MIT Sloan 2018-2019 MBA Deadlines

MIT’s Sloan School of Management has set a Sept. 25th deadline for round one applications to its prestige MBA program. That’s exactly the same date as last year, with decisions sent to candidates by Dec. 19th.

Sloan is giving this year’s round two applicants a bit more breathing room, moving its deadline back five days to Jan. 22, with decisions due by April 2. The third and final deadline, with exactly a month decision time, is April 8th, for notification by May 8th.

MIT Sloan’s 2018-2019 MBA Application Deadlines

Sloan Rounds	Application Deadline	Interviews	Decisions
Round One	September 25, 2018	NA	December 19, 2018
Round Two	January 22, 2019	NA	April 2, 2019
Round Three	April 8, 2019	NA	May 8, 2019

Among the elite schools, Sloan has arguably the easier application to complete, requiring a cover letter of 300 or fewer words and a 60-second video statement introducing yourself to your future classmates. Some applicants have recorded their videos in libraries (to show their love of reading), a ski lift, or, in one case, from a kayak by a candidate known for her freestyle moves.

If invited for an admissions interview, the school tosses in a brief essay of no more than 250 words that asks candidates to describe how they would work “to create a campus that is welcoming, inclusive and increasingly diverse.”

The school asks candidates to take into account the following statement when writing their cover letter: “MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity and respect passion.”

SLOAN RECEIVED 5,798 APPLICATIONS FOR ITS 404 CLASSROOM SEATS

Given Sloan’s prestige and the relatively small class of MBAs it admits each year, the school’s MBA program is among the most highly selective in the world. Last year, Sloan admitted just 11.6% of its applicants, making it the third most selective behind only Stanford (5.7%) and Harvard Business School (11.0%).

Some 5,798 candidates vied for Sloan’s 404 classroom seats, with the school admitting 670 of the students who applied for admission. Applications rose slightly by just 91 last year but it followed a monster, breakout year for Sloan which then received 1,453 more applications than the previous year.

The school’s GMAT average slipped by two points to 722, with scores ranging from 690 to 760 in the middle 80% range. However, this average remains a nine-point improvement over the past three cycles before the year-earlier period. At the same time, 722 tied Sloan with Dartmouth Tuck for the 9th highest GMAT average among top-ranked American programs last year.

Sloan has also reported its GRE scores by range. For the middle 80% of the enrolled students who submitted a GRE, the quant range was 159 to 170 while the verbal range was 154 to 169. The average undergraduate GPA for the latest incoming class was 3.49. Entering students boasted average work experience of 4.87 years, with a very wide range of zero to 15 years.

ADVICE FROM LATEST SLOAN GRADUATES

“Visit, if you can! It’s difficult to adequately convey in conversation the energy of the student body – you really need to experience it for yourself. Because Sloan is a smaller program, fit with our collaborative environment is essential. Also, really familiarize yourself with what Sloan has to offer. It is unique from other MBA programs in so many ways, and the more you can articulate how you will grow from the amazing opportunities it offers, the better.” — Faye Cheng, Class of 2018 MIT Sloan MBA now working as a senior associate consultant for Bain & Co. in Chicago

“It sounds clichéd, but focus on being yourself in your application. Use the application process as an opportunity to think through the narrative of your life thus far and where you hope to be in the future. Furthermore, use your story to show what motivates and excites you. Business schools want to get to know the genuine you, not your impression of what you think they are looking for. Sharing your genuine self means they are more likely to see your unique value and that you are more likely to end up in the right school for you.” — Isabelle Cox, Class of 2018 MIT Sloan MBA now working as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group

“Be authentic: write about and speak to where your true passions lie (and hopefully, what you have the most depth in), no matter what the subject. It was family decision to choose MIT. I saw that Sloan offered an environment for me to develop in an interdisciplinary fashion within a culture that would constantly provoke me to evaluate my career direction. Specifically, I came in with a passion for entrepreneurship and “making”. My peers are bright, humble, and have deep and diverse interests. They are authentic and do not back down from holding me accountable to my values. Coupled with an open-minded administration, I feel that MIT Sloan trains leaders that will not be constrained by our current paradigm of management.” — Jason Liu, Class of 2018 MIT Sloan MBA now working as a senior associate consultant at Bain & Co.

 

DON’T MISS: MEET THE MIT SLOAN CLASS OF 2019 or DEAN Q&A: MIT SLOAN’S DAVID SCHMITTLEIN