Tag Archives: MIT application

Preparing for the MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Interview

By Vincent Ho-Tin-Noe (last updated: October 15, 2019)

Last week, MIT Sloan started inviting candidates to participate in its Behavioral Event-Based Interviews (BEI). As often in the past, the school will be inviting candidates on a rolling basis. In the US, it started with West Coast candidates but will be extending invites to candidates located in other regions over the next few weeks. For example, East Coast invites should start going out on October 27, while the last batch might be sent in three or four weeks from now only.

For the lucky ones who have already received an interview invitation from MIT Sloan, we’d like to share some advice regarding MIT’s Behavioral Event-Based Interview. While perhaps not as radically different from the traditional MBA admissions interview as Wharton’s Team-Based Discussion, MIT Sloan’s behavioral interview requires a healthy amount of respect and a unique style of preparation.

How is MIT Sloan’s Behavioral Interview Different?

Unlike most MBA admissions committees, MIT Sloan focuses its interview exclusively on a candidate’s past actions. As the adcom writes in its interview preparation guide, “Instead of asking how you would behave in a particular situation, the interviewer will ask you how you did behave.”

If you’re lucky enough to be invited to interview, this distinction will manifest itself in two ways:

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MIT Round One Notifications

By Vincent Ho-Tin-Noe (last updated: October 8, 2019)
On Friday December 20, 2013, MIT Sloan will be releasing its round one decisions, putting an end to a pretty busy week, during which Wharton (on December 17) and Booth (December 19) also released their first round admissions decisions. 

Notification time

Unlike HBS, MIT Sloan does not provide a lot of information about the exact time and manner candidates are notified, although admitted students should receive an email or phone call from the admissions team by 5pm EST.

Post-interview admissions rate

Although precise numbers do not exist, we estimate that post-interview admissions odds at MIT Sloan stand among the highest across top 10 MBA programs, at around 60%. Candidates who prepared well for their behavioral interview questions, should thus receive positive news on decision day.

Waitlisted candidates

Having dealt with the waitlist process at MIT Sloan, I vividly remember the emotional roller coaster I went through in the days following the decision notification. Having received strong words of encouragement from my interviewer at the end of our conversation, I felt pretty confident that I would receive a offer from that particular program. I was thus puzzled by the school’s decision to put me on their waitlist, and was unsure of what to do to end up getting a spot in their next class.

In order to help candidates who receive a waitlist notification, our co-founder, Kyle Watkins, recently wrote a post about dealing with the waitlist decision, and we dedicated one of our 10-step guides to “navigating the wailtlist process“. In some cases there might be steps that can be taken to maximize your chances, especially since MIT Sloan is one of the few schools that do not discourage candidates from submitting new material (“we encourage waiting list applicants to keep us updated on their situation and intentions. You are welcome to submit via e-mail only any additional information you feel will be helpful to us”). In a November 2013 wait list chat, the school clearly stated that “all applicants placed on the wait list should send 2-4 updates to show their interest in attending MIT Sloan. Updates should demonstrate evidence of professional success (new projects/results/promotions), updated test scores or additional coursework, and additional unofficial recommendations“.

We will try to centralize information from the school’s admissions team about the process along with anecdotes from other waitlisted applicants, so check our blog regularly for updates.

Dings: it’s worth re-applying

Months of effort and hopes will be torn into pieces for applicants who receive a ding notification from MIT. But it is important to quickly move on should the outcome of your application be negative. Although MIT Sloan usually does not provide individual feedback to applicants whose application is rejected (even post interview), the school encourages candidates to reapply  (“re-applicants are very important to us and you’re sending us an important message if you re-apply. We take this seriously, and we know you’ve probably passed up other opportunities to try with us again. We want you to know you’re getting the full consideration and the first chance at a spot in the next class. It’s important to know that re-applicants are successful in our process. We value your commitment to coming here, and we want students who are committed to MIT Sloan”).

In any case, stay positive. MIT Sloan decided to invite you to an interview. This means that you have what it takes to get into a top MBA program with maybe just a few tweaks to your application. If MIT Sloan is the one and only place where you can picture yourself earning your MBA, keep in mind that re-applicants odds of success are higher than those of regular applicants (“(…) typically the acceptance rate for re-applicants is a few percentage points higher than our average. So if on average we have a 12% acceptance rate, re-applicants are at about 15–16% acceptance rate”).

Next steps

If you have just received an admissions offer from MIT Sloan, congratulations! You are about to go on an amazing journey that will bring countless opportunities. Should you want to discuss how to best prepare for MIT, we will be happy to work with you.

For waitlisted candidates, we can guide you through the waitlist process, and answer any questions you may have about the steps you can take to increase your chances. This is particularly important at MIT Sloan, since the school expects waitlisted candidates to send additional material. Don’t let this opportunity pass! You may also find valuable content in some of our past posts.

Finally, we have provided ding reports to several candidates in the past, and have helped them secure interviews or admissions offers at other top 10 programs.

Just reach out to us should you be interested in any of these services.

Submitting Your MBA Application (MIT Sloan)

By Vincent Ho-Tin-Noe (last updated: October 15, 2019)

A few days ago, we blogged about Harvard Business School’s first round application and the checks applicants should perform before pressing the “submit” button.

MIT Sloan School Building E62

As the MIT first-round deadline is approaching, we thought that a refresher would be useful for MBA applicants to the Sloan School of Management.

In the last few hours leading up to the dreaded deadline, here are the 5 essential steps you should take to ensure that you are submitting a solid and comprehensive application package:
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