MIT Sloan Application for the Class 2028

 In this post, I analyze the MIT Sloan MBA application for Class of 2028.  I will discuss the Cover Letter, Video Questions 1 & 2, "The World that Shaped You" essay, Organization Chart, and Resume in this post.

My clients have been admitted to the MIT Sloan MBA almost every year since 2002. Since I started my own counseling service in 2007, I have had 52 clients admitted to MIT Sloan: 48 for MBA, 2 for EMBA, and 2 Sloan Masters. My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. The advice in this post reflects that experience.

 

MIT's motto, "Mens et Manus" (Mind and Hand) fosters an attitude of excellence that transforms a career path into a lifetime of exploration, innovation, and leadership.

 

MIT is well known for transforming theory into practice and this is certainly true of its business school. Amongst all the M7, MIT Sloan has long been the leader in experiential learning and the use of multiple classroom methods.  It has long been the anti-HBS (flexible, collaborative and not high pressure, practical not case-based). If anything, HBS is now trying to be more like MIT Sloan. The first year Field course at HBS is a total copy of the sort of experiential learning that MIT Sloan has been doing  for decades.

 

APPLYING TO MIT:  Application Timing & Difficulty of Admission

For anyone who has done some of the other M7 apps, MIT is usually easy to do because it mostly involves repurposing and reorganizing existing content. I think it is amongst the worst schools to do first because it is much better to have a portfolio of content to select from in order to put it together. By having stories about yourself from other essay sets, it will be relatively easy to apply them, albeit in briefer form and/or different interpretation. MIT Sloan has a very short initial essay set: a 300-word cover letter, a 250 word personal essay, and a one-minute video (that would be a script of around 100-120 words) self introduction to your future classmates. Applicants also have to answer one random video question and submit an  organization chart.  If you are offered an interview, you will need to write two additional 250-word essays, which would be the best problem to have. 

 

Given the late deadlines (R1: 9/29/25, R2: 1/13/26, and R3: 4/6/26) most applicants will have worked on other schools already. As with other top schools, R3 is never ideal unless one a college student applying for deferred admission. In general,  applying in R1 is better because MIT Sloan has a small size (Class of 2026 including LGO admits was 433) and low acceptance rate of 14%. For anyone applying to other schools in R1 whose test scores are in order, I would, in general, suggest applying in R1. Due to its ranking, reputation, and class size, MIT has always been the third hardest programs to gain admission to after GSB (7%) and HBS (12%)  respectively.  While many consider (not necessarily my opinion) Wharton as the 3rd best MBA program, it is always been much easier to get into than MIT. The acceptance rate at Wharton is 22%. Generally when a school has an acceptance rate of 20% or more, you can assume there is no major difference between R1 and R2.

 

THE APPLICATION: 

 

THE COVER LETTER: This is an argument based on specific high examples about why you fit Sloan's criteria, not why you want to go to Sloan.

Applicants often seem to miss this point because they are used to standard MBA goals essays where why the school fits the applicant's goals.  The prompt is long and both paragraphs are important:

 

"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 a standard business correspondence, include one or more professional examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to the Admissions Committee (300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation)."

 

MIT has been using this cover letter concept for a very long time now. The first time I visited with MIT admissions in 2007, I asked about the cover letter. At the time I was told it was because MIT Sloan thought everyone should know how to write a formal cover letter as a standard piece of business correspondence. As the question has evolved it has become focused on showing why you meet the criteria that MIT Sloan is looking for.

 

Keep in mind that great cover letters result in getting an organizational entry (job/internship/fellowship/admission)  interviews. The purpose of a cover letter is to accompany a resume and get you an interview!    How will your cover letter standout?

-If you don't know how to do a US-style cover letter, you need to learn. For more about a standard job cover letters see here or just do an internet search.  The point here is to show why you are qualified to enter the MIT Sloan Class of 2028 by making an argument based on showing your fit to their admissions criteria.

Cover letter structure:  Beyond a brief 1st paragraph asking for admission and conclusion asking for an interview as per cover letter format, Make 2-3 such paragraphs showing your fit for MIT.

Paragraph structure for examples/criteria paragraphs: Relate one specific aspect of Sloan culture or values to something you have done to show your fit.  In the process of doing this include important details about your experience.

 

Understand MIT Sloan's fit criteria:

"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."

Adam: This is an overall statement indicating that MIT Sloan is looking for those who would make most of the opportunities in the MBA program. Given that MIT does look at past performance as a primary indicator for future performance, what you write about in the Cover Letter as well as what you communicate elsewhere in the application will be scrutinized from the perspective of how well you have utilized the opportunities in your academic, personal, and professional life.

"We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students."

Adam: Video Question 1 meant for your future classmates (see below) is a primary way to directly convey this point. It might also come out in the cover letter, resume, or "The World that Shaped" 250 word essay.  In terms of the cover letter, if you are writing about a situation where you enhance the experience of others, you could connect to this particular criteria in the cover letter.

"We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world."

Adam: MIT wants high EQ and IQ leaders who want to make impact.  I think it is very hard to write an effective cover letter to MIT if your examples don't highlight impact. The cover letter is a place to make the best possible argument based 1 or more examples that show you are impactful based on what you communicate, act, and/or think.

 

"We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers."

Adam: MIT is looking for exceptional people who go beyond what is defined, do something new, take risks, remain true to themselves ("authentic"), and take action.  As you can see so far, it is absolutely impossible to touch on all of MIT Sloan's criteria in this 300 word cover letter. The point is to focus on specific parts of the criteria where you really stand out.  One of the reasons that I consider MIT one of the worst schools to work on first is that you want to go into it with a portfolio of possible topics and the best way to do that is to have written essays for other schools first. Also given the short length of the cover letter, coming in with short well-edited stories from other schools' will make this easier.  If you are doing MIT Sloan first, you need to conduct an inventory of possible topics.

 

"We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas."

Adam:  They are looking for innovators and original thinkers. If you have an awesome example or examples that show you are such a person, great! If not, focus on other criteria. The point is to focus on the criteria where you really are strong so that you make the best possible argument for MIT Sloan.

 

"We demand integrity..."

Adam:  MIT Sloan wants highly ethical/honest people.  If you have a high impact story that highlights your integrity, it could be a good topic here. Otherwise integrity is something you might ask your recommender to mention.  At minimum, you want to make sure that there is nothing in your application that would make MIT Sloan question your integrity, such as writing a recommendation for yourself or having descriptions of what you professionally that don't align with the Organization Chart that MIT Sloan asks you to complete.

 

" and respect passion."

Adam:  I think it is interesting that MIT Sloan does not demand passion but respects it.  Passion is therefore something they appreciate, but unlike integrity, not a prerequisite. That said, I hope you, at minimum, use Video Question 1 as a way to show your passion and engagement with others.  Passion can be used in the cover letter effectively if you are passionate about the impactful actvity/activities that you are writing about in this cover letter.

 

Overall: If you can  provide a strong case based 2-4 key selling points based on the above criteria for why you belong at MIT Sloan, you will have done a good job. Assume one paragraph equals one way you fit at Sloan and highlights one or more selling points.  Assume in 300 words including a brief formal intro and brief formal conclusion you have about 200-250 words for these paragraphs. Most admits I have worked with highlight two stories.

 

You will notice that I have specifically not included post-MBA career goals in the above questions.  That is because your cover letter should not focus on such goals. MIT makes it clear in all their events that they don’t want that here. If you are sponsored by your company or come from a family business fine to mention that but DON'T WRITE WHY MIT SLOAN FITS ME ESSAY or discuss post-MBA goals.  The only time you should be prepared to answer any questions about why MIT relates to your goals and/or just your goals  is in an interview.

 

VIDEO QUESTION 1

"Introduce yourself to your future classmates. Here’s your chance to put a face with a name, let your personality shine through, be conversational, be yourself. We can’t wait to meet you!

Videos should adhere to the following guidelines:

• No more than 1 minute (60 seconds) in length
• Single take (no editing)
• Speaking directly to the camera
• Do not include background music or subtitles

Note: While we ask you to introduce yourself to your future classmates in this video, the video will not be shared beyond the admissions committee and is for use in the application process only."

This video has a few different purposes:

1. It is a great way to get an overall first impression of an applicant.
2. The question itself is a very good way to see who is actually paying attention to who the intended hypothetical audience is. This is useful for getting rid of social idiots who cannot construct even a one-minute appealing statement to their future classmates.   What do future classmates want to know about you?  If these people will be your friends and teammates what are the first things they need to know about you?  If you think that would be your post-MBA career goals or a career summary (Covered by the resume by the way) or something purely professional, think again.
3. Since MIT Sloan does not require TOEFL, it is an easy way to get an impression of English ability from non-native speakers even prior to an interview.
4. It is a great way to gauge the communication and presentation skills of any applicant.

 

What all successful versions of this video do:

1. Help the hypothetical fellow student viewers understand why they would like the applicant as a person and as a classmate.  While the actual audience is adcom, you should assume they are watching this from the perspective of how a peer might think about you.
2. Highlight a few key characteristics about the applicant not covered elsewhere in the application.
3. Showcase what makes someone special.
4.  Provide a great first impression. This is speed dating.  FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE!!!!

 

How to make the video:

1. Write a script. It will mostly likely be too long. (Once you add in breathing, facial expressions, in acting you might do, and speaking a speed to heard effectively, your script should be 90-120 words long most likely).
2. Have your script reviewed by whoever you are sharing it with.
3. Make an initial video. If your script is too long at this point, edit it down again.
4. Have your video reviewed, taking feedback into consideration, alter the script as needed.
5. Record until you have an acceptable take.  Doing this last minute is not great. Doing this when you are tired and look exhausted is to be avoided.  Record under optimal conditions for purpose of making a strong positive impression. Practicing and taking multiple takes is likely the best way to get a good one minute.
6. As the instructions say, don’t edit it. They don’t want a well-produced TV commercial.

 

Other considerations:

1. Regardless of where you film this video, you should focus on how well the viewer can hear your voice  and see your face. Recording outside is fine as long as you have a mike good enough for a high quality audio recording.
2. Don't focus on props or location first, focus on content.  If you have props and/or location that complements your content, that is fine.
3. Humor or irony can be used effectively but you need to make sure that will work for your audience. If you are using humor, it is especially important that you test it out with people (admissions consultants, friends, alumni) who can fully consider what you are saying from the perspective of an American admissions officer.

 

VIDEO QUESTION 2

"All MBA applicants will be prompted to respond to a randomly generated, open-ended question. The question is designed to help us get to know you better; to see how you express yourself and to assess fit with the MIT Sloan culture. It does not require prior preparation. 

Video Question 2 is part of your required application materials and will appear as a page within the application, once the other parts of your application are completed. Applicants are given 10 seconds to prepare for a 60-second response.

The following are examples of questions that may be asked in the Video Question 2:

• What achievement are you most proud of and why?
• Tell us about a time a classmate or colleague wasn’t contributing to a group project. What did you do?"

This video question was added for the Class of 2027, so we have one year of reports for it. Many schools now use video essay questions like this to gauge an applicant's actual communication skills under pressure. This also is way to compare what is in the rest of the application to the way you are more naturally. It is also a way to gauge your fit for MIT Sloan.

 

Keep in mind that for the Class of 2027 I received reports from 9 clients and all had different questions. The actual range of questions is huge:

 

R2:

Talk about a conflict that you had at work and what did you do?

Tell us about a time when you had to manage multiple projects with similar deadlines. What was your approach and how did you deal with it?

What is your greatest fear?

Please tell us a time you were creative.

How do you deal with stress in your personal life?

 

 

R1:

Describe a situation where you motivated and inspired a team or individual. How did you do this?

What quality do you most like to see as a team member?

Tell us about a time you were part of a difficult decision that impacted other people. What would you have done differently?

What drives you to succeed?

 

My suggestion is to go over these questions but given the possible range, just understand that you will have to likely handle a question you have not seen before.  The system MIT is using seems to contain a vast number of possible questions.

 

General Advice:

1. When answering an unfamiliar question, focus on the following in the ten seconds given prior to recording: Understand the question and quickly formulate a topic.
2. In your 60-second response focus first on providing a direct answer to the question and then elaborate.  This is not a time for an initial high context response but for a rational clear short and direct answer. Use remaining time for elaborating on your answer.
3. Given that you will have very little time, focus just on the question and don't think about overall strategy or being particularly clever if that will undermine your ability to give an effective response.  Being mindful albeit at high speed is likely to result in a better answer.
4. While you can understand the range of possible questions to some extent, it is not inherently going to help that much.
5. Writing scripts based on what has been asked before is probably a total waste of time, better to use such questions or ones like it as a drill. See how quickly you can effectively answer these questions or ones like it.

 

 

The World That Shaped You

"The Admissions Committee is excited to learn more about you and your background. In 250 words, please respond to the following short-answer question:

How has the world you come from shaped who you are today? For example, your family, culture, and community all help to shape aspects of your life experiences and perspective. Please use this opportunity to share more about your background."

For those who have written essays and/or short answers for other schools about their background, values, education,  life story, or other personal aspects, this will be easy.  Essentially you are trying to highlight to MIT a few (say 2-4) key aspects about who you are that cannot be understood  (or fully understood) from the resume, cover letter, or video.

Some possible topics:

1. Academic/intellectual/cultural/political  interests that have shaped you.
2.  The personal significance of where you grew up. The impact of that place(s) on you.
3.  Context related to one or more of your essays.
4. Major positive or negative impacts of your family on you.
5.  Economic considerations that impacted your family life.
6. The ethnic, religious, or other identity of your family and its impact on you.
7. The culture or values of your family and its impact on you.
8.  Key personal challenges you have had to handle.

 

THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART: ONLY MIT ASKS THIS. 

"To help us better understand your current role and the impact that you have on your team and department, please submit an organizational chart. We should be able to clearly understand the internal structure of your organization, where you sit in your organization, and your line of reporting.

Organizational charts should not be more than two pages and keep the following in mind:

• Give us as much detail as possible (names, titles, etc.) but it’s ok to redact names if you need to.
• Please circle your role in red so that your position is easily identifiable.
• Make sure we can easily identify where you are, to whom you report, and if applicable, who reports to you.
• If your recommender or references are on your organizational chart (they may not be, and that’s ok!), please highlight them for us.
• If you are a consultant, entrepreneur, or affiliated with the military review our FAQs for suggestions on how to approach the organizational chart.

Click here to view a sample organizational chart."

The organization chart is a unique part of the MIT Sloan application. The organization chart itself should not take an immense time to prepare and is not something I intend to discuss in any detail given that MIT provides sufficient advice on how to put it together. Instead, lets focus on why they ask this. As is clear from the first two sentences of their instructions, they want to accurately understand your role in the organization you are a part of.  As I mentioned above when discussing MIT Sloan admissions criteria, they demand integrity. Hence resume bullet points or essay content that seems overstated and/or dishonest based on your organizational role is a major potential problem. I have no doubt that overstated accomplishments clearly evident from an org chart have resulted in many rejections over the years. Hence my advice is that the rest of the application's professional content should be consistent with the org chart.

 

THE RESUME: MIT IS VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT THE WANT

"Please submit a one-page resume. This will help us easily track your academic and career path. Try to focus on your work results, not just your title or job description.

Here are some pointers on formatting: 

• One page limit
• Times New Roman font
• Size 10 font
• Word or PDF formats only

Provide the following information in reverse chronological order:

• Education: Please include relevant awards, scholarships and professional societies
• Work Experience: Please include company name, title, results-oriented bullets that demonstrate your skill set, and dates
• Additional information: Please include extracurricular activities/community service, technical skills/certifications, and special skills/interests, and languages spoken (if applicable)"

Fortunately for my clients, this is the way I recommend they make resumes. MIT wants a very standardized 3-section resume with very specific formatting information.  I highly recommend following their format as this is a test of your ability to follow instructions.

Finally given what I have mentioned about the Org. Chart, it is particularly important that the descriptions of your professional accomplishments are not overstated but are rather consistent with your Org Chart.

 

Best of luck with your MIT Sloan Application for the Class of 2028!