About The School
“The majority of people who go to GSB do extraordinary things in ordinary jobs.”
Stanford’s MBA Program is the most selective in the world. It has maintained the highest ratio of applicants to available seats of any business school in the U.S. for the last decade. It has also had the lowest acceptance rates of any major business school in the world. Accepting only 7% of those who apply for admission, yield is 86%.
The Stanford MBA class size is less than half the size of Harvard, and lends itself to an intimate and close-knit community environment and pretty much guarantees that almost every student knows each other. And with Silicon Valley in its back yard, a growing number of tech and engineering applicants are choosing the GSB over their East coast rival. The dean estimates that Stanford is the preferred choice for 3 out of every 4 applicants admitted to both HBS and the GSB. With the highest total compensation five years after school – estimated by Forbes at an average of $255,000 – and the pick of the hiring options from Google, McKinsey and a thriving Silicon Valley, the school and it’s graduates are clearly in the right place at the right time.
Strengths And Specializations
As you might expect from one of the world’s top business schools, Stanford’s MBA program is known for its strengths across many areas, in particular entrepreneurship, innovation, general management and social enterprise.
Incoming Class
Number of Applicants: 7,324
MBA Class Size: 436
Tuition: $149,412
Post-MBA Careers
Sector: Technology 28%; Financial Services 34%; Starting Own Business 18%; Consulting 15%
Avg Base Salary: $156,000
Salary Increase: 117%
Employment in 3 months: 91%
| MBA Rankings | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BusinessWeek | 4 | – | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Financial Times | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Forbes | – | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | – | |
| The Economist | 8 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| US News | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -4 |
Admissions
Avg. Work Exp.: 4.7 yrs
Avg. GMAT: 733
Int’l Students: 35%
Female Students: 47%
Deadlines for 2021-2022: R1: Sep 9, 2021, R2: Jan 05, 2022, R3: TBA
Sources: Stanford GSB, BusinessWeek, Financial Times, US News, MBA50
Essays
A. What matters most to you, and why? (approx. 650 words)
B. Why Stanford? Enlighten us on how earning your MBA at Stanford will enable you to realize your ambitions. (approx. 400 words)
Short Answer Questions:
Optional Question A: Think about times you’ve created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? (200 w)
Optional Question B: Tell us about a time within the last three years when your background influenced your participation in a situation, interaction, or project. (200 w)
Check out our article on Stanford GSB Essays: Tips & Strategy on Writing What Matters Most
Request a copy of our team’s Insider Tips Report for applying to Stanford GSB.
You can also request a Fortuna Deep Dive Analysis of the Stanford GSB Class of 2020, the most detailed analysis of a business school class ever published.