Hey, I was sent this ebook by The Expert Collective (a Stanford GSB grad) a ways back and it slipped my mind to review it.
Others have commented that it’s Stanford-centric, which I didn’t mind because I’m applying there. The Stanford students seemed the coolest too, reiterating that no insider knowledge is needed, don’t try to be a cookie-cutter applicant esp. on Essay 1, don’t stress about grades too much or making the most money once you get there.
One thing I would have liked is if it were done in interview style. It was a written questionnaire, so some people wrote short answers to certain questions. I feel like an interviewer could have gotten more depth from the students. And some questions like the wow factor one — most students didn’t seem to think they had a wow factor, although a few had very neat experiences. One guy said his 760 was his wow factor, which made me sad, since I find it more of my scarlet letter. And the “favorite classes” question might be better once I get into a school, since it means nothing to me now.
Overall, I took away a few good tips and it’s good to see how other people present themselves.
Read the full article: Review of e-book-y