Stanford Adcom sends out first Round 1 interview invite: let the nail biting begin: #MBA http://bit.ly/d6UwK

Hi Sandy The Stanford blog says that they have already sent an invite out before the official Round 1 deadline!!

Your thoughts?Well, I suppose I believe them, altho a bit unusual, since most adcoms say they dont start reading apps til the deadline (a position that always struck me as odd, you could sure start eliminating doofus apps before the deadline, and also cull obvious winners, and save yourself some time, so maybe Stanford is just being honest about prior practice). As Stanford letter to submitted applicants confirms,
printed below, Stanford is now, and has been, the most loosey-goosey of HSW adcoms, viz: We hope to interview between 800 and 1,200 applicants this year, and offer admission to between 400 and 500 candidates. That 800-1200 number is one they have put out their for the past 5 years and is a just a way of saying –WE AINT SAYING MUCH WHAT WE ARE DOING–since the 800 figure wld lead you believe your chances post interview are pretty darn good (given 430-460 offers) while the 1200
number makes you a little more cautious. The big picture is, they can do, and have done, whatever they want, and they do carry out the interview window and the WAITLIST WINDOW longer than most schools, esp. H and S, and a bunch  of Stan interview invites  actually do come in late Nov and Dec. WAY more than H. W has firm window for invites,
see post above. As to Stan WL –I think there STILL may be kids on WL–and no fooling there were two kids on the WL until late Aug, both of whom lived near school, the actual requirement for being the last two WLers, no kidding!!!!) They are also less transparent about nubmers.
As to admit 400-500 kids, well the 400 number is patently absurd since the the enrolled number  of kids this fall is  385 (see next post for stats) , and they typically lose 40-60 kids to other schools, or drop outs, VISA problems etc. Also note, Stanford interviews are done by alums (vs. adcoms mostly at H and W), are in part a marketing ploy by Stan to keep alums involved in the process, and DONT COUNT MUCH, as Bolton admits in his  more honest or ‘lively’ moments.  BUT SURE, THE
FACT IS, NO INTERVIEW INVITE, NO ADMISSION. So even if the inter. dont count much, you gotta get the invite.   
 

Sandy - what do you make of the latest Stanford blog entry? seems like they are subtly fishing for more applicants even though (according to you) they historically only accept single digits in the 3rd round. maybe more spots for R2 and R3 from a lower R1 yield than expected? just wondering why they specifically have a blog posting (1.5 weeks before the deadline no less) about this when they’ve said that applying earlier is better… i.e. R1>R2>>>R3.

Apply Now for Round 3

All right…you know who you are. You’ve been to our website, started an application, maybe even drafted an essay or two. All the while, you’ve been wondering, “Should I or shouldn’t I?” “Is now the right time?” “Do I stand a chance of getting in?”

The media hype says that business school applications soar when the economy is bad and, as such, there won’t be any spots left for third round applicants. This simply isn’t true. And we worry that some great people may delay applying because of these misperceptions. Historically, we’ve found that applications follow demographic cycles more than economic cycles.

We assure you that we admit outstanding individuals in all three rounds–this year is no exception. While it is true that the final round typically is smaller than the first two, we do admit excellent candidates in Round 3–including our current Director of MBA Admissions.

So the real question to ask yourself is when do you want to enroll? If the answer is September 2009, then you should apply now in Round 3. If you’re admitted, great. If not, then you’re in a better position for September 2010 having already begun the self-reflection process for your first-round application.

There is still time to put together a thoughtful and thorough application by the Round 3 deadline of 8 April 2009. So if you’ve started, take that final step. The bottom line is we can’t admit you if you don’t apply.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/mba/blog/

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STANFORD ROUND THREE BLOG

I did find that Stanford blog odd!  Altho glad to see that Derrick is blogging for himself, having mastered the ‘internet tubes’ and not having asst’s do it, as in days of yore.  Altho see this story for the truth about celebrity tweets and who actually writes  those 50Cent tweets we all love so much, could be new job op.  for moi, ghost tweeting When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking

ALSO: i find the April 8 R3 Stanford  deadline WAY OUT of whack in comparison to  H=March 11 and W=March 5.

(ahem, altho last year Round 3 deadlines were: S=March 21; H = March 12; W=28 Feb!!!!–who loves ya baby, enuf to know this stuff!!!) Soooooo, Stan has now gone fr. Round 3 gap vs. HBS of 9 days last year versus 29 DAYS!!!!! this year.  Coincidence? Means Nothing???? Only the Joker knows???

I also like the party line, if you get dinged Round 3, you are off to booming start as a reapp b.c. you have begun the process of introspection. [If you’re admitted, great. If not, then you’re in a better position for September 2010 having already begun the self-reflection process for your first-round application.] Duh, in most cases (as a matter of stats and my own experienes of who is actually on the cusp at Stanford]  that would mean searching deep inside of yourself for reasons why you will NEVER get into Stanford.  Like you dont have a 730 gmat, have not gone to elite schools and had elite work experienes and etc. etc. I mean, I love the implicaiton, if you dont get in,  the reason is you have not introspected enuf–as if……………..maybe my dad’s heroin addiction doesnt matter to me, what REALLY matters is, is, is…… building sustainable rehab facilities in developing countries……….that’s it, STOP THE PRESSES!!!!

OPPPS, well, presses already ran for Round 3, but let’s start them again for Round 1. As to whether he is out there w. a signboard, as it were, trying to get MORE APPS, b.c. he does not have enuf for this year, hmmmmmmmmm, dont think so, I think he is amazed himself about HOW LATE THE ROUND 3 DEADLINE IS.   And just wants to reaffirm that there is, AMAZINGLY, when HBS is DONE TAKING APPS and Wharton has already sent out R2 results and also moved the circus out of town for this year, time to APPLY TO STANFORD.  Bolton, as he has said someplace, hand crafts the class, sorta one by one, and if he can turn up two or three more kids who pass thru the eye of the needle, well, why not.  He sorta pays his staff whether they are reading apps or picking daisies, and for the time being, they aint gearing up for 2+2 onslaught in June as per the cross coast rivals in Cantab, sooooooooooooooooo, why not.

 Do you know how many people Stanford admitted in R1?

Given this is approaching the R2 decision date, I’m wondering how many seats are available in R2.

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see below, but bottom line is 1. Either Bolton’s blog post of Feb is understated (so he can play good guy and invite more kids) or 2. They will take more kids off WL and Round 3 than usual, or 3. Who the **** knows, but something dont add up.

Talmudic and wildly speculative disc about Stanford Interview, Round one admits,and remaining spots  below. Back and forth between me and quant star in the making. You might want to read bottom up.

The factoids we know are: Round One facebook accepts were 228 (for what that is worth, see below); Stan has usually admitted 450-490 kids (total)  to get class of  370 (http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/knightcenter/faq/index.html#class) ; Bolton said this about Round Two admissions in Feb

As of this morning, we have invited 275 second-round candidates to interview. We will extend an additional 100-125 interview invitations to second-round candidates in the next couple of weeks. During that same period, we plan to interview some of the first-round candidates who accepted spots on the waitlist without having interviewed. I hope this is helpful, Derrick

and this about Round One admissions in December

As of mid-week, we have extended around 400 interview invitations to first round candidates. We expect to invite an additional 150-200 applicants to interview in the next few weeks, as we read and evaluate first round applications before the notification deadline of 22 January 2009. On the January 22 first round notification deadline, we also may ask 50-100 applicants to join the waitlist without having been interviewed, and may interview those candidates later. I hope this is helpful. Best wishes for the holiday season. Derrick

I dont trust Bolton’s planned interview numbers, for R2, which are prob. under-stated, just because he would rather over deliver.
They also seem to be interviewing LOTSA r2 kids fr. just what I am seeing w. clients and mock interview reqsts (altho anecdotal, sure).
 Amid the many other unconfirmed numbers, not sure what to make of this.
The 228 figure fr. facebook, if that is being administered by Stan adcom, seems sorta reliable.
Usually they take MORE kids R2 than R1, altho that cld change this year b.c. pattern at some schools was for TON of R1 apps, and then level off of R2 apps to last year levels. What makes more sense to me is 228 admits R1, 210-230 admits r2 and dunno about r3. but that wld get them to historical 450 admits. Often r3 admits are in single digits.
The only thing that does not compute in this scenairio is Bolton claim in Feb of 275 int sent w. 100-125 to come. I just think that 100-125 number was understated. My guess, it will be more like 200 more. I think they sorta interview 1100-1200 kids a year, no matter what they say.

Bolton said that they would interview 550-600 Round 1.  (Post said 400 extended plus 150-200 more to come).  I had heard (I believe somewhere on these message boards) that R1 admits were 228, resulting in an interview acceptance rate of 38 - 41%. 

If Round 2 interviews are between 375-400, then that would translate to between 143 and 166 admits (based on the same interview acceptance rate). 

Assuming 30 or so R3 admits, that would mean total max admits (228 R1 + 166 R2 + 30 R3) of ~425, which seems low, considering that Stanford’s yield is around 80%.  They would need to admit around 450 to get a class of 360.

OK all these numbers are fishy and vague (ie R1 admit number, number of interviews never really confirmed), but it seems like they are interviewing far too few R2 guys.  Why would that be?  Perhaps alums said “no more interviews plz!!!!!” and they decided to interview less people and admit a higher percentage of R2 interviewees but that seems doubtful (and too difficult to carry out anyways).  One explanation is that looking at R1 vs R2 quality, they realized that R1 was a bit better upon closer inspection (yes yes I know R2 is in before R1 decisions released), perhaps “underaccepted” out of the R1 pool, and decided that they would use the R1 waitlist more extensively at the R2 deadline.  What do you think?!?

Round 2 Interview statistics

As of this morning, we have invited 275 second-round candidates to interview. We will extend an additional 100-125 interview invitations to second-round candidates in the next couple of weeks.

During that same period, we plan to interview some of the first-round candidates who accepted spots on the waitlist without having interviewed.

I hope this is helpful,
Derrick

Posted by Rita Winkler on 25 February 2009 | Permalink

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STANFORD TOTAL INTERVIEW NUMBERS –WILL THEY HAVE TOTAL INTERVIEWS OF 800 OR 1200 THIS YEAR

BOLTON JUST POSTED THAT 275 second-round candidates HAD BEEN INTERVIEWED AND “We will extend an additional 100-125 ” MAKING FOR TOTAL NUMBER OF ROUND TWO INVITES =375-400.

THAT SEEMS SMALL TO ME. STANFORD HAS ALWAYS BEEN CAGEY ABOUT WHAT TOTAL OF INVITES THEY DO IN A YEAR, BOLTON USUALLY SAYS 800-1200, AND NEVER CONFIRMS PRIOR YEARS NUBMERS. IF HE EVER HAS, SOMEONE TELL ME. HBS ON THE OTHER HAND, WHICH IS QUICKLY BECOMING THE MORE TRANSPARENT OF THE TWO SCHOOLS IN THIS MURKY PROCESS, STATES, OFTEN, THAT TOTAL INTERVIEW INVITES ARE ~1800.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO, WE NOW GOT TO WONDER HOW MANY KIDS STAN INTERVIEWED IN ROUND ONE, WHAT WAS TOTAL NUMBER OF APPS IN ROUND ONE VS. ROUND TWO. AND BLAH, BLAH BLAH.  IF ROUND ONE APPS WERE UP FROM PRIOR YEARS, AS MOST SCHOOLS ARE REPORTING, MAYBE THEY INTERVIEWED 500 KIDS IN THAT ROUND, 400 IN R2, AND ~50 IN R3 FOR GRAND TOTAL OF 950.  DUNNO, BUT FEEL FREE TO SPECULATE.  SOME MONKEY WRENCHES ARE THAT ROUND TWO ‘TRADITIONALLY’ GETS MORE APPS THAN ROUND ONE, ALTHO MAYBE THIS YEAR IS DIFF.

THE REASON THIS IS IMPT IS FOLKS ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO FIGURE WHAT THEIR ODDS ARE AFTER GETTING INVITE.

IF 800 INVITES FOR CLASS OF 400 ADMITS (TO WIND UP W. 360) WELLLLLLL LA DE DA, CHANCES ARE 50-50, IF 12OO INVITES FOR CLASS OF 400, WELL, SON, DO THE MATH.

Stanford Business School Launches New Fellowship for MBA Grads? Social Ventures

press release below is good summary of Stanford Do-Gooders, including

 Other Stanford MBA graduates who have launched social enterprises include
Jessica Flannery MBA ’07. She cofounded Kiva, a nonprofit microfinance group in
San Francisco that seeks to overcome poverty by linking lenders with
entrepreneurs operating very small businesses. And the social entrepreneurial
duo of Sam Goldman and Ned Tozun, both MBA ’07, together developed a low-cost,
solar-powered light emitting diode lamp to sell to the millions of people
worldwide who live in rural homes not supplied with electricity.

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STANFORD INVITES –NUMBER SO FAR

HMMMM, BOLTON SPEAKS. OVER THE YEARS, BOLTON HAS ALWAYS BEEN CAGEY ABOUT THE STANFORD INTERVIEW TOTAL INVITE  NUMBERS, ALWAYS SAYING IT VARIES FROM 800-1200, AND HE IS KEEPING TO FORM. ASSUMING THE 400 INVITES ALREADY OUT, AND SAY 200 MORE, THAT IS 600 FOR ROUND ONE, AND MAYBE 60O FOR ROUND TWO [WHICH GETS WAY MORE APPS, AS A RULE, BUT OF LESSER QUALITY]. SOOOOOOO, NUMBERS BELOW ARE KINDA BELIEVABLE. ROUND 3 DATA IS ROUNDING ERROR. MY OWN GRINCH THINKING IS THAT ~ 75-80 percent of  INVITES ARE ALREADY OUT. BASIS???? FOLKS WHO WRITE UPDATES LIKE THE ONES BELOW ARE USUALLY PACKING IN SOME HOPE STATS VERSUS REALITY STATS, JUST HUMAN NATURE.

First Round Interviews

http://www.stanford.edu/group/mba/blog/As of mid-week, we have extended around 400 interview invitations to first round candidates. We expect to invite an additional 150-200 applicants to interview in the next few weeks, as we read and evaluate first round applications before the notification deadline of 22 January 2009.

On the January 22 first round notification deadline, we also may ask 50-100 applicants to join the waitlist without having been interviewed, and may interview those candidates later.

I hope this is helpful. Best wishes for the holiday season.
Derrick

We don’t  often  tout Stanford’s own admissions blog as a source of good Why Stanford info (for Essay B) , but a recent post there can give a savvy applicant some great food for thought: one goes to Stanford to learn EQ (emotional intelligence, altho YOU should NOT use that term), or touchy-feely leadership (dont use that term either), a valuable concept whose importance relates to sensing what others need, sensing what is going on in the room, finding the correct (empathetic, innovative) approaches to dealing w. different people in different ways. As post below details, here is how Stanford education resources and philosophy handle those issues: ____________________

Changing the world…through high EQ leadership

Dean Bob Joss, speaking in Hong Kong last month, explained that senior managers of major organizations are the key to solving global problems including poverty, pollution, and infectious disease.

All these problems are so huge that they need to be addressed by large groups of people under the guidance of extraordinary and inspiring leaders.

Said Joss: “The selection [of employees], the development of team work, the giving of feedback, the growth of people are the hardest things to achieve because all people are different; it’s not a technical problem to be solved. It takes a lot of emotional intelligence, and that’s a hard thing for people to develop. It’s much easier to develop technical and cognitive skills.”

To boil it down to elevator pitch length: emotional intelligence (sometimes called EQ) combined with leadership skills will drive global innovation. The conundrum is that teaching leadership EQ is tough. Doing it well is the business school equivalent of scaling Everest.

Back when I was a student, the mainstay of our EQ training was Interpersonal Dynamics, the infamous but incredible course lovingly known as Touchy Feely. The teaching of leadership at the GSB has evolved since my day and now, in addition to the ever-popular Touchy Feely course, encompasses a multi-modal strategy that includes role-playing, interactive lectures, small group discussions, and coaching. Then there’s the executive challenge, the event that brings together first year MBA students and notable alumni for a real-world exercise in managing the pricklier issues that confront CEOs every day.

Last night, I was watching the Leadership in Focus video vignettes that the Center for Leadership Development and Research (CLDR) has created to facilitate leadership training. The vignettes portray managers discussing topics such as implementing change, making good decisions, and building teams. Not all the managers chose the optimal alternatives or achieved success.

These video cases are not explicitly about leadership EQ, but EQ inevitably creeps in. As I watched these videos, I realized that I was reacting more to the interpersonal vibes emanating from the managers than to the content. Some of the managers were able to step outside their own perspectives and understand the issues, personal and professional, that others were facing. Others were unable to make that transition to the point of seeming downright callous. I found myself disagreeing with their choices and thinking: “glad that’s not my boss.” Their lack or inability to connect with and inspire their subordinates led to rifts that could not be easily mended.

Here at the Stanford GSB, our innovative leadership training challenges students to question their assumptions, to step outside the boxes they have constructed for themselves, to reach out to others, and to embrace a broader understanding of the world around them, both literally and figuratively. The two-year MBA program enables students to begin a process of self-examination and transformation that will allow them to become the kind of innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who will change the world. Part of our mission at Stanford.

For more information on the CLDR, see http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/cldr/

–JoAnne Goldman

Sandy–Based on your past experience, what is the likelihood of getting off the waitlist at Stanford?  I just found out I was waitlisted.  In your opinion, is there anything I can do to increase my likelihood of turning the waitlist spot into an admit? 

# admits each round

round 1 - 219

round 2 - 235

round 3 - 38 (including 19 from the earlier round waitlists)

Sooooooooooooo, take your pick.  IN other years, Round 3 numbers and WL numbers were less, I believe, in some years,  R3 was like 2-4, not sure about WL.

So, you can mix all that up anyway you want, but to me it reads as follows: IN normal years, chances of getting off WL is ~8-12 percent, in ‘other’ years, chances are way less. No,  I dont know if they put as many kids on WL in R2 (e.g. 75, or more even) but someone can check that fr. last year’s Stanford R2 thread, and please post back.

As to what you can do: find someone whom Bolton would love hearing from and have that person write/ call him, saying you are best things since sliced bread, b.c. 1 2 3 4 –it’s that easy.  

STANFORD :

Realistically, how am I going to talk about what matters most to me in my life by weaving in a project I led at work?  The same holds for the career vision story. 

Your instincts are right, the S. application is to some degree anti-professional, and as we have noted, S b school is actually the UN-Business school, well, as part of its stage outfit, in reality once you get past the smoke and mirrors of admissions, and get to faculty and kids, there is plenty of business going on.

But the smoke and mirrors of admissions is what we care about: You is right, they do not care about a  bs work  accmplshment like “leading a team of 14 fellow nerds from different parts of the nerd univerise on a really tight deadline for the Xp6Y-T box [described in 60 words of faux simplicity] I was able to reduce bug reports by 18 percent, and etc. etc. . . .” which is the kind of baloney a lot of other schools get, and apparently encourage. It is possible to talk about how the larger impacts of your work matter to you [impact on society, do-gooder impacts, jobs, employment, great products, etc] and also to carry over themes from what matters most to you, e.g. discovering your own values, connecting w. others, personal growth, etc. into work related incidents with peers etc. Also, some folks are capable of writing a pwerful essay about their passion for techology and e.g. lowering the digital divide, into a great essay which has a lot of great wort stuff naturally. In the career vision essay, it is possible to refer to work events as part of background for career vision, but I would go light here, they want to see, in that question, how good an inventory you can create about what you need in terms of technical and professional development + how you link that up to Stanford assets.

(more…)

I’m thinking about writing the HBS essays first and then morphing them into Stanford essays.  Will HBS essays highlighting leadership, consistent excellence, and reflectiveness help me any at Stanford or will the two sets of essays need to be completely different?  What kind of tweaks do I need for Stanford?

but that essay will prob. only suck in two HBS essays, and you will need more ligaments, etc. etc. The essays dont need to be completly diff in terms of content, but they turnout pretty diff. Some kids say they “just” pasted H answers in to S, but that is often sloppy talking or bragging or outright BS, it aint no e-z process.