Top Of Stanford’s Class: What It Takes To Be An Arjay Miller Scholar

Stanford Emeritis Dean Arjay Miller greets a graduating scholar

From a student perspective, what does it take to get to shake Arjay Miller’s hand at graduation? Surprisingly perhaps, few MBA candidates seem to arrive on campus with a goal to graduate in the top of their class. More often than not, they focused heavily on academics during their undergrad years and now desire a more expansive experience in grad school. “I wanted to pursue what I was interested in and see what would happen,” says Morrison, who had majored in economics at Amherst College. “It was a personal growth goal. I tried not to put too much pressure on myself grade wise.”

Steve Marks, another of this year’s Arjay Miller Scholars, adopted a similar approach. “My goal was learning, personal development, meeting people and expanding my horizons,” says Marks, who earned his undergraduate degree in economics at Harvard College. “I think that for a whole variety of reasons grades are less of a focus at business school in general. In business school, you see less of it due to grade non-disclosure. People are trying to explore new fields, and they know they won’t have the same opportunity to do that again. There are many doors open to you. The important thing is to find the direction that is right for you.”

SOME SCHOLARS SAY THAT MBA COURSEWORK WASN’T HAS CHALLENGING AS THEIR UNDERGRAD EXPERIENCES

Arjay Miller Scholars generally find the academics at Stanford GSB to be equal to or somewhat less challenging than their undergraduate experiences. There are highly challenging courses, for sure, but in general, grades seem less a centerpiece of the two years. “In terms of pure classroom effort exerted, undergrad is more difficult than I found the GSB,” believes Morrison. Stanford was more challenging from a personal growth perspective, she says, because it required that Morrison stretch herself beyond her comfort zone.

Stephanie Collett, another 2013 scholar who now works at Amazon, says it’s impossible to quantify the work needed to become an Arjay Miller Scholar. “I can’t quantify it,” she says. “I can say that you definitely need to read every case for class, do every project and assignment. I spent a lot of time going into the details and doing background research. It required a focus and commitment.”

Marks says he found the academics similar to his undergraduate experience. “There were some classes that were very challenging and some that were less challenging,” he says. His toughest class was the second-year elective Formation of New Ventures team taught by former Benchmark Capital VC Andy Rachleff and former Veritas CEO Mark Leslie. “They set a very high bar. Students brought their A game. It was an example of a class where people worked significantly harder than average and were far more engaged. You got a lot out of classes like that, but you had to put a lot of time into them.”

‘IT’S NOT A HERCULEAN EFFORT’

Like Marks, Brian Stults arrived at Stanford without having the Arjay Miller honor as a goal. “I was hoping to let those over-achieving habits die when I went to Stanford,” he quips. But after doing exceptionally well in the first year core, racking up “honors” and “high pass” grades in his courses, Stults says he became even more focused on academics. 

“It was quite a bit easier than my undergraduate experience and a lot of the work was optional,” says Stults, who had majored in quantitative political analysis and mathematics and social sciences at Dartmouth College. “In terms of absolute workload, you can do as much as you want or you can certainly just get by. It’s not a Herculean effort.” 

His toughest course? Interpersonal Dynamics. “I immersed myself in it and found it to be tough and rewarding at the same time,” he says.

Morrison, who had done economic modeling before going to Stanford, started the MBA program with strong exposure to basic economic concepts. “I had a lot of quant experience, but would have considered myself more of a poet before goig to business school,” she says. Her most difficult course was an accounting class. “I took a level of accounting that was beyond my background,” adds Morrison. “It was very confusing. I worked very hard at that one, and I now know accounting well. Academically, that was the hardest class.”