Stanford MBA Program

Our academic calendar is materializing for the Winter quarter. This means it's time to open registration for our on-campus events.

On Monday, 30 November 2009, initial registration will open for Winter class visits and information sessions. The first opportunity for class visits will be Monday, 11 January 2010. In December, once our class enrollment numbers are confirmed, we will post additional spots for class visits.

As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, attending our on-campus events is neither required nor expected. Our events offer a chance to experience a day at the GSB, but do not result in preferential treatment in the admission process.

This past Fall quarter, we accommodated over 500 class visitors. Based on our survey results, almost everyone enjoyed their class visit.

For event details, please refer to the following section on our website.

We look forward to seeing you in the coming months.

Take care,

Brad Lindeberg
Admissions Coordinator

Myra Strober, Professor of Economics, reflects on 35 years of research on gender issues and her role in spearheading Stanford University's first Center for Research on Women (now known as the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research).

The first woman to join the faculty at the Graduate School of Business, Strober recalls the path that led her to her lifelong interest in the economics of work and family.

Thanks to Theresa Johnston who interviewd Professor Strober and to photographer Ashley Tindall. Full Story

Today we extended our first interview invitation for the 2009-2010 application year. This is just the first invitation of many, but we thought it was worth celebrating.

Just as a reminder, the Round One application deadline is 7 October. We will be extending interview invitations up until the decision notification deadline of 16 December.

We're happy to announce that Stanford GSB students Ashley Evans, Kenneth Hammond, Andy Martin, Matthew Skaruppa, and Iain Ware (all MBA 2010s) received the distinguished Siebel Scholarship. The award recognizes students for their academic achievement, leadership, and citizenship within the Business School community during their first year. Along with receiving a $35,000 tuition grant, scholars have the opportunity to serve as key advisors to the Siebel Foundation.

We are proud to have Ashley, Kenneth, Andy, Matthew, Iain, at the GSB!

Read more

Greetings from the Stanford MBA Admissions Office. After a quiet summer, it is time to welcome our students and prospective students to campus.

On Wednesday, 9 Sept 2009, registration will open for Fall class visits and information sessions. Our events will begin on Monday, 28 Sept 2009. As soon as our academic calendar is finalized, we will make additional class visits opportunities available.

While we encourage you to visit the Stanford GSB and get to know our program better, a campus visit is neither required nor expected. Out of fairness to all applicants, we do not give preferential treatment in the admission process to those who have visited the GSB.

For detailed information on our events, please visit the following site www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/admission_events/oncampus_events.html

We hope you will be able to join us for some events this fall.

Take care,

Brad Lindeberg
Admissions Coordinator

Interested in applying to the Stanford Graduate School of Business? The application for the Class of 2012 is now available here.

As previously announced, we have moved up our Round 1 application deadline to 7 October 2009. We also may be extending interviews earlier this year. As always, we encourage you to review our website soon and submit your application as early as possible within the round you choose to apply.

For complete application information, including deadlines, please visit the Admission section of our site.

The relationships that you form at the Stanford Graduate School of Business are close and long-lasting--one of the benefits of our small class size. Our active alumni chapters are evidence of this, with events both formal and informal taking place all over the world.

On 7 June, GSB alumni and newly admitted students gathered in Mumbai at the Taj Mahal hotel for a discussion with Rakesh Mohan, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. As Deputy Governor, Mohan is in charge of monetary policy, financial markets, and economic research and statistics for India's central bank.

Mohan's visit, which was sponsored by the GSB India alumni chapter, featured extensive Q&A. Attendees traveled from areas such as Bangalore and Kashmir to hear the presentation. For those of us who couldn't make it to the event, Mohan will be a visitor at the Stanford Center for International Development this fall.

From left to right: Akhil Gupta, MBA 1981, Jo Pattabiraman, MBA 2002, Dr. Rakesh Mohan, Nadir Godrej, MS 1974, Dr. Rati Godrej, Naushad Forbes, BAS 1981, MS 1982, PhD 1987, Farhad Forbes, BS 1977, MS 1979, Sloan 1991, and Jagdish Malkani, Sloan 1993

The GSB's Global Study Trips offer abundant opportunities for learning well after the trips are over. MBA students return--from locations as diverse as Ghana, Peru, and Scandinavia--with knowledge, stories, and advice that they pass on to the campus community. Recently, students from a spring study trip to Mexico were inspired to bring to Stanford the musical group Los Tigres Del Norte. The group--who regularly packs stadiums in Latin America--shared with the GSB the inspiration behind its Grammy-winning music.

Watch the video of Los Tigres' visit. You can also learn more about the GSB's Global Study Trips on our website.

It was just announced that our own Garth Saloner will be the ninth dean of the GSB, effective 1 September 2009. Saloner joined the Stanford faculty in 1990 and is a scholar of entrepreneurship and business strategy. He was also instrumental in creating and implementing the new MBA curriculum.

>> Learn more about our new dean

Bob Joss announced that he will retire as dean of the Graduate School of Business at the end of his term, completing a decade of service to Stanford. Recently published in the Financial Times, this essay gives you insight on the experiences that shaped Dean Joss, who in turn helped shape the GSB and the future of management education.

>> Read the essay

At the end of every admission cycle, the GSB posts the upcoming year's application and notification deadlines. We typically do this after our Round 3 response deadline. However, because we have moved up the date for applying for Round 1, we decided to post our deadlines now to give you a bit more time to prepare. You can find the deadlines here. In July, we'll be adding more information to our site, including the admission application and instructions, so make sure to check back.

Also, as we do every year, we've posted the new short-answer essay questions; the two longer-format essay questions remain unchanged. You can find all of the questions, along with essay-writing tips from Derrick Bolton, our director of MBA Admissions, here.

As is customary for many business schools, we will post the new class profile when our students arrive in September. Until then, happy application planning!

It was announced today that Anthony Wilder Miller, MBA 1992, has been nominated by the White House to be the Deputy Secretary of Education for the Department of Education. Miller will be joining Jim Shelton, MA/MBA 1993, who was recently named Assistant Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education.

Other alumni who have made their mark on the hill in the Obama administration include Corey Booth, MBA 1995, Chief Information Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission; David Lee Katz, MBA 2008, Special Assistant to the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy; Aditya Kumar, Director and Special Assistant for the Chief of Staff's Office at the White House; and Penny Sue Pritzker, JD/MBA 1984, national finance chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

The GSB faculty has voted to retire the Certificate in Global Management beginning with the MBA Class of 2011. The Global Management Program and the Center for Global Business and Economy will continue to enhance the global nature of the Business School.

Our original reason for creating the Certificate in Global Management back in 1994 was to provide a catalyst for more global content within the MBA Program. Even at its inception, our hope was for obsolescence once the MBA curriculum and our students were more global in perspective and experience. I am happy to announce that the deans and faculty have assessed that this time has come. Over the last 15 years, we have dramatically expanded the global nature of the Stanford MBA Program. With the introduction in 2007 of the Global Experience Requirement and the required Global Context of Management class, as well as an increase in global offerings across the GSB, it is inaccurate to suggest that some of our students are "global" and others are not. We believe that all of our students now graduate with a broader and deeper sense of how to manage effectively in the global economy. We hope you share our excitement that the School has achieved this notable milestone, and all of us in the Global Management Program look forward to supporting our students' development as global leaders.

--John Roberts, Faculty Director, Global Management Program

Want to control your Wii using just your mind? In the market for a robot that can help you communicate from home? Need your Prius to get 100 miles per gallon? This year's Stanford Cool Product Expo, co-sponsored by the GSB, the Stanford Product Design & Manufacturing Club, and the Product Realization Network at Stanford, featured all this and more.

The mission of the Cool Product Expo is to generate interest in and excitement around "cool" products and companies in the field of manufacturing and design at Stanford and the community at large. This year's participants included start-ups, university research lab projects, and global manufacturers, all exhibiting products that aren't yet on the market. Many products focused on green technology---like Visible Energy's UFO, which allows consumers to "see" how much energy they're using and then helps reduce that amount.

Other products ranged from handy, to life-saving. D.light Design, co-founded by Sam Goldman, MBA 2007, and Ned Tozun, MBA 2007, exhibited the Nova lamp, designed to replace dangerous kerosene lamps with a clean, safe, and affordable lighting option for families living without electricity. Jane Chen, MBA 2008, one of the co-founders of Embrace (see "Incubator" entry below), was at the Expo displaying a low-cost, portable infant incubator. Many of the exhibitors are hoping to bring their products to market soon. Chen, for example, is in the final stages of development and funding for the incubator, and says, "Our goal is to get this global within the next five years."

We have extended the deadlines for both Many Voices: Perspectives on Diversity and XX Factor: Women Changing The World. You may submit your application to attend by Monday, 13 April 2009, 5PM Pacific Time.

For more information on these events visit:
Many Voices
XX Factor

Hope to meet you during one of these events,

Ciao,
--Rita

All right...you know who you are. You've been to our website, started an application, maybe even drafted an essay or two. All the while, you've been wondering, "Should I or shouldn't I?" "Is now the right time?" "Do I stand a chance of getting in?"

The media hype says that business school applications soar when the economy is bad and, as such, there won't be any spots left for third round applicants. This simply isn't true. And we worry that some great people may delay applying because of these misperceptions. Historically, we've found that applications follow demographic cycles more than economic cycles.

We assure you that we admit outstanding individuals in all three rounds--this year is no exception. While it is true that the final round typically is smaller than the first two, we do admit excellent candidates in Round 3--including our current Director of MBA Admissions.

So the real question to ask yourself is when do you want to enroll? If the answer is September 2009, then you should apply now in Round 3. If you're admitted, great. If not, then you're in a better position for September 2010 having already begun the self-reflection process for your first-round application.

There is still time to put together a thoughtful and thorough application by the Round 3 deadline of 8 April 2009. So if you've started, take that final step. The bottom line is we can't admit you if you don't apply.

The diversity of our students and our community is what makes the GSB such a dynamic place. People often ask us how we define diversity. For us, it's really about the breadth of perspective our students bring. You've probably read Derrick Bolton's thoughts on the subject, but if not, take a look here.

The breadth of perspective at the GSB is incredible. If you're interested in seeing this in action, there are two upcoming events you might be interested in. The xxFactor: Women Changing the World event will be held on 16 May. Hosted by the Women in Management club, the alumnae Women's Initiative Network, and the MBA Admission Office, this conference is geared toward women who are interested in applying to business school. This year's conference will focus on who attends business school and why, what kinds of opportunities are available for MBA graduates, and why experiential learning is transformational. All prospective students are welcome to participate. Applications are due 10 April. You can find more information here.

Many Voices: Perspectives on Diversity is hosted jointly by the Asian Society, Black Business Students Association, Hispanic Business Students Association, and the MBA Admission Office. This event provides the opportunity for you to meet GSB alumni, students, faculty, and staff, and to gain insight into our admission process. The event will be held on 17 May, and again, all are welcome. To attend Many Voices, you need to apply by 10 April. More information is available here.

Seeing the range of ideas and talent within our community might just help you envision how you would make a difference at the GSB. We look forward to meeting you at one or both of the events!

Every year 20 million premature or low-birth-weight children are born, many of them in rural areas of developing countries where they have no hope of receiving the medical care they need to survive. Enter Stanford's Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability, a two-quarter course, co-taught by the Business School's Jim Patell in which graduate students across the University look for practical solutions to the problems of the global poor. One of its promising products is the Embrace, an inexpensive ($25 estimated) portable incubator designed to resemble a sleeping bag and heated by a material that keeps bag and baby at a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees for four hours without electricity.

The Embrace organization is itself in the incubation stage. The four-student team came up with the idea and developed it in class in 2007. Last June, two of the original team members, Jane Chen, MBA '08, and Rahul Panciker, PhD '08, Engineering, won an Echoing Green Fellowship, which provides seed funding for the project of up to $90,000 over two years. The organization has since received nonprofit status, the incubator and its heating system has a provisional patent, and Chen and Panicker are now in India conducting clinical tests of the Embrace. If all goes well, they will return to India later this year to test it in a community setting. See EmbraceGlobal.org.

Source: Stanford Business

As of this morning, we have invited 275 second-round candidates to interview. We will extend an additional 100-125 interview invitations to second-round candidates in the next couple of weeks.

During that same period, we plan to interview some of the first-round candidates who accepted spots on the waitlist without having interviewed.

I hope this is helpful,
Derrick

We're excited to announce that second-year MBA student Andreata Muforo won the Social Equity Venture Fund (S.E.VEN) "Entrepreneurial President" essay competition and a $20,000 scholarship. Assuming the role of policy advisor to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, she wrote an essay on "Developing Rwanda's Private Sector through Entrepreneurship," which will be presented to President Kagame.

Andreata's essay was selected through a competitive review process that included a jury of leading business executives and development experts. Her essay was chosen from more than 650 submissions, received from more than 450 institutions and 35 countries, with submissions from places as diverse as Iran to China, and Peru to Burundi.

Andreata, who was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, is understandably very excited about receiving the award, but she says she also feels "humbled by the opportunity to potentially impact a country."

For more information, visit http://www.sevenfund.org/press-release-feb-2009-president-awards.php.