Applying to Stanford GSB as an International Student

Stanford GSB is the most competitive business school with a small class size of 420-450 (compared to the 800s and 1000s at Wharton and HBS) and an acceptance rate that ranges between 6-8%.

It is also one of the most prestigious, with unique course offerings that often include industry experts as guest lecturers, a desirable location in Palo Alto, and a globally recognized cachet.

As an International, how do you get into this dream business school?

That’s the focus of this article!

Resources

+ MBA Program Stats ​here​.

+ MBA Program Deadlines ​here​.

What Stanford GSB Looks For

Let’s start with the school’s mission. The GSB’s mission is to develop principled, insightful, and innovative leaders.

To quote Kristen Moss, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid at Stanford from 2017 to 2022, she says:

"We're looking for students who are curious, who are willing to share their perspectives both inside and outside of the classroom. And perhaps most importantly, we're looking for students who want to see new ideas, new perspectives, almost insights or truth, and to do that in a collaborative way."

To assess that, the admissions committee evaluates 3 things: how you think, how you lead, and how you see the world.

How You Think

This goes beyond your test scores and GPA. Those two aspects of your application matter because they help the admissions committee gauge your academic aptitude and readiness for the rigor of an MBA program.

But the GSB wants to know when you have taken the initiative to learn new things, solve challenging problems, or develop new insights.

For the GSB, it’s not just about what you learned. It’s also about how you shared that with others and why it mattered to you and others. Put yourself in the mindset of an admissions committee member — they are selecting candidates to build out this incredible MBA class, so they want to understand how each candidate might contribute to the community.

How You Lead

The GSB believes that past actions are the best predictors of future actions. In evaluating how you lead, the admissions committee wants to see how you have positively impacted the communities or organizations you are a part of.

For the GSB, leadership is not about a specific role or title; they are interested in examples of when you’ve taken the initiative, persisted through challenges, engaged others in your efforts, and supported those around you toward a common goal. They want to know your impact and why it matters to you.

Again, that question “why it matters.” This “why” is important to the GSB as if you go back to the school’s mission to develop principled, insightful, and innovative leaders. Principled is the first on that list, and to be principled is to act based on a set of principles. What are your principles? Those show up in your response to questions like “why did X matter to you?”

How You See The World

Remember that the admissions committee is selecting candidates to build out an incredible MBA class. It’s important to the GSB that this class is diverse — in perspectives and experiences, in the broadest terms, as the students contribute to the GSB’s collaborative educational process.

How you see the world is shaped by your background, values, beliefs, identity, and ambition, and the GSB is interested in that, in understanding who you are, hence their legendary essay question: “what matters to you most, and why?”

Stanford GSB Application Requirements

The GSB has 3 application rounds:

Suppose you are international and living outside the US, or living in the US and would require a change of visa status. In that case, it is highly recommended that you apply in Round 1 or 2 to allow enough time to complete the visa application process.

The application consists of the following:

Education: this includes all post-secondary schooling – undergraduate and graduate, GPAs, transcripts, English language proficiency, and quantitative proficiency.

GMAT/GRE: there’s no preference for one exam over the other, and there is no minimum score requirement for admission.

Personal Information, Activities, and Awards: DOB, citizenship, family info, an optional 200 word essay to describe how your background has shaped your experiences, including your recent actions or choices, activities and interests during and since college, up to 5 awards/honors.

Professional Experience: through both the online application and your resume, which, except you have more than 10 years of experience, should not be more than a page long. You can get an MBA resume template ​here​.

Recommendation Letters: The GSB requires 2—one from a direct supervisor or next best alternative and another from someone else who has supervised you. For tips on recommendation letters, check out ​this article​.

Essays: Essay A is the legendary “What matters to you most and why?” and Essay B is “Why Stanford?” The GSB recommends 650 words for Essay A and 400 for Essay B, combined, to be at most 1,050 words.

Optional Short Answers: this section is truly optional. You don’t need to fill out this section if you have already addressed your contributions in other parts of your application. Otherwise, you can use this space to discuss up to 3 of your contributions with a limit of 1,200 characters each.

Application Fee: $275; internationals from Latin America earning less than $40,000 will automatically have the fee waived.

Interview (by invitation): The GSB invites 2-3 candidates for every 1 spot available in the class. An alum or an admissions committee member will interview you. It’s a behavioral interview that may be in person or online and last between 45-60 minutes.

After your interview, your interviewer will submit an assessment which the admissions committee then looks at, in addition to the rest of your application, in evaluating your candidacy.

Check out their admissions website here for more details on the GSB’s application requirements. The video below also details the application requirements, and you can join the conversation on YouTube.

3 Tips For International Applicants

1. Start the process early. Applying in Round 1 or Round 2 is recommended so you have enough time to get your visa processed. You may also have additional steps to complete your application, like translating transcripts or recommendation letters.

2. Attend admissions events and connect with alums and current students. The GSB does a great job hosting admissions events and participating in international tours to meet prospective students. Attend those events to learn more about the school and its alums and potentially build relationships.

3. Own your story. Even if you hire an Admissions Consultant, take ownership of your essays to reflect your unique voice. Get the guidance and support you need, but ultimately write your own essays, and tell your own story.

The admissions committee wants to select candidates to build a diverse and collaborative MBA class. Know this — the admissions committee is looking for reasons to admit, not reasons to deny. Having that in mind will help you as you work through your application to showcase the best of who you are, how you think, how you lead, and how you see the world.

I hope this article has been helpful! And please feel free to write me with any questions.

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Cheering you on,

Aniekeme