Reliance Stanford scholarship - essay

The Reliance Stanford Scholarship has caught the attention of all Indian MBA aspirants. Sounds too good to be true. The initial shortlisting would be of 50 candidates who would then apply to Stanford. Of these upto 5 candidates would be selected by Stanford based on their admission criteria. Except for the condition of returning to India withing two years of completion of MBA program, it has no strings attached.

The heart of the application is the Scholarship Essay How do you aspire to shape India's future? (all the remaining parts of the application are factual information). So how do you approach this essay.

• Its "Shaping India's Future"; not "Changing India's Future". As Missionmba rightly says this is not an opportunity for discussing on what all are wrong in India and hence need to be set right. The focus should be on giving a shape to India's future. Changes if any should only be incidental.
• This Scholarship is for "developing leaders in India who are committed to the country’s human and socio-economic progress." Hence it is imminent that the essay should discuss human and socio- economic issues in India and how they form part of your plan of shaping India's future
• The Application form asks about your professional aspirations and also states that "In the essay section, you will have an opportunity to elaborate upon your professional aspirations." Hence it would be advisable to link your professional aspirations to the theme of the essay
• Don't forget that this is an application for getting into Stanford. Hence It would be prudent to discuss how MBA from Stanford fits into the overall scheme of things. This presupposes doing a bit of research on Stanford GSB and its program.
• Finally keep in mind the word limit (only 250 words). Use other parts of the application wisely to highlight your abilities and accomplishments .