Why Everyone Should Answer Stanford’s Iconic “What Matters Most” Essay

For more than two decades, Stanford GSB has laid down the same challenge to its applicants: What matters most to you, and why?

It’s a question so simple that applicants routinely underestimate it, and so demanding that many spend weeks circling it before they find anything to say. I’ve heard candidates who can speak fluently about deal structures and market entry strategy go quiet when asked to explain what actually drives them.

The question does more than test whether you can write a good essay; it asks whether you’ve done the kind of thinking that every serious leader eventually has to do.

Which is why I’d recommend something that might sound strange coming from an MBA admissions expert: answer this question even if you never intend to apply to Stanford. And if you are applying, the quality of that reflection is often what separates a good essay from a memorable one. It’s also the hardest part to get right on your own, which is where a conversation with someone who has read thousands of these can help.

THE “WHAT MATTERS” QUESTION ENDURES FOR A REASON

Stanford GSB refreshed its application experience this year, streamlining the interface and consolidating its guidance into a single resource hub. In her first P&Q interview since taking over admissions, Erin Nixon was careful to note that the substance hasn’t changed: same essays, same questions. What struck me was how she described the payoff. Applicants, she told Poets&Quants, come out the other side of the process with clarity about their future and a groundedness in their values, whether or not they’re admitted.

She recalled her own application years ago as the first time anyone had asked her what mattered to her, rather than why she should matter to them. That distinction is the whole reason this essay is worth your time, whether or not Stanford is on your list.

WHY STANFORD HAS STUCK WITH IT

This elegant essay question epitomizes the sweet spot of “simple but not easy.” It exacts the kind of profound self-awareness and fearless authenticity that can tie the most excellence-driven applicant into knots in the quest to deliver something they hope is striking, clever and distinctive.

So why has Stanford MBA admissions kept it for so long?

Kirsten Moss, Stanford GSB’s former Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions, once explained it to me this way: “One of the things that has been proven over and over in research is that highly inspirational leaders who get the highest level of performance from their organizations really know what drives them, and they are thinking beyond themselves to the problems they can make change and have an impact on. Taking the time to understand what matters to you will be your true north as a leader, no matter what school you go to, in the rest of your life. You will be one step ahead of the game in terms of being able to motivate others.”

That is the case for treating this as more than an admissions hurdle. The clarity it demands outlasts the application cycle by decades.

A GOLDEN TIME TO GET INTROSPECTIVE

My Fortuna colleague Heidi Hillis, a three-time Stanford graduate and former GSB alumni interviewer, has pushed many successful candidates to dig deeper in the spirit of getting to the heart of the question.

“It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, to plow forward with life and career without really considering our values,” says Hillis. “Reflection is a vital thing for everyone to do periodically, but especially early in your career. It’s a golden time to pause, get introspective, and make sure you’re headed where you want to go. This essay question makes you stop and think about what it is that makes you who you are.”

That last point is why the exercise of introspection travels beyond the Stanford application. Most of us rarely stop to ask what we actually stand for. A prompt this direct forces the question.

WHERE TO START WITH THE ICONIC STANFORD ESSAY

Maybe you feel you can answer the first part in a single word: family, love, or chocolate. But the heart of the question, the part that reveals your life’s calling and how you came to it, requires deeper introspection. Why does that one thing matter more than any other?

Fortuna’s Tatiana Nemo, a Stanford GSB alum and former MBA admissions interviewer, offers a starting point for anyone staring at the blank page.

“Invest time building a timeline of the influences, instances, moments that have shaped you,” says Nemo. “Dig deep connecting the dots between what has shaped you and who you’ve become.”

Begin with your gut response to the question. Don’t overthink it; the first instinct often holds a clue. Then set it aside and build the timeline properly, looking for:

• The early influences. How the people who raised you and the place you grew up shaped the person you became.
• The turning points. The choices that changed your direction and the experiences that tested what you believed.
• The moments with weight. Not the impressive entries you’d put on a resume, but the ones you keep returning to.
• The recurring thread. A value that matters to you rarely shows up once. It surfaces across a childhood memory, a career decision, and the way you spend a free weekend. When you can see the same thread again and again, you’ve usually found what matters most.

If you get stuck, a few questions can loosen things up. What do you love or dislike about the work you do, and why? When have you had to make a hard choice, and what did that decision reveal about you? What gets you up in the morning, and in this life, what do you genuinely care about? Consider asking family and friends for anecdotes that aren’t front of mind; often the people who know us well can name our values faster than we can.

DARE TO BE VULNERABLE AND HONEST WITH YOURSELF

The candidates who write the strongest version of this essay are the ones willing to be vulnerable, honest and personal on the page. Nemo reflects that the exercise “helps unearth a clarity of purpose that’s invaluable for anyone who’s ever wrestled with the expectations of others, peer pressure and unexamined momentum.”

That clarity has nothing to do with getting into business school. It has to do with knowing your own mind. As my Fortuna colleague Sharon Joyce puts it, “There is no right story other than your own. And the person best poised to tell that story is you.”

SO ANSWER IT

Shouldn’t we all really think about what matters most to us, whether we are applying to business school or not?

Take this on as a personal challenge, not merely as an MBA essay question. And if you are applying, the reflection you do here becomes the foundation for the rest of your GSB application (and quite possibly of all your MBA applications). For a full breakdown of how to approach all of the GSB essays, see Fortuna’s guide to tackling the Stanford GSB essays.

Stanford wants to know what matters most to you. So should you.

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Matt Symonds is a Director and Co-Founder at Fortuna Admissions. For more free advice from Fortuna Admissions in partnership with Poets&Quants, check out these videos and articles. For a candid assessment of your MBA admissions chances, schedule a free consultation.

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