Calling all MIT Sloan 2008 applicants

It's nice to know that you're going through the same thing. Thanks for speaking up. Are you already accepted at Kellogg? I'm admitted to MIT and waiting for an R2 decision from Kellogg. I'm thinking that if I am admitted to the MMM program then I'll go to admit weekend (DAK?) before closing the door on the decision forever. But by that time I will have had to put down $3000 on MIT, find a place to live, etc., so it will be harder and harder to overturn the decision.

Your friend at Kellogg makes it clear that a hi-tech, product marketing career can be launched from either school. I want to go to a bigger company for a few years to learn how real professionals do it, and then either start something of my own or get in at ground zero of a start-up. After ~5 years at a Google or a Microsoft I think experience will be the most important factor, but MIT certainly says "I know what I'm talking about" like no other school on the planet. Thoughts?

What are your plans? What does the decision hinge on for you?

If you find any good MIT vs. Northwestern material could you post a link? I'll do the same.

At least you wont be swayed by fancy facilities at either school. Since both Kellogg and MIT have some crappy buildings. Both will get you a great job, MIT is supposed to have a more rigorous academic program, while Kellogg is supposed to develop soft skills better than anyplace (complaints about lack of soft skills are a complaint from a lot of companies lately). It very well can come down to where would you rather live for at least two years...Boston vs Chicago.

I have some family in advertising and I have almost all the high up marketing directors they deal with at clients are Kellogg grads. These people are in everything from booze marketing to high tech to beauty products.

nontraditional, I think you may be able to call up Sloan and have them extend the decision deadline so you can decide after you go to DAK. That way, you won't need to cough up the $3000 immediately. I could be wrong though.

Anyone here have experience with asking for an extension to the decision deadline? I think it's March 14 for Sloan.

Just received a standardized email from MIT indicating my application was complete. Of note, it states that they will beginning sending out interview invites in early March, so we've got a bit of a wait.

I asked IESE to extend my deadline and it wasnt a problem. (name a date! dont just say extend, tell them by how long)

Hey dox, I just got the same email. I am pretty surprised that they wait so long to start interviewing people.

Yup - I'm admitted to both. I'm going to do the whole program analysis and come to grips on my own priorities between Entrepreneurship vs. Marketing vs. Strategy etc. I'll do the whole thought experiment on comparing programs, but I think at the end of the day, its probably going to come down to where I feel I fit most comfortably with the people (as evidenced by AdMIT/DAK weekends and other people I meet and talk with). I think from a reputation point of view and program point of view it'll probably end up a wash - since they're both so good and I love both programs. I think some could potentially hinge on what I determine vis a vis program size. Given that MIT is about 2/3 the size of Kellogg, that might end up being a deciding factor (not sure which way I lean on this yet - but will feel that out as well).

As for materials - I'll definitely let you know what I come across.

Dox and nyrberg, don't worry about the time to go complete. My app didn't go complete until three weeks after submitting my app too (R1). I think thats pretty standard in each round.

A good point: Kellogg would be a more ubiquitous marketing brand, should I decide to pursue marketing post-it notes or Total instead of Commerce Server. Kellogg is definitely better known than Sloan to non-MBA types. Some people have said to me, "MIT has a business school?" [sigh] The lingering questions linger. How sure am I that I'm going to be in hi-tech? Technology is what's going to clean up our oceans, solve world hunger, and cure the common cold. Where do I want to live? I have family in Chicago, but Boston is the magical land where I spent my elementary school years.

The logic thing to do, I think, is to continue to learn about the schools and the programs over the next little while and to leave both options on the table as long as possible. One will most likely come forward as the best option for me. Would you agree?

I agree completely nontraditional!

Hi,

Please add me onto the R2 Sloan list....I received my interview invite last week and it is scheduled for mid-Feb.

Any tips on the MIT interview would be greatly appreciated! Also, I'm trying to find a close yet reasonably priced place to stay close to MIT...any suggestions?

I'm also on a R2 decision from Kellogg so thanks for all the useful posts comparing the pros/cons Steel and nontraditional...I hope to be having to make this difficult decision in a few months!

TJ

I hope you are not talking about MIT invites...I don't they they are out yet.

I can't be the only person out here in MBA wannabe land with this predicament. I'm going to try to avoid it, but I don't think I'll have a choice. It's like the girl just agreed to go out with me and now I'm telling her to hang on while I make sure she's my best option. Oh well, I'm sure it happens all the time.

Thanks for the input.

Many congratulations on the invite. Data are readily available that show that 2/3 of interviewees get in. More difficult to document is an admittedly unscientific statistic that riverripper suggested in November. I have no idea whether it's true, but it sure got me excited when I read it in December because my invite came pretty early. So, happy speculating.



My wife found me a room at the Kendall (https://www.kendallhotel.com) for $100 per night. Apparently that's a super deal. It was a great hotel and it's a seven minute walk to the admissions office.

I showed up four hours early and wandered upstairs to where classes are held. I approached a student and asked if I could talk for a minute. He was super friendly and told me all about why he chose MIT. People started to join us and pretty soon I was surrounded by ~10 students. Someone rounded up two people from my region of the US. A few people invited me to lunch. It was nice to meet a bunch of students and realize that they are people just like you and me. Maybe you have nerves of steel, but I sure don't. I would advise you to find some students before your interview to get comfortable.

The advice they gave me:

Relax enough to let your personality shine. Recognize that if you're interviewing, you're most of the way there. They already think you're qualified. They just want to see whether you've got a personality.

Use STAR, but be natural about it. STAR is the way you naturally tell a story. Don't be all rigid about it.

You'll only get to tell two or three stories, so don't save your best stories for a perfect question.


I guess it worked for me, but it's worth what you paid for it. Good luck.

Great, thanks for the advice nontraditional.

I should clarify...I applied for Sloan MBA-BEP so my app due date was actually back in mid-December which is why I likely got the invite earlier. I'm lumping myself with the R2 applicants because the notification deadline for BEP is mid-April just like for R2.

Hope I didn't freak anyone out the R2 invites are out already because they may very well not be!

Thanks for the clarification. I admit some freaking out was about to start - at least on my part!

Congratulations anyway. I almost applied to BEP. I am infatuated with the idea of a career in biotechnology, but don't have any experience with the reality of it, so I decided against it. Also, as I researched the program it seemed more for biotech entrepreneurs who want a business education too, than for business people who want a biotechnology education. I'd be really interested in talking to you. Why can't I PM you? The button's not there. Can a more experienced one of you explain to us newbies?

I was thinking about my interview experience some more. I thought of two things. First, I read through my whole application on the plane. I had read that I would probably be asked not to reuse stories from my application. This turned out to be true in my case, so I was glad I had my application loaded into memory. Second, I googled "MIT interview experiences" and made a list of all the questions anyone had reportedly been asked. I chose my favorite story for each and tried to remember as much detail about it as I could. This excercise helped me see how I could use the same story in various ways. This helped a lot in the interview. I was pleased that I was able to use two stories in ways that I hadn't thought of before.

Boy, I've really taken to rambling.