MBA LiveWire has shown interview invitations trickle in from Round 2 applicants to Stanford Graduate School of Business over the past couple of days. But it was today when the flood gates opened to let a wave of disappointed applicants spill forth sharing their news of rejection.
Despite some grumblings about how mean it was of Stanford to reject people on March 8th—International Women’s Day—the school, in fact, was simply adhering to the date it had always said it would release Round 2 applicants from consideration. Had that date been a week later, applicants of Irish descent might just as well have grumbled, and a week earlier could have upset the Welsh.
For those who are wondering, the pool of applicants invited to interview in Round 2 by Stanford GSB boasted an average GPA of 3.62 and an average GMAT score of 726. The stats for those who didn’t make the cut couldn’t really have been much closer to identical. Those reporting rejection today had an average GPA of 3.62 and an average GMAT score of 724. And yes, those figures have been triple checked. For every Round 2 applicant who reported an invitation to interview, two more faced rejection.
As always with our MBA LiveWire analysis, we should stress that the sample size is small and likely subject to some selection bias.
Beyond the commentary about International Women’s Day, the notes and comments people have shared amid the wave of rejections today has ranged from understandable disappointment to relief that the wait is over to gracious encouragement for those prepping to interview.
Some of our faves:
As reflected in the remarkably parallel stats of the candidates invited to interview and those rejected today, strong scores and grades are a requirement to get into Stanford GSB, but they are by no means a guarantee.
A hearty congrats to those who did receive an invitation to interview. Don’t forget Clear Admit’s Stanford GSB Interview Guide and the Interview Archive, both of which can help you prepare. Best of luck!
