Representatives of Stanford's Graduate School of Business were in Lagos recently for an information session on gaining admission into the prestigious school.
For those that do not know, Stanford GSB is ranked in the top 3 Business Schools in the world alongside Harvard and Wharton.
The venue for the information session was Radisson Blu Hotel and the Admissions officer Sabah Khan (pretty lady I must say) was on hand to handle the session.
The also gathered a team of Stanford Alumni resident in Nigeria to enable prospective applicants get a feel of he school from the perspective of people who have passed through the system.
Sabah took the audience through a short presentation of Stanford GSB and what they look for particularly stating that they help people achieve careers if meaning and impact. She also talked about the Design School also known as the D-School which got me really interested. She also explained the school's global immersion program in which you will be required to live and work in a country you have never lived in before for a period of about 12 weeks.
The alumni present also enlightened the audience on the environment at Stanford GSB and its very close links to Silicon Valley. They also talked about preparation for the admission process and other related matters.
Shortly after, a question and answer session allowed the audience ask pertinent questions and a few of the questions were:
Q: Who do I get a reference letter from if I run my own business?
A: You can ask a member of your Board of Directors or Clients to write your recommendation.
Q: What in your opinion would you say is the major challenge for applicants from Africa based on your experience?
A: The GMAT, late applications.
My Key takeaways from the event
1. If you want to apply to Stanford, ensure you apply before the third round because you have much better chances and also as a non-resident, the admissions committee would be concerned about whether they can easily make arrangements for accommodation for you within that short time frame.
2. Practice for GMAT like yur life depends on it.
3. Get strong recommendations to support your application.
4. Stanford actually has a full schorlarship program for African Students!!!!
For more information, see here
