE?
When formulating goals, the necessary prerequisite for formulating aspirations, I suggest going through a formal process of goals analysis.

You can use my GAP, SWOT, AND ROI TABLE FOR FORMULATING GRADUATE DEGREE GOALS for this purpose (see below). I think Gap, SWOT, and ROI analysis are great ways for understanding what your goals are, why you want a degree, and how you will use it. (Click here for a GMAC report on MBA ROI. )

(To best view the following table, click on it.)

How to use this table:

Step 1. Begin by analyzing your "Present Situation." What job(s) have you held? What was/is your functional role(s)? What was/are your responsibilities?

Next, analyze your present strengths and weaknesses for succeeding in your present career. REMEMBER:WHEN YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS DON'T ONLY THINK ABOUT WORK, THINK ABOUT OTHER ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE. In particular, some of your greatest strengths may have been demonstrated outside of work, so make sure you are accounting for them.
Strengths: What are you good at? Where do you add value? What are you praised for? What are you proud of?
Weakness: What are you bad at? What are you criticized for? What do you try to avoid due to your own limitations? What do you fear?

Next, analyze the environment you work in right now. What opportunities exist for your growth and success? What threats could limit your career growth?

Step 2. Now, do the same thing in Step 1 for your "Post-Degree" future after you have earned your graduate degree. IF YOU CANNOT COMPLETE STEP 2, YOU HAVE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PLANNED FOR YOUR FUTURE and therefore you need to do more research and need to think more about it.

Step 3. If you could complete step 2, than you should see the "Gap" between your present and your future. What skills, knowledge, and other resources do you need to close the gap between your present and future responsibilities, strengths, and opportunities?

Step 4. After completing Step 3, you now need to determine how an MBA will add value to you. It is possible that an increased salary as a result of job change will be sufficient "ROI" for the degree to justify itself, but you should show how a degree will allow you to reach your career goals. How will the degree enhance your skills and opportunities and help you overcome your weaknesses and external threats? If you can complete Step 4 than you should be ready to explain what your goals are, why you want a degree, and the relationship between your past and future career, as well as your strengths and weaknesses.

The above table will also help you answer such common interview questions as: Where do you want to work after you finish your degree? Why do you want an MBA (or other degree)? What are you strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are your goals? Thinking about these issues now will help you to develop a fully worked-out strategy for how you will best present yourself both in the application and in an interview.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT STANFORD!!!!
How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?
Your objective in the essay is demonstrate why you would greatly benefit from a Stanford MBA education. Actually without that, your aspirations will not make sense because you must have aspirations that require Stanford. Assume that for your aspirations to be effective, Stanford admissions has to make the determination that you are someone who will make best use of their resources. Stanford is proud of what they are and what they can offer. They can reject anyone and they do reject a higher percentage of applicants than other schools. Keep in mind what Derrick Bolton, the Director of Admissions, says about Stanford Essay 2:

How do you plan to take advantage of the incredible opportunities at Stanford? How do you envision yourself contributing, growing, and learning here at the Business School? And how will the Stanford experience help you become the person you described in the first part of Essay B [Essay 2]?

One thing I think that separates great versions of Essay 2 (the ones that get applicants an interview) and mediocre versions (the ones that usually don't get applicants an interview) is the extent to which the applicant is able to show that Stanford is not a mere afterthought or an option, but actually a necessity to accomplish one's aspirations. Fully account for that in your essay. Learn as much as you can about the program and think deeply about who it will impact you. Stanford views itself as a change agent. Show in you essay how it will change you.

The writing process: After going through a process of reflection and analysis, prepare a version of Essay 2 that includes everything you want to say. Next begin the process of revision. Here are a few key things to consider when revising:

1. Think about the most important thing you need admissions to know about your aspirations and why Stanford GSB is the best place to prepare you for them. Begin your essay with that. Chances are good that on your initial draft the most important thing is somewhere in the middle or end of your essay.

2. Prioritize the rest of your content: What do they really need to know? Chances are you have lots of details that can be cut.

3. Make a formal argument: Your essay should be neither a set of disembodied points or a summary, instead it should be a formal statement. Effective forms of this statement vary. The important part is that the reader should be able to understand it clearly and be convinced by it.

Finally, once you have put together Essay 2, consider how the rest of your application supports what you say in it. Without over-marketing yourself or even necessarily writing it directly in the essays, make that your other essays and other aspects of your application show how your potential will contribute to your future aspirations.

STANFORD GSB IN A TIME OF CHANGE
Finally, I think it is important to understand that Stanford GSB is going through a process of change. Not just in terms of the new curriculum that was launched beginning with the Class of 2009 (see the first post in this series), but also in terms of "developing new multidisciplinary programs with the seven other schools to help understand issues facing society and to bring about important changes," and the construction of the Knight Management Center, a new campus for GSB, scheduled to open in Academic Year 2010-2011. For more about all of these changes, click here. All these changes will impact those who want to join the Class of 2012. These second two changes may or may not impact what you write in Essay 2, but I do suggest you consider them.


Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. If you are looking for a highly experienced admissions consultant who is passionate about helping his clients succeed, please feel free to contact me at adammarkus@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation. To learn more about my services, see here. Initial consultations are conducted by Skype or telephone. For clients in Tokyo, a free face-to-face consultation is possible after an initial Skype or telephone consultation. I only work with a limited number of clients per year and believe that an initial consultation is the best way to determine whether there is a good fit. Whether you use my service or another, I suggest making certain that the fit feels right to you.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

スタンフォード ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング 大学院 エッセイMBA留学

Stanford GSB Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?

This is the second of five posts analyzing the Stanford GSB MBA Essay Questions for 2009/2010 Admission. The first post provides an overall perspective on applying to Stanford GSB. The third post is on Essay 2. The fourth post is on Essay 3. The fifth post is on additional information, resume, employment history, and activities. My analysis of Stanford GSB interviews can be found here.

A SIMPLE QUESTION
Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?

From my experience, most successful applicants to Stanford write essays for at least one or two other schools first. While they are doing those other schools, they have already started THINKING about Essay 1. Which raises the following question:
WHERE DO SUCCESSFUL ANSWERS TO ESSAY 1 COME FROM?
In my experience answers to this question that result in acceptance, come from the HEART and the HEAD. The two combined will allow you to tell your story about what matters most. GSB's Admission Director, Derrick Bolton, makes this very clear in his advice regarding the question:

In the first essay, tell a story—and tell a story that only you can tell.

This essay should be descriptive and told in a straightforward and sincere way. This probably sounds strange, since these are essays for business school, but we don’t expect to hear about your business experience in this essay (though, of course, you are free to write about whatever you would like).

Remember that we have your entire application—work history, letters of reference, short-answer responses, etc.—to learn what you have accomplished and the type of impact you have made. Your task in this first essay is to connect the people, situations, and events in your life with the values you adhere to and the choices you have made. This essay gives you a terrific opportunity to learn about yourself!

Many good essays describe the "what," but great essays move to the next order and describe how and why these "whats" have influenced your life.

The most common mistake applicants make is spending too much time describing the "what" and not enough time describing how and why these guiding forces have shaped your behavior, attitudes, and objectives in your personal and professional lives.

While you will need to consider the leadership implications of what matters most to you, as I suggested in my first post in this series, I suggest beginning with no fixed assumptions about what Stanford wants here. One of the easiest ways to write a bad version of Essay 1 is to have a theme that does not directly relate to your actual experience: Round pegs do not fit into square holes.

HEART: The admits I worked with found what matters most to them by looking inside of themselves and finding something essential about who they are. No one is reducible to a core single concept, a single motivation, or any other sort of singularity, but certain things do make each of us tick. Beyond the most basic things of survival, what motivates you? What do you live for? What do you care about? How do you relate to other people? Are you driven by a particular idea or issue? Where do you find meaning?

HEAD: Once you think you have identified that essential thing that matters most to you, begin analyzing it. What is its source? WHY does it remain important to you? HOW?

The heart will tell what it is, but the head must explain it. From my perspective, great answers to this question combine a very strong analytical foundation-A FULL ANSWER TO WHY AND HOW IS MANDATORY- and specific examples. Avoid the common mistake that Derrick Bolton mentions above of ignoring the "Why?" and the "How?" by focusing too much on the "What?"

If you are having difficulty answering Essay 1 to your own satisfaction, I have few suggestions:

1. Write some other schools essays first. In the process of doing so, you may discover the answer. This has worked for a number of my clients.

2. Stanford admissions repeatedly emphasizes that there is no one right answer. Some applicants become paralyzed because they want THE RIGHT MESSAGE. You need to fully account for who you are and what you have done, but should not try to overly sell yourself to Stanford because that is simply at odds with the way in which the school selects candidates. Therefore don't focus on finding THE RIGHT MESSAGE, instead be honest and give an answer that is real.

If you are having some more fundamental difficulties with this question, one book I suggest taking a look at is Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. This classic is worth a look for anyone who is thinking about what their life is about. Frankl makes us think about meaning from the most extreme of perspectives, inside a concentration camp, and in the process helps us to understand that meaning itself is deeply tied to our own survival. If you need to engage in some self-reflection, Frankl’s book is one place to start. I might also suggest reading Plato or doing some mediation, but in my experience those take more time and Frankl's book has the advantage of being short, inexpensive, available at many libraries, and has been translated from the original German into twenty-two languages.

3. The answer may be real, but is it a good one? If you are not sure, look critically at Stanford GSB's mission statement:
Our mission is to create ideas that deepen and advance our understanding of management and with those ideas to develop innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who change the world.
Does what matters most to you fit within this mission? Think about this statement in the widest possible way. Given the small class size and the highly collaborative nature of the program, admissions will only be doing its job right if they select students who fit into Stanford GSB's mission. As I stated in the first post in this series, Stanford is looking for leaders, but leaders come in many forms and the values and ideals that inform them vary greatly. If what matters most to you is something that admissions can clearly connect to informing your ideals as a leader than you are on the way to forming an effective answer to what is Stanford's most unique essay question.

3. MAKE A CHOICE!
All successful versions of this essay that I have read involve making a choice. That is to say, you must actually clearly indicate something that matters most. As someone who is frequently contacted by those who have failed to obtain admission to Stanford and want to know why, I often find that they don't make this choice. Their "what matters most" lacks clarity and unity. Make a clear choice and really explore it. This will best reveal your self-awareness and your passion.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. If you are looking for a highly experienced admissions consultant who is passionate about helping his clients succeed, please feel free to contact me at adammarkus@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation. To learn more about my services, see here. Initial consultations are conducted by Skype or telephone. For clients in Tokyo, a free face-to-face consultation is possible after an initial Skype or telephone consultation. I only work with a limited number of clients per year and believe that an initial consultation is the best way to determine whether there is a good fit. Whether you use my service or another, I suggest making certain that the fit feels right to you.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

スタンフォード ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング 大学院 エッセイMBA留学

Stanford GSB MBA Essay Questions for 2009/2010

This is the first of five posts analyzing the Stanford GSB MBA Essay Questions for 2009/2010 Admission. It provides an overall perspective on applying to Stanford GSB. The second post is on Essay 1. The third post is on Essay 2. The forth post is on Essay 3. The fifth post is on additional information, resume, employment history, and activities. My analysis of Stanford GSB interviews can be found here.

In this post I provide some overall comments about the essay set for admission to the Class of 2012, an analysis of the centrality of demonstrating leadership potential for admission to Stanford GSB, and some suggestions for how to proceed in order to put together a great application for Stanford GSB.

ESSAYS:
Here are the complete essays and instructions from the Stanford GSB website (SORRY THIS IS LONG):

Tell us in your own words who you really are. Answer essay questions 1, 2, and two of the four options for essay 3.

• Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?
  
  • The best examples of Essay 1 reflect the process of self-examination that you have undertaken to write them.
  • They give us a vivid and genuine image of who you are—and they also convey how you became the person you are.
  • They do not focus merely on what you've done or accomplished. Instead, they share with us the values, experiences, and lessons that have shaped your perspectives.
  • They are written from the heart and address not only a person, situation, or event, but also how that person, situation, or event has influenced your life.
    
  
  
• Essay 2: What are your career aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?
  
  • Use this essay to explain your view of your future, not to repeat accomplishments from your past.
  • You should address three distinct topics:
    
    • your career aspirations
    • the role of an MBA education in achieving those aspirations
    • and your rationale for earning that MBA at Stanford, in particular.
    
    
  • The best examples of Essay 2 express your passions or focused interests; explain why you have decided to pursue graduate education in management; and demonstrate your desire to take advantage of the opportunities that are distinctive to the Stanford MBA Program.
  
  
• 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 motivated others to support your vision or initiative.
  • Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected.
  
  

Essay Length

Your answers for all of the essay questions cannot exceed 1,800 words.

You have your own story to tell, so please allocate the 1,800 words among all of the essays in the way that is most effective for you. We provide some guidelines below as a starting point, but you should feel comfortable to write as much or as little as you like on any essay question, as long as you do not exceed 1,800 words total.

• Essay 1: 750 words
• Essay 2: 450 words
• Essay 3: 300 words each

Formatting

• Use a 12-point font, double spaced
• Indicate which essay question you are answering at the beginning of each essay
• Number all pages
• Upload all four essays as one document
• Preview the uploaded document to ensure that the formatting is true to the original
• Save a copy of your essays

Editing Your Essays

Begin work on these essays early, to give yourself time to reflect, write, and edit.

Feel free to ask your friends or family members to provide constructive feedback. When you ask for feedback, ask if the essays' tone sounds like your voice. It should. Your family and friends know you better than anyone else. If they do not believe that the essays capture who you are, how you live, what you believe, and what you aspire to do, then surely the Committee on Admissions will be unable to recognize what is most distinctive about you.

There is a big difference, however, between 'feedback' and 'coaching.' There are few hard and fast rules, but you cross a line when any part of the application (excluding the Letters of Reference) ceases to be exclusively yours in either thought or word.

Appropriate feedback occurs when you show someone your completed application, perhaps one or two times, and are apprised of errors or omissions.

In contrast, inappropriate coaching occurs when your application or your self-presentation is colored by someone else.

You best serve your own interests when your personal thoughts, individual voice, and unique style remain intact at the end of your editing process.

It is improper and a violation of the spirit of the Fundamental Standard and Honor Code to have someone else write any part of your Stanford MBA Program application. Such an act will result in denial of your application or withdrawal of your offer of admission.

I know that was long, but I think it is really important to actually read the whole thing. Especially note the three year limit on Essay 3 topics and the fact that you can decide how to divide your 1800 words amongst the four essays. The rest of this post consists of my general comments on Stanford GSB and writing the essays. Specific essay questions are analyzed in the rest of this series.

LIMITED WORD COUNT

Along with HBS, Stanford GSB began the trend of reducing the word/page count of their essays a few years ago. In the last two years other schools have followed their lead. Still Stanford, lets you choose how many words you want to allocate to each essay as long the maximum is 1800 words, so we still get a bit of West Coast mellow flexibility. With the Essay 3 essays coming in at a suggested 300 words each, Stanford has outdone Harvard's 400 word maximum per essay for the two Essay 3 essays. For both schools you get 1800 words maximum. Use them well.

CHANGES SINCE LAST YEAR

Otherwise the biggest change is that two out of the four options in Essay 3 have changed completely and one was modified. Only option D has remain untouched.

THE FIRST YEAR CURRICULUM: HARD

Consider what my former client, member of the Class of 2010, said in an in an interview with me:
Adam: How hard was the first year?

Yukihiro: The first year in GSB was very tough! Especially in the first quarter, students must prepare hard for each class and deal with tons of readings and assignments. Actually, if there is one thing I have to complain about the program, it is that there is a risk that the understanding about each subject might be become halfway due to the lack of time. Even American students said the first quarter was very tough. Also, there are a lot of parties, networking and recruiting events in MBA. The students must manage their time efficiently to tackle the academic requirements.

Stanford has been very clear about the difficulty of the program. Consider the following excerpt from the "Student Perspective" provided by Karen Hart, Class of 2009, found on the Stanford GSB curriculum page of the website:

Former Goldman Sachs banker Karen Hart says she appreciates the new curriculum's emphasis on globalization and managing in a global environment.... Although the workload can be challenging—at the beginning of the term she was spending up to 60 hours a week on class preparation and now averages 30-40 hours a week on academics outside class—Karen remains pleased at the ongoing level of collaboration among students.

Now if Karen was doing 60 hours per week when the program commenced and now is doing 30-40 hours of academic work per week, what about students whose first language is not English?

The new curriculum that commenced in Fall 2007 is clearly no piece of cake and anyone who thinks that Stanford GSB will be easier than schools that are well know for being tough, like HBS and Darden, is likely to be in for a surprise.

THE CENTRAL ROLE OF LEADERSHIP AT STANFORD
Another consideration is that in the past, Stanford has clearly not been so closely associated with a leadership-focused education. Whether this is true or not is another issue, but it certainly has been the case that HBS has been much more clearly associated with a leadership-focused education. At this point, I would not consider such a dichotomy to be particularly useful. Consider what Stanford says about the first quarter, Management perspectives curriculum:

Through your first quarter Management Perspectives courses, you will examine questions that transcend any single function or discipline of management such as:

• What responsibilities does a corporation have to society?
• What do markets do well, and what do they do poorly?
• What are the costs and benefits of commitment?

You will begin to understand the larger context of management and recognize deficiencies in your own knowledge that you will fill with Management Foundations classes in your second and third quarters.

Right from the start, you also will focus on developing your leadership style and honing your skills of oral and written persuasion.

Compare this to how HBS describes its Required Curriculum:
HBS's MBA curriculum includes a range of exciting courses and is frequently refreshed with new content. The goal is to give students a firm grasp of broad-based fundamentals. The School's inductive learning model goes beyond facts and theories—a process that teaches individuals not only how to manage organizations, but also how to continually grow and learn throughout life.

Now I will not deny that there are significant differences in the use of learning methods, culture, and the overall structure of these two programs, but are the expected learning outcomes different? If the objective is to teach individuals how to be global leaders who can change and grow overtime, the answer is "No." Maybe this comes as no surprise to the reader, but I do point it so that no one thinks leadership matters less at Stanford than it does at HBS.

STANFORD IS LOOKING FOR LEADERS
A blog post by Kirsten Moss, Stanford GSB's Director of Evaluation, indicates the extent to which there is a focus on finding students who demonstrate leadership potential (this post also includes the full set of questions and Moss's comments in regards to them, so I have reprinted most of it):

This year's essay and recommendation questions are really the result of a journey that began over three years ago. Derrick Bolton, the Director of MBA Admissions, and I worked with experts in the field of leadership assessment from all over the world. We wanted to develop a set of questions that would stand the test of time--that would effectively elicit only the information most critical to our assessment criteria.

The 2008/2009 questions have changed little from last year; based on our satisfaction with the thousands of essay responses we read last year, we only made slight refinements.

Let me summarize why each of them is meaningful to our committee:

Essay A [WHAT IS NOW ESSAY 1]: What matters most to you and why?
This question helps us learn about your ideals and values. They set the context for how you see the world. They are your guideposts when you make any decision from what type of job you pursue to what type of culture you will create in leading an organization.

Essay B [Now 2]: What are your career aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?
This question helps us understand your professional dreams and from where your passion comes to achieve them. We also get a glimpse of what skills or knowledge you think you need to develop to reach them.....

We all have important stories to tell. We want to share moments when we have achieved great things or helped to shape the world around us. Essay C [Now 3] lists four potential questions (or prompts) to help you identify which are the two most important stories you have to tell us. The prompts themselves are not as important as the stories that they bring to the surface.

Good luck completing your application this year. I hope my "confessions" have given you a little more insight into the journey you are about to begin.

Moss's "confession" makes it very clear that rather than having completely open-ended criteria about who will fit at Stanford, the admissions committee is specifically looking to admit applicants who can (ESSAY 1) express values and ideals that will guide them as leaders and/or decision makers, (ESSAY 2) express why their professional goals require a Stanford MBA education, and (ESSAY 3) clearly demonstrate leadership potential. In one way, these criteria are not new because demonstrating leadership potential was always a consideration, but for me, as someone who has had clients admitted to Stanford in the Classes of 2011(click here for my client's testimonial), 2010 (click here for my client's testimonial), 2008 (Click here for my client's recommendation on LinkedIn, but you have to join LinkedIn to see it), 2007, 2006, and 2005, the clear focus on leadership represents a significant change. (I also had additional clients who were interviewed for the classes of 2011, 2009 and 2007, but not admitted.)

STANFORD IS LOOKING FOR HONESTY
On the other hand, one thing that has not changed is that the applicants I have worked with who have gotten interviewed and/or admitted, wrote their own essays and were honest in their presentations of themselves. In my discussion of Essay 1, I will discuss the critical importance of providing honest answers to Stanford's questions, but the following comments from Derrick Bolton apply to the essay set as a whole:

Please think of the Stanford essays as conversations on paper—when we read files, we feel that we meet people, also known as our "flat friends"—and tell us your story in a natural, genuine way.

Our goal is to understand what motivates you and how you have become the person you are today. In addition, we’re interested in what kind of person you wish the Stanford MBA Program to help you become.

Reflective, insightful essays help us envision the individual behind all of the experiences and accomplishments that we read about elsewhere in your application.

I can confirm that what has always made a winning set of essays for Stanford is the ability to commit to making an honest and insightful presentation of yourself. Based on my experience I can say the following are not effective:

1. Over-marketing: While I believe in the value of the marketing metaphor to some degree, I also believe you have to be able to understand that a crude, over-determined approach to doing so will not work here (For more about this, click here). If you are not real, you fail as one of Derrick Bolton's "flat friends."

2. Not writing your own essays. If your essays are not written in your own voice and don't reflect your English ability, don't expect to make it past Derrick Bolton's team. Their position is quite clear:

Begin work on these essays early, and feel free to ask your friends and family members to provide constructive feedback. When you ask for feedback, ask if the essay’s tone sounds like your voice. It should. Your family and friends know you better than anyone else. If they do not believe that your essays capture who you are, how you live, what you believe, and what you aspire to do, then surely the Committee on Admissions will be unable to recognize what is most distinctive about you.

However, there is a big difference between "feedback" and "coaching." There are few hard and fast rules, but you cross a line when a piece of the application ceases to be exclusively yours in either thought or word (excluding the letter of reference, which should be exclusively the recommender’s in thought and word).

Appropriate feedback occurs when you show someone your completed application, perhaps one or two times, and are apprised of errors or omissions. In contrast, inappropriate coaching occurs when either your essays or your entire self-presentation is colored by someone else. You best serve your own interests when your personal thoughts, individual voice, and unique style remain intact at the end of your editing process.

The above sounds very good in theory. If you have a friend or family member who can act as mentor in the way Stanford suggests, that is great. As I have discussed elsewhere in a series of posts on mentors, admission consultants, editors, and ghostwriters, such unpaid advisors are indeed valuable. However many applicants may very well find that they have no one around them who can provide such advice and Stanford's position does not account for that. Also the dichotomy between "coaching" and "feedback" is simply false because coaching is about feedback. What I find particularly ironic about Bolton's position on this issue is that Stanford GSB provides extensive career coaching to its students through the Career Management Center (CMC):

Personal advising and support—with only 360 students per class, the CMC staff works directly with you on your interests and goals.
Self-assessment—help with identifying and leveraging your strengths, as well as direction for skill development, if needed.

Resume and cover letter preparation—CMC staff can assist you with developing personal marketing tools that will stand out above the clutter, emphasize your abilities, and target your specific goals.

Mock interviews—role-playing and practice interviews enable you to gain confidence, hone your responses, and think on your feet.

It seems as though Stanford has two different standards for coaching: Stanford claims admissions consulting is bad because it helps applicants get into Stanford, but Stanford career consulting is good because it helps Stanford students get jobs. The services that Stanford offers to its students are the ones I and other ethical admissions consultants offer to their clients. The type of service I provide falls within Stanford's notions of the acceptable, though they would call it "coaching." There are other admissions consultants who will provide rewriting and ghostwriting, but I don't suggest using them if you want to go to Stanford or other top schools. Whoever assists you had better be able to make sure that their feedback helps you to best present yourself authentically.

IS STANFORD RIGHT FOR YOU?
Stanford really does provide great advice about both the Stanford GSB essays and about how to handle your applications. Review the curriculum, the school's mission statement, and the vast online resources (including a blog, podcasts, and "Myth Busters" ) that admissions provides to make this determination. Don't make assumptions about what Stanford GSB is or based on what someone told you it is. Instead, make that determination yourself after sufficient research. If you are thinking about Stanford GSB and have not yet attended one of their Outreach Events, I suggest doing so if you can. Visiting when school is in session is ideal.

DON'T WRITE STANFORD ESSAYS FIRST IF YOU CAN HELP IT.
Essay writing is a learning process. The more you do, hopefully the better you become. As such, given the difficulty of getting into Stanford, it seems like a bad idea to me to give them your rawest stuff.
Instead try work on two to three other schools first so that you have a better idea of what your best stories are. You will need them for Stanford. It is fine to start with Stanford and then work on other schools and then revise Stanford after doing so, but I usually advise clients to work on another school first.

SHOULD I WRITE ESSAY 1 OR 2 OR 3 FIRST?
Applicants often ask me this question.

I think it is important that your goals, Essay 2, be clearly established first. If you think about it, what matters to you most (Essay 1) must be consistent with and complimentary to your goals. As far as Essay 3 goes, the potential you show through the skills and values that you demonstrate in Essay 3 must also support the goals you write about in Essay 2. Therefore start with Essay 2.

As to whether you should then do 1 or 3, chances are, if you have written a bunch of essays for other schools first, that you have multiple options for Essay 3, but don't make any final decisions on Essay 3 until you write Essay 1 because you might very well find that a particular story that is ideal for Essay 1 was one you were considering for Essay 3. Use your best examples to support what you say matters to you most because you should try to make your answer to Essay 1, the only truly Stanford specific question, as strong as possible.

CONCLUSION
Getting into Stanford GSB is simply harder than getting into any other MBA program, but if it is where you want to go and if you think you fit there, commit to putting a significant amount of time into making a great application.


Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. If you are looking for a highly experienced admissions consultant who is passionate about helping his clients succeed, please feel free to contact me at adammarkus@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation. To learn more about my services, see here. Initial consultations are conducted by Skype or telephone. For clients in Tokyo, a free face-to-face consultation is possible after an initial Skype or telephone consultation. I only work with a limited number of clients per year and believe that an initial consultation is the best way to determine whether there is a good fit. Whether you use my service or another, I suggest making certain that the fit feels right to you.

-Adam Markus
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