MS in Management Science & Engineering at Stanford FAQ's

I have gone through the course details at the website. They appear to be dealing with core financial subjects. As I am from an engineering background, I would like to know if there is any prerequisite knowledge necessary to take up the course.
USUALLY BEING FROM AN ENGINEERING BACKGROUND IS ENOUGH TO TAKE UP MOST OF THE COURSES IN MS&E. I TOOK A FINANCE CLASS AND THE ONLY PROBLEM I FACED WAS IN CATCHING UP WITH THE SPEED OF THE CLASS IN GENERAL. IF ONE PUTS IN SOME EFFORT DURING THE BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND SOME BASIC CONCEPTS, ITS NOT THAT BAD USUALLY. OF COURSE SOME OF THE UNDERGRADS FROM US WHO HAVE MAJORED IN FINANCE AND ECONOMICS SEEM TO BE WAY AHEAD OF US ENGINEERS. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT USUALLY A PROBLEM.

- What is the placement scenario ? What kind of jobs are offered (technical/business)? Is it easy to find the right job or needs a lot of effort?
THIS IS A TRICKY QUESTION AS PLACEMENTS IN STANFORD ARE USUALLY VERY GOOD , HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME STUDENTS WHO REALLY STRUGGLE TO GET THE JOB THEY WANT. SO TO MAKE MYSELF MORE CLEAR ONE NEEDS TO WORK HARD FROM THE BEGINNING TO ENSURE THAT YOU GET THE JOB AND COMPANY YOU WANT. MOST OF THE TOP COMPANIES RECRUIT FROM MS&E AND I DON'T SEE A PROBLEM IN GETTING SOME JOB ATLEAST!

- From your experience, do you think there is any particular student profile Stanford looks for?
STANFORD LOOKS FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE EXCEPTIONAL IN SOME AREA OR OTHER. USUALLY MOST OF THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS I MET HERE HAD A GRE SCORE MORE THAN 1400. ACADEMICS WERE PRETTY GOOD, TOP 5% OF YOUR CLASS AND SOME EXCELLENT PROJECTS AND RECOS, THE USUAL STUFF I GUESS!

- What can I do to better my chances? (Ex:Contact professors/students and get their recommendation/reference, Do internships in the related field.etc)
WHEN R U GRADUATING? WIL YOU GET SOME WORK EXPERIENCE BEFORE YOU GET HERE. THERE IS NO HARM IN CONTACTING THE PROFESSORS AND IN GENEREAL GETTING PEOPLE IN THE DEPARTMENT TO KNOW YOU.

- Most of the students I have come across have very good resumes. Either they are from the IITs or other elite institutions and have good work ex and international papers. Do you think it is too ambitious of me to apply to Stanford? Is there anyone you know whos got an admit with just a good gre score, sop n cgpa?I have a few friends from VIT with a similar profile who got an admit in the environmental eng program but I would like to know about students in MS&E.

I GOT AN ADMIT WITH A GOOD GRE SCORE, SOP AND RECO;S. SO I DON'T SEE HOW ANYONE ELSE CAN'T GET IN. BUT AT THE SAME TIME LET ME WARN YOU, THIS PROGRAM IS GETTING VERY POPULAR IN INDIA AND LOTS OF STUDENTS ARE APPLYING. INFACT THIS YEAR, I WAS SPEAKIGN TO THE ADMISSION PEOPLE AND S HE WAS TELLING ME THAT CHOOSING AMONGST THE INDIAN STUDENTS IS GETTING VERY HARD...

was going through the course list, and some of the courses that would interest me have been marked saying that they are limited enrollment courses. What does that mean ? I select a concentration say Entreprenurship and Policy, than would i not be given preference over the othes who might have opted for say OR ?

IN THE MS&E DEPT, DON'T WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT CONCENTRAITON TO TAKE. TAKE UP THE COURSES YOU LIKE. Some of the COURSES YOU SAW ARE LIMITED ENROLEMENT. THIS MEANS THAT THERE ARE LMITED SEATS AND ONE HAS TO APPLY TO GET IN. IN SOME, WE HAVE TO FILL AN APPLICATION FORM AND BASED ON WORK EX ETC, THE PROF DECIDES WHO TO TAKE. SOME OTHER ONES HAVE A LOTTERY SYSTEM AS THERE ARE TOO MANY STUDENTS WHO APPLY.

Although i have been able to research on the course content etc for the MS&E program, but i was not able to find any relevant placement statistics. I also tried getting across to the department grad. office assistant, but she was also not able to provide me with any number and asked me to write to the Graduate Student Placement Centre to find more information on the same. Would be able to provide some numbers on placements and some rough idea on the starting salaries there.

PLACEMENTS ARE PRETTY GOOD FOR ALL STANFORD STUDENTS. BEING A MASTERS STUDENT, ONE CANNOT EXPECT POSITIONS AND SALARIES LIKE THOSE OF THE MBA'S . BUT MOST OF THE STUDENTS END UP GETTING PRETTY GOOD JOBS . I KNOW OF SOME WHO DID HAVE PROBLEMS, THEY USUALLY HAD SOME STRANGE REASONS LIKE BAD COMMUNICAITON SKILLS OR APPLYING FOR THE WRONG JOBS AT THE WRONG TIME ETC..
THE SALARIES FOR MASTERS STUDENTS ARE BETWEEN $60,000 TO $90,000 PER ANNUM DEPENDING ON THE COMPANY AND JOB PROFILE AS WELL AS YOUR PAST WORK EXPERIENCE.

I also happened to visit your blog where i could see some of the rants about the program and stuff around it .

Also if you dont mind, i would like to hear from you on your background and what convinced you that Stan is where you wanted to be ( i read your blog post on this :) but still )).

SO AFTER COMPLETING MY ENGINEERING IN ELECTRONICS FROM PUNE UNIV, I WORKED WITH IBM FOR A YEAR AND REALISED THAT I WASN'T ALL THAT INTERESTED IN DOING A PURE TECH JOB. I THEN SWITCHED TO A START UP IN A BUSINESS ROLE. BY THEN I HAD STARTED LOOKING AT SCHOOLS IN AMERICA FOR FURTHER EDUCAITON. I DIDN'T HAVE ENOOUGH WORK EX TO GET THROUGH THE TOP MBA SCHOOLS PLUS I WAS STILL A LITTLE STUCK UP ON DOING TECH RELATED MANAGEMENT.

MS&E AT STANFORD WAS A PERFECT FIT. I LOVE STANFORD AND BEING IN THE SILICON VALLEY IS A BIG BONUS.

BPCL Scholarship FAQ's

1. How did you prepare? What do they usually ask, acads, cultural, any specific questions on the form, etc?

THE PREPARAITON IS GENERAL SIMILAR TO OTHER INTERVIEWS: ACADS, WHY THE COURSE, WHY UNIV, EXTRA CURRICULARS, WILL YOU COME BACK TO INDIA AFTER YOUR STUDIES, 5 YEAR PLANS ETC..

2. What should I watch out for? Stress Interviews, etc

I DIDN'T HAVE A STRESS INTERVIEW AND DON'T THINK ANYONE ELSE DID.

3. I heard it is random selection sometimes, how do I increase my chances?

I DON'T BELIEVE IT IS RANDOM SELECTION. BUT THEN I COULD BE WRONG, SO CAN'T SAY FOR SURE!
THE ONLY THING TO DO IS GIVE THE INTERVIEW YOUR BEST SHOT! AND SHOW YOUR DEDICATION TO WORKING HARD IN GENERAL.

4. Is this a loan or a scholarship?

ITS A SCHOLARSHIP.

5. Can you connect me to any of your friends who have been selected or been through this process?

I DON'T KNOW OF ANYONE ELSE WHO GOT SELECTED LAST YEAR, BUT YOU CAN JOIN ORKUT GROUP WHICH HAS A LOT OF OTHER SCHOLARS POSTING THEIR EXPERIENCES.

Firstly, kindly tell me what percentage of the tuition fee do they offer as scholarship.

LAST YEAR THEY GAVE SHCOLARSHIPS AMOUNTING TO 4 TO 8 LACKS DEPENDING ON THE LENGHT OF THE COURSE.

Secondly, what kind of interview is expected.. I mean will this be a normal HR interview or will they be asking me questions about my area of study.

THE INTERVIEW WAS BOTH HR, ACADEMIC, ACHIEVEMENTS BASED ETC..ANYTHING CAN BE ASKED..BUT USUALLY THE QUESTIONS ARE ORIENTED TOWARDS WHY THIS COURSE, WHY THE UNIV, EXTRA CURRICULARS ETC.

Around how many people generally attend the interview. I am asking these questions to just get an idea of what I have to face and prepare myself better.

I AM NOT SURE HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY CALLED FOR THE INTERVIEW AS THEY WERE SPREAD OUT OVER A COUPLE OF DAYS. BUT A ROUGH ESTIMATE COULD BE AROUND 80-100 STUDENTS LAST YEAR. I COULD BE WRONG, SO DON'T TAKE THIS AS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH.

How much amount was the scholarship given to you.

THE AMOUNT VARIES WITH STUDENTS , COURSES AND NUMBER OF YEARS IT TAKES TO COMPLETE THE COURSE. IT CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM 4.00 LACKS TO 8.00 LACK INDIAN RUPEES OVER A PERIOD OF 2 YEARS.

2. How was your interview and what all things were asked. What was the duration of your interview and how many rounds were there?

AFTER I RECIEVED THE RESPONSE FROM THEM INVITING ME TO MUMBAI FOR THE INTERVIEW, THERE WAS ONLY 1 ROUND IN MUMBAI. THE INTERVIEW LASTED FOR 15 MINUTES TO 30 MINUTES FOR VARIOUS STUDENTS. THEY ASKED ME QUESITONS ABOUT THE FORM I HAD FILLED( ACHIEVEMENTS, GOALS, EXTRA CURRICULARS ETC) AS WELL AS WHY I WANTED TO PURSUE THIS PARTICULAR COURSE AND HOW WILL IT HELP INDIA WHEN I COME BACK.

3. Is there any terms and conditions like you need to serve BPCL after your completion or some thing like that.

THERE WERE NO TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE SCHOLARSHIP I WAS GIVEN EXCEPT TO PERFORM WELL IN THE COURSE I AM PURSUING HERE.

4. What was the rough intimated date when your scholarship result was announced?

I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY BUT I THINK IT WAS TOWARDS THE END OF JULY NOT BEFORE THAT.

5. Lastly, your own suggestions, tips, tricks and advices which you feel necessary to share it with me regarding the scholarship.

BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT WHY YOU WANT TO PURSUE THIS COURSE AND HOW IS THE BPCL SCHOLARSHIP GOING TO HELP YOU IN DOING THAT. TALK A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR LOYALTY TOWARDS INDIA AND HOW YOU WILLL HELP THE COUNTRY WHEN YOU GET BACK.

FINALLY, THE INTERVIEWS WERE VERY VARIED AMONGST DIFFERENT STUDENTS SO THERE IS NO CLEAR ANSWER TO WHAT MIGHT ACTUALLY HELP YOU TO WIN THE SHCOLARSHIP. HOWEVER, DO YOUR BEST AND I AM SURE YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU DESERVE.