Mr. Generic Nerd

First off, some valuable advice. Don’t put all your chips on MIT Sloan. Given the relatively smaller size of the MBA incoming class (416) and the acceptance rate of just under 12%, it’s a hard school to crack. You have a solid background for MIT but MBA admissions is such a random thing, you can never know. Your GPA is above the latest Sloan average of 3.48 and your GMAT score is more or less in line with the latest 727 average, even if you’re just a few points off. You’re a engineer from a terrific undergraduate university and you have a great job at what looks like Deloitte. Those are all positives. I also think your extras are impressive, especially having been president and founder of a student org with the goal to build a hydrogen powered vehicle. That is super confirming geek stuff, right up Sloan’s alley. You just have to spread your marbles across a few more schools and not go for broke with Sloan. Why not add Carnegie Mellon to the mix, along with Chicago Booth, Yale SOM (again given your earlier interview for Silver Scholars), and Columbia?

John’s analysis is pretty comprehensive, I just want to add one thing: applying to MIT from Big 4 if you are not URM or international is real hard. It would be a real interesting question to know the entire male, US, Big-4 cohort at MIT. That could be a real small (single digit) number, sure we are dealing with small numbers as the universe but just saying.
You are 24 and some tuff love could be get a more selective job and apply in 2 years.

Late to your party MIT aspirant. This is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. The odds are certainly against you – so why the 25% odds here you may wonder ? Well, you have a shot at MIT if you can show that you have achieved a lot in 2+ plus years of work ex and are on way to even better things via your role in tech. If MIT’s application review philosophy can be reduced to 3 words, they would most likely be “Show, don’t tell”. They look for verifiable evidence of achievements and traits and not for mere enumeration of those. So if you can “show” evidence that you led innovative projects, thought originally and achieved in 3 years what others can’t achieve in 6 – you are in play at the school. Also in terms of your goals, if you are going to MIT to pivot your career, you will be well served to show evidence (that word again!) that you really cared about sustainability through your late teens and early 20’s . The Hydrogen Powered Vehicle example will help. And unless you have a deep interest in finance and can show that, would ask you not to muddy the waters by introducing that goal. Good luck !

Hello Mr. Generic Nerd! Thanks for posting. Krista Nannery here from mbaMission.
Every year, I work with a number of consultants from the Big 4. What I’ve seen is that the candidates that are most successful breaking into the top schools have 4 years of work experience upon application. Either 4 years of straight consulting, or that 2 years consulting/ 2 years corporate combo. That’s not to say you wouldn’t be successful now if you applied — I do see it happen — but I’ve learned that there is, unfortunately, no shortage of Big 4 Consultants applying to b-school. You need to stand out! One way to do that is just by experience. Another way is GMAT…the 720 plus the 2 years of WE might be a tough combo at a school like Sloan.

If you are already considering changing jobs and moving directly into the tech industry, why not pursue that now and get settled there? Target a firm with a great brand (but also of course a role that makes you happy). Then, apply again in 2022.

Hope that helps!
Krista

Hi Mr. Generic Nerd, Lisa Cummings of Stratus Admissions. First off, MIT loves nerds, let’s see how we can change that moniker from generic to standout. My peers have hit on most of the key things here. You have good stats and excellent extracurriculars. Given that you want to pivot, might you be able to wait to apply next year? You are light on the years of work experience but from my time on the Sloan adcomm, I know they will consider the quality of the work you have done and your achievements. However, 2 years really is low. If you are going to make that transition to into tech before starting school you had better do it soon so you have something meaty to talk about in your cover letter and interview. Otherwise it might be smart to wait until you can get another year plus under your belt before applying. Think about leadership roles you have held. I imagine Big Brothers would provide some good examples and stories, are there any from work? Sloan loves innovators -anything on your resume that could talk to how you have done things differently/better? You will want to connect your current work to your future goal. Pick a post MBA role – either in tech or finance but don’t talk about both as they aren’t related and could make you appear unfocused. Good luck.