Kirsten Moss, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid for Stanford’s Graduate School of Business
Ask Kirsten Moss to set the record straight on the single biggest misperception prospective students have about Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and you’ll get an unequivocal answer. “Some of our students tell me that they almost did not apply because they did not come from a ‘top’ university, or they were from the ‘wrong’ industry, or their GMAT or GPA was ‘too low,'” says Moss, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid for Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
“This is heartbreaking to me,” she adds in an interview with Poets&Quants. “We are trying to select a class who aspires to our motto of change lives, change organizations, and change the world. From my experience, I am clear that those who will live up to this motto do not come from a limited number of institutions, job roles, or GPAs. We look at what you value, what you aspire to do, how you think, the impact you have had, and the perspective you will bring.”
You can, of course, easily forgive applicants for their perspective. After all, the odds of gaining an admit from Stanford are among the lowest in higher education. Last year, Stanford received nearly 20 applications for every seat in its MBA class, 8,173 applicants for 418 seats, the second largest applicant pool in the world for any MBA program behind only Harvard. Stanford’s 6% acceptance rate–roughly half the 11% rate at Harvard– allowed it to turn down 8,173 candidates last year out of a self-selecting group of extraordinary young professionals. No wonder Stanford last year boasted the world’s highest average class GMAT scores–737–and the highest undergraduate grade point average–3.73–for any prestige MBA program.
THE ‘LEADERSHIP GEEK’ WHO BRINGS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE TO MBA ADMISSIONS
This year, however, Moss appears to be sending a message to would-be applicants. For the first time in recent memory, Stanford’s average class GMAT score slid by five full points to 732, equal to this year’s average posted by Northwestern Kellogg, Wharton, and Columbia Business School. It is the first time in many years that Stanford can’t claim sole possession of the highest GMAT scores for any prestige MBA program in the world.
Moss, 52, who took over the top admissions job at Stanford on June 1 of last year, brings a unique background to the school’s selection process. She is the only MBA gatekeeper to ever have held the top admissions job at both Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. And unlike most of her peers, Moss has also spent considerable time thinking hard about the attributes and traits of exceptional business leaders, including a couple of years at Egon Zehnder, the prestigious executive search firm, and four years gaining her Doctor of Psychology in organizational leadership. She refers to herself as a “leadership geek.”
It was a job opportunity for her husband, Alan, that originally brought Moss back out to the West Coast. She had enrolled at Harvard College in 1982 at the age of 16, earning her bachelor’s degree from Harvard in economics, government and society in 1986. Moss then joined J.P. Morgan’s investment banking practice as an associate, a job she held for four years before returning to campus in 1990 to get her MBA from Harvard Business School. Her husband, a vice president of global sales and operations at Google, is also an HBS graduate, having earned his MBA in 1992, the same year she earned her HBS degree.
We posed a series of questions to Moss. Here’s how she answered them:
You bring to the job of admissions an unusual background that I can’t help but think informs the way you think about selection. When you were at Egon Zehnder, for example, you were deeply involved in assessing CEO potential. How did that experience impact the way you view MBA admissions at Stanford?
During my time at Egon Zehnder, we researched the leadership behaviors that were the “roots” of CEO potential. We analyzed how CEOs behaved within their organizations and how these behaviors contributed to their success. This research has had an impact the way I think about MBA admissions because these leadership behaviors are the markers of future success and can be found within the pages of an MBA application.
You also have a doctorate of psychology in organizational leadership. What were some of the more impactful learnings from that experience you bring to your perspective on admissions?
During my doctoral program, I focused my research on assessing transformational leadership. One major finding was that the frequency and range of leadership behaviors used by an individual strongly predicted his or her professional success. And even more remarkable, the frequency and range of behaviors used was not linked to years of career experience. In fact, some MBA students had the same frequency and range of leadership behaviors as did highly effective CEOs. While we may think that you need to be a senior executive to be an effective leader, this capability does not require gray hair or decades of work experience. You can learn to use a wide range of leadership behaviors early in your career, and this learning will drive your ability to influence and engage others.
Stanford University Graduate School of Business – Ethan Baron photo
For years, you had the opportunity to be a leadership facilitator at Stanford. What did you learn about the raw material people need to have to become strong leaders?
Working as a facilitator in the GSB course, Interpersonal Dynamics, has been one of my favorite professional experiences thus far. For someone who is a self-described “leadership geek”, it was analogous to being a medical school student who finally gets to enter the operating room. Although we all can read about leadership research, this class puts the theory into practice. Throughout the course, students have the opportunity to observe and experiment with different behaviors to increase their influence with and connection to others. Over the course of the term, together, we discover how our specific leadership style and behavior impacts our connection to every other person in the room. We also learn how the subtleties of gender, culture, ethnicity, and even socio-economic status affect others’ response to our behaviors. We each have the raw material to be influential leaders. The challenge is understanding how this raw material needs to be molded. Stanford provides a safe place to experiment and practice.
How to you assess a person’s potential to lead in an MBA application?
Simply stated, the Stanford MBA Admissions team looks at what impact you have had on the organizations or communities to which you belong. We are agnostic about the type of organization – it could be professional or extracurricular – but we want to know how those communities are different because you were there. We look for this evidence in recommendations, in essays, in application responses, and during interviews. We also care about what the applicant values and what motivates them. Highly effective leaders are aware of who they are and where they want to go. Lastly, we look at the perspective you will bring to the classroom and the GSB community. At Stanford, one of our greatest strengths is the diversity of experiences of our students.
Kirsten Moss, assistant dean of admissions & financial aid at Stanford GSB
Without looking you up on LinkedIn, few applicants are likely to know you are the first admissions director at Stanford who also held the top job in MBA admissions at Harvard from 1999 to 2001. Are there any meaningful differences in the way you approached your job at HBS and now at Stanford?
Yes, there are differences in the way I approach my role now. In 1999, I did not have any experience in admissions or talent selection and had to rely mostly on my gut. Today, I still listen to my instincts in making admissions decisions, but they are informed by years of experience in leadership assessment, development, coaching, and research. This background brings focus and clarity to the way we make decisions on the admissions committee. Our admissions officers look for specific evidence of how a candidate has impacted his or her organization or university rather than, for example, just focusing on the “brand name” of his or her professional institution or universities. In fact, members of the Class of 2020 came from over 170 different universities and over 300 professional organizations, because leaders can be found across the globe in any kind of organization.
Do you think that both Stanford and Harvard are looking for the same traits in applicants?
I left Harvard long ago, so I couldn’t tell you what they look for now. At the GSB, though, we look for individuals who dare to dream, who know themselves, who are curious, and who have changed the lives of those around them in some way. I always encourage candidates to start the application process thinking about things they have done that have made them most proud. Undoubtedly, these would be the same stories in which our admissions team would be most interested. Maybe you are a natural mentor, or maybe you have original ideas, or maybe you have found a new way to get things done. Leadership comes in hundreds of flavors, and we just want to know more about yours.
The Class of 2020 is your first class of MBAs at Stanford. What can you tell us about the quality of the latest crop of incoming MBA students?
Last week, I had the great pleasure of giving a welcome speech to the members of the Class of 2020. To see them all assembled in Cemex Auditorium on the Stanford GSB campus was a remarkable moment for me. These students have overcome hardships and challenges, discovered new ideas, taken risks to go beyond what is expected, and made those around them better. Their passions are as diverse as their experiences — from making movies to singing rock songs, from discovering cancer cell movements to founding stem cell start-ups, from launching space craft to manufacturing self-driving cars, from creating sustainable chocolate to selling beefless burgers, from investing for social impact to leading social activism campaigns. Each one told us their story about what matters most. And we had such fun listening. This class is a true compilation of these journeys and dreams.
Kirsten Moss is the first person to hold the top admissions job at both Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB
Is an MBA as valuable today as it was when you earned your MBA in 1992? If so, why?
In 1992, I felt my MBA was important to help me reach “the next rung on the ladder” (even though I was not quite sure yet which ladder I would want to climb). We read cases about how leaders over the last couple of decades had built Fortune 500 companies, like Proctor & Gamble or General Electric. In my opinion, the MBA degree, and more specifically, the Stanford GSB experience, is more valuable now given our current business context. We are currently experiencing the fourth industrial revolution. If you look at the list of the top 30 unicorns, many of them were founded just miles from our campus and were created within the last three to five years. One thing should be abundantly clear that now, unlike any time in history, you can create and lead game-changing organizations, even very early in your careers. I encourage those with big dreams to learn how it can be done and step up to the plate.
Fundamentally, the GSB’s distinctive approach is that it expands your understanding of what is possible and gives you the confidence to believe you are capable of achieving it. The GSB is not preparing you to just take the next step on the ladder. Instead, it is about identifying the problems you most want to solve and developing the skills, learning, and experiences you need to take action. We are lucky to be in the heart Silicon Valley, the heart of innovation, so you can learn from those who are currently leading this new revolution.
What Matters Most is one of the most iconic MBA essays ever. Could you give us a couple of examples of how recent admits addressed this question that especially resonated with you and your admissions team?
I can’t give you specific examples to protect the confidentiality of our applicants, but I can offer applicants a bit of advice. Effective leaders can articulate what they value. These values guide how they prioritize their efforts and build culture. Surprisingly, these values are likely already developed by the time we reach our early twenties. The best homework I can give to anyone who aspires to change the world is to reflect deeply on what they value and why. The true answer to that question can only be discovered by you. It is the best assignment we could ever give as it will help guide your trajectory from this moment forward.
Are there any misconceptions or myths about Stanford GSB that applicants might have that you would like to set the record straight on?
Yes, one misconceptions is that you have to be a unicorn to get in! Seriously, some of our students tell me that they almost did not apply because they did not come from a “top” university, or they were from the “wrong” industry, or their GMAT or GPA was “too low”. This is heartbreaking to me. We are trying to select a class who aspires to our motto of change lives, change organizations, and change the world. From my experience, I am clear that those who will live up to this motto do not come from a limited number of institutions, job roles, or GPAs. We look at what you value, what you aspire to do, how you think, the impact you have had, and the perspective you will bring.
Do you have any pet peeves about the MBA market? The overreliance on rankings by applicants? Gossip in community forums? Applicants who post their stats and application status on websites?
I have consistently seen misinformation on community forums, so I worry that candidates who rely on their advice could, in fact, be hurting their chances of getting into the schools they would most like to attend. I believe that those who post are trying to be helpful, but the reality is no one really knows exactly why they were (or weren’t) admitted to a particular program. No matter which program you are interested in, I recommend you look to the school’s website for guidance on how to put your best foot forward.
When it comes to financial aid, Stanford has launched several new initiatives including a fellowship for students who commit to returning to the Midwest. Can you give us an update on this?
We are in the third year of offering the USA fellowship, which targets 12 states in the Midwest. We saw great attendance at our midwestern events this summer and are thrilled it is helping us to gain exposure to these candidates.
And finally, what’s the best advice you can give to an applicant today?
Do not talk yourself out of applying because part of your application does not fit some preconceived notion of what we look for or perfectly fit some statistical range on our website. Apply and discover through this process who you are and what you want for your future. We can’t wait to listen to your story.
DON’T MISS: MEET STANFORD’S MBA CLASS OF 2019 or WHY STANFORD GSB HAS BOOSTED MIDWESTERN APPLICANTS
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