2

Table of contents

4 Tomorrow begins here 15 What are you looking for in

a candidate?
5 GSB basics
16 What do I need to apply?
6 MBA Program fast facts
17 Application deadlines
7 What am I getting myself into?
18 How will I pay for it?
9 Choose your own adventure
19 Anything else I should know?
10 Join the club
20 Connect with us
11 What’s the campus like?

12 What do I want to do—really?

13 What happens after I graduate?

14 Sounds great, but what are

my chances?

3
 Tomorrow begins here.

You’re here, reading this preview packet, because you want to do incredible things. Stanford
Graduate School of Business prepares students like you for an extraordinary future – the one you’re
about to help create.

We look forward to meeting you in person and introducing the people, resources, and most
important the spirit that set the Stanford MBA Program apart. In the meantime, here’s some
information we thought you’d find useful.

Learn more about the Stanford GSB

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 GSB Basics
People, programs, and stuff

Official name Degree programs Centers, institutes, and initiatives

Stanford Graduate School of Business • Two-year MBA Program for high- • Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
potential business and social-sector
But you can call us • Center for Social Innovation
leaders.
Stanford GSB
• Real-Time Analysis and Investment
• One-year Stanford MSx Program for
Founded Lab (RAIL)
mid-career professionals.
1925
• Stanford Institute for Innovation in
• PhD Program for future academic
Faculty Developing Economies (SEED)
researchers and university faculty.
126, including
Non-degree programs
• 3 Nobel Laureates • Executive Education, one-day to
six-week programs for ongoing
• 2 John Bates Clark Medal recipients
professional development.
Dean
• Summer Institute for General
Garth Saloner
Management for college students and
AM ’81, MS ’82, PhD ’82
recent graduates.
(Three degrees from Stanford.
Can you tell our dean likes it here?) • Stanford Ignite, teaching
entrepreneurship and management to
change agents around the world.

• Stanford Innovation and

Entrepreneurship Certificate, a self-
paced online interactive curriculum.
Learn more about the Stanford GSB

5
 MBA Program Fast Facts
A bird’s-eye view

Two-year, full-time program Popular courses:

• Alphanomics
General management emphasis • Corporate Financial Modeling
(no majors or concentrations) • Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital
• Interpersonal Dynamics (aka “Touchy-Feely”)
Portfolio of global experiences to choose from
• Leadership Perspectives
• Global Management Immersion Experience (GMIX)
• Managing Growing Enterprises (aka “355”)
• Global Study Trips
• Private Equity Investing
• Social Innovation Study Trips
• Stanford Tsinghua Exchange Program (STEP) We offer joint and dual degrees:
• JD joint degree, 3-4 years
~408 students per class year
• MA education joint degree, 2 years
Average required course size: 49 students • MD dual degree, 5-6 years
• MPP joint degree, 3 years
Average elective course size: 33 students • MS computer science joint degree, 3 years
• MS electrical engineering joint degree, 3 years
• MS environment and resources joint degree, 3 years
• Or create your own dual degree with any grad program offered
at Stanford
• Students may also pursue study opportunities with selected professional
  programs at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, Harvard
Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies, Princeton Woodrow Wilson School, Yale Law School, and
Yale Medical School.

Learn more about the Stanford MBA Program

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 What am I getting myself into?

Your first year

You’ll dive into complex managerial issues, develop the foundation for your general management
education, and gain invaluable experience abroad. Everyone’s first quarter begins with General
Management Perspectives, a series of courses that give you insight into the mindset of a senior
manager and leader. Your academic advisor will help you develop a personalized plan for your
Management Foundations courses, which will serve as your general management education in
your second and third quarters. Starting in winter or spring, you might start taking electives,
begin a joint degree, or partake in a global experience. You may or may not join 17 clubs, later
realize that was crazy, but also make so many friends along the way that it’s worth it in the end.
And that’s just year one.

Learn more about your first year

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 Okay, but literally, what am I getting myself into?

Autumn quarter Winter & Spring quarters

PERSPECTIVES ANALYTIC FOUNDATIONS GENERAL FOUNDATIONS

All courses required (you’ll thank One course required in each area (there’s Choose five of seven areas 
us later) plenty to choose from)

• Critical Analytical Thinking • Data Analysis & Decision Making • Corporate Finance
• Ethics in Management • Managerial Finance • Human Resource Management
• Financial Accounting • Microeconomics • Information Management
• Leadership Laboratory • Optimization and Simulation Modeling • Managerial Accounting
• Managerial Skills • Marketing
• Managing Groups & Teams • Operations
• Organizational Behavior • Strategy Beyond Markets
• Strategic Leadership

Learn more about first year courses

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 Choose your own adventure.

Your second year

Because we’re a general management program, you’re free to pursue classes across a spectrum
of interest areas, rather than just one concentration. Electives and seminars will broaden your
perspective, deepen your knowledge in a specific area, and allow you to do more of the stuff you
enjoy. We add new electives and heavily revise topics each year to respond to changes in the business
world, the social sector, and students’ interests. After all, we’re here to prepare you for the future –
not the past.

• Choose from more than 100 electives. • Take classes “across the street” in other Stanford departments.
Learn a language, explore new healthcare legislation, brush up
• Pursue independent study opportunities if you have a topic on your quantum physics. Our campus is your oyster.
you’d like to research.
• Complete the Certificate in Public Management and
• Take second-year seminars that expose you to the latest areas Social Innovation if you’re interested in leading social or
of management research. environmental change.

• Pursue a dual or joint degree in conjunction with your

MBA studies.

Learn more about your second year

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 Join the club.
You do that thing? I totally do that thing, too.

Africa Business Club (ABC) Greater China Business Club (GCBC) Product Design & Manufacturing Club (PDMC)

Arts, Media & Entertainment Club (AME) GSB Band Real Estate Club

Asian Society GSB Dogs Retail Club

Basketball Club GSB Gives Back Rugby Club

Big Ideas Club GSB Pride Sales Club

Black Business Student Association (BBSA) GSB Reporter Ski & Snowboard Club

Brewers Guild GSB Show Soccer Club

Catholic Student Association (CSA) Health & Wellness Association Social Innovation Club

Challenge for Charity (C4C) Health Care Club South Asian Student Association (SASA)

Christians in Business (CIB) High Tech Club Sports Management Club

Education Club Hispanic Business Student Association (HBSA) Sustainable Business Club (SBC)

Energy Club I Have a Dream (IHAD) Texas Club

Entrepreneur Club (E-Club) Jewish Business Student Association (JBSA) Travel & Hospitality Club

Epicureans at the GSB (E@T) Latin American Student Association Venture Capital Club (VC)

Europe Club Management Consulting Club Veterans Club

Finance & Investment Club Marketing Club Wine Circle

Food & Agriculture Resource Management Club Middle East & North Africa Club (MENA) Women in Management (WIM)
(FARM)
Outdoor Adventures Club (OA)
Golf Club
Private Equity Club (PE)
Government & Politics Club

Learn more about clubs and activities

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 What’s the campus like?
Picture 1,200 acres of open, park-like space nestled in a bed of rolling green foothills. Stanford is
about the closest you can get to Tuscany through a university. And with seven schools – Business,
Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, Humanities & Sciences, Law, and Medicine – on one
contiguous campus, the activities and events at Stanford practically fall into your lap. Let’s just say
boredom isn’t a concept our students are familiar with.

The Knight Management Center: home of Stanford GSB •A

 rbuckle Dining Pavilion with attractive indoor/outdoor space
that fosters interaction
The facility supports the GSB’s unique style of education,
facilitating collaboration and innovation, a wide variety of •C
 emex Auditorium that hosts events that draw students from
teaching and learning methods, and formal and informal across campus and leaders from around the world
interaction with students from throughout Stanford University. •A
 nd it’s all right across the street from the Schwab Residential
• Eight buildings surrounding three open quads where Center where more than 200 first-year MBAs live
intellectual debate over a case flows into casual conversation
Off-campus life
over coffee
Life off campus isn’t anything to write home about. Only
• LEED® Platinum rating demonstrating the GSB’s commitment because you’d make everyone jealous. First, you’re surrounded
to environmental sustainability by Silicon Valley. Then there’s incredible culture, arts, and
• Flexible classroom spaces, integrated with instructional cuisine to the north in San Francisco. Easy day trips get you
technology, for experiential learning, small-group leadership to the renowned wine region of Napa Valley, the spectacular
labs, and team-based learning beaches of California’s central coast, stunning scenery and hiking
• NGP CoLab for courses using hands-on design thinking in Yosemite, and world-class ski resorts at Lake Tahoe. Our
and featuring a Venture Studio for aspiring entrepreneurs Mediterranean climate allows you to be outdoors all year round.
• Trading Pit for finance jocks All told, there are worse places you could be for two years.

Learn more about life at Stanford

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 What do I want to do – really?
Career Services: Helping you find your true north

Stanford MBA students don’t fit a particular mold—and neither do their career interests. Our expert career
services staff will help you chart your course, no matter how clear or delightfully murky it is. In fact, 75% of
students change career paths while at the GSB. Here’s how we help you find yours.

Career and Life Vision Program helps you identify your unique Career workshops that help you develop a well-rounded
values, interests, and goals via workshops, small groups, and skill set
one-on-one coaching
Mock interviews to prep you for the real deal
Career Summit, a 2-day event in your first quarter focused
Alliances with other MBA career centers, giving you access to
on self-assessment, industry informational seminars, and
resources at business schools around the globe
networking

Connections to helpful alumni through the Alumni Directory,

Career advisors with industry expertise who meet with
Alumni Mentor Program, and job shadowing
you regularly

It’s our mission to help you find your ideal professional fit,
Tailored programs and assistance for international students
whether it’s an internship, a first job, or a career shift long after
interested in working in the U.S., and any students seeking work
you’ve graduated. We’ll be there every step of the way.
internationally

Targeted job sourcing that generates opportunities based on

your interests

Learn more about your career possibilities

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 What happens after I graduate?

You’ll walk on to Stanford’s campus with With reunions and events on- and off-campus,
wide-eyed ambition. And you’ll walk off with conferences around the world, and lifelong
connections to over 27,000 Stanford GSB opportunities for learning, we make keeping
alumni and 210,000 Stanford University alumni in touch with Stanford folks easier than
who lead organizations around the world. No remembering to floss.
matter how far your career winds blow you, the
Thanks to being small, our alumni community
relationships you make with classmates, faculty,
is dedicated and active – meaning alumni
and alumni will stay with you for life.
are genuinely excited to respond to students’
As an alum, you can join one of over 65 requests and give back what Stanford gave to
Stanford GSB alumni chapters worldwide. them. It’s karma at its finest.

Learn more about the alumni community

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 Sounds great, but what are my chances?

We know you can do the math – and you So reflect on your achievements. Be confident in
probably have – but keep in mind that our your goals. It’s less about what you want, and
admission process is not a numbers game. more about why you want it so much. Believe in
Just as no two Stanford MBA students are yourself. And above all, be yourself. While we
the same, no two Stanford MBA applicants absolutely believe in personal transformation,
are the same either. We evaluate each person we don’t advocate changing the core values that
as an individual, taking your particular make you who you are.
circumstances into account. We believe
past actions are usually the best predictor
of future performance. We believe that how
you have developed your particular talents is as
important as the things you’ve accomplished.

Learn more about what we’re really looking for

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 What are you looking for in a candidate?
This is the part everyone’s been waiting for.

We focus on three key areas:

Intellectual vitality athletics, community service, internships,

While academic record and test scores matter, research projects, part-time or full-time
so does your attitude. We pursue students employment, or something we haven’t even
with insatiable curiosity, a desire to learn and heard of yet.
experience new things, a strategic mindset,
and a willingness to share their knowledge and Personal qualities and contributions
experiences. We want to know who you really are, and what
motivates you. Your character, background, and
Demonstrated leadership potential interests will contribute to a stimulating, diverse
Your leadership experiences help us understand learning experience.
your professional competence and ability to
contribute to society. This can come from all
sorts of avenues – extracurricular activities,

Learn more about admission criteria

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 What do I need to apply?
This is the part no one wants to think about yet.

Academic record Test results Activities and work history

• Scanned copy of transcript preferred • No minimum score for GMAT or GRE • May include charitable and professional
• No preferred majors • Must be taken by the application experiences from college onward
• No minimum requirements deadline • No preferred industries, functions,
• Report using your school’s grading scale • Minimum TOEFL 100 (i) 600 (p); or activities
IELTS 7; PTE 68 • Activities and work experience not
(waived if degree from a university where required
instruction was in English)

Letters of reference Personal essays Interviews

• One current direct supervisor (or next •T
 he person behind the achievements • By invitation only; interviews occur after
best alternative) from work •V
 alues, motivations, aspirations, you apply
• One additional supervisor OR a peer experiences • 45-minute behavioral-event interviews
from a professional, extracurricular, or •1
 ,100-word limit to allocate between • Nearly all conducted by alumni
community activity two essays
• Choose recommenders who know you
well over those with impressive titles

Learn more about application requirements

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 Application deadlines
To enroll in Autumn 2015, apply by one of these deadlines.

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3

You apply by You apply by You apply by
01 October 2014 07 January 2015 01 April 2015

We notify you on We notify you on We notify you on

10 December 2014 25 March 2015 06 May 2015

Learn more about the application deadlines

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 How will I pay for it?

Tuition and financial aid

Admission to Stanford Graduate School of Business is “need-blind,” and all financial aid is “need-based.” That
means your personal resources for financing your education don’t affect our admission decisions. After you’re
admitted, the Financial Aid Office determines your financial need and creates an aid package that may include
loans, fellowships, or a combination, based on a variety of factors. International students are also eligible for
fellowships and loans that do not require a U.S. co-signer. We firmly believe everyone is entitled to a stellar
education, no matter who you are or where you come from.

2014-15 Tuition: $61,875 Summer internship financial support Post-Graduation financial support

• Tuition remains the same for both years • Stanford Management Internship Fund • Nonprofit/Public Service
•O
 ver half of students receive fellowship (SMIF) Loan Forgiveness
funds (the average fellowship for a • Entrepreneurial Summer Program (ESP) • Social Innovation Fellowship
first-year student in the MBA Class of
2015 was $34,000)
•O
 ver two-thirds of students take
out loans

Learn more about tuition and expenses

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 Anything else I should know?

Our mission
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.

We can’t wait to meet you.

Contact us

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 Stanford Graduate School of Business Connect with us +1 650.723.2766
Knight Management Center mba.admissions@gsb.stanford.edu
655 Knight Way www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba
Stanford, CA 94305-7298
USA

Every effort is made to ensure that the information presented is accurate and current.
The Graduate School of Business reserves the right to make changes at any time without prior notice.
20 ©2014 Stanford University