MIT Sloan MBA News

Get the latest MBA news from MIT Sloan.

Published: October 20, 2014

New Light Installation Commissioned for MIT Sloan School of Management Main Building

When Building E52, the main facility for the MIT Sloan School of Management, reopens after extensive renovations in January 2016, it will feature a new light installation by artist Leo Villareal, the school announced recently. Villareal, who last year created The Bay Lights on the San Francisco Bay Bridge West Span, was recently awarded an MIT Percent-for-Art commission to create a light installation for MIT’s Building E52. His plans for E52 include a light sculpture in the north vestibule of the building as part of a new, glass-enclosed entrance. The sculpture will feature 240 hanging LED rods – each approximately 9 feet tall with 72 individual LEDs – arranged from the ceiling in rows. As part of the work, Villareal will create a software code programming the LEDs to cycle through a randomly generated series of combinations. Read more

Published: October 5, 2014

New Loan Program Launches for International MBA Students at U.S. Schools

A new pilot loan program will provide expanded options for international MBA students at a number of top programs in the United States, according to a recent report in Poestandquants. The program, offered by Prodigy Finance, will extend to international students and U.S. residents with non-permanent status who are studying at 16 top schools, including Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and MIT Sloan School of Management. Especially in recent years, banks have been reluctant to lend to students who are studying internationally. Prodigy Finance seeks to fill this need using a “community finance” model. Basically, alumni from participating schools fund loans for current students, banking on the value of a degree from their alma mater and the likelihood that future alums will repay. Interest rates on the loans vary between 6 and 12 percent, depending on the school, the individual borrower’s profile and current rates. Read more

Published: September 16, 2014

MIT Sloan School of Management to Host Diversity Weekend for Prospectives

Prospective MBA applicants from diverse backgrounds are invited to take part in an upcoming Diversity Weekend at the MIT Sloan School of Management. On October 2nd and 3rd, MIT Sloan will host a range of interactive sessions designed to help prospective MBA students get to know the MIT Sloan community by interacting with current students and getting a glimpse of the school’s experiential learning curriculum in action. MIT Sloan’s Diversity Weekend events begin on Thursday night, October 2nd, with a welcome reception. Following the reception, Diversity Weekend participants are also invited to take part in the school’s weekly C-Function. These informal, after-hours celebrations, organized by MIT Sloan students, are held each Thursday evening and open to the entire graduate community, faculty and staff. Read more

Published: July 30, 2014

MIT Sloan to Host Women’s Week, August 4th – 7th

The MIT Sloan School of Management is gearing up for a week filled with events designed to increase awareness about the school among women who are considering a graduate management degree. MIT Sloan Women’s Week, which will take place from August 4th through 7th, will include a webinar open to prospective applicants anywhere in the world, as well as three alumnae panels in cities around the country. “There are so many opportunities for women to contribute while they are here on campus as well as after they graduate and become part of our alumni network,” Sloan Admissions Director Dawna Levenson said as part of an article about the week’s events. “MIT Sloan women are making an impact in the world, and these panels will showcase just that,” she added. Read more

Published: July 23, 2014

Admissions Director Q&A: MIT Sloan School of Management’s Dawna Levenson

As we continue to make the rounds, checking in with admissions directors at top business schools around the globe, we had the good fortune recently to speak with Dawna Levenson, director of MBA admission at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Levenson’s MIT roots run deep. She has an undergraduate degree from the school as well as an MBA from Sloan. She spent 18 years working for the company now known as Accenture but then decided it was time do something new and different. Read more

Published: July 1, 2014

Meet MIT Sloan School of Management Admissions Team Members Around the Globe

Members of the admissions team at the MIT Sloan School of Management are hitting the road in a big way, with admissions events scheduled in every corner of the globe over the next few months. The global trek starts tomorrow with events in Madrid and Bogota and will continue throughout the summer months and into the fall. The tour, called “MIT Sloan on the Road,” includes more than three dozen events in cities throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. So regardless of how far you live from Sloan’s campus, you’ll have the opportunity to hear first-hand about the school’s MBA program, admissions process and more. Read more

Published: June 24, 2014

Some Business Schools Adopt Tracking Software in a Bid to Increase Yield

A number of top-tier business schools have begun to use software to track prospective applicants’ interactions with their school in an effort to gauge how interested they are in attending, according to a recent article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. The data points – which can include whether a student has emailed admissions staff, how many admissions events they’ve attended and whether they requested program information – are now included in candidate profiles alongside test scores and essay responses, Bloomberg BW adds. Most schools report that student interest isn’t a main factor in admissions decisions, but the fact that increasing numbers of schools are using the tracking programs suggest that the data gathered counts for something. Read more

Published: June 16, 2014

New MIT Sloan School of Management Essay Question Presents Challenging Opportunity to Applicants

MIT Sloan School of Management, like many top business schools, has recently released its essay questions for the upcoming application season, leaving prospective applicants and others in the admissions community buzzing about how this year’s prompts require more or less from applicants than in years past. Sloan put a new twist on things late last week when it revealed that its newest question invites applicants to write their own letters of recommendation. Make no mistake. These essays are not intended to take the place of actual letters of recommendation, two of which will still be required of all applicants to Sloan. Instead, the new essay prompt is designed to encourage applicants to reflect on themselves in a new and different way. Specifically, they are asked to put themselves in their most recent supervisor’s shoes and – from that manager’s perspective – offer an assessment of how they themselves interact with others, stand out from others and what they would change about themselves. Read more

Published: May 18, 2014

The Soaring Price of Business School Networking

A New York Times article this weekend examined the growing number of trips and other “lifestyle experiences” that now compete with academic ones as part of the MBA program at many leading business schools. Even those that don’t offer any form of academic credit can be viewed as valuable networking opportunities that can help position students for jobs upon graduation—worth their steep price tags in the eyes of some. As an example, the Times story lead with a February ski trip to Park City, Utah, that about a third of the MBA class from the University of Texas as Austin’s McCombs School of Business went on. The three-day trip, planned by a student-run group called the Graduate Business Adventure Team, was advertised to cost about $1,000, though final costs may have ended up higher. Read more

Published: May 11, 2014

MIT Sloan School of Management to Host Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum in Beijing

MIT Sloan School of Management later this week will host a conference in Beijing focused on the challenges facing entrepreneurs in China, including a cultural focus on efficiency over innovation. The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum will take place on Friday, May 17th. “Entrepreneurship is critical for China’s economic development, yet entrepreneurs have to overcome many hurdles,” MIT Sloan Professor and Associate Dean for International Programs and Action Learning Yasheng Huang said in a statement. “Many of those issues are ones faced by all founders, such as retaining good employees and navigating government bureaucracy, but those in the technology sector are pioneering new territory in China.” Read more

Published: May 1, 2014

Economist Ranks Top 20 North American MBA Programs, Chicago Booth Leads

In case you missed it, the Economist earlier this week broke out the top 20 North American full-time MBA programs, as a follow-up to its global ranking. As an introduction to this North American-specific list, the Economist calls America the “spiritual home of the MBA,” noting that the first MBA was offered there more than a century ago and that today, U.S. schools dominate the publication's global ranking. (Eight of the top 10 business schools in the worldwide ranking are located in U.S.) Among the Top 20 North American MBA programs, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business claimed the top spot (as it did in the global rankings). Among the other highest-ranking North American schools were several prestigious U.S. names, including Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, MIT Sloan School of Management and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Read more

Published: April 13, 2014

MIT Sloan MBAs Scope Out Leading Seattle Firms as Part of Annual Tech Trek

After returning from a recent MIT Sloan Tech Trek to Seattle, a first-year MBA student shared highlights in a recent article on GeekWire. Jarek Langer (MBA ‘15), vice president of treks for the Technology Club at Sloan, detailed his recent trek, which included visits to Amazon, Microsoft and Groupon. Though all three companies had already given formal Read more

Published: March 20, 2014

MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: R2 / Adcom / Skype

The interview was straightforward and pleasant. It focused a lot on what I had written in my essays. 1) Question about mentoring experience I described in one of my essays. 2) Question about progress with success of an initiative I promoted at work. 3) Follow-up question about how I persuaded someone for that initiative. 4) Question about an example when I delegated work to someone or a group. 5) Follow-up question about the result of that experience. 6) Question about what I like to do outside of work. 7) Question about my goals Read more

Published: March 19, 2014

MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus

-Elaboration on how I convinced senior management to adopt the model I wrote about in my application – Elaboration on my leadership role in my extracurricular activity – Describe a time I had to resolve a conflict. How did I do it? How did I feel? – Describe a recent initiative I took – Describe a time an idea was rejected. How did I feel? – Why an MBA? Why now? – Anything I want to add since application submission? – Any questions for her Read more

Published: March 10, 2014

Harvard, Stanford, Wharton Tie for First in U.S. News Business School Rankings

U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of the best graduate schools, and a familiar cast of characters topped the list of top business schools, though with a few minor shifts. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania sashayed up from third place up to tie for first with Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. The University of Chicago Booth School of Business gained some ground as well, moving up from the No. 6 spot last year to No. 4 this year. Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, meanwhile, dipped – sliding into the No. 6 spot vacated by Chicago Booth. MIT’s Sloan School of Management, which tied with Kellogg for fourth last year, also slipped, falling to fifth place. Read more

Published: March 3, 2014

MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub

I interviewed with an adcom member in Los Angeles. It was an application-based interview. We met at a hotel. There were no surprises in this experience. 1. “Have there been any changes in your application/experience since you submitted?” I used this as an opportunity to break the ice and share something fun I’d done recently. This also let me gauge her attitude/mood. 2. She introduced the format of the interview and that it was for me to help the committee get a better sense of who I am beyond the paper file. She explained the format of behavioral questions. 3. Read more

Published: February 23, 2014

MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus

I did my interview for MIT Sloan at the Marriott hotel in Paris. I currently live in Dubai and work for a top-tier management consulting firm. I was given the option to interview either in Mumbai or in Paris. The interviewer was very friendly and asked me the sort of typical questions that you prepare for in every MBA admissions interview: – Walk me through your CV up until now – Why an MBA? Why do it now? – Why MIT Sloan? – Tell me about your biggest achievement – Tell me about a time Read more

Published: February 16, 2014

MIT Sloan Women in Management Conference Features First-Ever Pitch Contest

The 2014 MIT Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) Conference included its first-ever pitch contest for MIT women entrepreneurs. As part of the challenge, held last week during the annual SWIM conference, 10 startups presented a range of innovative ideas so compelling that the panel of judges ended up selecting two winners rather than one for the $1,000 prize. One of the winners was Caroline Mauldin, a first-year student in MIT Sloan’s dual-degree program with Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her company, Love Grain, creates food products made with the Ethiopian grain teff to serve the growing gluten-free market. Its first product, a pancake and waffle mix, is already being sold, and a second product, an energy bar, is in development. Read more

Published: February 11, 2014

MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus

I was not living too far away from the campus (about a 2 hour drive), and thus I visited the campus an hour before the time of my interview. The atmosphere was good similar to any good school. And especially the interviewing room was even better. Earlier I thought that the interview might take too much time as I had heard from others that sometimes many questions are asked. But in my case, it was not so long and I was done in just around 15 minutes. The interviewer checked my resume at first and asked things which he wanted Read more

Published: February 11, 2014

MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus

My interviewer began the questions by asking me to explain what my prior employer does, my contributions there and why I decided to move to my current job. Then she asked why MBA now and why Sloan. She followed up with whether I would return to my employer after graduation, and I told her my manager is open to it and I am definitely open to it. Then she asked three behavioral questions – a time when I had to rally a team and a time when I had to say “no” to a boss. Then she asked about a Read more

Published: February 6, 2014

MIT Sloan Students Prepare for Second of Three Contests in MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition

Each year, the Martin Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management hosts the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, a year-long series of three contests designed to help students through the new venture construction process. This week, students are working furiously to prepare for Accelerate, the second contest in the series, in which they are tasked with transforming the business pitches they gave as the first part of the series into demos to present to a panel of judges. Thirty teams were culled from 270 applications to pitch their business ideas at Accelerate. Teams began making their presentations earlier this week, on February 5th, and will continue over the course of three nights. A grand finale and announcement of the winner will take place on February 20th. Read more

Published: January 16, 2014

MIT Sloan School of Management Announces New Scholarship for Technology-Focused MBAs

MIT Sloan School of Management and London-based global telecommunications company Zamir Telecom last week announced a new scholarship program for promising MBA students planning to pursue careers in the technology sector. The new Zamir Telecom fellowship is open to students from emerging economies in Africa, Asia or the Middle East, as well as to students interested in technological advancements in those regions. Read more

Published: December 8, 2013

MIT / Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub

My interview was held in the offices of MIT alumni and I was allotted 45 mins. I was the second interview of the day out of a total of 12 on the schedule. My interviewer was friendly, but professional. While I felt like I connected with him during the interview and we had an easy conversation, I could not read him at all and have no idea what he thought about my answers. The probing follow-up questions made me feel like I wasn’t answering his original questions the right way. The questions asked were: – Any updates to your Read more

Published: November 19, 2013

UMichigan’s Ross School of Business Leads in Building LGBT-Inclusive Campus Culture

The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan has gotten more of its student body involved to help foster an LGBT-inclusive campus culture than any other top business school, according to initial standings released last week for the MBA Ally Challenge. The year-long competition, launched by nonprofit Friendfactor, is part of the organization’s larger effort to encourage straight people to become visible and active allies in their workplace and campus communities. Twelve of Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s top-20-ranked MBA programs have taken on the MBA Ally Challenge, and together they have activated more than 1,800 students since this year’s challenge kicked off in late August. Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and MIT Sloan School of Management trail Ross in second and third places, respectively. Read more

Published: November 12, 2013

MIT / Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-campus

Here are the questions the MIT Sloan interviewer asked: – Elaboration on how I convinced senior management to adopt the model I wrote about in my application – Elaboration on my leadership role in my extracurricular activity – Describe a time I had to resolve a conflict. How did I do it? How did I feel? – Describe a recent initiative I took – Describe a time an idea was rejected. How did I feel? – Why an MBA? Why now? – Anything I want to add since application submission – Read more

MIT Sloan

CLASS SIZE: 433

Women: 49%

Median GMAT: 730

Median GPA: 3.7

Livewire Decisionwire Interview Reports Essay Topic Analysis MBA Admissions Deadlines View Full Profile

MBA Applywire

November 26, 2024 6:49pm ET

Applying: UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Sales

Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology Companies: Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , Microsoft , Twitter , Uber

GMAT: 655

GPA: 3.44

Years of Work Experience: 6

Location: Los Angeles

Post MBA Location: Los Angeles

Notes:

Professional Experience:
- Founding sales member in 3 startups at Series A/B stages. Each startup grew to 7-15B valuation during my tenure. All three companies are brand name startups, in the CNBC Disruptor 50.
- Strong track record of working cross-functionally to drive product innovation, consistently over-performed with 7 performance-based awards and 5 promotions.
- Led a team of 10 representatives for about a year, and was able to turn a struggling vertical into one that accounted for 30% of all new business revenue
- Worked directly with CRO/Senior management to overhaul sales methodologies and created account ranking with sales operations leadership.
- Multiple internships in the financial services sector

Education:
- Top 40 Unversity (UC School), graduated with a 3.44 in Economics
- Employed by the school to tutor calculus, statistics, and economics
- Leadership positions in the school's investment fund and marketing association

ECs
- Worked with women and children's shelter non-profit for the last 18 months or so to assist with community outreach and charity events.
- Amateur cycling, surfing, hiking, and volleyball

Post-MBA Goals
- Short term- Gain skills in financial modeling and leadership to work in tech as a Sales Operations Manager. Applying to LA-based programs to open up opportunities for working in tech in LA.
- Long-term- Work in senior management in Sales Strategy and Operations at a larger tech firm.

November 26, 2024 6:16am ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, UCLA Anderson

Pre-MBA Career: Software Engineer

Post-MBA Target Industry: Other

GRE: 331

GPA: 3.2

Years of Work Experience: 4.5

Location: United States

Notes:

I am aiming to pivot from Software Engineering to Product Management. My undergrad degree was in Computer Science from an Ivy League school where I was a D1 varsity athlete. EC's outside of that are pretty slim, although I am involved with charities and volunteer organizations sporadically. Have organized and led a small handful of hobby groups among friends and colleagues as well. Work experience includes solid brand recognition, and my previous 2.5 YoE are in the music/entertainment industry.

November 26, 2024 5:48am ET

Applying: Columbia, NYU Stern

Pre-MBA Career: product Manager in Entertainment

Post-MBA Target Industry: Undecided

GPA: 3.57

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: New York

Notes:

I am a woman of color and a Product Manager at a major streaming service with three years of experience thus far. I hold a degree in Cinematography from a CUNY school and began my career as an NBCUniversal Page. Since then, I’ve worked for prominent media companies like NBCU, Peacock, A+E Networks, and Paramount+. While I didn’t initially plan on pursuing an MBA, my career trajectory has naturally led me in that direction due to my rapid career growth. I’m preparing for the GMAT (focus edition) with a target score of 655 or higher.

As a non-traditional candidate, are there any potential red flags in my profile? Additionally, are there other MBA programs I should consider? Thank you!

November 26, 2024 12:03am ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Government Affairs at technology startup

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , LinkedIn , Microsoft , Tesla , Uber

GMAT: 770

GPA: 3.4

Years of Work Experience: 3

November 25, 2024 11:01am ET

Applying: Arizona State / W.P. Carey, Georgetown / McDonough, Indiana / Kelley, U. Washington / Foster, UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Military: Acquisition Program Manager

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , Bain , Deloitte , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , IBM , Lenova , LinkedIn , Microsoft , Oracle

GRE: 317

GPA: 2.43

Years of Work Experience: 9

Location: Los Angeles

Post MBA Location: West Coast

Notes:

Undergrad was at a Service Academy. Also earned a Masters of Science with a GPA of 4.0, Project Management Professional certification holder, and volunteered for two years at service to schools helping veterans get into an undergraduate program.

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MBA LiveWire

November 26, 2024 10:40pm ET

Rejected at NYU Stern

Round: Round 2

Received via portal on November 13, 2024

GPA: 2.79

GMAT: 694

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: New York

November 26, 2024 10:39pm ET

Interview Invite to Columbia

Round: Round 1

Received via email on October 10, 2024

GPA: 2.79

GMAT: 695

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: New York

November 26, 2024 10:16pm ET

Accepted to Georgia / Terry

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 26, 2024

GPA: 3.9

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Operations Management

Application Location: Mississippi

Note:

Im also a Veteran.

November 26, 2024 9:21pm ET

Interview Invite to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email on November 17, 2024

EA: 155

Program Type: One Year Program

Application Location: NYC

Note:

Retail and Luxury

November 26, 2024 8:05pm ET

Accepted to London Business School

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 26, 2024

GPA: 95.5/100

GMAT: 690

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: Mexico

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