Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) welcomed 406 students this year, the largest class in the school’s history, according to Class of 2015 profile statistics the school shared earlier this month. “Not only are there more students in the class, but also greater diversity of experience and background,” read a post on the Stanford MBA Admissions blog.
As far as greater diversity goes, the incoming class includes students from a record number of international and U.S. schools, as well as more organizations than ever before. With 300 different organizations represented, more than 67 percent of students are the sole classmate joining Stanford directly from their organization. The Class of 2015 also includes greater representation of both women (36 percent) and U.S. minorities (21 percent) than in previous years. Additionally, international students make up 41 percent of the class.
The increase in class size – up from 398 last year – corresponds with greater application volume. Applicants for the Class of 2015 numbered 7,108, a 5.8 percent increase over 2012.
The school, for its part, did not attribute the increased class size to any particular factor. “Since our candidate pool is ever changing, the numbers in our entering class change, too,” read the admissions blog post. “There are no quotas or targets in the Stanford admission process, and we assess each applicant based on her or his own merit,” the post continued, stressing that the school considers a class profile illustrative rather than informative.
Other shifts in this year’s class include a slight increase in TOEFL and GMAT scores, though the score ranges remained constant. The average amount of pre-MBA work experience fell from last year’s 10-year high, to four years. The range of years of work experience also narrowed slightly, the school reports.
