Moving right along in our Real Humans student series, today we get to meet a handful of students in the MIT Sloan Class of 2019. But first a little about the class as a whole. By the numbers: the incoming class of 404 students boasts an average GMAT score of 722 and an average undergraduate GPA of 3.49. Both represent a tiny backslide from the prior year, when they were 724 and 3.5 respectively. International students make up a third of the class, which is also a decrease from 39 percent in the Class of 2018. But the percentage of women in the class grew from 40 to 42.3 percent. So, too, did underrepresented minorities as a percentage of U.S. students, from 15 to 18 percent.
Although the average GMAT score and GPA were off just slightly from the year before, admission to MIT Sloan actually grew more selective year over year. The school received
5,798 applications, up from 5,707 last year, which was itself a 25.5 percent jump over the prior year’s 4,254. Class size over the same period has remained basically flat—up eight one year, down five the next—meaning there are increasing numbers of applicants competing for the same limited seats.
In terms of work experience, incoming students had an average of 4.87 years, with more—21 percent—coming from the financial services industry than any other. Consulting was second, at 19 percent, followed closely by technology, at 18 percent. Students with government and public sector experience also make up a healthy 15 percent of the class.
As always, these numbers only tell part of the story. To help bring the MIT Sloan MBA Class of 2019 to life, we turned to the students themselves. In the profiles that follow, you’ll see evidence of the students’ diverse backgrounds and experience. There are consultants and finance folks in the mix, but there’s also a former Congressional staffer as well as someone who worked in solar energy in Cambodia. As undergraduates they studied everything from political science to mechanical engineering, economics to English lit.
Just as you might expect of students at MIT Sloan, they’re a brainy bunch. But they also know how to let loose and have fun—whether on water skis or by belting out karaoke renditions of Journey hits in dive bars. But don’t take our word for it. Read on to get to know these Sloanies for yourself.
