According to its website, MIT Sloan is looking for individuals from all around the world, from a broad array of academic backgrounds, who value dignity and respect and who demonstrate the following:

• Leadership and an ability to inspire others 
• A collaborative spirit and focus on community
• Intellectual curiosity and analytical strength 
• Creativity in generating new solutions to existing challenges 
• Growth in both professional and personal undertakings 

To uncover these attributes, the MIT Sloan MBA application continues to include the school’s signature “cover letter” essay and resume requirements. It also retains the video component and organizational chart.

Ready to get to work on your MIT Sloan application? Read on.

MIT Sloan application essay tips

Cover Letter – MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative – true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity and respect passion.

Taking the above into consideration, please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Your letter should conform to a standard business correspondence, include one or more professional examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to the Admissions Committee. (300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation)

MIT helpfully provides insight into what it’s looking for in this cover letter. Like all cover letters, this one is a marketing document. When you’re applying for a job, you research the firm to learn about its values and what it is seeking. Based on your research, you send your resume with a cover letter that is designed to make you as attractive to the company as possible, one that shows that you have what the firm is looking for.

Similarly, your MIT Sloan cover letter should demonstrate that you possess the qualities the program is seeking. Make your case for admission by presenting your accomplishments, specifically ones that reveal the qualities mentioned earlier. How do the talents revealed in your examples demonstrate fit with the MIT Sloan program, its tight-knit community, and its innovative culture of doers? Your resume should show above-average progression on the job and increasing responsibility, as well as the creativity and spirit of contribution that MIT Sloan values.

When making your case and highlighting your accomplishments, emphasize your role and the impact you had on the entities you contributed to. Those results constitute “your stamp on the world” so far. Looking ahead, be sure to provide a complete picture by highlighting your career plans (MIT does not have a specific career goals short-answer question), what you have accomplished that will help you achieve them, and what gaps you need to address through your experience at Sloan.

Note: This is not an essay. Make sure that your letter is formatted as a professional letter, with a date, address, header, salutation, and close.

Video Question 1 – Introduce yourself to your future classmates. Here’s your chance to put a face with a name, let your personality shine through, be conversational, be yourself. We can’t wait to meet you! 

Videos should adhere to the following guidelines:

• No more than 1 minute (60 seconds) in length
• Single take (no editing)
• Speaking directly to the camera
• Do not include background music or subtitles

Video essays are becoming increasingly common as part of the MBA Application, and I shared guidance for GMAT Club on how to tackle a video essay.  The video question allows members of the adcom to gain insight into who you are “in person.” Historically, this was an opportunity available only to the person interviewing you later in the admissions process. Your goal here is this: deliver your response with poise, presence, and authenticity. For Sloan’s video interview, I suggest you outline a 60-second statement that you would use to introduce yourself to your classmates (not the adcom members; they’re just important flies on the wall who happen to be listening in).

Don’t be too casual; your classmates are your future professional network and social group, but you still want to be friendly and remember to smile. What would you tell them about yourself? What would show that you are already a member of MIT’s community, you just don’t happen to pay tuition yet?

Here are a few tips for this video. First, practice in front of a webcam to get used to talking to a little lens that has no effect, feedback, or expression. Recording yourself on video is different from talking on Zoom with other people. Second, put a smiley face just above or below the camera to remind you to smile at appropriate points in your statement. Third, review your practice videos, looking for poise and presence. During some practices, consider having a friend present to encourage you, but also practice alone. We at Accepted are happy to help you prepare as well.

For the real video statement, dress in business or business casual attire. If you’re not confident that your attire is appropriate, it probably isn’t; dress more conservatively. Make sure your location is quiet and that roommates, pets, and children are in a location where they won’t be heard or disturb you. Ensure that your background is neutral and not distracting. Blank walls make a great background.

Video Question #2 – All MBA applicants will be prompted to respond to a randomly generated, open-ended question. The question is designed to help us get to know you better; to see how you express yourself and to assess fit with the MIT Sloan culture. It does not require prior preparation. 

Video Question 2 is part of your required application materials and will appear as a page within the application, once the other parts of your application are completed. Applicants are given 10 seconds to prepare for a 60-second response.

The following are examples of questions that may be asked in the Video Question 2:

• What achievement are you most proud of and why?
• Tell us about a time a classmate or colleague wasn’t contributing to a group project. What did you do?

Unlike for Video Question #1, you won’t know the question you’ll receive ahead of time. The goal of this video is for you to speak extemporaneously about a topic that is not supposed to trip you up. Given that you have only ten seconds to prepare before delivering your response, it is critical that you take time in advance to think through your “fit” with the Sloan program and how you will make a positive impact in the community. 

As you consider the types of questions provided, ensure that you convey not only what you did but also why you took the action you did. Additionally, make sure you convey the impact of the action you took. 

Organizational Chart – To help us better understand your current role and the impact that you have on your team and department, please submit an organizational chart. We should be able to clearly understand the internal structure of your organization, where you sit in your organization, and your line of reporting.

Organizational charts should not be more than two pages and keep the following in mind:

• Give us as much detail as possible (names, titles, etc.) but it’s ok to redact names if you need to.
• Please circle your role in red so that your position is easily identifiable.
• Make sure we can easily identify where you are, to whom you report, and if applicable, who reports to you.
• If your recommender or references are on your organizational chart (they may not be, and that’s ok!), please highlight them for us.
• If you are a consultant, entrepreneur, or affiliated with the military review our FAQs for suggestions on how to approach the organizational chart.

MIT Sloan’s organizational chart is a way to illustrate your role within your organization for the adcom. The goal is to clearly show your line of reporting, including your peers, supervisors, supervisors’ peers, and any direct reports you might have. If you have received a promotion, make sure to highlight both your current and previous roles.

But what if you don’t work in a traditional organization? The admissions team suggests that it might be helpful for some applicants (e.g., entrepreneurs, contractors) to put themselves at the center of the chart and build out from there to the individuals they interact with regularly. A consultant, on the other hand, might select a specific project and identify the players involved in the project from both the consulting firm’s side and the client’s side.  

The World That Shaped You – The Admissions Committee is excited to learn more about you and your background. In 250 words, please respond to the following short-answer question:

How has the world you come from shaped who you are today? For example, your family, culture, and community all help to shape aspects of your life experiences and perspective. Please use this opportunity to share more about your background.

The Sloan adcom is looking to understand life experiences that have shaped your development, character, and motivation. Perhaps you faced challenging circumstances in your childhood. Reflect on how this experience has shaped your perspective and drive. Consider what aspects of your life influenced your personal values. With this brief essay, MIT wants to learn about you beyond your academic and professional experience.  

Notice that this question does not mention your professional life. Most often, circumstances that truly shape who we are come from a situation that affected us personally. Despite what we have achieved, we all have taken different paths to arrive at this point. Take time to reflect – what has truly influenced you? For instance, did you face some sort of adversity yet persevered? Share what you overcame. Have you made a difference in your community? Share how you have done so. Be sure to include how the situation helped to shape aspects of your identity. MIT Sloan wants to learn more about your personal background and how its community will benefit from your being a part of it.

MIT Sloan application deadlines

	Deadline	Decision Date
Round 1	September 29, 2025	December 2025
Round 2	January 13, 2026	April 2026
Round 3	April 6, 2026	May 2026

Source: MIT Sloan website

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with MIT Sloan directly to verify its essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***

MIT Sloan class profile

Here’s a look at the MIT Sloan Class of 2026 (data taken from the MIT Sloan website):

Class size: 433

Average years of work experience: 5

Women: 49%

International: 40%

Countries represented: 53

U.S. minority: 50%

Underrepresented minority: 15% 

U.S. race/ethnicity (federal guidelines)

• White: 47%
• Asian American: 33%
• Hispanic/Latinx: 10%
• Black/African American: 4%
• Did not report: 3%
• Multi-race: 2%
• American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific: <1%

Median undergraduate GPA: 3.7

Median GMAT: 730

GMAT range (middle 80%): 690-760

GRE Quant range (middle 80%): 159-170

GRE Verbal range (middle 80%): 157-168

Undergraduate majors

• Engineering: 29%
• Business: 22%
• Economics: 15%
• Computer Science: 9%
• Science/Math: 8%
• Social Sciences: 6%
• Other: 5%
• Humanities: 4%
• Law: 1%

Pre-MBA industry

• Consulting: 30%
• Financial Services: 21%
• Technology: 20%
• Government, Education, Nonprofit: 10%
• Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, Biotechnology: 6%
• Consumer Products, Retail: 5%
• Other: 3%
• Media, Entertainment, Sports: 2%
• Energy: 1%
• Manufacturing: 1%
• Automotive, Transportation, Defense: 1%

As the former executive director of admissions at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School and assistant dean of admissions at Georgetown’s McDonough School and the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School, Kelly Wilson has 23 years’ experience overseeing admissions committees and has reviewed more than 38,000 applications for the MBA and master’s programs in management of information systems, computational finance, business analytics, and product management. Want Kelly to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources

• GMAT Scores, GPAs, and MBA Acceptance Rates: The Business School Selectivity Index
• M7 MBA Programs: Everything You Need to Know in 2025
• Admissions Straight Talk podcast