MIT Sloan MBA Essay Analysis 2021

Are you someone who is planning to apply to the top MBA programs in the US this year? Is MIT Sloan School of Management one of your dream B-schools? Given that you are on this page, we feel that we can safely assume that you are interested in applying to the MIT Sloan School of Management. If so, we promise to give you detailed guidance with respect to the B-school application and essays.

Before we dive into the MBA application essays, let us tell you a bit about the B-school and the MBA program.

Here are four points we feel that you should know about the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MBA program:

1. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of MIT is technology (MIT is after all Massachusetts Institute of Technology). You might think that an MBA at MIT is isolated, but it’s not. You need to understand that they have a university system there. Even if you’re pursuing an MBA, you can still take an elective from other departments.

2. Coming to the second point, MIT Sloan offers one of the few programs which has a very condensed core. What do we mean by a “condensed core”? It means that you need to take the core courses only in the first semester. You get to choose any electives for the rest of them. Very few schools have this flexibility and so, it’s a big plus point.

3. Another important point that you need to know is that when it comes to diversity and international flavor, MIT Sloan tops the list of top B-schools. That’s again a huge plus if you’re looking at diversity among MBA programs in US B-schools.

4. Finally, maybe because of the importance they give to technology at the university, MIT also has a strong focus on entrepreneurship. In fact, it is said that if all the companies out of MIT were to form a country, it would have the fifth largest GDP in the world.

Now that you have an idea about the MBA program and the kind of history of entrepreneurship that you can find at MIT, it must be easier for you to decide whether you want to go ahead with your MBA application, right?

Here’s one more thing that we would like to tell you:

If you have been working in the technology space or have a technical background, MIT is the perfect place for you. 🙂

If you would like to know more about MIT Sloan School of Management before you learn about the MBA application requirements and essays, do check out our page for all the necessary details.

More importantly, if you would like to know what our GMAT and MBA expert, Arun Jagannathan, has to say about the MIT MBA application and essays, you can watch his video too! (You can always thank us later ;))

MIT Sloan MBA Application Cover Letter 2020-2021

MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity and respect passion.

Taking the above into consideration, please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence, include one or more examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to the Assistant Deans of Admissions, Rod Garcia, and Dawna Levenson

(300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation).

While there are other documents that you obviously need to submit, your resume, letter of recommendation, organizational charts, etc., drafting a cover letter might be a little tricky for some of you. And that is precisely why we decided you provide guidance on how to go about drafting your MIT MBA application cover letter.

Before we get into anything else mentioned above, let us take a look at this part fo the cover letter requirement:

“Your letter should conform to a standard business correspondence, include one or more examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Senior Director of Admissions”.

First of all, what do you mean by “standard business correspondence,” right? It means that you are writing something that adheres to the standards of business letters.

Well, you need to first address the letter to Rod Garcia and Dawna Levenson, Assistant Deans of Admissions. Remember, you are writing a letter to them.

Now, what is the difference between writing a letter as opposed to writing an essay?

If you are writing a letter, you are writing it to a person. It is very different from writing an essay. You would have probably learned this in school as well, right? 🙂

So make sure that your 300 words exclude the addresses and salutations.

And the actual meat of the letter is you talking about something more than one can get from your resume.

Think about it.

By the time they read your cover letter, they will already have your resume, they will have your application form, your letter of recommendation and to top it, they will also have your GMAT scores and undergraduate transcripts!

They will have every document to understand the kind of work experience you have as well.

This just means one thing:

Do not repeat what they already know.

Pick one or two things about you that they don’t know.

Perhaps you’re an innovative thinker, maybe you are a problem solver. Maybe you believe in problem-solving under frugality (or in India, as they say, “juggaad”).

What is it that you have done? Maybe it is just a story of when you took out of a small motor pump out of an engine to use it for something else. It could be anything.

But, showcase your personal characteristic through examples.

Here’s something you can do:

List down four to five traits that you think defines you well. For example, you can talk about innovation, risk-taking, leadership, or team working.

Whatever you want to talk about, pick them and list them out.

You have 300 words. You can pick two things, and detail them out in 300 words. Make sure you flesh out all the details and tell them why you are unique.

Don’t forget to tell them what it is that you hope to get through the MBA program, and what you are going to learn from the program.

Now that you have told them who you are, talk about why MIT Sloan is the place for you? Relate your characteristics to what MIT has and offers.

What is it at MIT that excites you?

For example, if you spoke about innovation, you can have come to the “Mecca of Innovation”, but you have to be very specific. You cannot afford to be generic here.

Mention the academic and non-academic pursuits that you want to get out of the program. You may not really be able to get it all out because you have the 300-word limit. You may not be able to write about your post-MBA goals and be really specific, but you can always mention “This is who I am, this is what I am going to get from the MIT program.” Then allude to your post-MBA career without getting into the depth of it.

That is how you should utilize and structure your 300-word cover letter

You can be creative in the way you want to express yourself but make sure you pick one or two important aspects.

MIT Sloan MBA Application Video Essay 2020-2021

Applicants are required to upload a 1 minute (60 seconds) video as part of their application. In your video, you should introduce yourself to your future classmates, tell us about your past experiences, and touch on why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your degree.

Videos should adhere to the following guidelines:

1. No more than 1 minute (60 seconds) in length
2. Single take (no editing)
3. You should be speaking directly to the camera
4. Do not include background music or subtitles

We recommend using applications such as QuickTime or iMovie to record yourself. Upload the video file according to the detailed instructions within the application.

We support the following file formats: .avi, .flv, .m1v, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .webm, .wmv. Apple ProRes is not currently supported. If uploading a .mov, please use an alternate codec.

Should you experience difficulties uploading your file, please ensure that you’re using a modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, or Safari) on the fastest wired internet connection available. An intermittent or slow internet connection can cause uploads to timeout.

Your video introduction is going to be very different from your cover letter.

This is where you are going to introduce yourself to your future classmates. And when you do, you are not going to introduce yourself by saying “I am an innovator. I am a problem solver.”

Instead, you need to talk about something about yourself, perhaps something more personal.

Maybe you can talk about what you expect from the MBA program. Remember that you have only 60 seconds, and once you start recording, you will realize that 60 seconds is a really short time.

In fact, if you have a very long South Indian name, maybe your 60 seconds will get consumed over there ;).

You have to be very prudent in what you say. But, be casual.

Initially, when you start recording, you might find yourself to be very camera conscious. It is really common. Don’t worry about it.

Sometimes, you know capturing that moment is for posterity, and you feel a bit stressed, but here is the thing, if you keep doing this multiple times, you will get the hang of it.

So, what is it that you should speak?

Here are a few pointers that you can consider:

1. Speak about yourself. Be casual.

2. Talk about your interests.

3. Talk about what you love to do.

4. Maybe even include a quirk!

You can check out the example below:

“I love gaming and I challenge all you counter-strike aficionados to come to challenge me for a game.”

This is something interesting. So, try to talk about something that makes yourself sound interesting.

Your future classmates should be able to look at the video and say, “This is the guy/girl I would like to meet.” That’s really the intent of the video essay.

Now that you have an idea about what you need to say, let us look at technicalities.

You just need a simple camera phone and it’s all sorted. 🙂

Today’s phones come with very good picture quality and video quality. You just need to make sure that you keep the camera in front of you. Keep it very simple, nothing fancy.

Make sure that the lighting is bright. This is a common mistake that people make. They keep the light source behind them.

Don’t keep the light source behind you (Unless you want to look like Gautam Buddha ;)). The light source should be in front of you so that your face looks clean.

Also, make sure that your surrounding is clutter-free.

Ensure that your voice is being captured very clearly; again, your phone microphone will do its work. So, don’t really sweat too much on that.

This is all that you really need to know to shoot your MIT MBA application video prompt.

Before you get ready and start shooting your video component, do look at the MBA application deadlines that you need to keep in mind. You don’t want to miss your preferred application round!

MIT Sloan MBA Application Deadlines 2020-2021

Application deadlines for the MIT Sloan class of 2021-22 are:

Want to know more about the MBA Application Deadlines for Top B-Schools? Here’s the entire list of top B-Schools along with their deadlines – MBA Application Deadlines 2020-2021

We have worked with so many students who wanted to apply to MIT Sloan School of Management and they all have got their MBA admits as well. So, if you feel that you need help with your MBA applications, even if it is to just brainstorm your ideas and structure your thoughts, feel free to reach out to us.

We will be happy to help you get into your preferred B-school. 🙂

Want to know more about the business school? Get all the information about the MIT Sloan School of Management!

If you require our help in drafting and reviewing your essays, you can always reach out to us. Click on the image below and get in touch with our expert.