Calling all MIT-Sloan Applicants(2015 Intake) -Class of 2017

Guys!! Just got the call right now. Female applicant based in West Africa!

FROM Sloan Admissions Blog: MBA Application Essays Revealed

I am excited to announce our MBA essay questions for the 2014-2015 MBA application: Essay 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. Discuss how you will contribute toward advancing the mission based on examples from your past work and activities. (500 words or fewer) Essay 2:  Write a professional letter of recommendation on behalf of yourself.  Answer the following questions as if you were your most recent supervisor recommending yourself for admission to the MIT Sloan MBA Program: (750 words or fewer) How long and in what capacity have you known the applicant? How does the applicant stand out from others in a similar capacity? Please give an example of the applicant’s impact on a person, group, or organization. Please give a representative example of how the applicant interacts with other people. Which of the applicant’s personal or professional characteristics would you change? Please tell us anything else you think we should know about this applicant. Essay writing is a reflective process, and one that our Admissions Team takes very seriously.  We do not believe in only using numbers and standardized test scores to build our incoming classes.  I am releasing these questions early in hopes that you will find some time to think carefully about your past experiences. We evaluate your responses using a behavioral-based assessment process and encourage you to share specific past examples of what you said, did or thought in a given situation. Keep in mind that these essays are designed for our Admissions Team to get to know you better. There is no right or wrong answer – how you choose to respond is completely up to you. For both essays, please remember to draw upon experiences that have occurred within the past three years. We will be posting application tips throughout the summer, so be on the lookout for more helpful hints! I anticipate our online application will go live at the end of July – so stay tuned. It is an honor and a privilege for the admissions team to review your essays and your completed applications.  We look forward to receiving them!

I agree, beginning are always difficult - this is what I did to start my essays last year when I was applying to Stanford GSB:

STARTING YOU MBA ESSAYS - Video Blog Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwZ1-BDEmak

It really helped me get all of my thoughts and ideas in order.

Good luck and MIT-Sloan Class of 2017 here you come

I'm focused on that 3 pm time slot. For no particular reason, I'm really expecting things to happen around then. On the other hand, the admissions blog hasn't seemed to have changed any. I guess I'll just continue to wear out my phone's battery.

Invited in Atlanta! 338 pm

Hi Guys,
MIT Sloan organized a chat session today. I'd say that it was pretty intensive!
They had 3 chat rooms and the questions were swarming the admissions officers like angry bees. Attached are the chat transcripts for all the 3 chat rooms.
I might have missed a bit of content since I realized late that I could enter all the 3 chatrooms. But if you go through all these 3 files, that's still a lot of content!!!

Happy Reading!

///

Thanks, RazorDude -- this brings my highly scientific sample size up to 2 people .... and helps me re-iterate that the "optional essay" is most certainly very nice to have, but is truly "optional".

All the best in your interview!!!

My view? oh well here they are....
But before I say anything, I would like to reaffirm - bad execution kills everything!

To be successful high GPA from Reputed UG school, decent GMAT score (say 700+), 3+ years of work exp in feeder industry (feeder companies have higher success rate), high community involvement over past 2-3 years (at least) will all make a profile catchy and glittery. However, we all aren't that prepared in late teens to work it all up and be ready with all this in early twenties. Adcoms know this and hence, few things counterbalance others. Like high GMAT will counterbalance low GPA or even better do some post-collegiate courses (maybe MOOCs) and get As. Promotions and awards might balance out feeder industry and feeder company thingy, though well executed application from non-feeder industry applicant will still stand out on its own. Last but not the least, ECs and community involvement. The more you do close to applications, the worse it is for you. Better to have a nice spread over your entire career and education.

But don't all the consultants say the same thing?!

SF bay area - just got an invite !!! Lots of slots open. Interviews are between Nov 17 - 21 and Dec 1 -5. Good luck everyone!

Invited!!.

Will be interviewing via Skype. Email came in by 10:30pm (GMT+1) Nov 6.

Good luck to everyone still waiting.

I researched the personal qualities they're looking for and tried to highlight those that I had in the essay. I found that humility is big for Sloan which makes the personal letter of rec essay a lot tougher than it seemed. I made sure the tone wasn't arrogant and I only compared myself to others when they specifically asked ("how does the applicant stand out from others") - otherwise comparing myself to my past self. The tone of the essays shouldn't be "I'M THE BEST AND DID ALL THESE AMAZING THINGS" but more like "this is how I make everyone around me excellent, oh and by the way you can also see that I'm super amazing but I don't talk about it much" Whereas the tone for my HBS essay was closer to the former on the spectrum. Sloan students describe themselves as much less competitive (than HBS students). The resume would probably tell them that you're amazing anyways. If it doesn't I'd rework until it did. A killer resume and a personable essay is a good combo.

As for content, just focus on the past. Sloan relies heavily on the past to predict future performance in both essays and interview. You're right about the goals. My interviewer literally said "so do you know what you might want to do post MBA?" in a tone that implied he didn't care if I was very undecided. They just want intelligent, hardworking people that will push the entire class to succeed as a whole. I did add two sentences at the end of essay 1 that said my goals. Oh additionally, I wouldn't worry if you can't get every little story into essay #1. During the interview they don't want to hear stuff that was in your essay so just pick your top stories (I did 2, one volunteer & one work) and save the rest for the interview. I did feel like Sloan wouldn't care about volunteering as much...idk why I thought that. But I put it in there anyways because it happened to show bravery (& innovation requires bravery).

But I'm not a Sloan expert by any means nor could I ever know if they liked my essay or just interviewed me on stats and hated the essays so there's that. Good luck!

Hi guys. I thought I'd share my interview experience in case it helps. Not for the first time, I met with an Admissions Director in Europe.

We actually had a great conversation. I had met my interviewer during Sloan‘s ‘On The Road’ event in my home city earlier this year, so we were already quite relaxed in each others presence.

This was a seasoned interviewer and, all in all, a tough person to read. I felt we had a good bond and I could answer all their questions confidently and enthusiastically, so left feeling I had done well.

Specific questions asked (maybe not in this exact order):

- What has changed since your last application? [or since you submitted your application – always be prepared for this one!]
- Tell me a bit more about [local charity I’m involved with and included on my resume] and what they do.
- Give me a specific example of your leadership progression while [in my current role].
- What’s your long-term goal after coming to Sloan?
- Have you considered which track you’d like to pursue?
- You will be in the upper age range. Have you considered how you’ll handle this?
- Anything else you’d like me to know about you? [good opportunity to jump right into a ‘greatest hit’ that has not been covered up to now]
- Any questions for me?
- Any final comments?

In general, Sloan gives you a lot of opportunities to mention things important or relevant to your application – be ready to grab those! – but I also think my experience as an older-than-average candidate might be different to the norm.

Sloan is also renowned for behavioural questions which means you may need to go deep into a particular story – way deeper than you might have planned. Have a few good stories to mind and rehearsed in your head before the big day or, better still, practice telling those stories with a friend who can dig into them and really press you for what you felt, how you reacted, why you did that etc.

I really felt my mock interviews with my consultant, alum friends and the bathroom mirror (I kid you not!) helped to prepare me to give concise and passionate answers.

Read more at: https://topdogmba.com/2014/11/28/what-go ... ew-report/

2 more days

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone that got the call today!!

I can say, without even a hint of reservation, that Sloan is the best place on earth to get your Business education. The faculty is world class and the students are, too. The community here is one that embraces collaboration and collective growth, in place of individual accolades and solo performances. After being here for a year and a half, experiencing what it means to be a Sloanie, and spending a lot of time with many of my friends on other campuses, I am so glad that I chose to come here over some of the other top schools.

I would encourage everyone that got accepted to come to AdMIT weekend to really understand what it means to be part of MIT. I am sure that you will see what a great place this is, and I will be seeing you there!!

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at all, as I will always make myself available and, once again, congratulations!! Welcome to MIT!

Dude, c'mon

What a coincidence 9 minutes ago I made a thread for Kellogg and at the moment was making one for Sloan.
Few more minute friends, you'll get your threads.