{"id":17472,"date":"2025-12-12T10:09:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T15:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stratusadmissionscounseling.com\/blog\/?p=17472"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:14:22","slug":"how-to-get-into-stanford-graduate-school-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratusadmissionscounseling.com\/blog\/how-to-get-into-stanford-graduate-school-of-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get into Stanford Graduate School of Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

How to Get into Stanford Graduate School of Business<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Stanford Graduate School of Business Program Overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Stanford Graduate School of Business Curriculum<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Extracurriculars at Stanford Graduate School of Business<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Notable Professors and Classes at Stanford GSB<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Stanford Graduate School of Business Statistics<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. How to Answer Stanford GSB’s 2025-2026 Essay Prompts<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Application Requirements for Stanford GSB<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Stanford GSB FAQ<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Stanford Graduate School of Business Program Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) takes its motto seriously: \u201cChange lives, change organizations, change the world.\u201d The school seeks candidates who not only will be transformed by the experience of earning an MBA but will also seek to transform lives, organizations, and the world. Members of the GSB community refer to this motivation frequently in their classes and personal explorations. In a past installment of the comedic GSB Show, they even turned it into an acronym\/verb: \u201cCLOW\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Despite the school\u2019s medium class size (424 students in the latest incoming class), the GSB community is tight-knit, and the program emphasizes team-based learning. On its website, the school describes its students and alumni as \u201cinsightful, passionate professionals who are never satisfied with the status quo,\u201d as the GSB community is always looking for the next interesting perspective on business and the world. Beyond the classroom, students stay connected by joining some of the numerous student clubs available and by taking advantage of the surrounding Bay Area and its offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Although the GSB is proud of its Silicon Valley roots and center of entrepreneurship, the school prides itself on training global leaders across all sectors. The GSB seeks candidates who will try to make a big difference, and it is willing to consider applicants who have taken risks, are innovative, and dare to be different or do things differently. Applicants who view an MBA as merely the expected next step to advance up the corporate ladder will not stand out, and cutthroat behavior is frowned upon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On its website, the GSB describes its campus as a \u201cclose-knit entrepreneurial community,\u201d and entrepreneurial options are indeed plentiful. The school supports founding new ventures, joining startups, corporate innovation, social innovation, and entrepreneurship through acquisition. The Stanford Venture Studio is also available for graduate students who wish to test their ideas outside the classroom but are not ready to launch their ventures yet. Through the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (also known as Stanford d.school), both MBA students and those from other Stanford schools can use design to think outside the box and develop their potential in their chosen field via such courses as \u201cRedesigning Finance\u201d and \u201cNegotiation by Design: Crafting Environmental Agreement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Stratus consultant and GSB graduate shared: \u201cThe Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is an amazing resource for Stanford GSB students, offering experiential courses, often in conjunction with Stanford\u2019s School of Engineering and d.school. For example, in \u2018Startup Garage,\u2019 students get the opportunity to develop, prototype, test, and even launch a new product or service. Over 130 companies, raising over $2.5 billion in funding, have been created through this class alone!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Leadership is at the core of the GSB experience, and one of the first classes every incoming GSB student takes is the experiential course \u201cLeadership Laboratory.\u201d Students really do treat the school like a leadership laboratory. Aspiring managers can apply to become Arbuckle Leadership Fellows and coach first-year students using a variety of interpersonal and coaching skills. Aspiring CEOs can practice managing difficult leadership situations in such classes as \u201cManaging Growing Enterprises\u201d and \u201cPolitical Communication: How Leaders Become Leaders.\u201d Finally, nearly half of GSB students choose to practice storytelling and build deep connections with classmates by giving 30-minute TALKs about the most formative and challenging moments in their lives. Interpersonal dynamics are at the core of the GSB experience. How will you take part in the culture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Stanford Graduate School of Business Curriculum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The GSB curriculum is divided into quarters. Students start the autumn quarter of their first year with courses within their section, so by the end of the year, everyone knows the other members of their section very well. Much of the first year is dedicated to management perspectives and foundations, with such core courses as \u201cLeading with Values,\u201d \u201cFinance,\u201d \u201cOrganizational Behavior,\u201d and \u201cManaging Groups and Teams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the winter and spring quarters of the first year, students choose at least one course from three of five categories: Operations, Strategy, Marketing, Strategy Beyond Markets, and Foundations+. The second year is filled with a wide array of electives\u2014more than 100 are available each year\u2014from sophisticated finance classes to the famous \u201cTouchy Feely\u201d course (\u201cInterpersonal Dynamics\u201d) that helps students build soft skills and connect emotionality to leadership. Many students also take advantage of courses \u201cacross the street\u201d in other Stanford programs, exploring design thinking, engineering, computer science, and other disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Stratus consultant who graduated from the GSB said, \u201cDuring my time at Stanford GSB, I earned a Certificate in Public Management. Now expanded to become the Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation, this popular academic option prepares students to address public issues as future employees, board members, policy makers, and\/or investors, and is earned by over 25% of the class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Extracurriculars at Stanford Graduate School of Business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The GSB sports a variety of clubs for students to get involved in, ranging from affinity groups to career focuses to pure fun. Among Stanford\u2019s more unique clubs are the GSB Show<\/strong>\u2014an original musical written, composed, and performed each year by GSB students\u2014and View from The Top<\/strong>\u2014a group that hosts speakers from around the world who are leaders in their field. Global opportunities abound as well. Students can go on eight- to ten-day global study trips to destinations all over the world or take part in the Global Management Immersion Experience<\/strong>, which enables students to spend at least four weeks working in a new country. For students eager to have social impact, the Social Management Immersion Fund<\/strong> sets students up with summer internships at relevant organizations and companies, and the Social Impact Club<\/strong> brings in a steady stream of social enterprises and other impact-driven organizations and leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Notable Professors and Classes at Stanford GSB<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Baba Shiv<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Shiv, who serves as the Sanwa Bank, Limited, Professor of Marketing at the GSB, is an expert in the area of neuroeconomics. His courses in the MBA program include \u201cNeuroscience and the Connection to Sustained Excellence\u201d and \u201cDesigning Solutions by Leveraging the Frinky Science of the Human Mind.\u201d Professor Shiv frequently consults with startup companies, and his work is often included in such publications as The New York Times<\/em> and Financial Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Anne Beyer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Beyer joined the GSB in 2006 and today serves as The Staehelin Family Professor of Accounting and the co-director of three programs: the Stanford dy\/dx, the Directors\u2019 Consortium, and Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive. She has received numerous accolades for her teaching, including the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award. Her courses in the MBA program include \u201cFinancial Management for Entrepreneurs\u201d and \u201cThe Core Curriculum in the Workplace.\u201d Professor Beyer also teaches in the MSx and PhD programs at the GSB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Interpersonal Dynamics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This elective course has become a staple at the GSB after being available to students for more than 45 years. In fact, the course has been the most popular elective at the school in each of those years. The course divides students into groups of 12, where they practice giving and receiving feedback with a facilitator and build leadership skills. The goal of the class is to \u201c[create] more productive, professional relationships,\u201d according to the GSB website. One Stratus consultant who graduated from the GSB called the class their favorite during their time at the school, saying, \u201cThis class is an incredible, immersive, and very intimate experience with a very small set of classmates. The friends I made in my \u2018T-group\u2019 are still some of the classmates I feel closest to now, over 25 years later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Designing Solutions by Leveraging the Frinky Science of the Human Mind<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Taught by the aforementioned Professor Baba Shiv, this elective course explores brain-body systems in relation to performance within the workplace. Students examine the topic via mini case studies and in-class exercises, and they complete individual assignments near the end of the course. The course explores the aforementioned topics by \u201cunraveling the workings of the human brain [and] leveraging frameworks that essentially capture the way instinctual brain systems shape our decisions, experiences and behaviors,\u201d the course description explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Strategic Leadership: Crafting and Leading Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This elective course is \u201cdesigned to help [students] understand, shape, and lead [their] organization\u2019s strategy by providing [them] with a framework for thinking about the issues that shape [their] organization\u2019s economic prosperity,\u201d according to the course description. The course uses Professor Jesper S\u00f8rensen\u2019s book, Making Great Strategy: Arguing for Organizational Advantage<\/em> (co-written with Glenn Carroll, Columbia Business School Publishing, 2021), to explore how strategy constantly evolves. The school particularly recommends this course for students who are hoping to take on roles with responsibility for product or service success post-graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Stanford Graduate School of Business Statistics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Class Profile (Class of 2026)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Class Size:<\/strong> 424
    Average Work Experience:<\/strong> 5.1 years
    Average GPA: <\/strong>3.75
    Women:<\/strong> 44%
    US Students of Color:<\/strong> 53%
    International Citizenship:<\/strong> 39%
    Average GMAT:<\/strong> 738
    GMAT Range:<\/strong> 560\u2013790
    Average Verbal GRE:<\/strong> 163
    Verbal GRE Range:<\/strong> 152\u2013170
    Average Quantitative GRE:<\/strong> 164
    Quantitative GRE Range:<\/strong> 153\u2013170<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Career Placement (Industries, Class of 2024)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n