Matt Caple, MIT Sloan MBA Class of 2019
Age: 31
Hometown: Boston, MA
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Tufts University, economics
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Financial services, Credit Suisse, 7 years; consumer, Ministry of Supply, 1 year
Why business school? Why now? I was incredibly fortunate to enjoy my time at Credit Suisse and Ministry of Supply. As such, I was not convinced leaving work to pursue a full-time MBA program was right for me. However, having spent the entirety of my career in sales/client facing roles, I knew that I lacked some important quantitative skills in accounting and operations. As such, I explored the idea of pursuing an MBA with my mentor, Aman Advani, and he suggested I research MIT Sloan given the fulfilling experience he had while attending.
Why MIT Sloan? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend? In meeting with Sloanies before and during the application process, I found the broader MIT community shared my same values. More than anything else, this solidified my desire to attend and is precisely why I’m so grateful to be accepted.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2019? This is a great question. My classmates all have such diverse and impressive work and life experience—I’m excited to continue to learn from them. Given my tenure in Boston and the relationships I have built, I hope to make my pre-existing network and community available to the broader class.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application? I’m huge waterskiing fan!
Post-MBA career interests? I have a number of areas of interest. First, I’m excited to continue my transition into the consumer space. I had a fantastic experience at Ministry of Supply but lacked some of the necessary skills to be as effective an operator as I would have liked and hope to improve upon those weaknesses in school and thereafter. Second, I still have a great interest in financial markets and investment management. Lastly, I spent time researching Blockchain technology in a pre-MBA summer internship and look forward to learning more about this exciting technology at MIT. I’m unsure if I can combine all three in my work following school, but I intend to explore each thoroughly.
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process? I spent a considerable amount of time learning about the MIT community and in dialog with current and past Sloanies. This provided me with an understanding of the school’s values and mission, which both confirmed my excitement about the potential to attend and gave me the confidence to apply.
–One thing you would change or do differently? I would have attended Sloan Club events during the research process. There is a great deal of exciting learning that takes place outside the classroom in business school. Because the Sloan community is so collegial and welcoming, I would have loved to use this as an additional avenue to explore the community.
–Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it? I would have skipped the GMAT! I’m not the world’s greatest test taker, so this was a challenging part of the process for me. I knew how badly I wanted to attend Sloan, so this was a persistent motivator to work to achieve the score I wanted.
Greatest highlight so far at MIT Sloan? I cannot emphasize enough the diversity in both work and life experience of my classmates. I’m excited to continue learning about and from them!
One thing about MIT Sloan that you didn’t expect before arriving? I wasn’t aware we’d receive backpacks upon matriculating! They’re fantastic.
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year? There is a heavy workload during Sloan’s fall core semester. Midterms are a month away, and I’m both anxious and excited to get up the learning curve as fast as possible.
Thing you are most excited about in your first year? I’m looking forward to developing closer relationships with my classmates and the faculty!
