Calling all MIT Sloan 2008 applicants

If invited for an interview, in which city would you prefer to be interviewed? (Interview locations will not be finalized until after each application deadline.)

This question is in "Application Information" section.

For this, do we definitely need to select a city?

Unfortunately, there is no city in the list from India. So, Singapore may be the only option.

I just saw mNeo's picture of the Sloan building, unfortunately the new building wont be done until 2010 so any of us who manage to get in and go to MIT wont get to enjoy it. By the descriptions its going to be amazing.

I have just returned from the MIT on the Road event in Beijing, and the school completely sold itself to me! It is number one on my list now.

I have been to a number of MBA events, and this one was the most useful, best organized, least crowded, most appealing to me.

The presenters and the alums were very approachable, informative, and supportive.

these essays are surely weird....they're just too direct with a lot of open space. Does anybody have a hard time finding examples outside of work for these topics?

also, what are they really looking for in these?

i agree. i am doing 3 work, 1 non-work

I am doing all work as of right now. My non-work ideas suck compared to work so I am going with the strongest examples.

Let me ask this question again. How far into your past are you going for the essays?

I have heard varying opinions on this subject. When I visited MIT, the ad-com said we should stick with the 2 yr limit, then river posted that it was only a guideline and that even 4 years in the past may be acceptable.

Anybody going back beyond 2-3 years?

im sticking to 2 years, but during my visit they said it was somewhat flexible.

I am sticking to the 2 year limit, its not a hard rule but I think it is definitely to your advantage to follow it. It was going to be a requirement but whoever put the info on their webpage messed up and put it in one spot but not another.

So they WANT it within 2 years but aren't requiring it.

The MIT presenter at the yesterday's reception in Beijing said the essay questions were designed to generate very very VERY specific answers.

She also said the cover letter was a really important part of the application.

Also, she said they did not really care for the time frame you will be drawing your experiences for the essays from.

They want to know how you "will add to the confusion" at MIT, so you decide what best describes you/answers the questions.

Say, in my case, I absolutely have to talk about my succesful start up company I started at third year in universtiy. I sold it seven years ago, but I am still going to talk about it because this experience shows my entrepreneurial spirit. No way I am going to limit myself with a stupid 2 year *regulation*.

What? Are they going to deny you admission because in your essays you have talked about an earlier period of your life? I cannot imagine an adcom saying "Aghh, this guy's experiences are too outdated... He did not adhere to the two year rule, I am going to ding him for that now!" This is nonsense.

In the online app system they specifically ask for your Calculus grade. I have one, which is equivalent to a university grade because I took AP Calculus in High School, and those credits could be transferred to university. However, i majored in Philology/Education so there was no need.

How should I report my score in the application?

i dont like that question. my only calc class was in my first semester of college, and i got a B. im actually pretty good at math, but it was a really advanced class that was invitation only. hardest math class ive ever taken.

Oh I hate that question. My calc grade sucks compared to the higher level math I completed. To see that I got a bad grade in Calc stands out since the specifically ask for that. However, I also took Calc 2, Differential Equations, Engineering Macroecon, Fluid Dynamics, Strengths of Materials, a lot of Physics courses...I know I am strong in enough in quant but that damn grade sticks out like a sore thumb in my application since its singled out.

I have just sent them an email about this.

Something interesting that I suspect most people on this board would be tickled by! In midst of stealing time away at work to write my MIT essays, I was asked by the my firms's recruitment team if I wanted to go up there to interview a few potential candidates that we're looking to hire!

I'm guessing "Also, I interviewed a few students on campus last week..." would be a true differentiator on the essays, eh?

Unfortunately client commitments make it hard for me to actually go do that - maybe I'll go to interview the undergrads later on.

I took Calculus on UCB extenion online. Has A