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Ward2012
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 01 Oct 2013, 13:57
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etta
Ward2012
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I bitmarked my optional essay link and have been checking it religiously every day this past week - no activity (save my own) thus far.

Is anyone else tracking when/how often adcoms are accessing our optional submission, and if so, any hits yet?

I haven't been, but a bunch of people were doing that last year. If you check out last year's "Calling all applicants" thread, you'll see the discussion

Thanks Ward! Tres helpful :)

It was such a bad idea to point me in that direction though! I ended up procrastinating and reading through almost the entire thread for kicks.
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I procrastinated last night by watching more videos that people have kept public on Youtube or Vimeo for their optional essay.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 01 Oct 2013, 21:54
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submitted with no optional information. Kinda regret doing that :(

Good Luck guys!
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 01 Oct 2013, 22:01
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alomotiv
submitted with no optional information. Kinda regret doing that :(

Good Luck guys!
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I wouldn't worry too much about the optional information section. MIT Sloan has a very objective way of evaluating applicants - the Adcom assigns each applicant a score to determine admission decisions, and the optional essay is not part of this score, thought it might sway gut feelings. Rod Garcia, the Director of Admissions, said the following about the optional information section:

"It will give us a new opportunity to see something an applicant has done. Still, it is not scoreable. It might be interesting to see, and it might influence our gut, but it is not a factor in our metrics."

https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2012/12/ ... anagement/
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 01 Oct 2013, 22:04
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CelerIP
alomotiv
submitted with no optional information. Kinda regret doing that :(

Good Luck guys!

I wouldn't worry too much about the optional information section. MIT Sloan has a very objective way of evaluating applicants - the Adcom assigns each applicant a score to determine admission decisions, and the optional essay is not part of this score, thought it might sway gut feelings. Rod Garcia, the Director of Admissions, said the following about the optional information section:

"It will give us a new opportunity to see something an applicant has done. Still, it is not scoreable. It might be interesting to see, and it might influence our gut, but it is not a factor in our metrics."

https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2012/12/ ... anagement/
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Wow! Thank you so much for that. It made me feel so much better :)

Now just hope that I did my best then!

Good luck to you too! :-D :-D :-D
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 01 Oct 2013, 22:38
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Yeah, seriously don't waste the time on the optional essay unless your profile is "boring" or you have a major flaw. Though I was accused of handing out "misleading advice" when I tried to explain that earlier in this thread.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 01 Oct 2013, 23:15
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Jamon
Yeah, seriously don't waste the time on the optional essay unless your profile is "boring" or you have a major flaw. Though I was accused of handing out "misleading advice" when I tried to explain that earlier in this thread.
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Jamon, I don't think we meant to say that your advice is misleading - it is more that the MIT Adcom wants a different flavor of "optional information" than most schools - most schools reserve the optional section ONLY for extenuating circumstances. It's no secret that the MIT Adcoms are excited about viewing the optional information because they like to be surprised. But I agree with your conclusion - if your profile is fundamentally flawed, no amount of dazzling extras is going to save you.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 01 Oct 2013, 23:40
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Jamon
Yeah, seriously don't waste the time on the optional essay unless your profile is "boring" or you have a major flaw. Though I was accused of handing out "misleading advice" when I tried to explain that earlier in this thread.
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Though I disagree with the above bolded text, it is your opinion.

Your previous posts, which I labeled "misleading advice," were not.

They stated that MIT's optional submission is "to explain/do damage control to some other weak element in your application," MIT doesn't "care about your feelings or personality," and "You aren't going to get accepted because you make some PPT...I also faile [sic] to see your admission chances increasing by trying to impress them with some useless (interesting, nevertheless) hobby that you enjoy."

Those were false statements, which could lead other users to make poor decisions.

(By the way, influencing the Adcom's gut means that it can increase admission chances and is why I disagree with you.)
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 06 Oct 2013, 01:45
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Looks like there has been no activity on this thread for a couple of days now...

Any idea on when the interview notifications are out?
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 06 Oct 2013, 09:23
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sp88
Looks like there has been no activity on this thread for a couple of days now...

Any idea on when the interview notifications are out?
Show more

It's not entirely helpful, but per MIT's email: Candidates will be notified of interviews by email from October through December.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 06 Oct 2013, 12:18
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sp88
Looks like there has been no activity on this thread for a couple of days now...

Any idea on when the interview notifications are out?
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The admission officer I talked to said 4-5 weeks turnaround after deadline.... so late October to early November is when we can expect the first batch of interview invites.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 07 Oct 2013, 06:51
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CelerIP
sp88
Looks like there has been no activity on this thread for a couple of days now...

Any idea on when the interview notifications are out?

The admission officer I talked to said 4-5 weeks turnaround after deadline.... so late October to early November is when we can expect the first batch of interview invites.
Show more

Just FWIW, based on last year's thread, I'm expecting first interview invites to go out around November 4th.
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TheEntrepreneur
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 07 Oct 2013, 07:24
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Dan8294
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sp88
Looks like there has been no activity on this thread for a couple of days now...

Any idea on when the interview notifications are out?

The admission officer I talked to said 4-5 weeks turnaround after deadline.... so late October to early November is when we can expect the first batch of interview invites.

Just FWIW, based on last year's thread, I'm expecting first interview invites to go out around November 4th.
Show more


No incremental news here but would expect late October to start seeing activities.

Does anyone know whether applicants in the past have been admitted without interview? It says in the email that they try to interview all candidates they admit.. Implying it's probably not always possible?
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 07 Oct 2013, 07:58
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TheEntrepreneur

Does anyone know whether applicants in the past have been admitted without interview? It says in the email that they try to interview all candidates they admit.. Implying it's probably not always possible?
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Haven't heard of anyone get in w/o an interview. I'd say it's just the phrasing of the sentence. I've seen it at other places, too.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 07 Oct 2013, 16:28
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Today I noticed that my Youtube view jumped up by one - the video was viewed from a Tablet that runs iOS. Looks like these Adcoms do take the time to view all supplementary materials.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 08 Oct 2013, 07:14
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CelerIP
Today I noticed that my Youtube view jumped up by one - the video was viewed from a Tablet that runs iOS. Looks like these Adcoms do take the time to view all supplementary materials.
Show more

Noticed the same here! And further, I can almost help you confirm it was the adcom cz' I tracked down the IP address which belongs to Comcast in Boston. The browser is Safari on iOS 6. Everything points to the fact that the adcom is really spending their time on the "Optional Question".

Swift communication with the secretary, transparent admission process, and their effort to read the optional part, really gradually make Sloan stand out from all the schools I applied for...
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 08 Oct 2013, 08:16
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blueser
CelerIP
Today I noticed that my Youtube view jumped up by one - the video was viewed from a Tablet that runs iOS. Looks like these Adcoms do take the time to view all supplementary materials.

Noticed the same here! And further, I can almost help you confirm it was the adcom cz' I tracked down the IP address which belongs to Comcast in Boston. The browser is Safari on iOS 6. Everything points to the fact that the adcom is really spending their time on the "Optional Question".

Swift communication with the secretary, transparent admission process, and their effort to read the optional part, really gradually make Sloan stand out from all the schools I applied for...
Show more

Hi blueser, does your process also track how long they accessed the file? Or does that not work as they could have downloaded it?
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 08 Oct 2013, 08:31
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TheEntrepreneur
blueser
CelerIP
Today I noticed that my Youtube view jumped up by one - the video was viewed from a Tablet that runs iOS. Looks like these Adcoms do take the time to view all supplementary materials.

Noticed the same here! And further, I can almost help you confirm it was the adcom cz' I tracked down the IP address which belongs to Comcast in Boston. The browser is Safari on iOS 6. Everything points to the fact that the adcom is really spending their time on the "Optional Question".

Swift communication with the secretary, transparent admission process, and their effort to read the optional part, really gradually make Sloan stand out from all the schools I applied for...

Hi blueser, does your process also track how long they accessed the file? Or does that not work as they could have downloaded it?
Show more


Yup, I could confirm that they viewed the whole video.

My video is not super fancy, and I'm an average applicant... So, I think the adcoms are really spending their time to view all the supplemental materials, and are not making prejudgements beforehand.
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 08 Oct 2013, 09:32
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blueser


Noticed the same here! And further, I can almost help you confirm it was the adcom cz' I tracked down the IP address which belongs to Comcast in Boston. The browser is Safari on iOS 6. Everything points to the fact that the adcom is really spending their time on the "Optional Question".

Swift communication with the secretary, transparent admission process, and their effort to read the optional part, really gradually make Sloan stand out from all the schools I applied for...

Hi blueser, does your process also track how long they accessed the file? Or does that not work as they could have downloaded it?


Yup, I could confirm that they viewed the whole video.

My video is not super fancy, and I'm an average applicant... So, I think the adcoms are really spending their time to view all the supplemental materials, and are not making prejudgements beforehand.
Show more

How long was your video that they viewed completely?
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 08 Oct 2013, 10:02
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CelerIP
Today I noticed that my Youtube view jumped up by one - the video was viewed from a Tablet that runs iOS. Looks like these Adcoms do take the time to view all supplementary materials.

Noticed the same here! And further, I can almost help you confirm it was the adcom cz' I tracked down the IP address which belongs to Comcast in Boston. The browser is Safari on iOS 6. Everything points to the fact that the adcom is really spending their time on the "Optional Question".

Swift communication with the secretary, transparent admission process, and their effort to read the optional part, really gradually make Sloan stand out from all the schools I applied for...
Show more

Just out of curiosity - are you also a management consultant?
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Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants 09 Oct 2013, 07:51
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TheEntrepreneur

Hi blueser, does your process also track how long they accessed the file? Or does that not work as they could have downloaded it?


Yup, I could confirm that they viewed the whole video.

My video is not super fancy, and I'm an average applicant... So, I think the adcoms are really spending their time to view all the supplemental materials, and are not making prejudgements beforehand.

How long was your video that they viewed completely?
Show more

My video was around a minute and a half... above their 1 min suggested limit...
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