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MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips

If you’re applying to MIT Sloan’s MBA program , you’ve likely given thought to what you want to express in the required 300-word Cover Letter (or, ideally, have already started working on it). Perhaps the trickiest thing about the unique MIT Sloan essay is the word limit, which is incredibly short and forces you to have a laser focus on the elements of your personality / experience that demonstrate your fit with Sloan’s culture. Keep reading for tips to maximize those 300 words as well as advice on what to share in the required video statement.

MIT Sloan Essay Questions

“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 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).”

In addition to the cover letter, Sloan asks you to submit a 60-second video statement, as described in the following prompt:

“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!”

MIT Sloan Essay Tips

Let the prompt be your guide.

Pay close attention to the language of the MIT Sloan essay prompt because it helpfully describes the qualities Sloan seeks in a successful applicant. Many of these are similar to those sought by all of the top MBA programs – intellectual strength, track record of accomplishments, and ability to bring dimension to the cohort. However, the critical things to note here are those that make Sloan different – its orientation towards an independent mindset and creative problem-solving. They don’t just want someone who ‘got the job done’, they want the person who redefined the problem and came up with a solution no one had thought of before.

With only 300 words at your disposal, you simply don’t have space to separately demonstrate you possess each of the more basic traits. For these, utilize the other components of the application – your GMAT/GPA can help prove your intellect, your resume showcases your history of accomplishments, and your video essay should highlight what makes you unique. In the cover letter, make a solid case – supported by one or maybe two stories – that you are an innovative thinker who isn’t afraid of rocking the boat to enable progress.

Anchor on One Story that Highlights a Capstone Accomplishment and Demonstrates Fit with Sloan

The ideal story to use is career-focused (given the tone of the prompt), fairly recent, and has a connecting thread with how you will contribute at Sloan if admitted. Make a list of your ‘capstone’ accomplishments and select the one (or maybe two if they are short) that highlights how you led in a way that transformed others’ thinking, creatively solved a problem that had stumped others before, or identified an opportunity that no one had thought of (or had the courage to raise) before. These are the types of stories that will resonate with the Sloan adcom.

In addition to telling this story, your cover letter should read similarly to one you would use to apply to a job (that you REALLY want). The adcom has provided the ‘job description’ (i.e., what they look for in candidates), you need to convincingly pitch that YOU are the best candidate to fulfill these criteria. Tell your story but also tell the adcom why they should care. In other words, draw the connection as to why the story you’ve told about yourself (and the qualities it proves you possess) will make you a perfect fit for Sloan. Additionally, explain how you will put these qualities to use while at Sloan to benefit the experience of your peers in class, clubs, recruiting, etc.

Past Accomplishments, Not Future Goals, Should Be the Focus

We find that applicants always want to build in a discussion of their career goals and why MBA / why Sloan into their cover letter. We get why this is tempting! That said, 300 words is incredibly limiting, and the Sloan cover letter should be more about sharing what you will ‘give’ to Sloan than about what you will take away from it. You can certainly orient the ways you will contribute at Sloan towards things (i.e., clubs, classes) that are relevant to your future career goals. But, in our experience, it is hard to fully develop both what you will ‘give’ and what you will ‘take’ in 300 words.

MIT Sloan Video Statement Tips

Since your cover letter will likely be professionally focused, the video statement is a great place to share who you are outside of work and the unique attributes you would bring to the class. Specific content will vary from person to person of course, but remember that Sloan values independent thought, fearless creativity, and passion. What about you hits on these notes?

Perhaps the most important thing to do to ensure you submit a strong video statement is practice. You only have one take to get it right, so you need to make sure you know what you are going to say and that it fits concisely into one minute. This is hard to know unless you practice multiple times, OUT LOUD. Please trust us on this one – you will kick yourself if you work hard to perfect your cover letter only to walk away unsatisfied with what you submit for this portion of the application due to lack of practice.

If you’d like assistance with your Sloan essays or your broader MBA application strategy, click here to schedule an initial consultation!

Katie is a passionate mentor and coach, helping her clients craft a unique, compelling story by leveraging her experience as a corporate executive, alumni interviewer, and campus recruiter. Before completing her MBA at Kellogg, Katie spent five years in banking where she learned practical finance skills as well as how to operate in a demanding, high pressure environment. She pursued an MBA in order to transition to an industry role where she could utilize her finance knowledge to drive change within an organization. Post-MBA, she worked in finance and strategy for a leading CPG firm, progressing to an executive role leading the finance function for a $2B business segment. Her experience managing diverse teams led to a passion for developing others. In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, she led her firm’s MBA recruiting efforts and served as an alumni admissions interviewer for Kellogg.

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Essay • MBA • MIT

MIT Sloan MBA 2022-2023 Essay and Video Tips

July 5, 2022

Following the release of MIT’s MBA Deadlines , we’re presenting our definitive guide to Sloan’s written and video application essays. As a quick note, there have been no major changes to the app this year.

Importantly, once you pop open the application, you’ll notice that there is no traditional optional essay (i.e., one referencing problems in your candidacy) included. Instead of an optional section, applicants are provided with two spaces within the Academic Information and Employment Information portions to address any problems in their profile, such as poor school performance or significant job gaps. Should there be any red flags in your history, it goes without saying that it is in your best interest to use that space.

Because MIT’s MBA admissions process is hyper-competitive, the first step to standing out should be to learn about and connect with the program: dive deep into MIT’s courses, structure, culture, and the other things that make MIT unique. Interacting with the program’s staff, as well as former and current students, either virtually or in-person, should also play a key role in your admissions process for MIT Sloan.

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 Assistant Deans of Admissions, Rod Garcia and Dawna Levenson (300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation).

One of the most common questions about this essay is whether or not MIT actually wants a cover letter. The answer is, sort of . While this essay’s format should follow that of a generic cover letter, its content should be oriented to match MIT’s particular tone and preferences.

In terms of substance, the two main areas of focus should be on your experiences and MIT’s MBA. The larger part of your essay should share examples from your life that reflect the values of MIT, such as recent professional experiences and successes. You can extend your focus, however, as long as you make sure to highlight those qualities that MIT is looking for, such as leadership, teamwork, creativity, and communication.

For the cover letter’s second portion, try connecting the experiences you just mentioned to concrete aspects of MIT’s program and/or culture. It’s best to only include relevant points gathered from your prior research and outreach; writing that’s too general risks being read as coming from a lack of effort, care or both. It’s important to remember that the purpose of this second part is to show how you fit the profile that MIT desires, which is difficult to accomplish without expressing a deeper understanding of the MBA.

Finally, while cover letters can at times come across as dry, it’s best to show a bit of style and creativity while writing this particular one. Try to avoid generic language when possible, and try to pique your reader’s interest by employing an engrossing and generally positive tone.

Optional Short Answer Question – Applicants are invited to expand on their background by responding to the following optional 250 word short answer question:

How has the world you come from shaped who you are today? For example, your family, culture, community, all help to shape aspects of your identity, please use this opportunity if you would like to share more about your background.

This question is truly optional; applicants will not be evaluated more positively or negatively should they choose to respond. This is an opportunity for you to share more about yourself with the Admissions Committee, should you choose to do so.

Let’s start with what worries applicants most: is this a truly optional essay? Yes, it absolutely is. Not only will you not be penalized for leaving this out of your application, it may in fact be to your benefit to not attempt this question. If you have nothing that you can add that would reveal an engaging or unique perspective that helps you stand out more from the applicant pool, there’s not much that needs to be added here. Having said that, the question does allow for a candidate at the margins to really bolster her candidacy with a show of her vibrancy or an expression of the difficulties that she has overcome.

Before you decide to tackle the question, think back to your history. What were the factors and experiences that drove you to become the individual you are? What shaped your world view or the way you interact with people? What helped create the drivers of your life? Once you have these in mind, weigh them against the rest of your application and what you believe others may include as responses. Will it improve the admissions committee understanding of your profile and might it help set you apart? Once you have the answers to these questions, you can decide on whether to include a response.

Potential Additional Essay (Interview Dependent) – The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice. We believe that a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and well-being is a key component of both principled leadership and sound management practice. In 250 words or less, please describe how you, as a member of the MIT Sloan community, would work to create a campus that is welcoming, inclusive and increasingly diverse.

Details for submitting your response will be included in the interview invitation.

MIT wants to grow its strong, supportive student and alumni network. In order to accomplish that goal, they try to ensure that admitted candidates will actively participate in Sloan’s MBA community. In order to best answer this potential essay, try to identify how your previous interests and activities align with those available at MIT, especially those outside of the classroom. Feel free to be creative. It may help to ask yourself how you can improve a particular MIT community or association, and how that improvement is linked with your unique strengths, interests, and former experiences. However, do remember to stay humble when mentioning your potential contribution, as MIT doesn’t want to run across any sort of hubris in this essay (even if it’s merited).

VIDEO ESSAY

Applicants are required to upload a 1 minute (60 second) video as part of their application. In your video, you should introduce yourself to your future classmates, tell us about your past experiences, and touch on why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your degree.

Videos should adhere to the following guidelines:

No more than 1 minute (60 second) in length

Single take (no editing)

You should be speaking directly to the camera

Do not include background music or subtitles

We recommend using applications such as QuickTime or iMovie to record yourself. Upload the video file according to the detailed instructions within the application.

Video recordings understandably make many people nervous. However, this isn’t like INSEAD’s video essay where you’re asked a series of random questions and need to think on your feet (for more about that sort of requirement, read our post here ). Instead, for MIT you can plan the video out as much as you’d like. The question then becomes, what should you do with so much control?

Before we get to the shoulds , let’s quickly review the shouldn’ts . This is not a place where you should be mentioning any subjects that have been discussed in other parts of the application. Neither is this a question about your future goals, nor is it about MIT. This video is all about you .

Most applicants benefit from taking a personal approach here. First, take some time to outline the passions that define your life. What are the hobbies that take up most of your time? What are the events that have recently caused you to change your mind? What are the principles that guide your daily life? There are many questions you can ask yourself to help identify them.

Once you have a rough outline of what you’d like to present about yourself, consider how to best present those aspects. First of all, this isn’t a movie shoot: a camera crew is not a must (unless you happen to actually work in the film industry). However, there are many ways to bring your passions to life without having your video come across as overworked. If some of your main interests revolve around flight, for example, why not shoot your video amidst aeronautical materials or even in an airplane hangar – either could be a simple method to visually connect the viewer with your message. Beyond the mise-en-scène, we recommend that you practice your pitch so as to make sure that your speech comes across in a natural, friendly, and attractive manner, all while remaining professional.

If you’re planning on building a successful application for MIT Sloan, be sure to connect with our leading Sloan Experts .

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MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips

MIT Sloan Essay Questions

In addition to the cover letter, Sloan asks you to submit a 60-second video statement, as described in the following prompt:

“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!”

MIT Sloan Essay Tips

Let the prompt be your guide.

Anchor on One Story that Highlights a Capstone Accomplishment and Demonstrates Fit with Sloan

Past Accomplishments, Not Future Goals, Should Be the Focus

MIT Sloan Video Statement Tips

If you’d like assistance with your Sloan essays or your broader MBA application strategy, click here to schedule an initial consultation!

The post MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips appeared first on Vantage Point MBA .

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MIT Sloan School Of Management Essay Questions And Strategic Guidance, 2023-2024

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MIT Sloan seeks individuals with confidence but not arrogance. The atmosphere on campus is considered “scrappy” and humble, never stuffy or competitive. The school wants people who are eager to learn and willing to help others do so as well. Sloan also prioritizes innovation, showing a preference for applicants who go against the grain, develop new systems or processes others have not considered before, or champion a novel way of thinking. (Perhaps you were expecting us to mention “technology” or “engineering” in our description of Sloan’s ideal candidates. While MIT Sloan certainly appreciates people who have an appetite for technology or an engineering bent, you will find many Sloanies who have neither. Above all, Sloan values a diverse classroom.)

Sloan’s application puts less emphasis on candidates’ professional goals than those of other top MBA programs. Sloan believes that one’s past experiences are the best predictors of one’s future success. What you have done (and what you were feeling and thinking at the time) is of much more interest to the admissions committee than what you say you are going to do.

The Application

MIT Sloan’s instructions for completing its application offer clues as to how applicants can—perhaps even should —approach it.

For example, Sloan’s directives for its requested Cover Letter include the following preamble:

This provides considerable insight into what the admissions committee is looking for in applicants’ cover letters. Specifically, MIT wants you to provide at least one or two examples of how you have created impact, innovated, and/or implemented change. They want you to explain why you and your actions have mattered and how you care about the world around you.

The actual Cover Letter prompt follows:

“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).”.

When crafting your Cover Letter , keep the following tips in mind:

Include your motivation for your actions as well as the how (the steps you took to achieve what you did). Remember that your resume will provide the school the headlines of your accomplishments; your cover letter should add color and context.
If you have any remaining space, you can briefly state your goals and/or why Sloan is the right MBA program for you, but these elements are not mandatory and should be included only if you feel they are truly necessary for the admissions committee to fully understand and evaluate your candidacy. Keep in mind that your past experiences are what will enable you to stand out because they are unique to you, whereas your stated goals and/or your interest in Sloan will likely overlap with those of at least some of your fellow applicants.

In its Video Statement prompt, Sloan asks you to “Introduce yourself to your future classmates.”

Note that Sloan does not say merely, “Introduce yourself,” nor does it say, “Introduce yourself to the admissions team.” Sloan intentionally requests that you introduce yourself to your classmates .

When crafting a strategy for your introduction, think about what you would like to know about a classmate you are meeting for the first time—and what would make you cringe or roll your eyes if you heard them say it. Once you have a script and/or a draft for your video, ask yourself whether you think your future classmates would like you after viewing your video. Would they think that you were trying too hard to impress (which is not appealing) or that you have nothing to add (and would therefore not be someone they would be interested in seeking out)?

So, be genuine about who you are and what you will bring to campus.

The topics you discuss are up to you, but here are some other basic guidelines:

Remember to introduce yourself!
Where you live or are from
What you are doing professionally
Things you do in the community or for fun
Talk about what you hope to do at Sloan.
Explain what you would bring to Sloan.
Avoid repeating exactly what is in your cover letter, though some overlap is fine.

And consider these execution tips when preparing for, and actually filming, your video:

When drafting your content, regularly read it out loud to ensure that it will easily fit within the school’s 60-second limit. Keep trimming as necessary until it does. An introduction you have sped through is not your friend in this process; if your viewer cannot understand what you are saying because you are speaking too quickly, you will miss a critical opportunity to connect with admissions.
Once you have finalized your script (or, if you prefer, simple bullet points), put the material away. Your goal is to know which topics you want to cover and be able to communicate them without sounding as though you have memorized your material.
Do not read from a script.
You can film your intro wherever you would like, including at your desk at work or somewhere in your home! You can certainly be creative (we have seen people film their videos outside or at a location that is particularly meaningful to them), but no matter what location you choose, keep the focus on you . Your background will not make you stand out or convince the admissions committee to admit you; only you and your content can do that.
Be sure to speak slowly and to check your sound and lighting to ensure the viewer will be able to easily hear and see you.

In its online application, Sloan includes the following short essay prompt:

We’d like to give you the opportunity to expand on your background. this question is completely optional ., how has the world you come from shaped who you are today for example, your family, culture, community, all help to shape aspects of your identity. please use this opportunity if you would like to share more about your background. (250 word limit).

Although submitting a response to this prompt is not required, we encourage you to view this mini essay as an opportunity to tell the school more about you. The prompt specifically notes “family, culture, community,” so a good way to start is by thinking about how each of these has influenced who you are today. An effective essay response will provide specific details about your background and clearly and logically relate those details and stories to the individual you now are. As always, evidence and action speak volumes, so you want to bolster the description of who you are today by pinpointing and explaining significant influences from your earlier years.

With respect to other elements of Sloan’s application and process, we offer the following advice:

MIT Sloan is particular about what it wants to see on candidates’ resumes. Take time to make sure that you fully understand the directives provided on the school’s website and then follow them precisely.
Compared to other top business schools, Sloan has only a brief set of online questions embedded in its application. The admissions committee expects you to include the most essential information about your candidacy—the information that will influence its decision—in the other elements of your application.
Sloan also asks for an Organizational Chart of no more than two pages. You goal is to communicate the structure of your team/organization and convey the information Sloan asks for in an easy-to-comprehend way. Sloan offers an example on its website that you can use as a guide.

Note that Sloan asks applicants who are selected for an interview to submit two additional essays. The prompts for these essays are as follows:

In 250 words or less, please describe a time when you contributed toward making a work environment or organization more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse.
Please select an existing data visualization and in 250 words or less explain why it matters to you. The data visualization should be uploaded as a PDF. Examples may come from current events, a business analysis, or personal research.
In 250 words or less, please describe a recent data driven decision you had to make, and include one slide presenting your analysis. The slide may include a data visualization example and should present data used in a professional context. Your slide must be uploaded as a PDF.

When you are brainstorming ideas for your core Sloan materials, you should also start thinking about how you might answer these pre-interview essay questions.

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.

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Homepage > MBA Admissions > Business Schools > MIT Sloan MBA Essays 2022-2023: Analysis and Tips from an MIT Fellow

MIT Sloan MBA Essays 2022-2023: Analysis and Tips from an MIT Fellow

Posted by Suheb Hussain | Jan 24, 2023 | Business Schools , GMAT Focus Edition , MBA Admissions , MBA Application Process

The MBA application for MIT Sloan School of Management is quite different from other business schools. The application does not have an MBA essay per se, but has an extensive application with the following requirements:

Cover Letter (300 words or fewer)
Resume (one page)
Video Statement (1 minute)
Letter of Recommendation (one)
Additional References (two)
Organizational Chart
Optional 250-word short answer question

In this article, Prashant Tibrewal from Admitsquare, who has mentored 1,000+ students get into their dream business schools and who is currently enrolled at MIT Sloan himself, shares his expert tips on the MIT Sloan MBA essay and other application components.

As you start working on your MIT Sloan MBA application, ask yourself if you are cut out for MIT . Securing an admit to one of the M7 business schools is not just about a high GMAT score or a unique profile or a strong application.

While all of these are just “prerequisites”, what remains the most important is a strong personality match – between the applicant and the school. You should, therefore, spend as much time understanding your dream schools, as you would, working on your application.

What makes MIT so unique and desirable to applicants?

Getting a seat at MIT Sloan does not just give you access to the business school, but also to the larger MIT university, which is among the most future-focused education ecosystems one can dream of as a student.

Not surprising, therefore, that an MIT team comprising of students from aeronautics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and business management beat out teams from 115 other universities and 20 countries to earn the Best Overall Design Award at the SpaceX Hyperloop competition.

MIT Sloan offers an exciting range of master’s programs, designed for a wide range of students and career outcomes. It may be wise, therefore, to research well and apply to the program that you would benefit the most from:

Sloan Fellows MBA (1-year)
Leaders in Global Operations (LGO)
Master of Finance
Master of Business Analytics

Do you aspire to get into the MIT Sloan MBA Program? A 740+ GMAT score can significantly improve your chances of admission. Kickstart your GMAT preparation by Signing up for our Free Trial ! For any queries, write to us at [email protected] . We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on gmatclub with more than 2500 reviews.

MIT Sloan MBA Application Deadlines

Round 1	September 29, 2022
Round 2	January 18, 2023
Round 3	April 11, 2023

Take a look at this article to know the MBA application deadlines of other business schools.

MIT Sloan MBA Essays and Application Requirements

While getting an admit at MIT Sloan can be difficult, applying to the program doesn’t come easy either. The MIT Sloan MBA has an extensive application with the following requirements:

MIT Sloan Cover Letter Analysis and Sample Essay Structure

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

The MIT admissions team, including Rod Garcia and Dawna Levenson, has been the most consistent admissions team among the top business schools, ensuring the highest quality of student recruitment over the years.

The team, having retained the Cover Letter requirement for the fifth year now, clearly loves the format and how it has helped assess applicants. An open-ended question such as this comes with a high risk of submitting an essay that may not be aligned with the expectations of the admissions team.

Why such a short (300 word) cover letter, in contrast to other schools that allow much more space and scope to present yourself?

Well, for an MIT applicant with rich professional experience, applying to a business school is pretty similar to applying for a job. This is your opportunity to convince the team why they should consider your application over thousands of other well-qualified applicants.

Candidates often end up presenting a verbose, high level, broad-based career summary, which is exactly what the adcom doesn’t want to read. With access to your resume, one can pretty much trace your career path and gain a broad level of understanding.

The MIT Cover Letter lays down focused guidelines and seeks to understand specific aspects of your personal and/or professional life. “We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers.”

While the school encourages these qualities among its students, to be able to establish through your cover letter that you have already demonstrated these qualities, will be the key to a strong cover letter.

Further, understanding the MIT Style of Leadership or the Problem-led Leadership will be an interesting exercise to help you develop a stronger application. The question specifically asks to substantiate your claim with example(s).

As you recollect your best achievements and think of the examples to present in the cover letter, do not forget that it is a 300-word essay.

You do not want to touch upon too many things and spread yourself too thin. Ask yourself what key qualities you would want to establish through the cover letter and find the best example that demonstrates the quality.

If space permits, back it with another short example. While it goes without saying that you use the STAR format, but go deep with “how” you did what you did. Talk about the extrinsic as well as the intrinsic motivations behind your actions.

And while you do all this, do not lose track of the primary purpose behind writing this cover letter – “to seek a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program”.

A good part of your essay should touch upon why you are seeking a place in the program (your short term and long term career plans) and how the MIT MBA will equip you to achieve your plans. How well you know yourself and how well you know the school is both critical to presenting a strong match.

MIT Sloan Resume Format

The resume you submit to a business school holds extremely high significance, given that it helps the adcom get a detailed perspective about your professional experience and is often the only document that the interviewer has access to (once you receive an interview invite).

Not all business schools prescribe a resume format, but MIT Sloan does. In addition to suggesting the order of the different components of the resume, you are specifically asked to redact your personal information. Further, the following are the instructions to be followed.

Please submit a one-page resume that includes the following information and formatting:

One page limit
Times New Roman font
Size 10 font
Word or PDF formats only
Redact (remove or blackout) your name, address, and contact information

For formatting purposes, please list the information in the following order in reverse chronological order:

Education – please feel free to include relevant awards, scholarships, and professional societies.
Company name
Results-oriented bullets that demonstrate your skillset, and
Additional information – languages, extracurricular activities/community service, technical skills/certifications, and special skills/interests (if appropriate).

MIT Sloan MBA application video statement

Applicants are required to upload a 1-minute video as part of their application. In your video, you should introduce yourself to your future classmates, tell us about your past experiences, and touch on why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your degree.

Videos should adhere to the following guidelines:

No more than 1 minute in length
Single take (no editing)
You should be speaking directly to the camera
Do not include background music or subtitles

When most other schools are using the Kira video format where you must answer the video questions live, MIT allows you enough time to plan and record your video.

Is this supposed to be your Elevator Pitch? Probably yes, albeit a more personal one. Having presented most of your information through your resume and the cover letter, this should be your space to “connect” with your future classmates as well as the admissions committee.

You may talk about your personal background, unique life experiences, interests, and passions, and how specific opportunities at MIT connect with your plans and interest areas.

Sloan doesn’t want you to hire a video expert – an unedited video makes it a level playing field for all applicants.

While the video will allow the admissions committee to see you and hear you, it is your passion and your story that will invite them to feel your presence and personality. Prepare a story that is authentic, exciting, and enchanting. Above all, sound fluent, but not rehearsed!

The following article discusses the analysis and tips related to MIT Sloan video statement in detail. Have a look! 4 tips to ace MIT Sloan video statement . You can also refer to the following article for insights on how to make an impressive MBA application video essay: Make an impactful MBA Application Video Essay .

MIT Sloan Letter of Recommendation and Additional References

Several schools are now moving to a single recommendation, thus making the application less demanding for the candidate.

While the MIT LOR format isn’t very different, what’s unique is the requirement for two Additional References. These references do not need to submit any document upfront, but they may be called if required.

Choose your references like you would choose your recommenders – people you have worked closely with, who may be in a good position to talk about your strengths with specific instances.

Most of our candidates did not report their references being called, but you may want to pick the best possible options, nevertheless.

MIT Sloan MBA application – Organizational Chart

Please upload an organizational chart that outlines the internal structure of your department and company. Limit to two pages.

Note: You may choose to create your own document or redact individuals’ names. However, please provide as much information as possible.

We should be able to see your line of reporting to the top of your organization, and to easily find you, your peers, your supervisor, their peers, and your direct reports (should you have any), as well as any recommender or references from your current organization. For those in consulting, please submit an organizational chart of a current or previous project you were staffed on.

This is again a unique requirement for the MIT Sloan application. This isn’t really a new addition to the application, which means that MIT has found it useful to evaluate the applicant’s relative position in the organizational hierarchy.

The key is to make it informational, with good details about your own position as well as those who may be in levels higher and lower than you.

You may not need to invest a lot of time making the organizational chart super fancy, but a simple chart presenting the different levels should work pretty well. Refer to the sample organizational chart suggested by the school.

MIT Sloan MBA application- Optional 250-word short answer question

For the 2022-23 applications, the applicants are invited to expand on their background by responding to the following optional 250-word 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 identity. Please use this opportunity if you would like to share more about your background.”

According to the MIT website , This question is truly optional; applicants will not be evaluated more positively or negatively should they choose to respond. This is an opportunity for you to share more about yourself with the Admissions Committee, should you choose to do so.

Suggested Reading: “Problem-led Leadership” – Are you cut out for the MIT Sloan MBA? Applying to Kellogg? Read our detailed Kellogg Essay Analysis

About the Author

Prashant_Tibrewal_US_News_Business_School_Rankings_2020_Analysis

Prashant Tibrewal is the founder of Admit Square Consulting and has mentored 1000+ MBA aspirants to get into top global universities such as Harvard, Stanford, INSEAD, Oxford, HEC, ISB, etc. Prashant has also served on the Board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) and led the AIGAC Conference 2020, attended by admissions officers from 25+ top-ranked MBA programs.

Admit Square Consulting has mentored applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply to top MBA programs. With a proven track record of 10+ years, and admits to universities such as Stanford, MIT, Kellogg, Cambridge, INSEAD, etc., Admit Square was awarded the Most Successful International MBA Consulting Company in India at the India Education Awards, 2019. With a team of Consultants from top business schools such as MIT, Yale, LBS and Oxford, Admit Square offers 100% Money-back Assurance on its services. You may send your details to [email protected] for a free profile evaluation.

That was all about MIT Sloan MBA essays. Here are a few other that can help you with your MBA application essays:

5 Different Types of MBA Essays Explained
MBA Application Process – Weightage of Different Components
2020-2021 MBA Application Deadlines

Do you aspire to get into the MIT Sloan MBA Program? A 740+ GMAT score can significantly improve your chances of admission. Kickstart your GMAT preparation by Signing up for our Free Trial ! For any queries, write to us at [email protected] . We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on gmatclub with more than 1940 reviews.

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Tips for Your MIT Sloan Application Essays

July 15, 2023

Lisa Cummings

MIT Sloan Application Essay Tips, 2023–2024

MIT Sloan wants you to make your pitch for admission in a somewhat unique application essay format: a business cover letter. Although the information the admissions committee wants is not that different from what most programs seek, the presentation might be a bit daunting for some candidates. Sloan also asks for a short video introduction, which is probably also intimidating. So, how do you craft winning application essays for MIT Sloan? Here are our tips.

Free : Download Stratus Admissions’ Guide to Getting into MIT Sloan School of Management

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)..

Sloan’s “cover letter” essay bedevils many an applicant because it is so unconventional, relative to other schools’ more traditional essays. Just keep it simple! Whether framed as a letter or an essay, the spirit is the same: you need to write 300 words that convey your identity as an applicant and can distinguish you from thousands of others. In this case, Sloan’s very lengthy prompt lists the types of people the program seeks: “thoughtful leaders,” “true doers,” “people who can redefine solutions,” and so on. Odds are, with so much breadth in these characteristics, you have an anecdote that demonstrates that you, too, exemplify some of them. So, while “conform[ing] to a standard business correspondence,” quickly introduce an example of how you have exhibited one or more of the qualities the prompt highlights. At the end of your example story, relate the experience and traits not to your goals (the school regards your goals as too hypothetical to matter) but to MIT Sloan itself. Using approximately 75−100 words, discuss your fit with MIT Sloan and your need to experience or learn from specific aspects of its program. Three hundred words is a tight fit; in some ways, it might be harder to write this essay than one with a much larger or even unlimited word count (such as Harvard Business School’s). Still, the brevity of this essay allows the thoughtful ones to really “pop.”

Video: 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, note: while we ask you to introduce yourself to your future classmates in this video, the video will not be shared and is for use in the application process only..

Sixty seconds! One take! This is another daunting prompt that requires a step back. MIT Sloan will not be viewing your video for Academy Award consideration; the admissions committee just wants to get to know you better as a person and gain some insight into what makes you tick. The prompt specifically requests that you “let your personality shine through,” so before you start worrying about the medium, ask yourself what you would tell others about yourself if you were asked to introduce yourself. This is not a place to reiterate your resume or highlight your work accomplishments. Think about experiences and examples that represent who you are today. What are some bits of information that will help you express who you are and where your values lie?

The admissions committee does not want any background music or subtitles, so be thoughtful about your backdrop and scenery; a setting that is too busy and crammed with props could distract from you and your story. However, a clear and subtle background could be additive. For example, if your future lies in sustainable agriculture, consider shooting your video from a quiet farm or the produce section of a local (not noisy!) market. Remember that you are applying to business school, not film school. Context might help convey your story, but the story itself is what counts! Be yourself.

Optional Short Answer Question: Applicants are invited to expand on their background by responding to the following optional 250 word short answer question: How has the world you come from shaped who you are today? For example, your family, culture, community, all help to shape aspects of your identity. Please use this opportunity if you would like to share more about your background.

This question is truly optional; applicants will not be evaluated more positively or negatively should they choose to respond. this is an opportunity for you to share more about yourself with the admissions committee, should you choose to do so..

Sloan has an optional short-answer question with a limit of 250 words. The committee indicates that this is truly optional; there is no need to feel obligated to answer this prompt. However, if there is some aspect of your family, culture, and/or community that has had a meaningful impact on you, this is your opportunity to delve into it to give the committee more insight into who you are as a person. There is no right or wrong answer or focus. Be honest. Do not feel pressured to write something here unless it will be additive.

Reapplicants: For applicants who applied for entry in a previous year, we require that you complete and submit a new and complete application. We strongly encourage you to submit new application materials and emphasize what has changed since you last applied. Reapplicants may submit their applications in any round, and will have an opportunity to highlight changes since their previous application in a short-answer question.

In your new essays, be sure to clarify and highlight how you have grown and strengthened your candidacy since you last applied. Ideally, you have improved on some aspect(s) of your profile—whether that is a higher test score, more work experience, a promotion, or something similar. Be sure to note what it is about the school that has motivated you to apply again, and present the specific and sincere reasons you value an MBA from MIT Sloan.

While not an essay, the org chart is required and gives many applicants pause.

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.

Through your chart, MIT wants to see where you sit in your organization overall and in relation to your recommenders. Additionally, they want to see whether you have any direct or indirect reports. Don’t read too much into this.

In Stratus Admissions’ Guide to Getting into MIT Sloan School of Management , you will find information on a variety of the MBA program’s offerings such as the Sloan Innovation Period, Action Learning Labs, the MIT 100K Competition, and the Sloan Sustainability Initiative. Download our brand-new guide to learn more about MIT Sloan!

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Analyzing the Applications: the MIT Sloan Essay Questions

The MIT Sloan School of Management lays out five characteristics that it looks for in candidates for its MBA program:

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

MIT Sloan School of Management Admissions Essays

MIT Sloan main building – E62

These five character traits should serve as a checklist for any student developing his or her application to Sloan’s MBA program. As you consider the different pieces of your MIT Sloan admissions application, each often fits very naturally with one or more of these characteristics. For example, your recommenders should demonstrate your ability to inspire others and focus on the community. Your GMAT, GPA, and undergraduate transcripts should speak to your intellectual curiosity and analytical strength. Your resume should showcase your personal and professional growth. While the Sloan essays can serve as a platform to emphasize several of these characteristics, they also seem to be the best place to illustrate your creativity to generate new solutions to existing challenges. If your essays are really good, those “new solutions” will also showcase the importance you place on community and your ability to inspires others, as you’ll describe how you leaned on colleagues or friends for help you solve challenges.

This is a great place to start when considering how to approach MIT Sloan’s admissions essays. However, it’s critical to go beyond that and heed each word in the essay prompts, as its clear that the MIT Sloan admissions committee has a few pet peeves it demands applicants avoid.

Let’s consider each of the MIT Sloan essay prompts. First, the admissions committee provides some general advice: “ 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 . ” Notice that they ask for a brief overview of the situation. They are more interested in how you responded then how you got there in the first place. This distinction is important, and you should limit your descriptions of situations to no more than about 100 words (out of a 500 word limit), ensuring your don’t ignore the admissions committee’s guidance here. While we are on the topic, it’s also worth emphasizing the importance of adhering to the admissions committee’s dual word- and page-limit guidance: no more than 500 words or one page. These may seem like strict limits, but ignoring them can be dangerous. As soon as you’ve written that five hundredth and first word, you’ve conveyed two things to the admissions committee: first, you do not follow instructions; second, and perhaps more egregiously, you think you are more important that all of the other applicants out there that did restrict themselves to the 500-word limit that MIT Sloan provided.

In the first essay question, the MIT Sloan admissions committee asks applicants the following: “ The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and generate ideas that advance management practice. Discuss how you will contribute toward advancing the mission based on examples of past work and activities “.

This is a tricky prompt; there are a lot of pitfalls to avoid. To address each part of the question properly, you must do several things:

Briefly address your goals and ambitions. While the Sloan admissions committee makes clear that it wants your essays to focus primarily on your past actions, it’s still important to demonstrate your professional ambition and vision for how you “will contribute” moving forward. After all, the admissions committee makes clear that “an applicant’s leadership qualities and ambition should be apparent in their personal and professional experience, essays, and recommendations.” Limit any discussion of your vision or ambition to a few short sentences, but make sure you include them somewhere.
Address how you will improve the world. As you focus on this piece of the essay, make sure you focus on past actions. That is, you should tell the admissions committee how you have effected change at organizations in the past. This is a hallmark of any leader, and it should comprise the bulk of your first essay. (While we’re on the subject of effecting change, please make sure you write about change you effected , not affected . It’s a minor grammatical rule — and the only time effect works as a verb — but it also can be a demonstration of your attention to detail and presentation).
Discuss your view of management practice. In other words, your view of good management style. This can be influenced by what you have seen as effective leadership styles of others. It can be a discussion of techniques you have tried as a leader in the past. Or it can be a bigger discussion about your small-p political view of the world – essentially how you view human behavior.

That is a lot to cover in 500 words, but it’s essential that you address each piece of the essay prompt. Be as detailed as you can along the way, shaping the essay as you would a parable that you might tell a colleague or friend, bringing the listener into the plot as if he or she had seen it himself. Along the way, if you are looking for parts of your essay drafts to cut, make sure you are emphasizing past actions, editing down longer paragraphs about your career vision and future ambitions to a sentence or two. This is not a “career vision” essay question; it’s a “tell us about your biggest accomplishments” essay question.

In the second essay, the Sloan admissions committee asks applicants to choose an experience from the past three years in answering the following question: “ Describe a time when you pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone .”

This is the kind of essay question that causes good applicants to go bad. Many candidates will try to force fit a story they used for other MBA essay prompts or an anecdote that they are particularly fond of, into this question. But if you aren’t able to genuinely describe a time when you pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone, then you’ll be begging to get dinged. It’s similar to when schools ask you to describe a personal weakness, and applicants say something along the lines of, “I’m too much of a perfectionist.” Essentially they’re trying to hide a strength within a question about weaknesses. Trust that MBA admissions committees can see right through that.

Once you’ve picked your anecdote for the question – an experience that genuinely pushed you outside your comfort zone – you need to describe how it made you feel. Why, exactly, did it make you uncomfortable? Why, exactly, did you allow yourself to be put in that situation when you might otherwise have avoided it? What were you trying to learn or how were you trying to benefit from the situation? How did it change you or your theory of management practice? Remember, the MIT Sloan essays are place to demonstrate that you are willing to creatively “generate new solutions to existing challenges.” This type of boundary-pushing question is a great platform to illustrate that characteristic.

As you have more questions about the MIT Sloan application and essays, feel free to reach out to Vincent and myself via our free consultation link or [email protected] , and we’ll reply promptly. Also, rely on MIT Sloan’s admissions Q&A, which you can find here . And of course, stay tuned for more posts in our analyzing the applications series ! Finally, make sure to give our MBA Matching Algorithm a try and let us know what you think.

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2023-2024 MIT Sloan MBA essay Analysis and Tips

Admit expert.

July 9, 2023

MIT Sloan has a wide range of exciting master’s programs for a variety of students and career goals. So, it might be smart to do your research and apply to the program that would help you the most:

Sloan Fellows MBA (1-year)
Leaders in Global Operations (LGO)
Master of Finance
Master of Business Analytics

If your target MIT Sloan MBA program is a 2-year program then this article is for you.

MIT Sloan School of Management’s MBA application is very different from those of other business schools.

There is no MBA essay as such in the application, but it asks for a cover letter, a video essay, a resume, and an organizational chart that essentially serves the purpose of an essay.

In some ways, this structure shows how MIT Sloan wants to admit people with practical (but still innovative) ideas and experience.

Also, the cover letter is a way to talk about your most important accomplishments and show that you meet the admissions requirements. These criteria are: being independent, being real, and being creative without fear—true doers.

MIT Sloan MBA Essays and Application Requirements

Mit sloan mba cover letter tips, video essay, important q&a related to the organizational chart, optional short answer question, let us help you get into mit sloan.

While getting an admit to MIT Sloan can be difficult, applying to the program doesn’t come easy either. The MIT Sloan MBA has an extensive application with the following requirements:

Cover Letter (300 words or fewer)
Resume (one page)
Video Statement (1 minute)
Letter of Recommendation (one)
Additional References (two)

Organizational Chart

In this article, we’ll discuss how to create the MIT Sloan cover letter, resume, video essay, organizational chart, and the optional short answer question.

Cover Letter

This is what MIT Sloan says regarding the 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 tells you what it wants to see in a cover letter, which is helpful. This cover letter is a marketing document, just like any other cover letter. When you apply for a job, you look into the company to find out what it wants and what it values. Based on what you find out, you send your resume along with a cover letter that is meant to make you look as good as possible to the company and shows that you have what the company wants.

Given how well the process of crafting a cover letter coincides with Sloan’s objective of admitting practical individuals with a track record of achievement, this is not surprising. Thus, the cover letter enables you to demonstrate to Sloan’s admissions committee that you “fit” their program in a succinct and pragmatic manner by highlighting your main accomplishments and career goals.

As you work on this assignment, keep in mind the usual parts of a cover letter: your skills and qualities, why you want to do an MBA from MIT Sloan, and what you think you can bring to the table.

Use your accomplishments, especially the ones that show the above qualities, to show why you should be accepted. How do the skills shown in your examples fit with the MIT Sloan program, its close-knit community, and its culture of innovators who get things done?

When you make your case and list your accomplishments, be sure to emphasize your role and the impact it had.

Please note that this is not an essay. Make sure your letter is formatted as a professional letter with a date, address, header, salutation, and close.

To learn more about what MIT Sloan is looking for and how to make your application stand out, get in touch with us at [email protected]

The resume you send to a business school is very important because it gives the admissions committee a detailed picture of your work history and is one important document the interviewer will look at (once you receive an interview invite).

Some business schools don’t tell you how to format your resume, but MIT Sloan does. In addition to telling you how to put the different parts of your resume in order, you are directed to remove your personal information.

Please submit a one-page resume. This will help MIT Sloan adcom easily track your academic and career path. Try to focus on your work results, not just your title or job description.

Here are some pointers on formatting:

One page limit
Times New Roman font
Size 10 font
Word or PDF formats only

Provide the following information in reverse chronological order:

Education: Please include relevant awards, scholarships, and professional societies
Work Experience: Please include company name, title, results-oriented bullets that demonstrate your achievements, and dates
Additional information: Please include extracurricular activities/community service, technical skills/certifications, special skills/interests, and languages spoken (if applicable)

Do you want to impress the MIT Sloan Adcom?

At Admit Expert, we have helped hundreds of students get into top MBA programs around the world. We would be happy to help you too. Schedule a free call with us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your goals.

Schedule a free call

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”

MIT gives you plenty of time to plan and record your video.

Given the limited time you have to make an impression at MIT, your goal with this essay is to introduce yourself to your classmates, and the best introductions typically include a selection of interesting stories.

To begin brainstorming potential stories, imagine you are on your first day of work and need to introduce yourself to your team. What would you like your new colleagues to know about you? Or, better yet, what would you want to know about a new colleague who came in and introduced himself?

Because your entire cover letter will be devoted to discussing your professional accomplishments, we recommend that you concentrate on your personal interests here rather than examples of big wins at work.

MIT Sloan does not want you to hire a video expert because an unedited video levels the playing field for all applicants.

While the video allows the admissions committee to see and hear you, your passion and story will invite them to feel your presence and personality. Prepare an authentic, exciting, and enchanting story. Above all, sound natural and unrehearsed!

Avoid being too casual with your classmates, as they will become your future career and social network, but do remember to smile.

Put on your best professional or business-casual gear for the actual video statement. Dress more formally if you’re not sure of what you’re wearing is appropriate. Make sure the area where you’re talking from is noise-free and that your roommates, pets, and/or kids aren’t going to hear or bother you. Make sure your background is modest and neutral. An empty wall makes for a beautiful backdrop.

This is another thing that only the MIT Sloan application asks for. This isn’t a new part of the application, so it shows that MIT thinks it’s important to know where the applicant stands in the organization’s hierarchy.

The key is to make it informative, with good details about your own position and those who may be in levels higher or lower than you. Organizational charts should not be more than two pages.

You might not need to spend a lot of time making the organizational chart look fancy, but a simple chart showing the different levels should work pretty well. Check out the sample organizational chart that the school has given.

Source – https://mitsloan.mit.edu/sites/default/files/inline-files/Sample%20Org%20Chart.pdf

Here are a few important FAQs related to the organizational chart.

What’s the goal of submitting the organizational chart?

The goal is to find out more about you and your work history. The organizational chart for your company will help MIT Sloan adcom figure out what your job is, who you report to, who reports to you, and how you might affect your department or company.

What if no one reports to you. Will this part of the application put you at a disadvantage?

No. At this point in your career, you are not expected to be able to manage other people. The organizational chart isn’t meant to count how many people report to you directly. Instead, it’s meant to help the adcom understand your role in your organization and who you work with.

What if I’m a solo entrepreneur or external contractor? What is the best way to display my chart when I am an organization of one?

If you are a solo entrepreneur or contractor, try this: place yourself at the center of the chart, then make branches representing the various constituents and stakeholders you interact with (for example, clients, suppliers, investors, and board of directors). 

My organization’s structure is confidential. Do I still have to submit an organizational chart?

We recognize that some organizations’ internal structures are classified or confidential. In this scenario, do your best to help us visualize your place within the organization without giving away classified details. You can redact names or titles or display only a certain level of your organization. Whatever you can share will be helpful.

Applicants are invited to expand on their background by responding to the following optional 250-word short answer question:

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

Overall, MIT Sloan is trying to learn more about where you have come from and how that has shaped who you are now.

You could talk about how the lessons you’ve learned from hard times and strange situations have changed the way you approach your career, but that shouldn’t be the main point of this essay.

The adcom wants to know what motivates you, what your values are, or just other parts of who you are. Also, remember that this Sloan MBA essay is optional.

Alexis Marcus from MIT Sloan’s admissions team conducted a live Q&A and you can get a few tips from this session. The video is embedded here.

We will help you write essays that portray your unique strengths and experiences in the most favorable light so that your application shines above the rest. We have helped hundreds of students get into top US business schools. Let us help you too.

Do you want to get into your dream business school?

Take the first step towards your MBA dream and schedule a free 1 on 1 application strategy call with us.

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Writing an MBA essay can be a pivotal step in your journey towards earning a coveted spot in a top business school. It’s a chance to let your personality shine, communicate your goals, and explain why a particular institution is the perfect fit for you. In this comprehensive article, we

The MIT Sloan Interview – What to Expect + Sample Questions

Oct 27, 2023

How the MIT Sloan interview works

The interview essays, who is mit sloan looking for, how can you prepare for your mit sloan interview, what to do if you get a question you haven’t prepared an answer for, effectively tell your story during your mit interview.

UPDATE : This article was originally posted on February 19, 2019. It has been updated with new information and tips below.

With the Media Lab, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation track, and a motto of “Mens et Manus,” or “Mind and Hand,” MIT Sloan is a hotbed for professionals seeking to work with cutting-edge industries and entrepreneurs alike.

However, with the number of MBA applicants hoping to land jobs in technology and entrepreneurship increasing every year, landing a spot at MIT Sloan has become more challenging than ever.

That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you use your MIT Sloan interview to stand out. We’ve rounded up not only our best tips but have also included sample interview questions to ensure you give your MIT application your best shot.

As one of the most elite business schools in the world, landing an interview with MIT Sloan is no easy task.

Thus, if you have passed to the interview phase of the Sloan application process, congratulations! This is already an exceptional achievement.

MIT interviews are generally conducted by the admissions committee in “hub cities” around the world. During the interview, the admissions committee member is actively trying to gauge how solid your motivations for wanting to pursue an MBA are, how interested you seem in the MIT Sloan program, and if you fit well with the program’s values.

Interviewers often ask many standard MBA interview questions, as well as questions designed to gauge your self-awareness and ability to be part of a team. You can also expect numerous follow-up questions.

Our clients who have interviewed with MIT in the past say that the interviewer was very friendly and prepared questions specifically tailored to their profile . As such, some clients received questions that were far more personal in nature, while others focused strictly on their academic and professional achievements.

Who will interview you?

You will interview with a member of MIT Sloan’s admissions committee. After being invited to interview, you will receive a link through which you can schedule a time for your interview.

Will the interviewer have read my application?

Yes. The interviewer will have read your entire application and will have seen your pre-interview essays . Past reports indicate that interviewers develop specific questions based on your application , so make sure to take the time to review what you presented.

How long will the MIT interview last?

30 minutes maximum. The MIT Sloan interview tends to be one of the shortest interviews in the MBA world, so don’t panic if your interview doesn’t last the full 30 minutes!

MIT Sloan has long required candidates who are called to interview to submit an additional essay. This year, MIT Sloan has two interview essays , one focused on data analysis and the more traditional diversity-focused essay.

REQUIRED QUESTION #1 (DIVERSITY)

The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and generate ideas that advance management practice. We believe that a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and well-being is a key component of both principled leadership and sound management practice.

In 250 words or less, please describe a time when you contributed toward making a work environment or organization more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse.

How to approach your answer

At MIT, diversity is a core value . This means that at Sloan, you’ll constantly interact with people who think and act differently than you do.

Succeeding in such an environment requires a great deal of adaptability and flexibility, as well as a willingness to learn from those who are different. This type of environment, however, is not for everyone, which is why MIT seeks to gauge how you respond to diversity in this essay.

We suggest you start by considering the brand you are presenting to MIT and examine which examples of diversity you can share that will add value to the stories you told in your cover letter and video. Then, make sure you narrow this list down to your single best story . In a 250-word essay , you won’t have time to fully explore multiple examples, so limit yourself to one killer story.

REQUIRED QUESTION #2 (DATA)

We are interested in learning more about how you make data-driven decisions and communicate results. Please select one of the following prompts to respond to:

Please select an existing data visualization and in 250 words or less explain why it matters to you. The data visualization should be uploaded as a PDF. Examples may come from current events, a business analysis, or personal research (e.g. climate change, COVID maps, etc).
In 250 words to less, please describe a recent data-driven decision you had to make, and include one slide presenting your analysis. The slide may include a data visualization example and should present data used in a professional context. Your slide must be uploaded as a PDF.

We have written a dedicated post with our tips on how to approach both of the MIT Sloan interview essays. Click here to read!

Source: @ mitsloanwomen on Instagram

“MIT Sloan students are informed and responsible global citizens with the vision, drive, and practical experience to make significant contributions to their organizations and to the world.” MIT Sloan Admissions Team

As one of the prestigious M7 schools, the average MIT Sloan student tends to have a demonstrated track record of academic excellence and a high GMAT/GRE score. The ~400 admits to the Class of 2025 has a median GMAT score of 730. GRE verbal scores ranged from 155-1677 and quant scores ranged from 157-168.

However, with a major focus on diversity (it’s been the theme of Sloan’s interview essay for the past several years), it’s no surprise that MIT Sloan’s admissions team works hard to continually increase the diversity of perspectives present in its class. The Class of 2025 has 60 countries represented and included 28% of students from underrepresented U.S. minorities and 46% women.

According to the admissions team, they also look beyond the numbers to ensure applicants fit with Sloan’s values.

Source: MIT Sloan’s website

In addition, MIT Sloan tends to favor applicants who demonstrate excellence and commitment both at the office and in the community.

Though no interview is 100% predictable, MIT Sloan interviews do tend to center around a fairly standard list of MBA interview questions, with a few personalized questions added as well. As such, we have prepared some model questions below that previous candidates have received in their past MIT interviews.

SAMPLE MIT SLOAN INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

The questions below are drawn from our clients’ interview reports, as well as from sites like clearadmit.com . Though these are not all the potential questions you could possibly receive during your Sloan interview, preparing for these (and any follow-up questions you think you might be asked) should give you an excellent foundation for your interview.

STARTING UP QUESTIONS

Do you have any recent accomplishments you want to share?
Are there any changes to your resume since you submitted it?
Walk me through your resume. (expect to receive many follow-up questions)
Tell me about your data slide.
Expect further questions about your 2 interview essays.
What do you do outside of work?
What exactly do you do on a daily basis?
What accomplishment in the past year at work are you proudest of?
What’s a personal goal that you’ve set for yourself recently?
What are your short-term and long-term goals?
Why did you decide to apply to Sloan?
Where else did you apply?
How will you decide where to go?

TEAMWORK & LEADERSHIP

Tell me about when you had a difficult time with your job.
Tell me about a time you had to manage conflict at work.
Tell me about a difficult conversation you had to have with a peer/superior.
Tell me about a time you had a challenging interaction with someone.
Tell me a time when you influenced someone.
Tell me about something that you’ve encountered, at work or outside of work, that made you feel uncomfortable.
Tell me about a time when you were part of a team that didn’t get along well. How did you help solve the issue?
How would you deal with a team member who wasn’t pulling his or her own weight?
Tell me about a time you led a team to a solution.
Tell me about a time when you had to persuade/convince others.
Tell me about a time when someone else needed your help.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Tell me about a time when you set a goal and achieved it.
Tell me a time when you thought outside of the box/innovative.
Tell me of a time when you took the risk. What did you learn from it?

GENERAL BEHAVIORAL

How would a friend describe you? A client?
Tell me about a time when you had to step out of your comfort zone.
Tell me about a time you had to ask for help
Tell me about a time you failed.
Tell me about a time when your expectations were not met.
What do you think are your greatest strengths/weaknesses?
I’m meeting a lot of people today, why should we admit you?
Any questions for me?
What do you wish I had asked you?

We have found that answering real interview questions on the spot is a much better means of preparation than reading lists of interview questions for most candidates.

We highly suggest you take a look at mock interview questions and sample interview responses before your interview .

Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of real interview mocks from Sloan, as well as detailed guides to help you prepare for questions ranging from “Why our MBA program?” to “Tell us about a time you failed.”

The Ellin Lolis Consulting MBA Resource Center is your one-stop shop for interview success. Click to join!

If you’re still not quite confident with your interview skills, our interview experts can help you craft your answers or prepare you for the MIT Sloan interview through mock interviews tailored to your profile.

Despite your most diligent preparation, you will almost always receive a question you had not prepared.

First, stay calm and take a deep breath. You have already made it this far in the process, and one question will not trip you up!

Second, make sure you directly answer the question the interviewer asked you. For example, if the interviewer asks you about a time you had to deal with a difficult manager, make sure to tell a story about a difficult manager and how you handled the situation.

If you’re having trouble thinking of an answer or an example to support your answer , however, take a drink of water to give yourself a few more minutes to think. If you really can’t think of an example from your personal or professional experience, you can use a hypothetical answer about how you would act in a certain situation.

Finally, assume that the interviewer is testing how you think on your feet and respond to questions you didn’t prepare in advance . Though your answer might not be as polished as if you’d had weeks to rehearse it, smile and confidently give your answer to show you can respond to any question they throw at you.

One of the most common mistakes we see in MBA interviews is that candidates fail to tell compelling, well-constructed stories about their profiles while also nailing the basics.

Striking this balance between sharing STAR-format examples that show off your background while also presenting strong answers to questions like “Why do you want an MBA?” is a challenging task that requires significant thought and preparation.

Because of this, it’s no surprise that, on average, 50% of interviewed applicants walk away without an offer .

This is why our interview preparation process here at Ellin Lolis Consulting is known as the best in the industry. We offer customized 1:1 support that ensures you’re able to turn your application’s strengths into compelling answers that show fit and sell your profile in any type of interview. That’s why 98.9% of our complete consulting clients get into at least one of their target schools.

Not only can you take advantage of our development process through multiple sessions – you can also benefit from a single session! If your budget is tight, our interview experts can focus your session on a single aspect of the preparation process, from workshopping your answers to providing mock interviews.

“Hi, Ellin! I wanted to share the wonderful news that I was accepted into MIT Sloan to do my MBA. Words cannot describe how happy I am for this opportunity. I can’t thank you enough for your help in preparing the interview. It truly made a difference.

Forget simulation platforms or long lists of tips – our 1:1 preparation focuses on playing to your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses to turn you into an interview expert . Hire our interview services here. VIP packages that allow you to work directly with Ellin sell out quickly, so make sure you sign up today !

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MIT Sloan School of Management Essay Questions and Strategic Guidance, 2024-2025

The Application

MIT Sloan’s instructions for completing its application offer clues as to how applicants can—perhaps even should —approach it.

For example, Sloan’s directives for its requested Cover Letter include the following preamble:

The actual Cover Letter prompt follows:

When crafting your Cover Letter , keep the following tips in mind:

Include your motivation for your actions as well as the how (the steps you took to achieve what you did). Remember that your resume will provide the school the headlines of your accomplishments; your cover letter should add color and context.
If you have any remaining space, you can briefly state your goals and/or why Sloan is the right MBA program for you, but these elements are not mandatory and should be included only if you feel they are truly necessary for the admissions committee to fully understand and evaluate your candidacy. Keep in mind that your past experiences are what will enable you to stand out because they are unique to you, whereas your stated goals and/or your interest in Sloan will likely overlap with those of at least some of your fellow applicants.

In its Video Statement prompt, Sloan asks you to “Introduce yourself to your future classmates.”

So, be genuine about who you are and what you will bring to campus.

The topics you discuss are up to you, but here are some other basic guidelines:

Remember to introduce yourself!
Where you live or are from
What you are doing professionally
Things you do in the community or for fun
Talk about what you hope to do at Sloan.
Explain what you would bring to Sloan.
Avoid repeating exactly what is in your cover letter, though some overlap is fine.

And consider these execution tips when preparing for, and actually filming, your video:

When drafting your content, regularly read it out loud to ensure that it will easily fit within the school’s 60-second limit. Keep trimming as necessary until it does. An introduction you have sped through is not your friend in this process; if your viewer cannot understand what you are saying because you are speaking too quickly, you will miss a critical opportunity to connect with admissions.
Once you have finalized your script (or, if you prefer, simple bullet points), put the material away. Your goal is to know which topics you want to cover and be able to communicate them without sounding as though you have memorized your material.
Do not read from a script.
You can film your intro wherever you would like, including at your desk at work or somewhere in your home! You can certainly be creative (we have seen people film their videos outside or at a location that is particularly meaningful to them), but no matter what location you choose, keep the focus on you . Your background will not make you stand out or convince the admissions committee to admit you; only you and your content can do that.
Be sure to speak slowly and to check your sound and lighting to ensure the viewer will be able to easily hear and see you.

In its online application, Sloan includes the following short essay prompt:

With respect to other elements of Sloan’s application and process, we offer the following advice:

MIT Sloan is particular about what it wants to see on candidates’ resumes. Take time to make sure that you fully understand the directives provided on the school’s website and then follow them precisely.
Compared to other top business schools, Sloan has only a brief set of online questions embedded in its application. The admissions committee expects you to include the most essential information about your candidacy—the information that will influence its decision—in the other elements of your application.
Sloan also asks for an Organizational Chart of no more than two pages. You goal is to communicate the structure of your team/organization and convey the information Sloan asks for in an easy-to-comprehend way. Sloan offers an example on its website that you can use as a guide.

Note that Sloan asks applicants who are selected for an interview to submit two additional essays. The prompts for these essays are as follows:

In 250 words or less, please describe a time when you contributed toward making a work environment or organization more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse.
Please select an existing data visualization and in 250 words or less explain why it matters to you. The data visualization should be uploaded as a PDF. Examples may come from current events, a business analysis, or personal research.
In 250 words or less, please describe a recent data driven decision you had to make, and include one slide presenting your analysis. The slide may include a data visualization example and should present data used in a professional context. Your slide must be uploaded as a PDF.

When you are brainstorming ideas for your core Sloan materials, you should also start thinking about how you might answer these pre-interview essay questions.

Topics in this resource:

MBA Essay Questions and Strategic Guidance

What to Expect from the 2023-2024 MBA Essay Questions

While we cannot perfectly predict the future, our 16 years of experience as an MBA admissions essay consultant and careful analysis of past trends can help us assess what MBA candidates should expect with this year’s MBA essay questions.

Many MBA hopefuls who have already narrowed their target school lists are anxiously awaiting the release of the 2023-2024 MBA application essay questions and deadlines. In previous years, we have seen MBA essay questions released as early as the beginning of May. Using our insider knowledge of what each school is looking for, as well as successful business school essay examples from past admissions cycles, Personal MBA Coach has already begun working with our round 1 clients on a number of essays.

For this year’s prediction, we have divided top MBA programs into three categories and have included details on which MBA essay or essays to begin working on today!

MBA programs where at least one MBA application essay is unlikely to change
MBA programs where smaller changes are most likely
MBA programs with a higher likelihood of changing the MBA application essay questions

MBA Programs Where at Least One MBA Essay Is Unlikely to Change:

For the programs below, Personal MBA Coach believes that at least one of the 2022-2023 MBA essay questions will return for the 2023-2024 MBA application cycle. If any of the MBA programs below are on your list, we urge you to get started on the relevant MBA application essay questions today!

Harvard Business School

Stanford GSB

Columbia Business School

Chicago booth.

HBS has asked the same MBA application essay question over the past few years, and we expect this year’s question is likely to remain the same.

HBS’s 2022-2023 MBA Essay Question was:

As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA Program?

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Like HBS, Stanford GSB has not changed its MBA essay questions in recent years. While Stanford GSB has made some changes to the required essay length, we would be surprised to see a major essay question change from Stanford.

Stanford’s 2022-2023 MBA essay questions were:

Essay A: What matters most to you, and why?

For this essay, we would like you to reflect deeply and write from the heart. Once you’ve identified what matters most to you, help us understand why. You might consider, for example, what makes this so important to you? What people, insights, or experiences have shaped your perspectives?

Essay B: Why Stanford?

Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. If you are applying to both the MBA and MSx programs, use Essay B to address your interest in both programs.

Columbia Business School’s first MBA essay has taken a similar form over the past years. While the exact wording could vary, we do not expect any significant change in CBS’s first MBA essay question.

Columbia’s 2022-2023 first MBA essay question was:

Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)

We also anticipate Columbia Business School’s essay about program fit to remain on the 2022-2023 CBS application.

This MBA essay question was:

Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you? (250 words)

Watch Personal MBA Coach’s quick tips video for Columbia Business School application advice:

As with CBS, Wharton has kept its first MBA essay question largely the same for the past few years, and we expect some version of the same essay question this year.

Wharton’s 2022-2023 first MBA essay question was:

How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)

As with Wharton and CBS, Kellogg also is unlikely to change its essay questions.

Kellogg’s 2022-2023 first MBA essay question was:

Kellogg’s purpose is to educate, equip and inspire brave leaders who create lasting value. Provide a recent example where you have demonstrated leadership and created value. What challenges did you face and what did you learn? (450 words)

Similarly, Kellogg’s second MBA essay question has stayed the same for the past few years, and we do not anticipate that it will change.

Kellogg’s 2022-2023 second MBA essay question was:

Values are what guide you in your life and work. What values are important to you and how have they influenced you? (450 words)

Chicago Booth joins the list of schools for which Personal MBA Coach clients are working on essay #1.

Chicago Booth’s 2022-2023 first MBA essay question was:

How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (Minimum 250 words, no maximum)

MIT Sloan’s cover letter essay has not changed in a while, and we expect it to stay the same in the 2023-2024 cycle.

MIT Sloan’s 2022-2023 MBA essay question was:

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 do not expect the Yale SOM essay question to change from the previous cycle.

Yale SOM’s 2022-2023 MBA essay question:

Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (500 words)

MBA Programs Where Smaller Changes Are Most Likely:

London Business School

Aside from minor tweaks or word limit adjustments, we would be more surprised to see major MBA application essay question changes from these programs.

If one or more of these schools is on your list, we suggest that you begin brainstorming, outlining and hopefully writing your essays as soon as possible. This will free up time (both personally and professionally) as summer nears.

MBA Programs with a Higher Likelihood to Change the MBA Essay Questions:

Below is a list of MBA programs for which Personal MBA Coach recommends that our clients hold off drafting their MBA essays. For some schools in this list, we suggest that you begin brainstorming now as the risk of a change is smaller. For other schools, hold off entirely until the MBA applications open later this spring. There are plenty of other MBA application components that candidates targeting these MBA programs can get started on today!

Michigan Ross (brainstorm only)
UCLA Anderson
Berkeley Haas (brainstorm only)
Dartmouth Tuck

Keep in mind, the details shared above are predictions only! As soon as this year’s MBA application essay questions are released, Personal MBA Coach will let you know what has changed and will share advice on how to tackle each MBA essay question.

Join our weekly MBA Tips newsletter to be sure you do not miss anything!

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October 1, 2020

MIT Sloan Master of Finance Application Essay Questions, Tips & Deadlines [2020 – 2021]

The MIT Sloan Masters in Finance essay tips and deadlines

The MIT Sloan Master o f Finance program is significantly influenced by being part of both the Sloan School of Management and MIT more broadly. The culture and values of those two entities infuse the MFin program. Yes, being a quant geek helps, but the program’s adcom wants more: people who have a distinctive perspective, a sense of purpose, curiosity about and interest in using their quant chops to make a difference and build a better future, and the capacity become a leader within their area of finance. The written essays and video essays together will draw out those qualities and help the adcom identify the applicants who best fit the program.

MIT Sloan MFin 2020-21 application essays and video questions

Using relevant, verifiable details, such as awards, rankings, media references, etc., please respond to the three short answer questions below. ( Each response should be 200 words or less. )

MIT Sloan MFin essay #1

Please discuss past academic and professional experiences and accomplishments that will help you succeed in the Master of Finance program. Include achievements in finance, math, statistics, and computer sciences, as applicable.

The challenge here is to avoid being merely redundant of your resume and transcript. And the solution is to identify accomplishments and achievements that are meaningful to you in some way AND will be relevant to your future path. Rather than listing, say 5 or 6 items, present 3-4 and (for at least 1-2) succinctly explain their importance to you – the quality of your insight is what will set this essay apart and show you to be an engaged, appealing candidate.

MIT Sloan MFin essay #2

Describe your short-term and long-term professional goals. How will our MFin degree help you achieve these goals?

Be specific for your short-term goals : type of position, industry, what special experiences you’ll bring to the role (beyond an MIT MFin), possibly geography – and perhaps most important, WHY you want to do that role. Longer-term goals can be less specific and detailed, but motivation should be clear. Of course, link specific elements and qualities of the MFin program to your goals – it may seem obvious how it will help you, but you need a thoughtful discussion. This essay is core to portraying your fit with the program in terms of making productive use of its content and resources.

MIT Sloan MFin essay #3

Please share personal qualities that will enable you to contribute to the advancement of our mission.

This essay is the other part of “fit ” – where you will show that you understand and align with MIT and the program in terms of culture and values. Again, avoid lists of qualities. Select 2-3 qualities that enable you to contribute to the mission as indicated and present those qualities via anecdote – MIT is always interested in what you’ve actually done ; just “talk” doesn’t convey credibility. An anecdote can be as short as a sentence sometimes (“When ABC happened, I did DEF, and realized GHI, which gave me the courage to XYZ…”). And, please, avoid using qualities that don’t really add to the picture, like strong analytic skills, hard worker – the adcom knows that already!

MIT Sloan MFin video question #1

Please upload a one-minute (60 second) video introducing yourself to your future classmates and letting us know why you are interested in the finance industry.

The video should be a single take (no editing) and lasting no more than one minute, consisting of you speaking directly to the camera. You should not use background music or subtitles.

Don’t feel the need to be clever or funny or dramatic . Start with a brief intro – where are you from? What are you doing now? Then tell a story – the story of how you became interested in the finance industry. Include a setting – when, where – and share that first spark of interest. Also, the question says “finance industry” but that is too broad for the video purposes; be more specific, i.e. what aspect of finance or finance industry. Are you interested in Investment Banking, Quantitative Finance, Corporate Finance, PE, VC, something else? Public Investment? Research? Delineate your interest in the specific area in the video. That will be both more credible and more interesting than “finance” broadly.

For process: write a script, practice a few times to feel natural , and test out the visuals. Then go for it!

MIT Sloan MFin video question #2

All MFin applicants must submit a brief video statement in response to a simple, open-ended general interest 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 and will not be a technical question. The Video Question 2 is a part of your required application materials and will appear as a page within the application, once the other parts of your application are completed.

Each applicant receives a randomly generated question and has one minute to prepare a 60-second response .

This is more like an interview, and the best way to prepare is simply to practice random questions in front of a video camera with the same specs, i.e., 1-minute prep time. The aim is to practice enough so that generating a strong, engaging reply is second nature by the time you do it for real .

Get professional guidance with your MIT MiF application! Check out Accepted’s MiF Application Packages , which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the MIT MiF application.

MIT Sloan Master of Finance 2020 – 2021 application deadline

Application deadline	January 5, 2021
Notification of admissions decision	March 11, 2021

Source: MIT Sloan Master’s in Finance website

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with individual programs to verify the essay questions, instructions and deadlines.***

Download your free guide: The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Masters in Finance Programs

Related Resources:

5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Application Essays , a free guide
How to Get Accepted to Master’s in Finance Programs
A Glimpse into the MIT MFin Experience of an International Student

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MBA: The Why, The Whats & The Hows

MBA in Business...

MBA in Business Analytics in USA: Colleges, Fees & Eligibility

The US is a leading study-abroad destination for an MBA in Business Analytics. A hub of the global economy, the US is the perfect place for learning business operations. House to some of the leading B-schools in the world, an MBA in Business Analytics can help you make the best of your career.

Key Highlights:

The average salary for MBA graduates in Business Analytics in the USA is about USD 110,000. Starting salaries could be a minimum of USD 90,000 and as high as USD 130,000, depending on the nature of specializations and industries.
Data Science, Business Intelligence, Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, and Marketing Analytics are the most famous concentrations pursued in a Business Analytics course.
The total cost of an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA ca be USD 40,000 to USD 80,000 annually.
The highest-paying industries post MBA in Business Analytics in the USA typically include Technology, Healthcare, Finance, and Consulting, followed by Retail.

Reach out to experienced counselors with Yocket Premium for more personalized counseling for an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA. From shortlisting your dream schools to guiding you through the end-to-end application process, we have your back. From interview grooming, making you confident, to portfolio development reflecting your skill sets, to skilled essay advice that makes all the difference in an application, all our services are at your beck and call.

Table of Contents

Top Universities in the USA for Pursuing an MBA in Business Analytics

The USA is home to top universities for pursuing an MBA in Business Analytics, renowned for their cutting-edge curricula and strong industry ties. Institutions like MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School lead the pack, offering programs that combine advanced analytics with strategic business management. The ROI after an MBA in Business Analytics from the USA is high because most alumni usually recover the invested amount in their education within 2 to 4 years as the earning potential and demand for data-driven decision-makers rise.

University/Business School	QS World Ranking 2024	Application Fees (USD/INR)	Total Annual Tuition Fees (USD/INR)
	2	$150 / 12515 INR	$87,600 / 7308910 INR
)	5	$125 / 10429 INR	$83,500 / 6966827 INR
	9	$200 / 16687 INR	$53,000 / 4422057 INR
USC (Marshall)	11	$155 / 12932 INR	$72,501 / 6049125 INR
	16	$85 / 7092 INR	$57,249 / 4776573 INR
Purdue (Krannert)	21	$75 / 6257 INR	$56,700 / 4730767 INR
Minnesota (Carlson)	23	$75 / 6257 INR	$69,525 / 5800821 INR
	25	$125 / 10429 INR	$89,271(16-month track) / 7448330 INR
Michigan State (Eli Broad)	27	$85 / 7092 INR	$39,000 / 3253966 INR

Suggested: Best Colleges for MBA in Business Analytics in the World

MBA in Business Analytics in the USA - Admissions

Many universities in the USA offer an MBA in Business Analytics with multiple intakes throughout the year.

Round 1 : July/August (Early Decision) - This is typically the most competitive round with the highest application volume. Early-decision applicants may benefit from a higher chance of admission and scholarship opportunities.
Round 2 : October (Regular Decision) - This is another popular round with a good balance of competitiveness and scholarship options.
Round 3 : January (Late Decision) - This is the least competitive round, but some programs may have limited seats available at this point.

Eligibility Criteria for MBA in Business Analytics in the USA

The eligibility criteria for an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA include a bachelor's degree from an institution accredited by only a recognized accrediting agency, prior relevant work experience, GMAT or GRE scores, proficiency in the English language through TOEFL/IELTS, and the like. You must:

Hold a bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) from an accredited institution.
Demonstrate English proficiency with the following scores: IELTS: 6.5 to 7.0 TOEFL-iBT: 90 to 100
Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale.
Achieve an average GRE score between 160 and 322.

MBA in Business Analytics: Documents Required for Admission

Updated CV/Resume : The resume must have your work or project experience, to show that you know the domain.
Statement of Purpose (SOP) : One of the most important documents, an SOP states why you are interested in pursuing an MBA in Business Analytics.
2-3 Letters of Recommendation (LORs) : Get strong LORs (from professors and managers at work) to give the admissions committee a third perspective on your profile.
Application fee payment
USA student visa
Admission Essay
Valid Passport

University Specific English Language requirements and additional requirements:

University/Business School	English Language Requirements	Additional Documents
UCLA (Anderson)	IELTS - 7.0 TOEFL iBT - 87	GMAT/GRE \| Evidence of Computer programming (SQL, Python, R, C++) \| Academic Transcripts \| Letter of Recommendations \| Essays \| Resume
MIT (Sloan)	IELTS - 7.0 TOEFL iBT - 90	Cover Letter \| Resume \| Video Statement \| One LoR \| Additional references \| Organizational Chart \| Transcripts \| GMAT/GRE Scores \| Relevant Coursework and Professional Certification \| Optional Short Answer Question
Duke (Fuqua)	No score requirement	Transcripts \| Questions and Essays \| 1-page Resume \| LoR \| GRE/GMAT/SAT/ACT scores
Texas (McCombs)	IELTS - 7.0 TOEFL iBT - 79	Essay \| Transcripts \| Self-reported test scores \| Resume \| LoR
USC (Marshall)	IELTS - 6.5 TOEFL iBT - 90	Essay \| Video Submission \| LoR \| Transcripts \| Financial Documentation and Passport \| Test Scores
Washington (Foster)	IELTS - 7.0 TOEFL iBT - 92	Essay \| resume \| Transcripts \| GMAT/GRE scores \| LoR \| Self-Review of Qualifications \| Video Interview
Purdue (Krannert)	IELTS - 7.5 TOEFL iBT - 93	Transcripts \| 2 LoR(s) \| Academic Statement of Purpose \| Personal History Statement \| GMAT/GRE scores \| Essay \| Resume
Minnesota (Carlson)	IELTS - 7.0 TOEFL iBT - 79	Academic Transcripts \| GMAT/GRE scores \| Resume \| LoR \| Video Essay \| Demonstrated Computer programming Efficiency \| Application Statement
Boston (Questrom)	IELTS - 6.5 TOEFL iBT - 95	Video and Written Essays \| Resume \| University Level transcripts \| 2 LoR(s) \| GMAT/GRE scores
Michigan State (Eli Broad)	IELTS - 7.0 TOEFL iBT - 100	Academic Transcripts \| Resume \| GMAT, GRE or EA Test Score (if applicable) \| Essays \| Recommendations/References

Scholarships for MBA in Business Analytics in the USA

Pursuing an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA can be financially demanding, but numerous scholarships are available to help ease the burden. These scholarships, offered by universities and private organizations, aim to attract top talent and support students with exceptional academic records and leadership potential.

Scholarship	University/Business School	Eligibility
Fellowships	UCLA (Anderson)	Merit/Need-based
Fuqua Merit Scholarships	Duke (Fuqua)	Merit/Need-based
Partial Tuition Scholarships	USC (Marshall)	Merit-based
	Washington (Foster)	Merit-based
Financial aid up to $20,000	Minnesota (Carlson)	Merit-based
Dean’s Scholarship	Boston (Questrom)	Merit-based

Most top business schools offer financial aid and fee waivers to international students based on merit and need. Most of them also do not require separate scholarship applications, as every applicant is considered for scholarships.

Job Prospects after an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA

Business analytics in the United States is a young field that yields great opportunities for MBA graduates. Until 2029, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted 11% employment growth for management analysts—a rather critical role that can be filled with MBA grads—far above the national average. This translates to a thriving job market hungry for skilled professionals who can bridge the gap between data and actionable insights. Let's delve deeper into the exciting career paths this in-demand degree unlocks.

The following table showcases prospective job roles and their expected salaries offered in the USA, available to those with an MBA in Business Analytics:

Job Title	Average Annual Salary (USD)	Salary Equivalent (INR)
Data Analyst	69,400	57.70 lakhs
Supply Chain Analyst	65,780	54.70 lakhs
Big Data Analyst	89,000	74.0 lakhs
Business Analyst	63,530	52.80 lakhs
Project Manager	99,260	82.60 lakhs
Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst	76,890	64.0 lakhs
Marketing Analyst	63,770	53.0 lakhs

Top Recruiters for MBA in Business Analytics Graduates in the USA

Graduates with an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA can look forward to promising job prospects with leading employers. Top recruiters in this field include:

McKinsey & Company
Bain & Company
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
JPMorgan Chase
Goldman Sachs

From the Desk of Yocket

The convergence of business acumen and data fluency is shaping the future of leadership. The robust curriculum offered by top-tier universities equips students with the analytical and strategic skills necessary to excel in today's dynamic business environment. While the financial investment is significant, the potential for high salary packages and exceptional job prospects with industry-leading recruiters such as McKinsey, Google, and JPMorgan Chase make it a worthwhile pursuit.

At Yocket Premium , we are committed to guiding you through every step of this journey, from selecting the right program to navigating the application process and securing your place at a prestigious institution. Trust us to help you achieve your educational and career aspirations with our comprehensive, personalized support.

Frequently Asked Questions about MBA in Business Analytics in the USA

Who is eligible for an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA?

The eligibility criteria for the MBA in Business Analytics in the USA include a 4 year Bachelor's degree with a grade point average of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 point scale (85%). For international students, proficiency in English is necessary, demonstrated through TOEFL scores of 90 to 100 or IELTS scores of 6.5 to 7.0.

Why is the USA a good destination for an MBA in Business Analytics?

The job outlook for Business Analytics is good in the USA. Graduates of an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA can earn an average annual salary of about USD 83,000 (69.14 lakhs INR). Top employers after an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA are McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and more.

What is the scope after an MBA in Business Analytics?

You'll learn data mining, decision models, visualization, data acquisition, and customer analytics. The scope of MBA Business Analytics is vast. After completing this course, you can start your career as a business analyst, data analyst, data engineer, risk management analyst, etc.

What is the cost of an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA?

The total cost of pursuing an MBA in Business Analytics in the USA can be calculated by adding the total annual tuition fees and cost of living in the USA. The annual tuition fee for MBA in Business Analytics in the USA is USD 37,044 to USD 87,370 equivalent to 30.81 lakhs to 72.68 lakhs INR. The cost of living in the USA includes Rent, Mobile Phone and Internet, Electricity, Meals, Transportation, and Personal expenses. Living in the USA costs more than in India. The average annual cost of living in the USA is 68,168 (56.74 lakhs INR).

What is the salary of an MBA Business Analytics fresher in the USA?

The starting average salary of MBA Business Analytics freshers in the USA is USD 84,457 (70.26 lakhs INR) per year.

Inside the Lab

Top stories, thirty-one uchicago faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships in 2024.

UChicago researchers invent new fabric that reduces heat
Feeling stuck? Here’s how to achieve a breakthrough, with Adam Alter (Ep. 139)

Thirty-one members of the University of Chicago faculty have received distinguished service professorships or named professorships.

Profs. Clifford Ando, Curtis A. Bradley, Cathy J. Cohen, Steven Durlauf, Christopher Faraone, Ayelet Fishbach, Anthony Kaldellis, Young-Kee Kim, Sanjog Misra, Mitchell C. Posner and Alexander Todorov have been named distinguished service professors. Profs. David Archer, Daniel Bartels, David W. Chang, Paul Cheney, Tom S. Clark, Anna Costello, Benson Farb, Dwight N. Hopkins, Yamuna Krishnan, Gabriel Richardson Lear, Kay F. Macleod, Rochona Majumdar, Nadya Mason, Michael Minnis, Marcelo Nóbrega, Sarah Nooter, Joseph L. Pagliari, Eduardo Perozo, Oleg Urminsky and Yingming Zhao have received named professorships.

The appointments are effective July 1, unless otherwise noted.

Biological Sciences Division

David W. Chang has been named the first Ruth Hanna Simms Foundation Professor in the Department of Surgery.

Chang is a pioneer in the field of reconstructive surgery for cancer patients and is an expert in treating lymphedema—chronic swelling of the limbs that can occur in cancer patients after lymph node removal or radiation therapy. He has been instrumental in developing and promoting microsurgical treatments for lymphedema, including lymphovenous bypass and vascularized lymph node transplants.

An accomplished researcher, Chang has published widely and served on the editorial board of leading medical journals such as Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery . He is a past president of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery and the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery.

Kay F. Macleod has been named the Hospira Foundation Professor in the Ben May Department of Cancer Research and the College.

Macleod’s lab focuses on understanding the role of mitochondria in tissue homeostasis and cancer. As a basic researcher, she uses cutting-edge approaches—in cell and molecular biology, systems biology, novel mouse models and human patient samples—to investigate how mitochondria modulate normal tissue function, how mitochondrial stress responses are regulated and how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to cancer progression and metastasis.

Since January 2024, Macleod has served as associate director for basic sciences for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, overseeing basic research activities and research program infrastructure.

Mitchell C. Posner has been named the Thomas D. Jones Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Surgery.

Posner is also Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, and physician-in-chief for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center.

He is a leading authority on the treatment and management of upper gastrointestinal cancers, pairing his skills as a surgeon with a commitment to multidisciplinary care. As an award-winning researcher, Posner focuses on the molecular basis of malignancies; he has designed and guided groundbreaking clinical trials for cancers of the pancreas, esophagus, colon, stomach, rectum and liver.

Posner serves as a deputy editor of the Annals of Surgical Oncology , the section editor of the education/training section of Surgical Oncology Insight and the section editor for gastrointestinal diseases for the American Cancer Society journal Cancer . He is also a past president of the Society of Surgical Oncology. He was recently awarded the distinction of fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Marcelo Nóbrega has been named the A.N. Pritzker Professor in the Department of Human Genetics and the College.

Nóbrega’s research program focuses on how genetic variation increases the risk of human diseases, particularly the impact of noncoding genetic variants that are discovered by genome-wide association studies. His lab has developed pipelines that create integrated experimental and computational strategies to uncover the mechanisms linking regulatory variants to several human diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, asthma, and preterm birth.

Nóbrega is an associate dean for faculty affairs for basic science faculty in the Biological Sciences Division, where he co-leads efforts to promote faculty development, including orientation of new faculty, career development, and skill-building workshops on such topics as preparing for promotion, scientific writing, grantsmanship, trainee mentoring, leadership training, and wellness. He has also served as the chair of the Committee on Genetics, Genomics and Systems Biology, along with several committees focused on recruitment, mentoring and training of graduate students and faculty.

Eduardo Perozo has been named the Lillian Eichelberger Cannon Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the College.

Perozo is a molecular neurobiologist whose lab seeks to define the molecular principles that drive the conversion of different forms of energy, such as electric fields and mechanical forces, into protein motion. He is particularly interested in protein dynamics, which link structure to function. His lab uses a combination of functional measurements at the single molecule and ensemble levels, biochemistry, and molecular biology, performing structural analyses through a combination of X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy of single particles. These structural techniques help them understand biological functions like mechanosensitivity in hearing and balance, and how proteins sense changes in the electric field across membranes of neurons and other excitable tissues.

He is the director of the newly formed Center for Mechanical Excitability, a senior fellow of the UChicago Institute for Integrative Physiology and is affiliated with the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics and the Neuroscience Institute. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Biophysical Society.

Yingming Zhao has been named the Louis Block Professor in the Ben May Department of Cancer Research and the College.

Zhao’s research is primarily dedicated to developing and applying mass spectrometry-based proteomics technologies, alongside various chemical and biological tools, to identify previously undescribed cellular pathways and investigate their functions. His team discovered 13 types of new, metabolite-mediated lysine acylation pathways. They also identified about 1,000 new histone marks bearing the new protein modifications, more than doubling the number of the previously known histone marks discovered during the first 50 years of chromatin biology.

His work revealed numerous enzymes that can add or remove the new lysine acylations, identified specific binding proteins (or “readers’) for the novel histone marks, and discovered a new class of enzymes that can catalyze the synthesis of short-chain lipid CoAs which serve as co-factors for lysine acylations. His laboratory's findings demonstrate the crucial roles of these newly discovered – pathways in epigenetic regulation and cellular pathophysiological changes. They have shown that these pathways contribute to various inborn metabolic diseases, affect the cellular microenvironment, including conditions like hypoxia, and play significant roles in the functions of immunological cells.

He has co-authored 190 peer-reviewed papers and has been ranked, since 2019, as one of the Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate. He is a co-founder and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of two biotechnology companies.

Humanities Division

Clifford Ando has been named the Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Classics and History and the College, effective Sept. 1.

Ando’s research focuses on the histories of religion, law and government in the ancient world. His first book centered on the history of political culture in the provinces of the Roman empire, and he continues to write and advise on topics related to the provincial administration, the relationship between imperial power and local cultural change, and the form and structure of ancient empires. He has also written extensively on ancient religion. Significant themes were the connection of religion to empire and imperial government, especially in relation to pluralism and tolerance; and problems of representation in the use of objects in ritual. His current projects include a study of Latin as a language of the law and a study of legal theory in contexts of weak state power.

He is also general editor of Roman Statutes: Renewing Roman Law , a collaborative project that will produce a new edition, translation and commentary on all epigraphically-preserved Roman laws. The project is supported by grants from the The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Neubauer Collegium, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Christopher Faraone has been named the Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Classics and the College.

A member of the UChicago faculty since 1992, Faraone focuses his research on ancient Greek poetry, religion and magic. He is the author of Talismans and Trojan Horses: Guardian Statues in Ancient Greek Myth and Ritual (1992); Ancient Greek Love Magic (1999); The Stanzaic Structure of Early Greek Elegy (2008); Transformation of Greek Amulets in Roman Imperial Times (2019); and Hexametrical Genres from Homer to Theocritus (2021).

He has also coedited a dozen scholarly volumes including (with I. Polinskaya), Curses in Context 3: The Greek Curse Tablets of the Classical and Hellenistic Periods, Papers and Monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens 12 (2021), (with F. Naiden), Ancient Victims, Modern Observers: Reflections on Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice (Cambridge 2012), with D. Obbink, The Getty Hexameters: Poetry, Magic and Mystery in Ancient Greek Selinous (Oxford 2013). Most recently, he has co-edited with Sofia Torallas-Tovar The Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies vol. 1 (Berkeley 2022) and The Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies: Libraries, Books and Individual Recipes (Ann Arbor 2022), the latter of which was awarded the 2023 Charles Beebe Goodwin Book Award.

Anthony Kaldellis has been named the Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Classics and the College.

Kaldellis’ research explores the history, culture and literature of the east Roman empire from antiquity to the 15th century. An earlier phase of it focused on the reception of ancient Hellenic culture, for example on how authors conceived their projects in relation to classical models ( Procopius of Caesarea , 2004), as well as the history of identities ( Hellenism in Byzantium , 2007), monuments ( The Christian Parthenon , 2009), and genres ( Ethnography after Antiquity , 2013). A second phase brought to light the enduring Roman matrices of Byzantine life and thought, focusing on its political sphere ( The Byzantine Republic , 2015) and ethnic identities ( Romanland: Ethnicity and Empire in Byzantium , 2019).

He has translated into English the works of many medieval Greek writers, such as Prokopios, Genesios, Psellos, Attaleiates and Laonikos Chalkokondyles. His own monographs have been translated into other modern languages, including Turkish, French, Romanian, Russian and Greek. In 2019, he created the first academic podcast for his field, Byzantium & Friends . He has just published a new, comprehensive history of Byzantium, The New Roman Empire (2023), which embeds social, economic, religious and demographic developments within a lively narrative framework.

Gabriel Richardson Lear has been named as the Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor in Western Civilization in the Department of Philosophy, the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought and the College.

Lear is the chair of the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought. Her first book, Happy Lives and the Highest Good: An Essay on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (Princeton, 2004), is about the relationship between morally virtuous action and theoretical contemplation in the happiest life. She continues to publish on aspects of Aristotle’s ethics.

In addition, she has published a number of articles about the idea, pervasive in Ancient Greek ethics, that virtue is beautiful or splendidly good ( kalon ) and about the intersection of ethics and poetics in Plato’s philosophy. She co-edited Plato’s Philebus: A Philosophical Discussion (Oxford, 2019), which was the inaugural publication of the international Plato Dialogue Project.

Rochona Majumdar has been named the George V. Bobrinskoy Professor in the Departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Cinema and Media Studies, and the College.

Majumdar is a historian of modern India with a focus on Bengal. Her writings span histories of gender and sexuality, Indian cinema and modern Indian intellectual history. Majumdar also writes on postcolonial history and theory.

Majumdar's first book, Marriage and Modernity: Family Values in Colonial Bengal challenges the assumption that arranged marriage is an antiquated practice. It was shortlisted by the International Convention of Asia Scholars (Social Science short-list) in 2011. Her second work, Writing Postcolonial History , analyzed the impact of postcolonial theory on historiography.

Her third book, Art Cinema and India's Forgotten Futures: Film and History in the Postcolony, is an analysis of global art cinema in independent India. It was awarded The Chidananda Dasgupta Memorial award for the best writing on Indian cinema in 2023, an Honorable Mention for the Modernist Studies Association Book Prize 2022, and commended for the Kraszna-Krausz Moving Image Book Award 2022.

Majumdar is currently working on two projects. The first is a collaborative project funded by the University of Chicago Center in Delhi entitled A Global history of the Hindoo/ Presidency College: Excellence and Exclusion (under contract with Cambridge University Press) with Upal Chakrabarti and Sukanya Sarbadhikary. The second is an annotated translation of Fifty Years of Politics That I Have Witnessed ( Amar Dekha Rajnitir Panchansh Bachar ) by the Bangladeshi intellectual and nationalist thinker Abul Mansur Ahmad.

Sarah Nooter has been named the Edward Olson Professor in the Department of Classics and the College.

Nooter writes about Greek drama and modern reception, and also about poetry, the voice, embodiment, queer theory, and performance. Her first book, When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy (2016), explores the lyrically powerful voices of Sophocles’ heroes. The Mortal Voice in the Tragedies of Aeschylus (2022) is on voice in Aeschylus and Greek poetry and thought more generally. Her most recent book, Greek Poetry in the Age of Ephemerality (2023), consists of a series of essays on Greek poems, understood as attempts at embodiment through performance and objecthood in the face of the ephemerality of human life. Her volume of translations called How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality (2024) has just been released.

She has co-edited a book called Sound and the Ancient Senses with Shane Butler (2019) and a volume with Mario Telò entitled Radical Formalisms: Reading, Theory and the Boundaries of the Classical (2024). Finally, she is Editor-in-Chief of Classical Philology and has edited special issues on Poetry and Its Means , Athens: Stage, Page, Assembly , Tragedy: Reconstruction and Repair , and, most recently, Philology Transfigured .

Physical Sciences Division

David Archer has been named the first Allyse and Helmut Heydegger Professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences and the College.

Archer uses computer simulations to understand the balance between carbon dioxide levels in the oceans and in the atmosphere in the past to better predict the impact that changing levels will have on future climate. He has worked on a wide range of topics pertaining to the global carbon cycle and its relation to global climate, as well as the evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

He is the author of The Long Thaw: How humans are changing the next 100,000 years of Earth's climate (2008), which earned him the 2009 Walter P. Kistler Book Award; as well as The Global Carbon Cycle (Princeton Primers in Climate) (2010), The Warming Papers: The Scientific Foundation for the Climate Change Forecast (2010) and an undergraduate textbook for non-science majors, titled Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast .

He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

Benson Farb has been named the first Ann Gillian Sheldon Professor of Mathematics and the College.

Farb's work has spanned geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology, dynamical systems, differential geometry, Teichmuller theory, cohomology of groups, representation theory, algebraic geometry and 4-manifold theory, as well as the connections among these topics.

Farb was elected a fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2012 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021 and spoke at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2014. Farb and his former student Dan Margalit were awarded the 2024 Steele Prize for their book “A Primer on Mapping Class Groups.” He has supervised 52 Ph.D. students and has been senior scientist for 15 NSF postdocs.

Young-Kee Kim has been named the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor of Physics and the College.

Kim, special advisor to the provost, previously held the Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Physics and the College. She is an experimental particle physicist and devotes much of her research to understanding the origin of mass for fundamental particles.

Kim co-led the Collider Detector at Fermilab experiment, a collaboration with more than 600 particle physicists from around the world. She is currently working on the ATLAS particle physics experiment at CERN, as well as on accelerator physics research. She was deputy director of Fermilab between 2006 and 2013 and has served on numerous national and international advisory committees and boards.

She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a foreign member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Sloan Foundation, as well as the recipient of the Ho-Am Prize and the Arthur L. Kelly Faculty Prize.

Kim notes that Albert A. Michelson, the recipient of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physics, for whom the chair is named, was the first chair of the UChicago Department of Physics in 1892; Kim served as chair of that department between 2016 and 2022. Michelson also served as president of the American Physical Society in 1901-1902, and Kim is currently president of the American Physical Society.

Yamuna Krishnan has been named the Louis Block Professor of Chemistry and the College.

Krishnan is a groundbreaking chemist who crafts tiny “machines” out of DNA that can be used to monitor and explore how cells work at the microscopic level. Such knowledge can help us better understand diseases and disorders, develop drug targets, and check whether a drug is reaching its intended target in a cell. She investigates the structure and dynamics of nucleic acids, nucleic acid nanotechnology, cellular and subcellular technologies.

She has received numerous awards, including the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences, the Sun Pharma award for Basic Medical Sciences and the Bhatnagar Award for Chemical Sciences and the Scientific Innovations Award from the Brain Research Foundation. She has been named one of Lo Spazio Della Politica’s Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2014 and to research journal Cell Press’s “40 Under 40.”

Social Sciences Division

Paul Cheney has been named the Sorin and Imran Siddiqui Professor in the Department of History and the College, effective Aug. 1.

A historian of Europe with a specialization in old regime France and its colonial empire, Paul Cheney exemplifies the qualities recognized by this appointment: a brilliant scholar and a dedicated teacher with a demonstrated commitment to Core programs of the College. His scholarly work has significantly influenced several fields with an ambitious combination of economic, cultural, and intellectual historical approaches.

His first book, Revolutionary Commerce (Harvard, 2010), is a new history of economic and political culture in enlightenment France, resulting in a new understanding of the origins of the French Revolution. His second, prize-winning book, Cul de Sac (Chicago, 2017) delves into the practical history of colonial economic life in the form of a "global microhistory" of a sugar plantation on Saint Domingue. His work has appeared in Past & Present, The William and Mary Quarterly, Dix-huitième siècle, Les Annales historiques de la Révolution française , and Modern Intellectual History .

Cheney has advanced this bold and creative agenda in research while also making superior contributions to the University community and to the undergraduate curriculum, including service as Chair of multiple Core sequences since his appointment as Assistant Professor of European History in 2006.

Tom S. Clark has been named the David and Mary Winton Green Professor in the Department of Political Science and the College.

Clark joined the UChicago faculty on July 1 from Emory University. Recognized for his leadership in American politics as a scholar of the U.S. judiciary, his approach is distinctive for its attention to the judiciary as an institution that operates as part of the broader political processes of government.

In his research, Clark has investigated how federal judges respond to varying public support for their positions, and the ways in which Congress’s actions serve to signal public support to the courts. These issues were the focus of his first book The Limits of Judicial Independence (2011, Cambridge University Press). In his second book, The Supreme Court: An Analytic History of Constitutional Decision Making (2019, Cambridge University Press), he examines the ways in which social and political forces affect the cases that are brought to the Court, and ultimately shape judicial decisions and the evolution of constitutional law. In addition to his two monographs, Clark is the author of dozens of substantive journal articles in the field’s top outlets, a casebook, and a forthcoming book studying police shootings in U.S. cities.

He has been a visiting fellow at Stanford’s Center for the Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences, Princeton’s Center for the Study of Democratic Politics and the Institute for Advanced Study at the Toulouse School of Economics. Clark’s work has been recognized by major scholarly awards, including the William H. Riker Award, awarded for best book on political economy from the Political Economy Section of the American Political Science Association, the Joseph Bernd Award and the Neal Tate Award from the Southern Political Science Association and the Midwest Political Science Association’s Emerging Scholar Award.

Cathy J. Cohen has been named the D. Gale Johnson Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity and Political Science, and the College.

She was previously the David and Mary Winton Green Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science. Cohen’s research has challenged her discipline to reimagine the boundaries of the political sphere, and to reevaluate conventional assumptions about the nature of political activity. She is the founder of GenForward, a nationally representative and intensive survey of young adults that pays special attention to how race and ethnicity shape how respondents experience and think about the world.

Cohen is the author of several books, including the award-winning and highly-cited The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics (1999, University of Chicago Press), and Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics (2010, Oxford University Press). She is also the co-editor of Women Transforming Politics (1997, NYU Press). Her articles have been published in numerous journals and edited volumes.

In addition to her scholarly contributions, Cohen has a distinguished record of service and leadership at the University and within the academy. She is currently the inaugural chair of the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity and has previously served as director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, as deputy provost for graduate education, and as chair of the Political Science Department. She is a member of the board of the Russell Sage Foundation and has served in advisory and leadership roles in the American Political Science Association, the Social Science Research Council and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Booth School of Business

Daniel Bartels has been named the Leon Carroll Marshall Professor of Marketing.

Bartels investigates the mental representations and processes underlying consumer financial decision-making, moral psychology, and intertemporal choice.

His research has been published in Journal of Consumer Research , Cognitive Psychology , Psychological Bulletin , Cognition, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , and Psychological Science and has been featured in The New York Times , The Economist , The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Time, US News and World Report, Money Magazine, among other outlets. He is associate editor at Cognition .

Prior to joining Booth as a faculty member, Bartels taught behavioral economics at Columbia Business School. He also had a previous affiliation with Booth as a postdoctoral fellow for the Center for Decision Research from 2007-2010. Bartels earned a PhD in cognitive psychology from Northwestern University and a BS in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Anna Costello has been named the Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Accounting.

Before joining Booth, she previously served as an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Costello’s research investigates the role of information sharing between supply chain partners. Specifically, her work shows that information asymmetry between buyers and suppliers impacts the terms and restrictions in long-term supply contracts. She also studies how trade credit between supply chain partners influences firm-specific and market-wide risk. Her research has been published in the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, the Journal of Accounting and Economics, and The Accounting Review .

Costello was awarded the Best Dissertation Award from the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section of the American Accounting Association. She received the 2014-2015 MBA Teacher of the Year Award from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Ayelet Fishbach has been named the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing.

Fishbach studies social psychology, management, and consumer behavior. She is the past president of the Society for the Science of Motivation and the International Social Cognition Network, and the author of GET IT DONE: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation .

Fishbach is an expert on motivation and decision-making. Her groundbreaking research on human motivation has won the Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, the Society of Consumer Psychology’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award. She further received the Provost’s Teaching Award from the University of Chicago.

Fishbach’s work shows how people can live up to their highest aspirations. She’s written about exercising, healthy eating, working, studying, and saving money—the hard-but-worth-it challenges that occupy our lives. She studies self-control, intrinsic motivation, feedback, patience, and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Fishbach’s research has been published in many journals, including Nature , Psychological Review , Psychological Science, Journal of Consumer Research , Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , Journal of Marketing Research , and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . Her research is regularly featured in the media, including The New York Times, Financial Times , WSJ , CNN , and NPR .

Michael Minnis has been named the Fuji Bank and Heller Professor of Accounting.

He studies the role of accounting information in allocating investment efficiently by both managers and capital providers. His recent research focuses on understanding the role of privately held companies in the U.S. economy and how these firms use financial reporting to access, deploy, and manage capital.

Minnis joined the Booth faculty in 2010 and has served as the director of the Chookaszian Accounting Research Center since 2022. As launch committee co-chair, he has played an integral role in the development of the school’s new Master in Management and Master in Finance Programs.

From 2018-2023, he served two terms as a member of the Private Company Council, the primary advisory council to the Financial Accounting Standards Board on private company issues. He has also been engaged in a variety consulting projects outside of academia.

Before pursuing his PhD, Minnis worked in a variety of professional roles. He first started in corporate finance at Eli Lilly and Company, Inc. and later at Fitzgerald | Isaac, p.c. as a certified public accountant. He went on to found Controller Associates LLC. His firm provided part-time controller and Chief Financial Officer services to start-ups, small companies, and non-profit organizations, as well as a variety of financial statement analysis and consulting services.

Minnis received his PhD from the University of Michigan and his BS from the University of Illinois.

Sanjog Misra has been named the Charles H. Kellstadt Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Applied AI.

His research focuses on the use of AI, machine learning, deep learning, and structural econometric methods to study consumer, firm, and policy decisions. In particular, his research involves building data-driven intelligent models aimed at understanding how individuals make choices and investigating private and public policies that might influence those choices. More broadly, Misra is interested in the development of scalable algorithms, calibrated on large-scale data, and the implementation of such algorithms in real world decision environments.

Misra’s research has been published in Econometrica , The Journal of Marketing Research, The Journal of Political Economy, Marketing Science, Quantitative Marketing and Economics, the Journal of Law and Economics , among others. He has served as the co-editor of Quantitative Marketing and Economics and as area editor at Management Science , the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics , Marketing Science , Quantitative Marketing and Economics , the International Journal of Research in Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research.

Prior to joining Booth, Misra was professor of marketing at UCLA Anderson School of Management and professor at the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester. In addition, he has been visiting faculty at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University and the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Joseph L. Pagliari has been named the first John Mazarakis and Chicago Atlantic Clinical Professor, effective Feb. 1. He focuses his research and teaching efforts (based on over 40 years of industry experience) on issues broadly surrounding institutional real estate investment, attempting to answer important questions from a rigorous theoretical and empirical perspective. These issues include: the risk-adjusted performance of core and non-core funds; principal/agent issues in incentive fees; a comparison of REITs and private real estate; real estate’s pricing and return-generating process; real estate’s role in a mixed-asset portfolio; analysis of high-yield (or mezzanine) financing; and the strategic uses of leverage.

He has authored (or co-authored) numerous papers on a variety of these topics. He has also co-authored several chapters in the Handbook of Real Estate Portfolio Management, of which he is also the editor. He has presented these papers and thoughts on other topics at a variety of industry events (including ARES, AREUEA, NCREIF, NAREIM, PREA and ULI) as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and testimony before a subcommittee of the House of Representatives. His views on these and other topics have also been published in the popular press, including Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal.

Alexander Todorov has been named the Walter David “Bud” Fackler Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science.

Todorov studies perception, judgment, and decision-making. As an alternative to standard theory-driven experiments to study perception and judgment, Todorov’s lab pioneered data-driven computational methods. These methods model and visualize the perceptual basis of judgments (e.g., what makes an object beautiful) without prior assumptions, and can be used as a discovery tool. Building on this past work, his current research uses generative AI to model individual human preferences. Another line of research is on the incompleteness of human statistical intuitions and the conditions under which these intuitions impair decision-making.

Todorov’s research has been published in many journals, including Science , PNAS , Nature Human Behavior , Trends in Cognitive Sciences , Psychological Science , Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Journal of Vision , and Journal of Neuroscience . Media coverage of his research has spanned internationally. Among the outlets in the US that have covered his research are PBS, NBC Today Show, NPR, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Todorov was awarded the 2008 SAGE Young Scholar Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the 2019 Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. His most recent book is Face Value: The Irresistible Influence of First Impressions .

Prior to joining Booth, Todorov was a professor of psychology at Princeton University from 2002 to 2020.

Oleg Urminsky has been named the Theodore O. Yntema Professor of Marketing.

Urminsky studies decision-making and the implications for consumers, policymakers and firms. He studies how information, incentives, goals, temporal horizons, identity, emotions and the decision environment interact to shape individual decision-making. He teaches experimental research methods for MBA and PhD students.

Urminsky’s research has been published in Cognition , Journal of Consumer Research , Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Journal of Marketing Research , Marketing Science , Nature Human Behavior and Psychological Science as well as other journals. His paper, “The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention” was a finalist for the 2007 Paul Green award and 2011 O’Dell award. His recent research investigates how the relationships between emotions and economic decisions vary around the world, how planning and anticipated interpersonal interactions impact patience, how language impacts online engagement, and the importance of field experiments for testing policies.

Urminsky’s past experience includes political polling and advertising research, including working on the largest worldwide study of brands, the Brand Asset Valuator, as well as presidential and senate campaigns.

Divinity School

Dwight N. Hopkins has been named the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor.

Hopkins is a constructive social impact theologian (his first Ph.D. degree) with emphasis on wealth ownership informed by history, politics, and religion (his second Ph.D. degree). He asks: how does faith plus wealth equal freedom? — which is the content and goal of human liberation. Wealth means the ownership of earth, air, and water. Faith underscores humans having collective visions beyond the individual self. And freedom points to humans not owing anything to anyone. In this way of life, people are free fully to pursue living.

His MBA degree complements this path to relate the humanities/theology with wealth/business to expand being fully human for people whose traditions pursue faith plus wealth equals freedom. For him, educational technology and ethics in Artificial Intelligence represent a door opening to such a visionary and practical freedom, especially for younger generations.

Hopkins’ research begins with how people have always had agency and opportunity. For example, he developed three courses on Black Ownership of Wealth, from 1619 to the present.

Like John D. Rockefeller (the founder of the University of Chicago), Hopkins comes out of the Baptist tradition, but framed by Episcopalian impacts.

Harris School

Steven Durlauf has been named the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor.

The director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility, Durlauf conducts research that spans topics in economics, including poverty, inequality and economic growth. He helped pioneer the application of statistical mechanics techniques to the modeling of socioeconomic behavior and has also developed identification analyses for these models. Durlauf is also known as a critic of the use of the concept of social capital by social scientists and has also challenged the ways that agent-based modeling and complexity theory have been employed by social and natural scientists to study socioeconomic phenomena.

Durlauf is currently a general editor of the Elsevier Handbooks in Economics series. He was a general editor of The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (2008), the most extensive compendium of economic knowledge in the world. He was also the editor of the Journal of Economic Literature from 2013 to 2022.

He is a fellow of the Econometric Society, a fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory, a fellow of the International Association of Applied Econometrics and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011.

Curtis A. Bradley has been named the Allen M. Singer Distinguished Service Professor of Law.

A foreign relations law expert, Bradley has research interests that include international law, constitutional law and federal court jurisdiction. His latest book, Historical Gloss and Foreign Affairs: Constitutional Authority in Practice —due out in October—examines how the constitutional law governing the conduct of foreign affairs has evolved significantly throughout history, positing that these changes were developed through the practices of presidents and Congress rather than by Supreme Court rulings or formal constitutional amendments.

He is also the author of International Law in the US Legal System (3d ed. 2020), the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law (2019), and the coauthor of two casebooks: Foreign Relations Law: Cases and Materials (8th ed. 2024) and Federal Courts and the Law of Federal-State Relations (10th ed. 2022).

From 2012-2018, Bradley served as a reporter on the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, and in 2023, began serving as a reporter on the latest phase of this Restatement. Early in his career, Bradley clerked for Judge David Ebel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and Justice Byron White on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2004, he served as counselor on international law in the Legal Adviser’s Office of the U.S. State Department.

Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering

Nadya Mason has been named the first Robert J. Zimmer Professor of Molecular Engineering, effective Feb. 1.

The dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, Mason focuses her research on nanoscale electronic properties in systems such as nano-scale wires, atomically thin membranes, and nanostructured superconductors, with applications in nanoscale and quantum computing.

Before joining UChicago in 2023, Mason was the Rosalyn S. Yalow Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois and directed the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

Dedicated to advancing diversity in the physical sciences and mentoring, Mason is the former chair of the American Physical Society Committee on Minorities, where she helped initiate the “National Mentoring Community.” She regularly contributes to science outreach through local TV appearances, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and a TED talk on "Scientific Curiosity."

Mason is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2009 Denise Denton Emerging Leader Award, the 2012 APS Maria Goeppert Mayer Award and the 2019 APS Bouchet Award.

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Which program is right for you?

Through intellectual rigor and experiential learning, this full-time, two-year MBA program develops leaders who make a difference in the world.

A rigorous, hands-on program that prepares adaptive problem solvers for premier finance careers.

A 12-month program focused on applying the tools of modern data science, optimization and machine learning to solve real-world business problems.

Earn your MBA and SM in engineering with this transformative two-year program.

Combine an international MBA with a deep dive into management science. A special opportunity for partner and affiliate schools only.

A doctoral program that produces outstanding scholars who are leading in their fields of research.

Bring a business perspective to your technical and quantitative expertise with a bachelor’s degree in management, business analytics, or finance.

A joint program for mid-career professionals that integrates engineering and systems thinking. Earn your master’s degree in engineering and management.

An interdisciplinary program that combines engineering, management, and design, leading to a master’s degree in engineering and management.

Executive Programs

A full-time MBA program for mid-career leaders eager to dedicate one year of discovery for a lifetime of impact.

This 20-month MBA program equips experienced executives to enhance their impact on their organizations and the world.

Non-degree programs for senior executives and high-potential managers.

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Undergraduate

Course 15: practical business skills to make ideas matter.

Established more than 100 years ago to give MIT students a timeless advantage, Course 15 is management education grounded in the scientific method and tested in the world.

Sit shoulder-to-shoulder with graduate students who bring real-world work experience to the classroom. Participate in class discussions that mimic workplace environments where teams of diverse experience, levels, and expertise work together. Learn from faculty who are leading their fields, and work with them as you hone your own skills and expertise.

With three majors and three minors–management, business, analytics, and finance–available to MIT undergraduates, find your path and position yourself to lead, in and for the world.

Explore the Majors and Minors

What Will You Do with a Course 15 Degree?

Course 15 students graduate prepared for both short- and long-term career success in a changing global landscape.

Discover your career path with resources for Course 15 students

Who do I contact if I have questions?

What are the Major Requirements?

15-1 Management

15-2 Business Analytics

15-3 Finance

What are the Minor Requirements?

15-2 Business Analytics

15-3 Finance

How do I declare a double major?

You can declare a double major in sophomore spring. Information on declaring a double major can be found at https://registrar.mit.edu/registration-academics/academic-requirements/majors-minors/double-majors

Our office can sign off on your double major form. Feel free to email us in advance if you want to discuss your course road/double major planning.

See sample roadmaps of many popular double major combinations at https://mitsloan.mit.edu/programs/undergraduate/roadmaps-course-15-single-and-double-majors .

How do I declare course 15?

For declaring a major, see: https://registrar.mit.edu/registration-academics/academic-requirements/majors-minors/declaring-major

You don’t need to be a major to make an appointment with our office to discuss majoring, minoring, or taking a class. Email us to set up a meeting to discuss anything Course 15: [email protected]

How do I request study abroad/transfer credits?

Please email Rianna Allen-Charles ( [email protected] ) in the Undergraduate Office and provide the course description and syllabus. Also, inform her about the type of credit you are seeking (e.g., for a specific class or general elective units). The Undergraduate Office will collect this information and then forward it to one of our faculty members in the relevant area for preliminary approval. The official approval will be granted when the student returns from studying abroad, provides a transcript to confirm at least a B grade (usually in the course), and submits the final syllabus.

How do I petition for requirement substitutions/exceptions?

We do not have a formal petition process. Start by emailing us at [email protected] with any requests.

Where can I find information about MIT Sloan UROP’s?

Visit MIT’s Office of Experiential Learning website for a current list of UROP opportunities.

Will I get a job/internship?

Yes! Contact us to help you navigate your resources, strategies, and options. Contact us at [email protected]

And if you have not already, make an appointment to meet with CAPD through Handshake and connect with alums through the MIT Alumni Advisor Hub .

These are the two best resources available to you for finding internships and/or jobs!

Meet the Undergraduate Education Staff

Scott Alessandro

Senior director, undergraduate programs.

I am the Director of Undergraduate Education, which means I help students get the best education possible at MIT Sloan and help to make sure the curriculum gives them that opportunity.

Rianna Allen-Charles

Associate director, sloan undergraduate programs.

Karyn E. Glemaud-Anis

Assistant director, undergraduate programs.

More From Forbes

The use of ai in education: understanding the student’s perspective.

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Tao Zhang, Head of Engineering at Caktus AI .

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to make its inevitable way into education, there is a need to understand beyond the educators' perspectives in order to sufficiently capture how students interact and behave around this innovative technology.

Today, 60% of teachers use AI in their classrooms. As the founder of Caktus AI, an AI platform for students, I believe there is a relevant and consistent student perspective that educators should consider.

Students And High Trust In AI

Ever since the AI explosion in popularity back in 2022, it's been known and documented that AI can suffer from hallucinations—the generation of factually incorrect AI outputs. Inaccurate outputs may appear as false testimonials of historical events or just out-of-context responses.

However, during an internal user research effort from our 2.6 million users, we found that, on average, students rated AI's accuracy for school-related work at 7.2 out of 10. The score places high regard on the AI outputs students use for their work, at least from their perspective. Given how much students already trust and rely on AI, there is an opportunity to provide further support in their writing journey to ensure access to factual information.

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Adverse skepticism toward AI information also comes from the models' data sources. Although generative AI players work hard on optimizations and infrastructural improvements, many still rely on generic data to train the models. Training with low-quality data can lead to inherited biases that every student should be aware of, according to MIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies .

Many students also reported editing the output content from AI tools. Forty-one percent of students said they always edit AI-generated content, while only 3% stated they never do. Even though students are using these AI tools to help with their writing, editing the output remains an integral part of their writing process.

The inherent learning from these actions can still positively support their overall educational experience. With the educators' encouragement to double-check sources and data, I believe AI can positively influence students' writing journey.

Common AI Use Cases

Most use cases that students take advantage of are related to writing. However, other use cases to consider for students are as follows.

• General homework questions.

• Direct support in their research, explicitly finding academic sources.

• Inspiration and advice.

• Assistance with math problems.

• Clerical work (such as emails or scheduling).

• Coding help.

Another use case that can help students is language learning assistance. International students trying to learn English, or even English-speaking students trying to learn another language, use AI tools to a great extent to practice their vocabulary and chatting capabilities.

The feedback loop an AI tool can offer greatly supports language learners and can be considered for educators to incorporate into their classrooms.

Looking Ahead As AI Tools Mature

AI tools are not going anywhere anytime soon. As technology advances, educators' input on how students can use AI effectively can improve the overall learning experience. Both the AI industry and educators need to collaborate to ensure progress, considering the real-world impact of AI technology.

While many students already rely on AI for daily tasks, not all educators are enthusiastic about this technology. Many teachers believe AI is hindering students from learning fundamental skills in math, reading and writing. Indeed, the lack of safeguards to prevent misuse allows students to use AI to complete tasks effortlessly. To protect the learning experience, it is essential for educational AI applications to implement barriers that discourage plagiarism.

For instance, the research process should be simplified by retrieving relevant reference materials from extensive databases. This integration of factual information into students' essays can save time while ensuring their writing remains original and their understanding of the topic deepens. It can also help mitigate misinformation, ensuring students receive accurate and reliable information.

Giving educators the transparency to monitor how students interact with AI can help create an additional layer of protection against potential misuse. As education evolves with AI, there will be many similar opportunities to enhance the way students acquire and digest knowledge.

As this innovation will likely only grow, I believe it's important for educators to support their students' experience by minimizing research and ideation efficiency. When addressed strategically, AI can become another tool designed to make learning easier.

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MIT Sloan Essay Examples & Tips, 2024-2025
MIT Sloan School of Management Essay Tips and Examples. June 25, 2024. Jeremy Shinewald. Rather than framing its required application essay as a traditional "essay," the MIT Sloan School of Management instead requests that applicants submit a "cover letter," including even the standard formal correspondence elements of an address and ...
How to Apply to the MBA Program
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 Essay 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.
2023-2024 MIT Sloan MBA Essay Tips and Example Essays
MIT Sloan Admissions Team. As one of the prestigious M7 schools, the average MIT Sloan student tends to have a demonstrated track record of academic excellence and a high GMAT/GRE score. The ~400 admits to the Class of 2024 had a median GMAT score of 730. GRE verbal scores ranged from 157-168 and quant scores ranged from 158-169.
Sloan MBA Essays
Sloan MBA Essays & Analysis 2023-2024. The following analysis examines the admissions essay topics from the MIT Sloan School of Management. The Sloan MBA essays for the 2023-2024 admissions season are below. You can also review essay topic analyses for other leading MBA programs as well as general Essay Tips to further aid you in developing ...
MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips
MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips. If you're applying to MIT Sloan's MBA program, you've likely given thought to what you want to express in the required 300-word Cover Letter (or, ideally, have already started working on it).Perhaps the trickiest thing about the unique MIT Sloan essay is the word limit, which is incredibly short and forces you to have a laser focus on the elements of ...
MIT Sloan MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2023-2024], Class Profile
MIT Sloan class profile. Here's a look at the MIT Sloan Class of 2024 (data taken from the MIT Sloan website ): Class size: 408. Average years of work experience: 5. Women: 46%. International: 40%. Underrepresented minority: 32%. Countries represented: 63. Median undergraduate GPA: 3.62.
MIT Sloan MBA 2022-2023 Essay and Video Tips
VIDEO ESSAY. Applicants are required to upload a 1 minute (60 second) video as part of their application. In your video, you should introduce yourself to your future classmates, tell us about your past experiences, and touch on why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your degree. Videos should adhere to the following guidelines: No ...
MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips
The post MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips appeared first on Vantage Point MBA. Published in MBA, Vantage Point MBA, Admission Consultants and Blog. If you're applying to MIT Sloan's MBA program, you've likely given thought to what you want to express in the required 300-word Cover Letter (or, ideally, have already started working on it).
MIT Sloan School Of Management Essay Questions And Strategic Guidance
The prompts for these essays are as follows: Required Question #1: The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice. We believe that a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and well-being is a key component of both ...
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MIT Sloan MBA Essays 2022-2023: Analysis and Tips from an MIT Fellow
MIT Sloan MBA Application Deadlines. Round 1. September 29, 2022. Round 2. January 18, 2023. Round 3. April 11, 2023. Take a look at this article to know the MBA application deadlines of other business schools.
How To Write the MIT Sloan Pre-Interview Essays
Required Question #1 (Diversity) The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice. We believe that a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and well-being is a key component of both principled leadership and sound ...
Frequently Asked Questions
MIT Sloan students accepted full-time and internship opportunities with 290 companies. In 2023, our top industries were Consulting (33.7%), Tech (24.1%), Finance (19.9%), and Healthcare/Pharma/Biotech (5.8%). The average base salary was $168,095 the median base salary was $170,000, and the range of base salary was $62,000-$270,000.
Tips for Your MIT Sloan Application Essays
MIT Sloan Application Essay Tips, 2023-2024 ... Sloan has an optional short-answer question with a limit of 250 words. The committee indicates that this is truly optional; there is no need to feel obligated to answer this prompt. However, if there is some aspect of your family, culture, and/or community that has had a meaningful impact on you ...
Analyzing the Applications: the MIT Sloan Essay Questions
In the first essay question, the MIT Sloan admissions committee asks applicants the following: ... Remember, the MIT Sloan essays are place to demonstrate that you are willing to creatively "generate new solutions to existing challenges." This type of boundary-pushing question is a great platform to illustrate that characteristic.
MIT Sloan Executive MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2022
MIT Executive MBA essay #2. MIT Sloan finds strength through diversity. We believe that a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and well-being is a key component of both principled leadership and sound management practice. We seek to create a community that encompasses all dimensions of diversity and fosters excellence within MIT Sloan ...
2023-2024 MIT Sloan MBA essay Analysis and Tips
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The MIT Sloan Interview
MIT Sloan has long required candidates who are called to interview to submit an additional essay. This year, MIT Sloan has two interview essays, one focused on data analysis and the more traditional diversity-focused essay. REQUIRED QUESTION #1 (DIVERSITY) The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative ...
MIT Sloan and Michigan Ross MBA Essay Questions and Deadline
MIT Sloan and Michigan Ross published their MBA Essay Questions and MBA Deadlines for the MBA programs that start in 2023: MIT SloanR1: Sep 29, 2022 R2: Jan 18, 2023 R3: Apr 11, 2023A complete application for 2023 entry consists of the following:Cover LetterMIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics ...
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The difference between the MBA Early Admission and the traditional MBA Program at MIT Sloan is that MIT Early Admission applicants will apply between 2-5 years before they intend to begin their MBA. Both applications lead to the same program; the Early Application allows for a deferral period, where traditional MBA applicants will join the MBA ...
MIT Sloan Essay Questions and Strategic Guidance
Note that Sloan asks applicants who are selected for an interview to submit two additional essays. The prompts for these essays are as follows: Required Question #1: The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice. We ...
What to Expect from the 2023-2024 MBA Essay Questions
MIT Sloan. MIT Sloan's cover letter essay has not changed in a while, and we expect it to stay the same in the 2023-2024 cycle. MIT Sloan's 2022-2023 MBA essay question was: 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.
MIT Sloan Master of Finance Application Essay Questions, Tips
The written essays and video essays together will draw out those qualities and help the adcom identify the applicants who best fit the program. MIT Sloan MFin 2020-21 application essays and video questions. Using relevant, verifiable details, such as awards, rankings, media references, etc., please respond to the three short answer questions below.
MBA in Business Analytics in USA: Colleges, Fees & Eligibility
Institutions like MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School lead the pack, offering programs that combine advanced analytics with strategic business management. ... Transcripts | Questions and Essays | 1-page Resume | LoR | GRE/GMAT/SAT/ACT scores. Texas (McCombs) IELTS - 7.0. TOEFL iBT - 79.
Thirty-one UChicago faculty members receive named, distinguished
Her first book, Happy Lives and the Highest Good: An Essay on Aristotle's Nicomachean ... She received the 2014-2015 MBA Teacher of the Year Award from the MIT Sloan School of Management. ... industry experience) on issues broadly surrounding institutional real estate investment, attempting to answer important questions from a rigorous ...
Overview
The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice. Find Us MIT Sloan School of Management 100 Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142 617-253-1000
The Use Of AI In Education: Understanding The Student's ...
However, during an internal user research effort from our 2.6 million users, we found that, on average, students rated AI's accuracy for school-related work at 7.2 out of 10.

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MIT Sloan School Of Management Essay Questions And Strategic Guidance, 2023-2024

The Application

The actual Cover Letter prompt follows:

In its Video Statement prompt, Sloan asks you to “Introduce yourself to your future classmates.”

In its online application, Sloan includes the following short essay prompt:

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Analyzing the Applications: the MIT Sloan Essay Questions

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2023-2024 MIT Sloan MBA essay Analysis and Tips

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