Adam Markus: Graduate Admissions Guru: 7/1/12 - 8/1/12

This is the fourth of five posts analyzing the Stanford GSB MBA Essay Questions for Class of 2015 Admission. The five posts are overall comments, Essay 1, Essay 2, Essay 3, and additional information/resume/employment history/activities. My analysis of Stanford GSB interviews can be found here. In addition to the Class of 2015 posts, I also recommend reading and/or listening to my presentation, "So you want to get into Stanford GSB?" which was made to a Japanese audience in March 2011. That presentation focuses on issues that are applicable to all applicants as well as some issues specific to Japanese applicants. In the 2011-2012 application cycle, I had one client admitted in R1 and one client in R2. You can find results and/or testimonials from my clients admitted to to the Stanford Classes of 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010 here. My full Stanford results prior to the Class of 2014 can be found here. My clients admitted to Stanford GSB have come from China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the United States and have had extremely diverse professional and educational backgrounds. The advice I provide below is based on that experience. Data has been created with https://essayfreelancewriters.com!

The Place of Essay 3 within the Stanford GSB Application Essays for the Class of 2015: If Essay 1 is ultimately about what you value and Essay 2 is about what you want, Essay 3 is about what you can do. Before looking at the specific questions, lets look at the instructions: Answer one of the three questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.Stanford GSB specifically requires that these experiences come from the last three years. This time constraint is important to keep in mind. One of the easiest ways to trash your application is to ignore this time limit. Essay 3 is the space to focus on the present or recent past. Option A: Tell us about a time in the last three years when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations. Article was generated with Essay Writersversion!

Option B: Tell us about a time in the last three years when you identified and pursued an opportunity to improve an organization. Option C: Tell us about a time in the last three years when you went beyond what was defined or established. One thing that is common to all three is that you must tell stories that show how you had an impact. Actions: Break them down in 2 or more steps. Why does Stanford need to know about this? Is Define the leadership concept could learn about you elsewhere in the application? If so, to what extent? Results: What was the impact of your actions? When Stanford GSB started asking behavioral essay questions, it was clear that they had borrowed this from MIT Sloan. Byham calls an example of past behavior a STAR, because a complete example consists of a situation or task, the specific action you took and the result of your action. The result you describe doesn't have to be positive; it could be that you learned a valuable lesson from doing something the wrong way. In his book "Landing the Job You Want: How to Have the Best Job Interview of Your Life" (Three Rivers Press, 1997), Byham tells candidates how to identify the skills for a job; explore their own "behavioral dimensions" (the behaviors they use every day to get things done); and recognize and present a STAR with positive impact in an interview. I led a team of X people. I told them what needed to be done and they agreed.

Even approximate quantification is better than no quantification if it helps to positively showcase your career. Keep in mind that you should be focused on your job, not on your personality. Interpret your job, don't just summarize it. Explain why the work you do is significant. 2. Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university. If you were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of position? This essay should be a growth story. If it is not a story that shows how your career has positively evolved, it is unlikely to be very effective. You might be unemployed at the moment, but what has been the trajectory so far? Did you take a big risk along the way? Point that out. We each have our career ups and downs, especially anyone who has taken risks. Don't shy away from discussing the risks, but the overall focus of this essay should be positive. In my experience, INSEAD rewards those who take risks and does not look kindly on those that stay in the same position for five years or more.

Change or become boring! In terms of organizing this essay, think about the key turning points in your career. Help INSEAD understand how you have evolved professionally. Assume that you are being judged critically and consider how to both effectively and honestly present your career. The final part of this question is what I would call an "opportunity cost" question, in other words, by going to INSEAD, you will be sacrificing the opportunity to take the next step at your current employer. If you are unemployed, the way to handle this question is to discuss the kind of position you would obtain if you were not seeking an MBA. For everyone else, I think you should be realistic, but also present the best possible version of your next position, which will show that you are seeking an MBA to move beyond what would follow without it. A bad answer to this question would involve identifying a next step that is the same as the short term goal you discuss later in Essay 4 because this would undermine much of the value of obtaining an MBA.