In the Personal Information, Activities and Interests, and Awards and Honors sections of the application, we encourage you to tell us more about yourself.
Personal Information
As part of the application process, we ask you for some personal information, including:
- Date of birth
- Citizenship
- Family information
- Social Security number (for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only; only the last four digits will be visible in your application)
- Contact information
We understand that this is confidential and sensitive information. We use industry standard safeguards to protect your data.
Additional Context
In this section, we provide an optional opportunity for you to discuss your background more fully and how it has shaped your perspective.
We know that each person is more than a list of facts or predefined categories. Please feel free to elaborate on how your background or life experiences have helped shape your recent actions or choices (up to 1,200 characters, or approximately 200 words).
Career Aspiration
We ask you to provide a brief summary of what you aspire to do after graduating.
Many of our students use their year to:
- Accelerate within a field where they have significant experience
- Pursue an entrepreneurial or start up venture
- Build knowledge to pivot to a different industry, geography, or function
Your own exploration and vision will be more specific to your background and goals. And while your aspirations may evolve, we want to ensure you are realistic in how you envision using one year at Stanford to advance your goal. Whatever you are not able to capture in this short statement can be further described in your second essay.
Activities and Interests
Help us get to know you better by sharing how you spend your time outside of your primary job responsibilities or classes since college. Examples of activities in which you are or have been involved may include athletic, charitable, civic, community, company-sponsored, or professional. A sustained depth of commitment in a few activities may demonstrate your passion more than minimal participation in many.
Include the activities you found most meaningful, as well as those in which you participated after completing your degree(s). Be sure to avoid using acronyms to describe your activities.
Awards and Honors
We want to know about the accomplishments for which you’ve received recognition (congratulations!). Throughout your application, you can share academic, civic, professional, and other accolades.