Sloan (MIT) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants

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?

How long was your video that they viewed completely?

Just out of curiosity - are you also a management consultant?

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

Yep. For me, the Sloan AdCom has always stood out because Sloan seems to go by the beat of their own drum. They seem to care less about the stupid rankings game and average GMATs of incoming classes. And they're realistic about people's career goals changing once they get into school, hence they don't ask for them.

I think there's always been a misconception that Sloan only cares about your numbers because of their formulaic scoring approach to reading applications. For example, HBSGuru always says in his series on Poets and Quants that if you get a 760, you're a shoo-in because you'll score high in MIT's formula.

Yes, Sloan does use a formula, but they make room for intangibles for a reader to say "hey this person is interesting, let's invite him/her to interview." The reason I say this is because I was fortunate enough to have a waitlist feedback session this past summer with one of the AdCom members, and while she of course did not show me my application, she had my application directly in front of her on her laptop, and she read to me the comments that readers made. I was very surprised at how much the comments reflected the committee members' desire to get to know me.

At any rate, I am sure everyone's video, slideshow or whatever people submitted will be carefully read and evaluated.

guys, to make our data analysis accurate, please update your latest Sloan application status when available. thank you all!

I wish 760 was a shoe-in. I had 760 and 3.7 GPA and didn't get an interview last year.

Posted from my mobile device

That's a bummer. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it gives other applicants a chance), it's impossible to be a shoe-in at these kinds of business schools solely based on GMAT and GPA.

Not everyone realizes that standardized exams and academic records weigh differently from graduate program to graduate program. For instance, in medical school applications, the MCAT is one of the most important metrics (GPA is arguably second to that), and a very high MCAT score alone can almost guarantee admission to some schools. The MCAT is also a beast of an exam compared to the GMAT (imagine having to memorize physics, chemistry, biology, and organic chemistry material, as well as tackling a difficult verbal reasoning section!).

Because most of us gain work experience before going to business school, we have more metrics. Moreover, the schools we apply to look beyond scores and grades; compared to other graduate programs, business school is less academic and more practical. Don't let that discourage you, though. Just accept it for what it is.

I knew my chances were probably 50/50. After school I joined a defense contractor and it's a crapshoot whether you get noticed in that industry. I was on the unnoticed side so I had an average story with good numbers.

Posted from my mobile device

Couldn't help to check the confirmation email again... but only to find that interview invites will go out "from October through December", which doesn't help at all... I'm planning for a trip to the east coast, and ideally would prefer to be interviewed on campus. but I need to apply for annual leaves beforehand...

Can anyone share some ideas/insights in when the interview invites are likely to go out?

People last year said there was some sort of geographic pattern to the invitations, so you could try looking at last year's "calling all" thread, but unfortunately, the interview invitations could go out at any time.

I had a similar question... Waiting is never fun
Although I remember reading somewhere that 6 weeks after the deadline is when the interview invites start going out in full force...

Have you tried going through the previous year threads? I read a post earlier in this discussion referring to it...

6 weeks is about right. I would expect invites starting to go out at the end of October or early November.

Last year, R1 deadline was ~Oct.24 and invites started in early December.

Posted from my mobile device

Legatum Fellowship application will open on November 4th.

It says that Legatum Fellows are provided "Financial assistance for education related expenses" i.e. scholarships.

Can someone tell me how much amount/percentage of tuition fee they provide scholarship for?

Hi everyone,

Was anyone's supplemental material viewed more than once from Adcom? Just out of curiosity.