Sloan (MIT): MIT-LGO 2014 Calling all applicants!

Hello everyone ...

My name is Ammar. At the moment, I feel I am the most fortunate person on planet earth (well - may be after Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Zuckerberg ... ok ok may be I am a little exaggerating.) But really ... this time last year I was basically in your shoes; thinking about applying to MBA and dual degree programs and consequently devouring all information available about my top choice programs.

I got into my top choice program: MIT's Leader for Global Operations dual degree program - a Master of Science in Engineering (Aero/Astro Engr. in my case) and an MBA from Sloan - and I love the program!

My friend Vaishal will be joining me in this thread as well. We think that our program is GREAT (the greatest? but may be we are biased ...) And, we are here to help you learn more about the LGO program and the application process... so ask away!

Few notes:

The LGO official website:
(lgo.mit.edu)

The LGO Brochure:
(lgo.mit.edu/docs/MIT_LGO_brochure.pdf)

The LGO students blog-roll:
(lgo.mit.edu/student-blogs)

My personal blog
likethegreatoz(dot)blogspot(dot)com

A little about my background:
I graduated with an Aerospace Engineering degree from University of Texas - Austin (Hook'em Horns!) After which I spent three years as a member of the Deloitte Consulting team implementing an SAP system for Lockheed Aeronautics.
I then spent 6 months volunteering internationally which led to a consulting role in a small sustainability strategy consulting firm in the Middle East ...

Hey Guys,

I wanted to invite all those considering applying to the MIT LGO program to Ambassador Day! It's a great way to learn more about the program, interact with current students, and experience life as an LGO student, among many other opportunities.

It will be held November 4th, you can email lgo@mit.edu to RSVP. Check out the following link for more info: lgo.mit(dot)edu/news/articles/ambassador_day_2013/ambassador_day_2013(dot)html

Is anyone flying in for Ambassador day? I am thinking of flying in but I need to arrange my flight and hotel in short notice. Any suggestions?

Hello, I am an international applicant. I have submitted all materials thru Sloan school except TOEFL. The engineering department I am applying for is Chemical Engineering. I would like to know whether ChemEng requires TOEFL or not. If yes, I would like to apply for waiving my TOEFL but do not know whom to contact.

Can anyone advise?
Thanks!

Hi Ammar & Vaishal! Not sure if you are still checking this forum, but if you are, can you help answer a few questions? I am trying to decide between the regular MBA program and the LGO program at Sloan.

1. How many extra classes are you taking per semester compared to regular MBA students to fulfill the Engineering and MBA graduation requirements?
2. Do you feel it is difficult to find opportunities outside of the primary large partner companies?

Thanks for your help!

Hi KMC123,

We are here!

As far as your first question, total engineering classes will be +/-4 over three semesters, as it depends on the specific engineering major you are applying to and their requirements. However, it is within that range. Why 3 semesters? Because our summer schedule is set, and we are away for a full semester during the two years. So, it is quite common that students take 2 engineering classes in one of their semesters and then only one engineering class during each of the two remaining semesters. Now, is that a rule? Not really.
How hard are these classes? Depends on the class you are taking. You can be taking the same classes as those PhD students take to prepare for their qual tests (very intense!) or you can take classes that are cross-referenced with the Sloan (less intense!) It all depends on your preference and what you are interested in.

The answer to your second question is: No. It is very easy to find opportunities in other companies. In fact, it is easier than being a regular MBA! Because some companies (that are non-partners) seek us out for our tech knowledge and engineering and operations background.

Hope that answered your questions,

Thanks for the quick response! An extra 1-2 classes per semester seems manageable. Are you also taking extra MBA classes to fulfill the MBA requirements since you are only on campus for 3 semesters?

I'm trying to gain a better understanding of how difficult it would be to manage a full academic schedule and participate in various extra-curricular/social functions.

Np! Oh, I also forgot to mention that you will be partaking in the LGO seminars. These are weekly classes where speakers come and give presentation about specific topics. Your only job is to come to class awake and be enlightened (most of the time!). There are two specific LGO seminars: one is required and one is optional. Both focused on leadership and operations.

Don't forget that you get the whole summer before the Fall (though your schedule is predetermined for that summer). So, yes - you have to choose Sloan/MBA electives. For example, this semester I am taking the following (in addition to the main core classes with Sloan)
Competitive Strategy (sloan elective)
System Dynamics (sloan elective)
Airline Industry
It is plenty of work, but nothing to stop me from being involved in clubs, LGO committees, and other activities. And, I would say this is the case for my LGO class-mates. Some of them are involved in clubs, competing in case competitions, etc etc.

That is said, I am on the very upper/higher end of the work-load. And, I know plenty of classmates who opt to take two classes (an engineering and sloan elective) or even just only one (an engineering class) in addition to the core MBA classes. Sloan is very flexible in figuring out your schedule. And, it is about your comfort zone and what you want to do.

Ultimately, It's definitely more work than regular MBA. But we help each other and pull through. I couldn't see anyone regretting the LGO experience because of the workload. There is so much going on at Sloan that you will probably fill-up your time just the same if you are in the full time program. So I feel in either cases the limitation is only you and what you are comfortable with :D

Thanks so much Ammar! This has been very helpful .

Ammar - I couldn't find this anywhere on the LGO website and was hoping that you could help. You mentioned that Sloan is flexible in letting you design your schedule and I was wondering what are the graduation requirements for LGO? I know the regular MBA program is 144 credits. Do you need as many engineering credits to graduate? Also how many of the engineering credits are pre-defined by the LGO program? I'm trying to get a better understanding of how much control you have over your engineering schedule/course selection. Thanks again!

Submitted my app last week- I'm surprised there hasn't been much activity in this thread, compared to previous years. Best of luck to everyone!

Just put mine in during the wee hours of the morning Sunday -- always down to the wire! Good luck everyone. Any reapplicants this year? How did the lack of cover letter change the application for you?

Submitted mine as well! I thought the Sloan questions were hard. Took me a while to understand the first question...

There are a bunch of LGO Student blogs here (see left panel menu).

https://lgo-blog.mit.edu/

Anyone knows when will interview requests be sending out? Seems like last year was around 1/10.....

I hope soon! I saw that my optional video essay was viewed a few times last week. Hopefully that's a good sign...

you must added a view counter to a web file! slick

Thanks! It looks like they've been sending out invites the second week of Jan in the past few years. Hopefully that means we'll hear soon...

Hi everyone, do you know if invites to international applicants are sent together with all others?