Minor Shifts Reported in Stanford GSB Class of 2014

More international students, fewer with undergrad business degrees, and a slight dip in diversity over the previous class were just a few of the changes recently reported by the Stanford Graduate School of Business when it released the MBA Class of 2014 profile.

While no two Stanford MBA students are the same, here’s what they all have in common: intellectual vitality, demonstrated leadership potential, and stellar personal qualities and contributions, dreams and goals. Here are a few key areas of change for the Class of 2014, as revealed by the school:

• The representation of international students increased to an all-time high of 42%, comprising 53 non-U.S. countries.
• U.S. minority representation reverted from last year’s 20-year high of 27% to a more typical level of 20%. All types of diversity matter at Stanford. Our outreach efforts will continue to foster students whose unique perspectives will enhance our learning community.
• The breadth of undergraduate study continues to dazzle us. This year, a few more engineers and humanities majors joined the MBA program, with a handful fewer students who studied business.
• The industry mix changed slightly, but the absolute number both of schools, (especially non-U.S. institutions), and of organizations represented, reached an all-time high. Two-thirds of our new students are the sole person to come directly from that organization.
• Work experience in the class increased slightly to 4.2 years from 4.0 years. This is a peak for the last decade.

The school attributes these shifts to the fact that the admissions process is about admitting individuals—not categories. Stanford is looking for outstanding individuals, and has welcomed exactly 398 of them this year after receiving 6,716 applications.

Round 2 deadline is coming up on January 9, 2013. If applying to Stanford GSB is part of your action plan, check out our Stanford MBA essay tips for guidance on how to best showcase your goals and achievements.