Stanford GSB Admissions Guide

How to Get Into Stanford GSB

“The Farm,” as its campus is affectionately called by students, staff, and faculty, has a well-earned reputation for being both life- and career-changing. Stanford GSB routinely receives 6,000+ MBA applications each year – an impressive number given its smaller class size of ~400 students who relocate to Palo Alto each year. This means the Stanford MBA acceptance rate is 6%, the lowest among all top business schools. Stats from the Stanford MBA class profile like the average GMAT score (738), GRE score (quant 163, verbal 164), undergraduate GPA (3.75), and the number of countries represented in the student body (55) illustrate why it is often thought of by applicants as the most elite business school in the world, as well as one of the most close-knit. The Stanford MBA application rewards those who can clearly articulate the unique gifts and contributions they will bring to an incoming class with former professional athletes, astronauts, and everything in-between.

Don’t worry, however, if you are only just beginning your MBA application journey and aren’t yet deeply familiar with the Stanford MBA, the nuances of the Stanford GSB application process, or Stanford’s interview format.

The insights shared in this article demonstrate only a taste of the expertise, care, and attention Fortuna Admissions brings to each current and prospective client we meet. Keep this in mind as you scroll the page, and don’t hesitate to schedule a free brainstorming session with us if Stanford GSB truly is your dream school. Even if you’ve done some preliminary research, you likely haven’t had a one-on-one conversation yet with a coach who will keenly listen to your story, hear your fears about potential flags in your profile, and above all else evaluate your why for Stanford GSB. Our award-winning coaches, several of whom have directly read apps for the Stanford GSB program or attended the Stanford MBA program themselves, look forward to serving as co-pilots on your Stanford GSB Admissions journey.

Behind-the-Scenes Secrets: What Is Stanford GSB Really Looking For?

Our aim here is not to spend time rehashing Stanford MBA common knowledge like the curriculum of study or internationally-recognized powerhouses like its Center for Social Innovation or Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Instead, we’ve assembled a litany of tactical admissions strategies and advice from our 10+ years working with clients. Everything shared below aims to comprehensively answer the question, “How do I actually get into Stanford GSB?”

We begin with a high-altitude view of the school, then share advice sourced from our team of experts like GSB alumnae Heidi Hillis, Tatiana Nemo, and Rachel Erickson Hee and past application readers Silpa Sarma and Maren Savage who bring deep knowledge from their time as part of the Stanford GSB admissions team. The admissions secrets assembled are decidedly tactical. They’re on-the-ground. They’re brought to you by members of our team who navigated campus themselves as staff, students, and alumni and will take your Stanford GSB knowledge to the next level so that The Farm, even before you find your place within it, feels a bit more like home to you.

Stanford GSB MBA Overview | Admissions and Class Profile

In your preliminary research, you will notice the Stanford MBA class profile’smost striking statistic, which is that a full quarter of the class (25%) launch their own startups post-graduation. This number is 2-3x higher than many other M7 business schools and demonstrates that Stanford GSB is looking for builders and risk-takers above all else. The Stanford MBA program’s class size lends itself to an intimate and close-knit community environment that pretty much guarantees almost all students know each other well prior to graduation. The Stanford MBA class profile is extremely diverse, with roughly 45% women, 35% international students, and perhaps the most functional and industry diversity of any MBA class globally. Half of the class comes from PE/VC, consulting, and Big Tech prior to school, but the other half represents CPG, healthcare, financial services, the military, energy, and every other industry you can imagine.

A growing number of tech and engineering-focused applicants are choosing Stanford GSB over its East Coast rival Harvard Business School (HBS). The GSB dean estimates that three out of every four applicants who are admitted to both HBS and GSB choose Stanford – securing its bragging rights as the more desirable of the two. Graduates enjoy their pick of hiring options from Google, McKinsey, and a thriving Silicon Valley in a wide range of industries: finance, private equity, management consulting, big tech and, of course, entrepreneurial ventures. With the highest total compensation for alumni five years after school – estimated by Forbes at an average of $255,000 – the school and its graduates are clearly in high demand and making an impact.

When Stanford GSB selects a new leader for its admissions team, this tends to reverberate through the business school world. The addition of Assistant Dean Erin Nixon was headline-grabbing when it occurred. Dean Nixon is a Stanford undergraduate alumna, GSB alumna, and a former executive (BCG and LinkedIn) and entrepreneur (wine-focused restaurant founder) with strong experience in strategic management and operations. “I’m delighted to step into this role,” Dean Nixon shared when she took over in 2024. “Stanford is an incredibly inspiring place, and it’s a dream to be able to return to ‘The Farm’ and serve the GSB community.” We expect Assistant Dean Nixon’s installment to result in the school continuing to double down on its brand as the premier business school for entrepreneurs, self-starters, and risk-takers during Nixon’s tenure, which runs parallel to the departure of GSB Dean Richard Levin to Stanford’s Presidency.

Stanford MBA Class Profile Key Stats

Average GMAT Score: 738
Average GRE Score: quant 163, verbal 164
Average Years of Work Experience Possessed by Students: 5
Average Undergraduate GPA: 3.75
Average Age of Students: Not Disclosed
Number of Applications Received: 7,295
Applicant Acceptance Rate: 7%
Total Cost of Tuition Per Year: $82,455
Stanford MBA Graduate Average Starting Base Salary: $189,000
Stanford MBA Full-time Employment 3 Months After Graduation: 89%
Top Recruiting Companies at Stanford Business School: McKinsey, Bain, Google, BCG, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Sequoia Capital

Stanford MBA Admission Strategy

This video from a recent Fortuna Admissions Masterclass provides a high-level overview of what the recipe for Stanford GSB acceptance looks like, and below it we have put together an even more detailed list of our top five strategies to execute on.

1. Defining Change
There are not many institutions in the world that can get away with the tagline “Change lives. Change organizations. Change the world.” So when it comes to defining your career goals, you should bear in mind that the Stanford GSB admissions office is seeking individuals who are looking to have real impact, whether professionally or in society. The selectivity of the Stanford GSB means that its Admissions Committee can look beyond students whose goal is to secure a place in a strategy consulting firm or investment banking, and identify those applicants who are driven by a desire not just to excel in their careers and climb the ladder, but also to help others. As you think about your own post-MBA career goals, include a longer-term view about the areas where you can affect real change. It is not enough to be brilliant. How will you change the lives of people around you? A failure to do this equals an inability to change organizations, and, by extension, the world in Stanford’s eyes.

2. Yield and the Importance of “Culture Fit”
A yield above 80% suggests that the Stanford GSB admissions team is very good at identifying applicants who have a strong fit with the culture and values of the school. Successful applicants not only have academic pedigree, stellar GMAT scores, and personal and professional accomplishments to their name . . . but also integrity, the ability to open up, be vulnerable (this is crucial), and grow in a supportive yet challenging environment. The Stanford GSB Admissions office works very hard to bring together a group of students who are open, creative, thoughtful, and have strong integrity. This provides the foundation for the extremely high level of interpersonal trust and camaraderie you will find at the school. It is critical to share your story with the school in a natural, genuine way.

3. Clear, Authentic Career Goals (Risky / Unconventional Is Fine – Even Encouraged)
All of the leading business schools can open the door to McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Goldman, and Morgan Stanley. Only 15% of the Stanford MBA Class of 2023 took jobs in consulting (down 20% from prior years) and 5 times as many secured a place in private equity (18%) or venture capital (13%) as in investment banking. Many elected to start a new business in the technology sector to capitalize on their newfound Silicon Valley connections. The school likes you to dream big while demonstrating that your goals and career vision are viable given your track record of achievement and excellence. Resist the temptation to claim VC as your career goal if you aren’t already a successful VC or startup founder yourself. Consider a path less traveled, potentially, that helps you change the people around you in unconventional ways that allow you to, in small or large steps, change organizations and the world.

4. Contributing to Life on “The Farm”
Stanford GSB does not need to hear from you how wonderful it is. The brand and reputation speak for themselves. But you do need to show your passion and absolute commitment to the school. The Stanford GSB admissions team wants to understand how you will actively contribute to their
community. A campus visit, attending an info session, and reaching out to students and alumni are all opportunities to better familiarize yourself with Stanford GSB’s unique culture. So take the time to research the many clubs and organizations available at both the business school and the wider Stanford University campus, known affectionately as “The Farm,” and think about how you’ll bring energy and engage outside the MBA classroom. There is no perfect candidate, so be honest about the areas in which you can improve, and how you hope to make the most of your two years in Palo Alto.

5. Authenticity and Humility
With 17 applications for each seat at Stanford GSB, it is no surprise that candidates feel enormous pressure to stand out in the crowded applicant pool by producing impressive application essays and letters of recommendation. But you can go too far in a bid to secure your place, and replace authenticity and self-confidence with boastfulness or arrogance. Past Assistant Deans of MBA Admissions at Stanford GSB have shared with us that boastfulness can be an easy trap to fall into when candidates spend their time worrying how they compare to other applicants. They’ve also emphasized that personal humility is not inconsistent with professional ambition and professional drive. Humility is certainly one of the traits the GSB is looking for in its admits. While there are many approaches to creating a compelling application, there is clearly an appropriate tone to strike in your application. Emphasizing a humble approach with thoughtful illustration is the best way forward.

Stanford MBA Program: Insider Insights and Realities

Fortuna Admissions is known as the firm with the deepest on-the-ground knowledge of elite schools like Stanford GSB. In this video, Fortuna coach Rachel Erickson Hee demonstrates this by providing some of her tailored admissions advice as a Stanford GSB alumna. We’ve followed that up below with her top 3 on-the-ground realities at “The Farm” you probably aren’t familiar with yet based on your preliminary Reddit scrolling and Internet research.

1. Stanford GSB is an Immersive Experience
Be prepared to enter a bubble for the next two years where your entire world will focus on the Stanford GSB. First is the academics and the classroom. Stanford uses the quarter system, so students have three 10-week terms each year instead of the more typical semester system. As a result, everything feels sped up and more intense. Don’t expect a lot of free time, especially in the beginning as you get up-to-speed and learn how to tackle the subject matter efficiently. However, the dynamic nature of the work with its emphasis on group learning and different types of analysis makes it engaging and absorbing. Study groups and group projects are a great way to bond and a lot more interesting than completing 200 pages of reading in a night or writing a paper by yourself at 3am.

Second is Stanford GSB’s social life, which is all-encompassing. If your old college roommate is at the law school or works at Google, good luck getting together with them! You’ll be so busy making friends with people at the Stanford GSB that it’s hard to make time for the world outside it. Students see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to know this special group of people, which often leads to prioritizing time with each other. The school’s numerous social activities–from the Friday afternoon tradition of gathering in the courtyard for live music to Tuesday nights at a local bar–make this easy to do.

One important point to mention is that if you’re married or attending with a significant other, there’s no need to worry. Most partners report that they get all the benefits of being part of the GSB community without having to do the coursework!

2. “Stanford Nice” is Real
The Stanford GSB has a reputation for “no assholes,” and the culture very much reflects this. In the classroom and outside it, the expectation is that people will be helpful, friendly, and treat each other with respect. If you want to ask a classmate about a company they worked at, even if they’re someone you don’t know well, you’ll probably find them eager to share their experiences. If you are the “weak link” in your finance group project, you can count on your classmates with more knowledge in that area to pull you through. In the classroom, if students disagree with each other, they typically express it with sensitivity. The goal is not to make another student look bad, but to point out a different perspective.

The GSB’s approach to grading and classroom discussions helps foster this atmosphere. Employers are not allowed to ask students to disclose their grades, and most students receive a “P” for pass. “P = MBA” is frequently heard on the GSB campus. With relatively little pressure to achieve the top score in the classroom, students are free to focus on learning rather than scoring points with their professors. In addition, Stanford’s use of the “cold call” is relatively light, and even the professors who do cold call usually only ask one or two questions before moving on to someone else.

3. Stanford Doesn’t “Teach Accounting” or “Teach Marketing”; It Teaches You How to Think
Many people talk about the benefits of the Stanford GSB network, but what’s even more important is what Stanford teaches you. The classroom education is not really about the specific courses . . . it’s about learning a way of thinking. Once you graduate, you may not remember how to run a regression or prove the efficient market theory, but you will have spent countless hours looking at complex information, reading the details of cases and the situations faced by companies and managers, and evaluating the data they have available to them.

Together with your classmates and professor, you’ll uncover what questions to ask, the important elements to consider, and explore different possible outcomes. And time and time again, you’ll be asked to make a decision in the face of this complexity and uncertainty. After two years at the Stanford MBA, this type of assessment and decision-making will become instinctive, and you’ll learn to apply it in any situation, even without the help of your classmates (although they’ll still be happy to serve as a sounding board post-graduation).

This is in addition to real-world situations where you’ll get to put what you’re learning into practice. Whether it’s developing a physical prototype of a new product with fellow students from the engineering department, writing a business plan to present to a panel of venture capitalists, or pitching a local company on an independent study and implementing the results of your work, the Stanford MBA helps you begin pursuing your dreams while you’re still in school.

Stanford GSB Application Insights: Tackling Each Application Element

Below we have provided our key insights and advice for tackling each major component of the Stanford GSB application process in the order that our successful clients typically complete them.

1. Resume

Stanford GSB’s Admissions Committee will look for many of the same traits as any other top business school: demonstrated leadership, leadership potential, concrete results you have achieved, demonstrated impact within your workplace that leaves a legacy even after you depart, and formative professional and life experiences that add something truly singular to the incoming class.

These might take the form of work in an isolated or unique setting, a cross-cultural professional experience that deeply shaped you and those around you, a study abroad experience in undergrad that got you out of your comfort zone and tested you linguistically, or a even a distinct hobby that serves as a conduit for you to give back to the communities you belong to in some way. There are no hard-and-fast rules for “GSB specific” resume elements to include, but all accepted applicants will have track records of promotion at work–often on accelerated timelines–and oftentimes have a unique “superpower” that recurs throughout their highlighted professional experiences.

That could be lifting up others and having a knack for coaching interns to high rates of full-time return offers, or individual contributions to a team that drove not only the success of your team members’ quotas and priorities, but the broader economic engine of the company. GSB-ers are often folks who found that $5-10M problem missed by the C-suite, brought it to their attention, and then spearheaded a plan to address it, managing up in the process.

2. Recommendations

It may seem counterintuitive, but the information you provide to your GSB recommenders may have a larger impact on your Stanford GSB application success than your essay or another seemingly more important app element. Stanford Business School is looking for future difference-makers who leave tangible impact on their workplaces above all else, and demonstrating this trait begins with recommendations that tell clear stories about the scope and impact of your work. One recommender will ideally need to be your current manager, and the other should be a true sponsor–someone you know will passionately advocate for you when you aren’t in the same room as them.

Your recommenders will be asked to share 1) the capacity in which they know you 2) your three principal strengths (a departure from most schools, which ask for one) 3) primary areas for improvement 4) an example of a time you impacted a person, group, or organization (notice this ties directly back to Stanford GSB’s motto!) 5) how your performance compares to peers 6) unique elements of your background and 7) any additional color about you and your profile they want to add. We highly recommend you have them say something for 7), and it is often logical to include a reflection on what you would be like as a GSB alum in this open-ended space.
If you’re looking for more recommender-related advice, read Karla Cohen’s strategic guidance on Fortuna’s blog.

3. Essays

Stanford’s two essay questions, in combination, will challenge you more than any other business school’s, and are often the essays that our clients most struggle with because they approach them incorrectly.

In the case of “What matters most to you, and why?” you are specifically asked to “reflect deeply and write from the heart.” This is not something many of us in the business world are asked to do on a regular basis, and this is intentional on Stanford’s part. Thousands more applicants than Stanford MBA has room for will have impressive accomplishments–especially financial ones–that don’t create separation between them and other GSB hopefuls. For this reason, Stanford asks you to take a step back and be authentic and genuine.

We recommend telling a persuasive and memorable story about what life juncture brought you to the existential crux of this essay: what now matters most to you. Many applicants will clearly state what matters most to them but fail to answer the second part of the prompt: “Why?” You need to make sure the answer you provide connects the dots for the Stanford GSB Admissions Committee and makes them confident that you’d bring a unique and distinct perspective. A strong GMAT or 4.0 GPA is something Stanford GSB can easily collect. A values-driven applicant who, for example, took a pay cut to do work that impacted their community, or quit working to take care of a sick loved one, probably learned more about themselves along the way and has more to contribute to “The Farm” and broader GSB community than an applicant from a top consulting firm who has checked all the boxes but doesn’t have an existential center that drives and motivates them outside work.

Looking for more guidance to help make this essay really sing and resonate with Stanford MBA application readers? Fortuna Admission’s co-founder Matt Symonds wrote at length about the “What matters most to you, and why?” essay on Fortuna’s blog, and we encourage you to check out his recommended strategies.

For your second essay, “Why Stanford?” be sure to push yourself to think of the university across as many dimensions as possible. Stanford knows it is Stanford, and we cannot say this enough. Be concrete, specific, and curious in your multifaceted response to this prompt. Remember that Stanford GSB is not merely a place where your internship recruiting dreams will likely come true. It is also a physical campus with experts in nearly every subject beyond business, a virtual network of passionate creators who can provide you with fresh thinking and mentorship that lasts a lifetime, and a dynamic and close-knit community that includes student clubs to match any niche interest you may have.

What curriculum elements or special programs uniquely match with the path you would chart for yourself at Stanford? What paths might you walk down unexpectedly while there (if you can anticipate any)? Pushing yourself to be as comprehensible and exhaustive as possible as you answer these questions will make it hard for the Stanford GSB AdCom to say, “Why not Stanford for this applicant?” And that, at the end of the day, is the feeling–the sense of inevitability–you are trying to create for them in this essay.

4. Online Application

We often see two types of approaches to this portion of the app–overthinking and underthinking. The overthinker scrutinizes whether they should list a significant high school achievement (the answer is typically “no”–keep things focused on college or later), while the underthinker neglects to remember and report that they won an award for their work with an Employee Resource Group they’re particularly dedicated to at their company. It is best to split the difference between over- and underreporting yourself and your accomplishments and strike a balance.

The Stanford GSB application includes several unique, optional questions in its application form that are detailed and essentially “mini essays” with 1200 character cut-offs, which you may or may not complete depending on the information you share in other portions of your application, which you don’t want to be duplicative. They are:

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?
Additional Context Question: We know that each person is more than a list of facts or pre-defined categories. With this question we provide you with an optional opportunity to elaborate on how your background or life experiences have helped shape your recent actions or choices.
Additional Information Question: Through all of the elements of your application, we believe that we get to know you well. Complete this section only if you have critical information you could not convey elsewhere on your application (e.g., extenuating circumstances affecting academic or work performance, test-taking experiences, or academic experience not noted elsewhere).

These impact-focused “mini essays,” in particular, are an opportunity to highlight your accomplishments and how you are already living Stanford’s mission in your personal and professional life. It may help to frame your thoughts for Optional Question A around Stanford GSB’s motto of “Change people. Change organizations. Change the world.” Remember that when GSB asks, “What was your impact?” even how you directly affected a single person or small group of people is fair game. We need to change individual people and small groups before we can change organizations and change the world, after all.

GSB is keen to understand your full self and how you’ve shown up personally and professionally as a result of it. This means that the Additional Context Question, for example, is a chance for you to talk about aspects of your identity such as your cultural upbringing, sexual orientation, experience as a minority, or even how your long-time participation in a sport or dedication to an art (dance, music, etc.) has shaped the way you interact with the world.

You should plan to treat the Additional Information Question the same way you would an Addendum for law school. It should not be answered unless you have extenuating circumstances GSB needs to factor into their review. You may not have extenuating circumstances–many applicants don’t. So resist the temptation to squeeze in another accomplishment here. The Stanford GSB admissions team will not look favorably on that decision.

5. Interview

In stark contrast to the HBS interview, which is administered by admissions staff who have read your entire application and lasts 30 minutes, Stanford GSB interviews are conducted blind, with only your resume, by Stanford GSB alumni. Typically an hour in length, after a brief intro you will spend 30-40 minutes answering behavioral questions, followed by 15 minutes discussing the Stanford experience. You can also expect a pleasant, more conversational format than some other M7 business schools that take a more formal approach. Stanford MBA interviewers are instructed not to ask any “walk me through your resume” questions, although some interviewers do go off script. Often the interviewer gives a brief intro of themselves and then dives into question-mode.

Don’t be fooled by the collegial and conversational tone, however–GSB’s line of questioning requires your thorough and thoughtful preparation. The key to success is not just thinking about answers to standard questions (“Why an MBA?” etc.) but also preparing specific, substantive situational examples you can draw on in advance. Here are a few sample questions our clients have been asked in past interviews:

Tell me about a time you saw an opportunity that others didn’t.
Tell me about a time you failed to reach your goals.
Tell me about a time you were effective on a team you were not in charge of.
Tell me about a time when you faced a roadblock in completing a project.

Stanford GSB interviewers are asked to do a very deep dive into the examples that you give. They may only ask 1 or 2 of these questions during the entire interview, and you’re very unlikely to cover more than 3-4 topics. You can think about the examples you might use ahead of time, but you won’t be able to prepare actual answers given the Stanford MBA question-asking format, which is designed to get you “off script” and unearth your most authentic responses.

For more interview prep guidance, watch the video below, and review GSB alumna and former alumni interviewer Tatiana Nemo’s GSB interview preparation advice on the Fortuna Admission’s blog.

Hear Directly from Our GSB Experts

These “best of” Stanford GSB-focused videos come from our team’s collective experience as admissions staff and alumni of Stanford GSB, as well as our past decade of work helping many Fortuna Admissions clients secure their spot at the Stanford MBA. Listen in as our coaches dispel common Stanford GSB myths and provide tactical takeaways you can implement in your application:

These “best of” articles include our strongest thought leadership on Stanford GSB application tips and strategies:

Ready to Take a Research Break and Start A Conversation?

Our team of former Stanford GSB staff, alumni, and coaches with years of GSB client experience is ready to meet you, discuss your profile, and demonstrate our deep knowledge firsthand. Schedule time with us for a free, no-strings-attached brainstorming session. Just type “Stanford GSB expert please” when you fill out the consult form so we know you’re GSB-focused, found us through this deep-dive article, and read it all the way to the end.

There is a reason our free brainstorming sessions are rated as the best in the admissions consulting industry. We take the extra time to truly listen, strategize, and reflect with you instead of briskly selling you a coach. Schedule time today and see for yourself. Your Stanford MBA journey to “The Farm” begins with that first free call.