Stanford's "What Matters to You the Most and Why?" essay is one of the most challenging and most rewarding essay questions.
The simplistic prompt often requires deep introspection and connecting one's early life events to one's core values.
"What Matters to You the Most and Why?"
Stanford's former admissions director, Kirsten Moss, in an Interview with Rebecca Jansen, shares:
1) The Essay existed in the campus series "What Matters to You and Why?
The admissions team tweaked the essay to include 'most. ' This avoids bringing in many values and forces the applicant to focus on one emergent value.
2) The values of highly successful people have remained the same
They have a deeper sense of achieving high-impact goals to serve a purpose larger than themselves.
3) Leading with Integrity and kindness is the Winning trait
From Moss's experience, applicants who showed integrity and kindness while facing life's uncertainties and setbacks impressed the admissions team more than any 'hero's narrative.'
"Integrity, kindness, and a larger purpose" should be evident in the essay.
What to highlight in the "What Matters Most to You and Why?" Essay
• What values did you uphold while navigating complexities of a project, a personal setback, a team setback, or a career decision
• What work is the most meaningful to you ? Show the passion in the 'What Matters' to you essay. Why are you passionate about the work?
• Appreciate your unique leadership thinking. Only when you value your thinking and contributions can you capture the right words for the 'What Matters and Why.'
Why the "What Matters Most to You and Why?" Essay is Different
Stanford GSB's culture requires a deeper level of self-reflection than many other schools. Here's why:
• Emotional Intelligence: Stanford's culture uniquely values high emotional intelligence. Showing awareness of one's privilege, grace under tremendous challenges, and an honesty towards one's failures or shortcomings - all translate to a balanced narrative for the What Matters essay
• Leadership: The touchy-feely or Interpersonal Dynamics course at GSB has been consistently quoted as the most transformative course. The experience of showing one's insecurities to peers and receiving support & feedback often helped candidates become better leaders
• Silicon Valley legacy: Stanford's association with Silicon Valley - as contributors to the evolution of the technology industry is even more relevant with the emergence of AI, Healthcare innovation, and new tools of funding.
Future leaders are trained through Stanford. The school prefers that the person has the right balance of ambition, self-awareness, and a purpose larger than themselves to 'do good' for society.
Profiles – Case Study
1. PE and Entrepreneur Profile: Benjamín (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Benjamín - a Uruguay native who overcame poverty- reflects on the struggle of a single-parent household, violence in the neighborhood, and the IMPACT mentorship had in orienting himself towards Math and soccer. The experience of mentorship as an intervention for low-income communities motivated him to start a non-profit for STEM Education.
2. Consulting Profile: Olivia (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Coming from an illustrious business family in the UK, Olivia found her true calling, serving the displaced at UNHCR – the UN's agency assisting refugees to return to their home country or integrate/resettle in another country. Her work with UNHCR offered a broader perspective about the role business plays in society, and the livelihood they offer to those displaced by war and hunger. The shift in perspective is narrated with humility - a trait that Stanford values.
3. Engineer Profile: Takudzwa (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Takudzwa - a Zimbabwe native- narrates the struggle to raise funds for his undergraduate degree at MIT. The hyperinflation in Zimbabwe and its innovation with funding helped address the challenge and built awareness on the need to build an alternative funding ecosystem for Zimbabweans
4. EduTech Entrepreneur Profile: Johann (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Johann - a German engineer's restless energy was no match for Paris' academic orientation. The transfer to the US set in motion a quest to find his true calling. Even though he was in his dream automobile job, the developmental technologies were all iterative. Lost, Johann's trip to Namibia opened an opportunity to help the country's secondary education.
5. IMPACT Investor Profile: Ravi (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Ravi grew from poverty to the top 25th percentile income bracket by acing one of the most competitive exams in Finance. With success, Ravi also became aware of the unmet needs of his family. The event in his life that led him to invest in mental health became the focal point of the essay. His passion for offering solutions to low-income workers tackling mental health through investments is the 'purpose' he is highlighting in the 'What Matters the Most & Why' Stanford MBA essay.
6. Media Entrepreneur Profile: Greg (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Greg narrates the challenges of finding truth in a crowded, eyeball-incentivized media industry. By highlighting the partisan media bubble, the applicant visualizes a future where media presents both sides of the story and allows readers/viewers to validate facts and narratives. By highlighting democratic values as the foundation for American growth, Greg presents a passion that is beyond himself.
7. AI Project Manager Profile: Michelle (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Michelle has to navigate a delicate balance between data and learned experience, to not let a stereotype overshadow the rigor required to test and validate a Generative AI algorithm. The conundrum and the future of the world where AI will determine people's behaviour is shared through the What Matters Most and Why Stanford MBA essay.
8. App Designer Profile: Keith (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Keith – an App designer, from a military family, is passionate about offering counselling for those suffering from PTSD in the veteran community. With the legacy of a military family, he is deeply aware of the strong exterior and the silent suffering veterans endure to manage the demon. His effort in building an App that measures the stressors of veterans through biomarkers showed the limitations of technology and the need for policy intervention to provide access to qualified therapists.
9. Consulting Profile: Ahmed (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Ahmed's professional journey is not captured in the essay. Instead, he explores the change in perspective around leadership that he developed over his life, living in multiple cities with diverse peers.
10. Entrepreneur Profile: Victor (What Matters Stanford MBA - Essay)
Victor narrates his experience as an insider to his father's entrepreneurial journey. A tragedy set in motion a philosophy of life that was helpful in connecting with an Entrepreneur in Ghana. The Stanford What Matters essay captures a slice of life moment to highlight a value - "To be present" as the most consequential value.
