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Empathy: Stanford GSB MBA What Matters Essay Example

Stanford GSB MBA Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (650 Words)

Background Information: Partisan media or editorial has been an accepted norm in publishing for the past 150 years. The only difference now is that we are aware of the biases. Under such open ideological positioning, democracy is at risk of making fatal decisions that negatively impact the federal structure and welfare of US citizens.

Theme: Bipartisanship

Theme (Explained): Bipartisanship as a foundation for democracy is not a popular theme in an election year. The context for the need for bi-partisan ideas and perspectives is the theme of the essay.

Profile: Consultant

Industry: Media

MBA Essay Strategy: Most of the M7 and T20 schools have clear left-leaning ideological preferences. However, almost everyone agrees on the need for checks and balances, and debates in a democracy. 

I wanted to present the challenges of maintaining a functional democracy in an algorithmic world. 

The challenges of finding truth in a crowded, eyeball-incentivized media industry require a complete reimagining of hiring practices and culture. The App the applicant worked on fills a gap in presenting both sides of the story and allows readers/viewers to validate facts.

I also wanted to show that on many issues – left and right agree on the need for prioritizing American interests locally before strategic interventions globally.  

Opener: By introducing Uncle Phil as a conservative on most issues but liberal on workplace preferences, I wanted to present the absurdity of categorizing people into ideological buckets.

Sample Stanford GSB MBA Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (Empathy & Scaling Bipartisan Media) (637 Words)

10 years ago, Uncle Pete gave a passionate speech supporting my decision and reiterating why I should join as an Automobile engineer. He had a conservative ideology, but my father – a liberal believed that a woman shouldn't unnecessarily risk their safety in a men-only workspace. 

The cliched American family with a mishmash of ideologies doesn't neatly translate ideologically on all issues. But when media companies assume ..

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Download the Complete Stanford GSB What Matters Essay on empathy and scaling bipartisan media 

F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide

Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (650 Words)

Essay B: Why Stanford? (350 Words)

Optional Question: Think about times you’ve created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? (600 Words) (200 words – each example)

Download F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide 

(24+ Sample Essays & 300+ Pages of Essay Writing Wisdom)

About the Author 

Atul Jose

I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.

 

For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.

 

My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.

 

I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.

 

The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.

 

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