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MIT Sloan 2013 MBA Application Questions, Deadlines, Tips

July 2, 2012 by 10 Comments
MIT

MIT Sloan

Cover Letter

Please prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Your letter should describe your accomplishments, address any extenuating circumstances that may apply to your application, and conform to standard business correspondence. Your letter should be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Senior Director of Admissions.

Like all cover letters, this is a marketing document. Make your case for admission using your accomplishments, specifically those where you had impact, showed leadership, and above-average progression and responsibility. How do the talents revealed in these examples demonstrate fit with the MIT Sloan program, its tight-knit community, and its innovative culture?

Résumé

Please prepare a business resume that includes your employment history in reverse chronological order, with titles, dates, and whether you worked part-time or full-time. Your educational record should also be in reverse chronological order and should indicate dates of attendance and degree(s) earned. Other information appropriate to a business resume is welcomed and encouraged. The resume should not be more than one page in length (up to 50 lines).

Go beyond mere job description to highlight achievement. If your title is “consultant.” Saying that you “consulted on projects” is redundant and uninformative at best. Writing that you “Led a 6-member team working on a biotech outsourcing project to Singapore with a budget of $X; it came in on time and under budget.” conveys infinitely more.

Essays

We are interested in learning more about how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years.

In each of the essays, please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

The devil is in the details, and Sloan wants them for each of these stories. Look for moments that stand out in your mind. You don’t have room for anything but those stand-outs.

Also, if Sloan is asking for events that occurred in the last three years, that’s what you should write about. “But!!!” No but’s. Stick to the last three years.

Essay 1: Please describe a time when you had to convince a person or a group of your idea. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

This question really reflects two ideas at the very heart of the Sloan MBA: leadership and innovation. Persuasion is one element in leadership and “your idea” should showcase your problem-solving and innovative thinking.

Focus on one event. Make room for analysis. Tell a story. You can use a professional or a non-professional experience for this essay. Work, sports, community service, or the arts can provide the context, but for most of you Essay 1 or Essay 2 should reflect your behavior on the job.

Essay 2: Please describe a time when you overcame a personal setback. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

This question is about resilience and your ability to bounce back after a mistake or a setback. Note that MIT is asking here for  a “personal setback” They aren’t interested in a team or company or group setback. This had to have been a reversal or defeat for you. Also realize that a setback is a temporary impediment to progress. 

Again, focus on one event; I’m sure you don’t want to go into more than one. Briefly relate the setback and spend most of your five hundred words on overcoming the experience. What did you do, feel and learn from the experience. Rather than say you learned you “can overcome anything,” which sometimes is more than a little overused, focus on key strategies and tactics you used to overcome your setback.

For more on my thoughts on answering setback questions, please watch this video. I created it in response to last year’s HBS question about setback, but the message is relevant here too. (Sorry. I am uncharacteristically somber and serious in this video.)

Supplemental Information (Optional)

The Admissions Committee invites you to share anything else you would like us or your future classmates to know about you. This may be in written or multimedia format. Please do not use Flash Media Player, and include a URL where it can be accessed online. Written essays should be 300 words or fewer.   

I discussed this question with someone in MIT Sloan’s admissions office last week. First of all realize that you can choose an essay or multi-media presentation. The media option is there so you can express yourself in the way you find easiest and most revealing. MIT does not want a recycled essay from another school. The person I spoke to was explicit about that. If you choose the multi-media format, realize it should be something viewable in about a minute — no 20-minute videos or 100-slide expositions or lengthy orations. Keep it short. It’s also fine to link to something you have created for a club, event, or cause that’s important to you.

What’s behind the option? A deep and sincere desire to meet you as a human being. A genuine, animated, real live human being. So don’t regurgitate your resume or spew stuff found in the required elements of your application. Have the confidence to share a special interest or deep commitment. I’m not suggesting Mommy Dearest or True Confessions; use judgment. I am suggesting that you allow the reader to see a good side of you not revealed elsewhere in the application.  Let them see what makes you smile, motivates you to jump out of bed with joy, and gives you a feeling of satisfaction when you turn out the light at the end of the day.

If you would like help with your MIT Sloan MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our MIT Sloan School Package which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the MIT Sloan MBA application.

MIT Sloan 2013 Application Deadlines                                     

Round I               Round II

Application Due:              Oct 24, 2012*      Dec 27, 2012*

Decisions Released:        Jan 29, 2013       Apr 2, 2013

*Applications must be received by 3:00 p.m. ET

Linda Abraham By , president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

Filed Under: MBA Admissions, Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
  • http://www.accepted.com Linda Abraham

    If any readers would like a profile evaluation for MIT Sloan, please provide the following information:

    1) Brief description of your full-time work experience.
    2) Your GMAT or GRE. Percentiles preferred.
    3) College info: The name of the college, your GPA or grade average, your major, year of graduation. For any graduate degrees, please provide the same info. If you grades are low, please indicate if there were extenuating circumstances.
    4) Significant college and post-college extra-curricular activities or community service, especially leadership experience.
    5) Important certifications like CFA, CPA, FSA, or CA.
    6) Your post-MBA goal.

    Or if you just have a question about MBA admissions, I’ll do my best to answer it.

    • Soccer L

      Hi Linda, thank you for a very helpful post. Here is my profile. can you please evaluate it for MIT- Sloan

      Work Experience:

      October
      2008– Present

      Ingersoll
      Rand

      Position: Project Engineer/Product Design Engineer

      Lead a team
      of engineers and designers located in three countries to deliver new features
      and solutions for the major commercial air conditioner product line in North
      American markets

      Initiate
      and lead various “Design Thinking” events to encourage innovation in engineering
      product design

      Lead
      meetings with customers and engineers to understand customers’ technical
      requirements.

      Lead the
      system level design strategy to deliver features for future product lines

      June 2007 –
      August 2007

      Stillwater
      Supercomputing Inc. USA

      Position
      held Intern (Consultant)

      Responsibilities

      Help the
      startup to deliver their new scientific computing processor by designing the
      prototype testing platform

      Integrate
      OpenFOAM with custom API computing library to create new API for scientific
      computing processor

      June 2005 -
      August 2006

      Engineering
      & Analysis Services, India

      Founder and
      Partner

      Responsibilities:

      Brought in
      22million INR worth of special purpose machining business within a year

      Defined
      business & technology strategy for engineering design and analysis business

      Recruited
      new clients and maintained positive client relationships

      Wrote project
      cost estimation and proposal

      Helped
      clients in their engineering design process with providing computer based
      engineering analysis services

      2) GMAT 700 (90 percentile)
      Q48(78 percentile) V38(84 Percentile)

      3) College info:

      Master of
      Science

      August 2006
      – August 2008

      The
      University of Texas at Arlington

      Major: Aerospace Engineering (3.2/4.0)

      Very quant
      heavy course work with As in all major courses and B in Macro Econ graduate
      level course

      Bachelor of
      Engineering

      Dates
      August 2001 – June 2005

      South
      Gujarat University, Surat, India

      Major:
      Mechanical Engineering (3.3/4.0) Within top 10% of the class

      AWARDS
      AND ACHIEMENTS

      Ingersoll
      Rand Merit Plus Award 2010

      UTA Dean’s
      list 2006 – 2008

      Graduate
      Research Assistantship 2007

      Graduate Teaching Assistantship 2006

      4) Significant college and post-college extra-curricular
      activities or community service, especially leadership experience.

      1.
      I started and have been managing a local amateur soccer league in small town,WI.
      This town is a very small community and doesn’t present many opportunities for
      international people to meet new people and make friends. This league has been
      an ideal platform for lot of international people to meet and make friends with
      local and other international people. So far we have 25 people representing 9
      different nationalities.

      2.
      I have been involved with Local charter school. It is a first charter school in
      nation based on design project based learning. I have been mentoring middle
      school students. I am also helping students with their design projects. I teach
      them how to approach, plan, and manage a design project. In the design project
      based learning approach focus is to teach and engage students in different
      subjects by letting them work on design projects. Starting this semester I
      might be part of the school’s governing committee.

      5) Your post-MBA goal.

      Start
      my own cold chain company for small farmers in cutoff parts of India so that
      they can get their milk and agricultural products to major district markets
      faster. India produces surplus food but majority of it goes to waste because of
      lack of proper storage and distribution system. With my knowledge of
      Refrigeration system and product design I will be able to make small scale
      devices which can find the spot in mid and lower segment of this chain.

      • http://www.accepted.com Linda Abraham

        Soccer L,

        MIT Sloan is a stretch for you IMO. While your work experience is very impressive, your academics (GMAT score, grad GPA) are a little weak for an Indian engineer applying to MIT. Nonetheless you certainly have a chance at MIT Sloan. Give it a shot and also apply to other programs that support your goals. Consider CMU Tepper, Duke, Ross, and Darden. You may also want to look into Rotman, it is well-known for its design approach.

        Best,
        Linda

  • Pingback: MIT Sloan Student Interview: Ari Oxman | MBA Admissions | Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog

  • SV

    1) Have been working as a software developer for 5 years in banking and airline domains. Currently leading a team of 7.

    2) GMAT in 2011 74% in Quant and 25% in Verbal. :( (planning to retake)
    GRE in 2005 85% in Quant and 75% in Verbal. 260 in Toefl

    3) 70% in Undergraduate studies (electrical n electronics engineering)
    91% in 12th.
    90% in maths until&including undergraduate studies

    4) Merit awards in nationwide symposiums during UG. Currently part of an NGO but only passive member.

    5) Certified in quality & ITIL

    6) Business/Margeting strategist

    • http://www.accepted.com Linda Abraham

      SV, Obviously your GMAT is a major hurdle. If you reach the GMAT average at MIT Sloan, which was the question you posed to me on Twitter, MIT would be a stretch program for you because of the intense competition among applicants to MIT Sloan and because I don’t see any compelling achievements or accomplishments in the information you provided. You may have them and that could change my assessment.

      However, there are other MBA programs. Why don’t you retake the GMAT and repost after you get your score? You can apply to MIT Sloan, if that’s your dream school, and also apply to programs that support your goals and where your chances of acceptance are better.

      For more information, please see http://blog.accepted.com/2011/09/21/mba-admissions-infographicwhere-to-apply/

      Best,
      Linda

  • Apoorv Goyal

    1. I work as director in my my family business of manufacturing transformers in India. My work has been mostly about making managerial changes in my company. For instance, I have successfully computerized inventory, introduced paperwork, improved quality control, created production cycles (mostly leadership experiences).

    2. GMAT Score:

    Quant : 90 percentile

    Verbal : 93 percentile

    Overall: 750 (98 percentile)

    3. Under graduation college : Manipal Institute of Technology

    CGPA : 9.2/10

    Major: Electrical and Electronics

    Graduation year: 2011

    4. Served as teaching assistant to a professor : Took office hours classes for 40 undergraduate students

    State level table tennis player

    5.

    6. My company is well established in Indian markets. Post MBA I want to enter into global markets of South America and Africa. Apart from the core knowledge, I want to understand these markets and learn about the diverse working culture.

    • http://www.accepted.com Linda Abraham

      Your GMAT and grades are excellent. Highly competitive. I’m a little unsure about how much responsibility you have handled in your family business. Do you manage others? For your application resume and job history, you need to quantify as much as possible your achievements and impact. I’m also concerned because you don’t appear to have any extra-curricular commitments, and they are something MIT values. You may have them, but you didn’t post them above.

      Best,
      Linda

      • Apoorv Goyal

        Dear Linda,

        Thanks for a quick reply. I do have a lot of responsibilities in my business and since I am head of my company I lead a team of around 8-10 which involves engineers and accountants. Its true, I don’t have much in the extra curricular department but I was hoping my score and quality of experience would offset that. Can you suggest some others schools that I can look up?

        Regards
        Apoorv

        • http://www.accepted.com Linda Abraham

          Apoorv,

          Thanks for the additional information. You certainly should apply to MIT and you are right that your scores, grades, and work experience may successfully offset the lack of extra-curriculars..

          Also consider Kellogg (and perhaps its MMM program) as well as Ross, Darden, Duke, and UCLA.

          Best,
          Linda