Essay: Why Stanford?
Profile: Miss. A
Profile (Background): Miss A started her career as a software engineer and later transitioned into product roles at a global technology company. Her work sits at the intersection of innovation, user experience, and social good, particularly in underserved markets. Before Stanford, she led cross-functional teams working on scalable technology products and founded a mentorship initiative to increase technology access for women in Kenya. Miss A’s background combines deep technical fluency with a desire to build inclusive, user-centered solutions.
Essay Approach: “Why Stanford?”
Miss A should position Stanford as the platform where she can further integrate her technical experience with product leadership and innovation strategy. Her focus should be on how Stanford’s resources, particularly in technology management, user-centered design, and AI, align with her goal of scaling the Small Language Learning Model (SLM) in energy-deficient regions.
Electives & Experiential Learning
Moore’s Law and the Convergence of Computing and Communications
By studying the evolution of the global semiconductor industry, the applicant will learn about the different segments of the supply chain from memory logic to foundry to design. The engaging participation of the seminar will help the applicant develop a framework to address the lack of compute in Africa. By understanding the perspective of senior executives in the industry, the applicant can develop a plan to scale the Small Language Learning Model (SLM)
Note: Complete Core, Electives and Experiential Learning Courses are Quoted and narrated in F1GMAT's Why Stanford MBA Sample Essay as part of F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide
Essay Planning
Problem: User adoption of technology products in emerging economies like Kenya is low from the mistrust of centralized authorities and institutions.
Problem (Explained): The mistrust in institutions is valid, as centralized authorities have often taken advantage of citizens. In addition to the mistrust, building a cost-efficient EdTech App that can offer a personalized learning experience for anyone with a smartphone is a vision that is jeopardized by the high cost of energy associated with training LLMs.
Feasible Goals: Acquire the technical, operational, and historical perspective of the semiconductor industry to overcome the lack of compute in Kenya
Short-term Goal: Scale the EdTech App by raising funds and learning the intricacies of building a product in resource resource-constrained environment
Long-Term Goal: Bring the 400 million youths of Africa into the global employment market
Stanford’s Strength: Stanford’s legacy of supporting semiconductor pioneers who overcame regulatory, market, and technology challenges to lead the industry.
Opener: I wanted to dispel the myth that the M-Pesa adoption in Kenya was just about the technology, but arose from the recruitment of agents, who facilitated a new market for remittance.
Strategy: Citing the experience of M-Pesa and the strategy the FinTech App adopted to scale the product, helped me present the lack of trust in centralized institutions observed in African markets. By presenting multiple problems – the importance of humans in the middle of technology adoption and the role of SLM in addressing low compute in Africa, I am expanding the problem from a simple technology adoption problem to a large and ambitious techno-social problem. Stanford loves applicants who have the skills to bring meaningful techno, social, and functional changes to take on ambitious goals.
Instead of Sustainability as a buzzword, I have highlighted sustainability as key to bringing the power of AI to Kenya and Africa.
Why Stanford MBA Essay: Technology & Product Management (SLM and Building the Technology Products of the Future) (347 Words)
Living through the M-Pesa era, I saw agents facilitating a banking ecosystem in the remotest parts of Kenya. The customers didn’t even know that the agents used M-Pesa. Joining UCLA Anderson in a city where such resistance to technology adoption doesn’t exist revealed two contrasting worldviews. One driven by faith in the institutions that ushered in growth. And second, from the abuse of power that has kept Africa poor.
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