Calling all MIT Sloan Fall 2011 Applicants!

It is definitely not the same as a career goals essay - don't be tempted to make it one. Sloan has conveyed in several chats and info sessions that they are not interested in your career goals or "Why Sloan," because neither of these answers will give them valuable insight into what kind of person you are.

Now that we've got that out of the way... the cover letter at Sloan is one of the most mysterious essays in all of b-school admissions. Like Booth's PowerPoint essay, the MIT cover letter intentionally comes with very few instructions. If your career goals make sense in the context of your overall story, it's probably okay to share them, but you should be very brief! (I shared mine in the ending of a sentence that was related my goals)

I don't have a thorough guide for the cover letter researched and prepared yet, so I don't want to send anyone off in the wrong direction. What you should know, is that a cover letter in business is what entices the reader to dig into your resume. As you approach the Sloan cover letter, keep this in mind. Introduce yourself and identify how you perceive the program and it's values, then share your key accomplishments and experiences (briefly) to show that you have already demonstrated a commitment to these values. You should also connect the dots between these experiences and how they relate to the impact you'll have at Sloan. Think of the cover letter as an elevator pitch more than essay. When they finish the cover letter, they should be, dare I say, excited to move onto the next piece of your application.

Hopefully that's enough guidance to point you in the direction. I don't have enough information to give more thorough advice yet, but I don't want anyone to make grave mistakes either. Keep in mind, everyone's story is different and people get accepted with all kinds of approaches.

I attended the Ambassadors Program on Tuesday. At the discussion with the Adcom, she mentioned to be very brief about your future goals. When asked what she meant by "brief" she said a sentence or two.

Something to keep in mind.

Again, I think as long as it ties to your story you can share something, but the general consensus is to keep it brief.

I was told the same thing during my ambassadors visit. That is how i started the essay and then talked a little about why MIT wud help me reach my goals. Then moved onto achievements and impacts.

Having trouble to finish it off now ..working on that part.

Roger congrats in ur submission.
Can you add me for R1.

I might be borrowing language from an admissions consultant blog, but I'm approaching the cover letter with the mindset of "what I bring to MIT / what impact I will have at MIT". I'm working in my experiences and impact-at-organization to show (not tell) how I have exhibited X,Y,Z and how/why this is relevant to Sloan.

My challenge right now is conveying all this information while still lending insight into what makes me tick. Hmm...perhaps I should leave this bit to the essays. We're all familiar with the term for one who gives up too much too quickly/easily

Avernusaur, good point about excluding the "Why Sloan". This reeks of "what can Sloan do for me" as opposed to "here's what can I do for Sloan" -- it's a cover letter, after all! I'd devoted an entire paragraph to this before my latest edit.
+1 to you!

Thanks anilwanted. Roll call updated.

Attended an MIT Sloan on the Road event tonight. Having already visited campus (and gone through application submission) I don't know if I learned any new information, but it was really nice to be reminded again of why we're going through this difficult process. So many great opportunities at Sloan!

It sounds like the cover letter is a bit of a curveball for some folks. I definitely spent more time perfecting the CL more than any other essay I've written. I mentioned this in a PM to another GC member, but I consider the cover letter the face of the entire application (and this evening, Julie Strong actually stated the cover letter was the marketing piece of the application).

No matter what approach you take (all the suggestions here are spot on), make sure it's clear, concise, and polished. This sounds cheesy, but you should be so proud of it you'd want to frame it or at least display it on your fridge.

The school specifically says not to address the usual "Why MBA, Why Sloan, Goals" questions. Some of you say this but still talk about your goals or you demonstrate fit (which indirectly answers WHY MIT). Isn't it better just to tell your story and let them decide if you fit or not? Also, talking about your goals in 1 sentence I think would be so vague that it is better not to address it at all. Any ideas?

i think you're right in let them decide by glancing through our app whether we're FIT in it!

I have a quick question about ECs and Cover Letter. Initially I wrote some stuff about what I would bring to MIT , but as all of them ended up being ECs, so i moved them to supplemental essay as Cover Letter is supposed to be formal. Not sure if ECs have a place in or not. Does anyone have any insight (info from adcom or alums) on that?
I do plan to leave a couple of sentence related to the clubs in the Cover Letter though. Not sure where to talk about things like Student Senate and C -functions etc
Thanks in Advance, Anil

I think everyone is overthinking the details of the cover letter. You just need to write a quality cover letter like you would if you were applying for a job. As long as it is interesting, well written, and under 500 words, you'll be fine.

Caution -long post!

Background: I've applied to MIT last yr in rd1 and my decision was deferred until end of rd2. I know my application made some impact but I think I lost to a competitive pool in the end. For some personal reasons, I am not applying there this yr. I've researched a lot on MIT and just wanted to share some info with others.

Let's understand what Sloan embodies first - In short, they care about 'hand and mind' - someone who can convert theory to practice/actions. The values they care about - Innovation, initiative, team work, mentoring/coaching someone, impact to a group (aspects of leadership). This is exactly what they are asking for, in the essays and CL. They want proven, accomplished (need not be professional) people in their own way, not people who want to be accomplished after studying at Sloan.

Why do they ask for recent experience: They are looking for people who have demonstrated these in their life in the last few years. They don't want people rest on past laurels which are outdated (Eg: I could be an active leader until school and become a couch potato after getting a job. This is one example, there are other possible ways we can explain why recent experience is important). I know there are exceptions to these but that's their approach. Yes, if you've something long term that runs into last 3 yrs, you can mention that.

Since it is clear that Sloan wants to be out of the box, the best approach for all Sloan essays is to start from a clean slate. Don't try to start from essays from another school. The CL is truly where they try to stand up for one of the values they ask for - innovative/creative. They are trying to be different from other schools. So, please don't try to churn out another school's career goals essay.

CL: Treat it like a job Cover letter. Unlike the essays, you have a chance to market yourself directly here. Focus the meat of your cover letter on accomplishments/experiences, Impact to an organization. As many people already mentioned, MIT doesn't care about your future goals, they know that most of us will change them anyways. So, unless it is related to your accomplishments, keep your career goals brief. Also, don't try to sell Sloan back to them. They know that they are good (exact words from their adcom officer at an infosession So, go easy on telling them about how the specifics of their program will enhance your learning experience. The difference here is that other schools give you extra points for researching their program specifics and mentioning them in essays. They care about their yield and therefore are curious about your interest in their program. MIT cares only about your accomplishments (yield is probably not a concern for them as much?). Coming back to the CL, make sure that you don't miss out on the headers (address, adddressing Rod Garcia, etc) and tail of a cover letter (thank you, etc ). Do research the web for cover letter templates. And finally, no, the 500 word count doesn't include the headers.

I know lot of people would love to see templates. There is one in Paul Bodine's book

Essays: You can use the SAR (situation, Action, results) approach for the essays. Spend more time on what you thought and how you acted upon it (hand and mind and results achieved. Adcom officers caution prospective students in infosession from spending too many words on "lessons learned". But I'd try to weave my 'lessons learned' although you may want to keep it short.

Good luck, I hope it helps someone in some way!

ps: I wrote this in a hurry after seeing so many questions on Sloan's essays. I'll edit it later and add more stuff as I remember

Avern
Thanks! Very helpful... I guess MIT is then different from other schools in that they are not so much interested in what you want to do as in what you have done so far.. In a way it sort of helps me as I don't have a clear picture as to my goals - well some idea but I know that things can and do change and I am glad MIT recognizes that...

Your note was very helpful, I have a better idea now on how to proceed. I hope to make R1...

Is it true that R2 has more apps than R1?

Thanks
MainHoon



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+1 for your post gogetter08. Sorry to hear you won't be applying to Sloan. Best of luck in your other apps.

What are ECs again? Sorry. Extracurriculars?

Don't talk about particular classes, Senate, etc. at all. They're not interested in that much details. I think you can use EC sin the cover letter but briefly. Hope this helps.

Wow one or two! That is amazing, compare to the lengthy career goals elsewhere! But I do understand the point, people don't stick to what they say necessarily...

This is true. There are approximately twice as many applications in R2.

Thanks Avern. Also for the essays, I see a 500 word limit for all. Do they strictly enforce it, how much over, if at all, is acceptable?