Stanford University, Stanford Graduate School of Business Admission
Stanford University, Stanford Graduate School of Business Undergraduate Program
Stanford University, Stanford Graduate School of Business Application

The Facts

Stanford University is a rather large, private institution located in the town of Stanford, California, and has a combined undergraduate and graduate population of over 14,175 students. Stanford's Graduate School of Business is significantly smaller, however, and has a population of about 750 students. Approximately 99% of the currently enrolled students have had full-time professional experience prior to enrollment, and perhaps due to this fact, the average age of entrance is around 29. About 10% of currently enrolled students enrolled directly from undergraduate school, while over 17% of students already have a graduate degree of some sort. The Stanford Graduate School of Business is perhaps best known for its cross-disciplinary approach, and for the faculty's freedom to structure their courses how they feel is best. The school offers graduate degrees in the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science in Management (MSM), Master of Business Research (MBR), as well as a doctoral program and other joint degrees in law (MBA/JD), as well as education. The graduate school also offers interdisciplinary programs, joint research, and non degree management programs for executives, as well as the Sloan Program for mid career managers. Some of the most popular programs of study include courses in the areas of leadership, economics, finance, strategic management, organizational behavior, accounting, marketing, operations, information management, international business, human resources management, entrepreneurship, as well as electronic commerce.

Admission to Stanford's Graduate School of Business is fiercely competitive among those who apply; last year, over 5,864 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 500 of those students were admitted. Eventually however, only about 370 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.6 as well as a GMAT score of about 620. The admissions committee does not specify minimum GPAs and test scores, however, it can be assumed that their standards are very high. Some of the most important factors for admission include a strong mathematics background, leadership potential, and of course, academic aptitude. Students are able to commence their graduate work in the fall only, and students are notified of the admission decisions approximately 6 weeks after one of the 3 application deadlines.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business has 99 full-time faculty members, of whom 99% hold a doctorate degree. The school is also home to 35 part-time faculty members, of whom 75% hold doctorates. The average business class has approximately 40 students, and most faculty members teach an average of 3 courses at any given time.

Placement Services

The school has extensive placement services available to both current students and alumni for an unlimited amount of time after they obtain their degree. Last year, over 160 companies were actively recruiting on campus, many of which were national and even international corporations and investment firms. The average starting salary of the most recent graduating class was around $95,000, however, it ranged from $30,000 to $220,000. An impressive 99% of the most recently graduated students found jobs within three months of obtaining their degree.

What's Good

"Just the name Stanford means a lot, and it will open a lot of doors for you in the business world."

"The professors are absolutely wonderful, and are very passionate about the subjects they teach."

"The placement office is amazing; you feel like the entire staff is working just for you."

What's Bad

"Things get very very competitive around here, particularly when it comes to salary and recruiting."

"The administration is a bit difficult to deal with. Getting seemingly simple questions answered can be quite the oddessy."

"The course work can be quite overwhelming. It's very important to keep your wits about you."

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