Stanford GSB MBA Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (650 Words)
Background Information: Coming from an illustrious business family, the applicant 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.
Theme: Privilege
Theme (Explained): A narrative on privilege can turn political if we focus on the wrong privilege. But across political aisles and cultures, there is an agreement that financial security is a privilege, security is a privilege, health is a privilege, and education is a privilege. For the essay, I have focused on financial and security as privileges.
Profile: Consultant
Industry: Non-Profit, Government
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to start with the primary motivations to move away from her father’s illustrious business. The essay starts with a criticism of the applicant’s lack of privacy as the daughter of a business icon.
From lacking privacy to lacking autonomy to shift away from a pre-destined path to join her father’s business, the applicant’s work with UNHCR offers her 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 in parallel to the applicant’s realization that a strong foundation in math and statistics was essential to devise solutions that holistically improve decision-making for the beneficiaries.
The softening of her bias against the concept of ‘business as a force of good’ and the role Math & science offer in interpreting human suffering is captured with a transformational story arc.
Opener: The essay starts with the burden of being known as the daughter of a famed business personality.
Stanford GSB MBA What Matters Essay Example: What matters most to you, and why? (640 Words)(From Privilege to Serving the Vulnerable)
I hid my family name for two years.
The 3rd transfer to a private school mandated that we include our father’s name, profession, and mother’s maiden name. The combination proved easy to detect our family’s elusive presence. My education and grades became a subject of interest in Tabloid newspapers and social media as the interest in my father’s Midas touch ..
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