If you are applying to Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, or any M7 MBA programs, you must assume that your competitors have unique life and career journeys.
The Why Stanford MBA Essay offers the opportunity to expand on your career. The What Matters Essay becomes the primary narrative to evaluate your values, commitments, and outlook on how the world should be.
In an attempt to capture one’s identity, applicants include 3-5 values and then offer examples for each value.
With this approach, you can’t create a persuasive narrative around even a single dominant value.
You need at least 3 examples to demonstrate that the value is not something that you orchestrated for the Essay, but it truly mattered to you.
I have read essays where, from the professional achievements, there were personality traits, entrepreneurial experience, and international perspective that were all relevant to the What Matter Essay, but when I brainstormed with the client, we could see that a vulnerable part of his personality was related to his identity.
Any identity-related narrative is better suited for the What Matters Essay over explicit statements about values.
You must understand that:
Identity Precedes Values.
Life Experiences and the part of the World you were born and raised in determines your Identity.
Life Experiences (Influences, Cities, Culture)/Birth Traits (advantages, disadvantages, and uniqueness) -> Identity -> Values
You can’t write the What Matters Essay without revealing where you grew up, your influences, your compliance or rebellion against those influences, setback events, and through the experience, a recognition of values that mattered most to you.
With the lowest acceptance rate among top MBA programs, Stanford expects applicants to truly open their hearts and convince the admissions team about the authenticity of their narrative.
This is one Essay where you need an Outline.
In your Outline, you must shortlist examples that accentuate the one value that helps you stand out.
There is a strategy involved in standing out. If you are from an overrepresented ethnicity or gender or industry or function, you should be aware of how you are perceived. And if your identity-related value or value from your experiences is unique for your profile, include it in the Stanford What Matters Essay.
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