UPDATE: The Tips For MIT SLOAN’S 2011 Application Are Now Online- Please post questions or comments on the new Post.
MIT Sloan 2010 MBA Application Deadlines
| Round | Due Date | Notification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1* | Oct 27, 2009 | Feb. 1, 2010** | |
| Round 2 | Jan 12, 2010 | Apr. 5, 2010 |
Application must be received by 12 noon pacific time.
*Reapplicants must submit their application by the Round I deadline. LFM reapplicants must submit their reapplication by the LFM deadline.
**Decisions will be released early for some candidates who will be denied admission without an interview.
MIT Sloan 2010 MBA Essay Questions
My comments below are in red.
Résumé
Please prepare a business résumé 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 résumé is welcomed and encouraged. The résumé 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 uninformative at best. Writing that you “Led a 6-member team working on a biotech outsourcing project to Slovakia with a budget of $X. It came in on time and under budget” conveys infinitely more.
Cover Letter
Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.
Like all cover letters, this is a sales document. Make your case for admission using your accomplishments, specifically those where you “had an impact on a group or organization.” How do the talents revealed in these examples demonstrate fit with the Sloan program, its tight-knit community, and its innovative culture?
Essays
We are interested in learning more about you and 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.
Win some. Lose some: Sloan is requesting fewer essays this year. Last year it asked for three 500-word essays in addition to the resume and cover letter. It also asked for a fourth 250-word essay, which was entirely open-ended and gave you the opportunity to present a different side of you. This year you don’t have that opportunity, and you don’t need to write a fourth essay.
All these questions are new for this year.
All Applicants:
Essay 1: Please describe a time when you went beyond what was defined, expected, established, or popular. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
The question on one hand provides direction and is clearly defined. On the other, it provides plenty of latitude for individuality. One of the more interesting and unusual options in this question is “beyond what was … popular.”
You need to write about an experience with an expectation of outcome or performance that you surpassed — perhaps blew past. In writing your essay you could start with the expectation, i.e. what you went beyond. Or you could start with the achievement. You could start with the moment when you accepted the challenge or when you realized you were going in an unexpected direction.
Don’t forget to include analysis in the answer. To what do you ascribe your success? What motivated you? What did you learn from the experience? Say what you felt and thought as well as what you said and did.
Essay 2: Please describe a time when you coached, trained, or mentored a person or group. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
Leadership is at the heart of this question. You can use a professional or a non-professional experience for this essay. Sports, community service, or even the arts can provide the context. The substance should show how you motivate, persuade, teach, and lead.
Essay 3: Please describe a time when you took responsibility for achieving an objective. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
A different aspect of leadership from that sought in Essay 2. Taking responsibility for an outcome before it happens is a critical element of leadership. As you approach this and the other questions, keep in mind MIT’s very practical focus and motto: “mens et manus”or “mind and hand.” When you accepted that responsibility, how did you go from concept (the objective) to reality (the outcome)?
Supplemental Information
You may use this section to address whatever else you want the Admissions Committee to know. (250 words or less, limited to one page)
If there is some facet of your experience, be it professional, academic or personal, that you have not discussed elsewhere and would like the adcom to know about, include it here. Give them another reason to admit you, but don’t submit the grand summary, appeal, or closing statement. Keep it focused and cogent. Yes if necessary, you can use this question to address specific circumstances that may have affected your academic performance.
If you would like help with your MIT Sloan MBA application, please consider Accepted.com’s MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or a MIT Sloan Comprehensive Package, which includes essay editing, interview coaching, consultation, and a resume edit for the MIT Sloan MBA application. Both the MIT Sloan package and essay editing are 15% off through July 31, 2009.