Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants

After two times on the waitlist, I got dinged for the second year in a row. I'm crushed, but will need to move on.

Congratulations to everyone who made it.

Invited as well! of all the schools this is the one interview I'm least looking forward to... lots of prepping to do!

did any fellow ding'ers receive an invitation to apply for the Masters in Supply Chain Management? It's a one-year, intensive program. Anyone know anything about this program?

Yeah I got the email about the SCM program too. Trying to figure out if they actually think I'm a good candidate or if they send it to everyone dinged.

I was dinged on Friday. Time to move on and focus on the schools I have been admitted to and have interviewed at. Before I leave this thread, I want to share some of the preparation I had put together for Sloan interviews before I got dinged. I put together a list of the most common questions asked during a Sloan interview. I hope it is helpful to you all who got invites.

Was dinged last year, I got the SCM application too. I think they send you those mails if you check a box on the Sloan app that mentions you'd be interested in the other MIT programs. It's surely a great program but it also isn't an MBA, so I feel it's tailored for people who know they want to do supply chain.

Completed my off-campus/hub city interview yesterday with an adcom member. The interview followed the format I'd seen elsewhere. We started with about 10-12 minutes of standard "Walk me through your resume"/"Why MBA"/"Why now"/with HEAVY emphasis on "Why Sloan?" I was really glad I had done my homework on this; later in the interview she mentioned that I had "hit all of their points/taglines" about culture/curriculum/fit.

The behavioral portion was intense. I was also really glad I had prepared well for this; there were no curveball questions, but the STAR format (situation, task, action, response) was a key part of how I was able to stay focused, organized, and sharp with the questions. If you haven't yet completed your Sloan interview, there are some good guides on ClearAdmit and on Adam Markus's website. Rather than a scripted response, I'd recommend having a "frame" story that follows STAR and that you can then improvise on to fit the dynamic between you and the interviewer.

The questions I got were:
* Tell me about when you were on a team that had low morale/was underperforming.
* Tell me about how you handled it when a team member was not pulling their weight.
* Tell me about a piece of feedback you've gotten that surprised you.
* Tell me about how you handle aspects of work that aren't exciting/are boring.
* Tell me about what you've brought to a group/team you work on.
* Tell me about a goal you've set and how you went about achieving it. (I asked whether she wanted personal or professional; she said both!)
* What did you expect me to ask you today that I didn't? (Used this to set up for a "what do I bring to Sloan" response)

That was the basic format and question set. We finished with questions about the school that I had. I had one prepared for my personal situation, one about the culture/community, and one lifestyle question. During the response to the personal one, she said that they are looking for "competencies" but not necessarily business experience; she talked about "signals" and how she was listening for those in the responses I had given. I mention this because the responses you prepare for the behavioral questions are going to deliver those "signals" QUITE clearly to them, and they will NOT give you verbal/non-verbal feedback. It was notable how the interviewer was able to be friendly/personable but not reveal anything of how she was actually reacting to my responses.

All told, this was unlike my interview at Kellogg and Booth. I knew that but was surprised by how different it felt. I think it went well because I had responses ready that were detailed, specific, and positive about me for each question. The one question is what "competencies" they are looking for; I wish there was a list so I could see if I managed to hit those.

Prep, prep, prep-- it was obvious they want specifics about "Why Sloan," including tracks you'd be interested in and labs you'd be excited to participate in. The behavioral questions can sometimes be framed differently than you'd expect, so be prepared to think on your feet.

I had my on-campus interview today and I agree with j0yd1v1s10n in that I was glad I prepared for this one. I've been fortunate with receiving interview invites this year, so I've seen the whole spectrum of styles from very laid back to very structured. I thought it would be useful to give my experience, however, because it was a little different from j0y's.

For a little context, I have an M.S. from MIT and my interviewer said he was going to structure our meeting a little differently than he normally would. I'm not exactly sure what was different, but he did spend much of the first half asking about my thought processes as I moved from an M.S. to working and now to an MBA. In the second half, he really only asked two behavioral-type questions: describe a time your opinion was rejected; tell me about a personal goal you set for yourself, outside of school/work. These were two questions I actually hadn't considered before, hence my relief for preparing.

Now, the main reason I'm explaining this is because, to j0y's last point, you should be prepared to think on your feet. I'm actually not one to focus on frameworks like STAR, because I find that I if I try to fit my stories too much, I stumble and wonder which letter I'm on (we'll see how much that helped/hurt me). What really caught me kind of off-guard was the way my interviewer asked questions. In general, they were not very direct and there were a couple of times where I actually had to clarify the question he was posing. He wasn't a bad interviewer by any means, he just had a very unique style, so it definitely helps to be flexible in your interpretations. If you've had other interviews, be prepared to face the same questions but maybe asked in a different manner.

That being said, I found my brief experience with Sloan to be atypical from what I experienced when I studied at MIT. If you just come and go for an interview like I did, you might not enjoy the visit, so definitely try to have lunch with students or something. The people at MIT (including Sloan) are amazing, friendly, and very down-to-earth. When I arrived at the check-in room, it was a little awkward and intimidating - not at all what the school is really like - so don't judge the book by it's cover if that was also your experience!

+1 to this. Quite a few times, I clarified what she was asking and I'm very glad I did. I think that's an element they are "testing" for-- if they give a slightly vague question, they're checking to see if you jump to an interpretation or if you explore the person's intention in asking it.

Also, agreed that the questions may come in different forms.

Anyone knows what is the initial deposit fee for Sloan MBA program?

$3500

Is there any information out there regarding whether Sloan will notify accepted candidates before April 1? Or does everyone find out on that day?

Same question here...

Round 1 all acceptances went out on decision day via phone call for a good number of people, rest got accepted or dinged results via application portal around 5 or 6 p.m est.

Hi all,

After the sadly ding from Sloan MBA, is there anyone who also received a notification mail about another MS program at Sloan, the SCM program? Just feel like to make sure whether that is not a friendly advertisement mail for promotion.

FROM Sloan Admissions Blog: MFin Decisions Are Out

Thank you to those who expressed interest in MIT Sloan and applied to the MFin Program. Yesterday, March 10, was our Decision Day, and on behalf of the Admissions Team I would like to say how impressed we were by this year’s applicant pool. If you applied for the MFin Class of 2015, yesterday you received one of three status updates: Admit:  Congratulations – You are IN!  You should look for your AdMIT packet from us arriving in the mail next week. Also, be sure to login and review our AdMIT website (login credentials were included in your decision letter). Waitlist:  You received a wait list decision email that provided details on an upcoming online chat and a link to the FAQs page to help answer your related questions. Not Admitted:  You received an email indicating that we cannot offer you a place in the incoming class.  Unfortunately, we cannot provide individual feedback to applicants. We hope that MIT Sloan will continue to be a resource for you in the future. To those applicants who have been admitted – it is now decision time! I highly recommend reading about why our current students chose MIT Sloan in the MFin Class of 2014 student blog. A special thank you to these students for sharing their stories.

My heart stopped beating for a few seconds when I saw the Sloan Interview Thank You email today..........but it looks like a generic one sent to everyone who interviewed...phew!

Was there any particular timing to the calls? I'm on the West Coast and wonder if they'll call by region, alphabet, etc. I know for interview invitations they went out roughly by region, but I'm curious if there was any data from R1 about how things went on Decision Day, what the call timing was like, etc.

Haha me too