Stanford: Admissions Q&A

Admissions Director Derrick Bolton talks about Stanford's new curriculum, its future campus, and why a little idealism makes for an ideal applicant

Derrick Bolton
Stanford University

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Derrick Bolton used to stroll the campus of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business (Stanford MBA Profile) as an MBA student years ago. Now, as director of MBA admissions at his alma mater, the mile-long walk from home to work is still one of the dependable high points of his day. "A lot of times I just stop and go, 'Look at those wildflowers! Look at those palm trees!' It's a spectacularly beautiful place," he says.

Bolton came back to Stanford for more than the scenery. He left a job he loved at Goldman Sachs (GS) to handle Stanford MBA admissions from the other side of the interview table. It's no small feat for an applicant to be invited to the same table. Stanford is ranked sixth in BusinessWeek's listing of top full-time MBA programs, and is far and away the most selective: Just 8% of applicants are accepted.

The post-MBA pay of Stanford grads, $125,000, was higher than that of any other U.S. business school in 2008, but Bolton warns against focusing heavily on monetary benefits. He notes that the small number of students who will be accepted into Stanford's Graduate School of Business will be those for whom a six-figure paycheck isn't the reason they attended b-school. In a conversation with BusinessWeek's Mandy Oaklander, Bolton talks about Stanford's new curriculum, future campus, and the need for business schools to do some serious soul-searching. An edited transcript follows.

How do the application numbers look from last year to this year?
All the hype about applications being up dramatically has been just that: hype. In reality, I think the numbers are going to be very similar to trends we've seen in the last two years.

How much work experience do you look for in a candidate?
Really, there's no set period that we look for in all candidates. We have a great group of students who will join us directly from university and candidates who join us with 20 years of experience or more, and then everything in between. It's a personal decision on when to apply. As a school, we see a lot of people waiting because they think business schools want them to wait. [They] think they won't be competitive until they have four or five years of work experience. And that's not true. We have expended a lot of effort in the last few years trying to dispel that myth. When we look at successful alumni who come back to the school and talk with us about their careers and the impact that this place had on them, you see them all across the spectrum in terms of work experience.

Graduates often mention the Stanford culture as a huge draw. Can you explain what type of person makes a good fit?
You really do get a feel for Stanford when you're walking around the campus, but I'm not nearly eloquent enough to put that into words. I think a key factor is that it is an other-oriented community; people really do look out for each other. Students look out for classmates to ensure that classmates are succeeding academically and professionally. Our faculty looks out for each other and for students as well. It's that kind of culture.

In a paper application, how do applicants get across that they can contribute to this community feel?
Applicants really don't have to worry about trying to convey fit.

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