Stanford: The Third Time's the Charm

Recent Stanford MBA Grad Jason Jianyu Tu was born in 1989 in a small village 125 miles south of Xian--in what he termed a "sixth-tier city," meaning, "There's a very slim chance you can be successful." (See post one.) His parents, well aware of this, searched for ways out of this small village, and eventually found a path to Xian. (See post two.) The big city of Xian--although only a hop, skip and a jump away--was like a different planet, with buses and fast food and a really tough school. (See post three.) Jason gave up trying to do well in school, instead focusing his energy where his passions lay: guitar and blockbuster movies. (See post four.) While Jason's high school headmaster did not have high hopes that Jason would get a college degree, Jason jumped through hoop after hoop to get accepted to the University of Washington. His only problem? Funding. (See post five.) Thanks, however, to a mass e-mail marketing campaign, Jason found himself accepted to the University of Evansville in Indiana. (See post six.) He was thrilled...until he landed in what felt was the middle of nowhere. (See post seven.) As Jason was one of two Chinese people at the school, he was immediately the expert on anything and everything that had to do with China. (See post eight.) Not only that, but he was soon paired up with an American host family, something he looks back on as a very important part of his life. (See post nine.) Despite the warm welcome in Evansville, he decided he needed to move to a bigger place. (See post ten.) Upon graduating with a degree in Economics from Purdue University, however, Jason still had trouble finding a job. He was initially relieved to get a Research Fellowship at Toulouse School of Economics in France. (See post eleven.) The inefficiency of France drove him nuts. (See post twelve.) When his professor failed to grade an important exam, Jason realized he was in the wrong spot. (post thirteen.)

Jason decided to leave France rather than fight a losing battle with his professor. However,  he wasn’t sure what to do next. The hiring season was over, the school application season had passed. Through tireless research he discovered that Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong was hiring...

He applied, making it to the last round of interviews--the in-person ones. As Jason was in France, the HR person generously offered to have him conduct these through a conference call. But he didn’t want to take any chances.

“I was so eager to get out, I flew myself over. I flew to Hong Kong for two days, had the job interview, got an offer, flew back to Paris and packed up everything and relocated to Hong Kong.“

Jason worked for Standard Chartered Bank for two years, then decided that in order to move up in the business world he needed an MBA. He once again applied to all his first-choice schools: Stanford, Harvard, Yale.

  The third time was the charm. Stanford sent him an acceptance.

(To be continued. Next: Jason Leads Stanford Students Through Dynamic China.)