Essay: Why Stanford?
Profile: Miss SK
Profile (Background): Miss. SK has strong leadership experience managing workers from 85 nationalities in the rig. As the only engineer to earn a triple promotion in 2 years, she also integrated a sustainable water infrastructure in a complex rig layout.
Additionally, her status as one of four women engineers in the team makes her story even more impressive.
Essay Approach: “Why Stanford?”
Miss SK should start with her impressive career growth and her unique leadership experience before pivoting to the recent experience of integrating sustainable water infrastructure in a complex rig layout.
Once the credentials are established, she should highlight the larger issue of creating sustainable water infrastructure in developing economies and the cost restrictions in overhauling American water infrastructure. "
Core Curriculum
Financial Accounting
Although Miss SK has experience in project costing in a high-cost Oil & Gas industry, the demands of meeting $1.5 trillion cost require a deeper understanding of international accounting standards and global reporting. With consensus across countries dependent on the cost of setting up renewable water infrastructure, gaining a deep understanding of cash flow, margins, and inflationary trends is essential to plan for such long-term projects.
Microeconomics
Since there is a huge funding gap in what governments can offer, uniting private stakeholders is essential. This requires a strong grasp of the supply-demand cycle, the impact of government regulation on investments in sustainable infrastructure, and pricing vs. production costs that could help the project evolve into a self-sustaining venture.
Note: Core, Electives and Experiential Learning Courses are Quoted and narrated in F1GMAT's Complete Why Stanford MBA Sample Essay as part of F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide
Essay Planning
Problem: Develop deeper consulting insights into developing a sustainable water infrastructure solution
Problem (Explained): There is a growing demand for infrastructure to support water management in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In the US, the need is to overhaul the American water infrastructure. A comprehensive consulting solution covers funding, operational expertise, and technological intervention.
Feasible Goals: Consulting is a valid goal, with the latest Stanford MBA employment report showing 16% entering the function. More importantly, the engineering school works on cutting-edge IoT technology - a focus area that could help the applicant access the latest in sensor technology to minimize water wastage.
Short-term Goal: Transition from the Oil and Gas industry as an Engineer to a Consulting Role in a Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project
Long-Term Goal: To provide equitable access to clean water for everyone
Stanford’s Strength: Stanford’s legacy of bringing together subject matter experts from multiple functions, the cutting-edge technology tested and tweaked in labs across Stanford Engineering School, and the integrated skills that Stanford offers.
Opener: I wanted to summarize the applicant’s unique achievement of leading a diverse team and also earning promotions at an unprecedented pace.
Strategy: The strategy is to highlight the applicant's impressive career growth and a recent milestone around sustainable water infrastructure before highlighting the 'scale of the sustainable water infrastructure' problem. The 'engineering solutions' where her expertise lies are not sufficient to achieve the long-term goal of providing equitable access to clean water for everyone. The gap in exposure could only be filled with a consulting career that offers a broader experience in technology, finance, operations, and policy. By aligning the problem with her career path, she improved the believability of her motivation. The opening paragraph establishing her credentials will address the feasibility of achieving the ambitious goal.
Why Stanford MBA Essay Two: Oil and Gas to Operational Consulting (345 words)
While the promotion from Operations Engineer to Team Lead to Delivery Manager has been at an unprecedented pace, I recognize the privilege of managing on-ground staff from 85 countries. Recognizing the water degradation caused by each rig operation, I proactively integrated green infrastructure with gray infrastructure to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act.
The growing demand for ..
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