Mr. Solutions Consultant

Many people will likely read this profile and think you are an ideal candidate for Stanford. You have the stats (in fact, your GMAT score is well above the latest class average). You have the background, with some impressive accomplishments in renewables for a 26-year-old. You already have an advanced degree (and nearly one in five newly enrolled MBA students have a graduate degree). And your goals, to leverage technology for the good of the world, sync up with Stanford’s overall mission to produce MBAs who will change lives, change organizations and change the world. But I think you are missing what we call the “X” factor. What is that? While it’s admirable that you have built beds for shelter dogs from recycled memory foam, that’s not exactly the kind of extra that shows that you have leadership potential or that you are deeply invested in helping others who need help. Stanford could very well give you a yes; after all, you tick off all the other boxes and do so in an admirable way. But the odds of getting into this MBA program are so low–6%–that you will be competing with equally impressive candidates who, in fact, have that “X” factor that Stanford looks for. So I’ll give you slightly better than average odds but not much more. At every other target school, including Harvard, your odds are substantially better. I am certain you will get into two of four schools you mention, most probably MIT and Berkeley if you execute a solid application and do well in your admissions interview. Good luck. And if I’m wrong, I and everyone else here would love to know it.