#25 “It’s Such an Entrepreneurial Place” – MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Q&A with Mr. Jeffrey Carbone
“The MBA degree is extremely flexible. MBA students have a 1 semester core, with 3 semesters of choice. You can design your own curriculum.”
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If you were studying business at one of the world’s greatest research institutions, and had to pick 75% of your classes and activities, what would you do?
Mr. Jeffrey Carbone, Associate Director of Admissions at MIT Sloan School of Management, started our conversation with “we’re not just an MBA program…” and after you listen to this episode, you’ll understand why.
The MBA program is wholly integrated with Sloan’s 5 other degree programs and the wider university as a whole. Students can take 3 classes outside MIT Sloan (and even at Harvard), and regularly team up with MIT students from outside Sloan in cross-disciplinary courses and activities.
True to its roots, MIT Sloan focuses on action learning and entrepreneurship through 14 Action Labs around the world, a $100K Business Plan Competition, and an Entrepreneurship & Innovation track, through which students can choose from over 30 entrepreneurship courses.
After speaking with Jeff, I got the feeling that the school is bursting with innovation and learning opportunities. The MIT Sloan MBA gives you the opportunities and flexibility to “shape your future,” as one student put it.
Jeff is most amazed by how down-to-earth, humble, and collaborative the MIT Sloan community is, and he shares great insight into the admissions process. Hint: the program takes a data-driven approach to admissions, so be sure to focus on your successes and attributes from the past 3 years.
The MIT Sloan MBA in 3 words: innovative, rigorous, collaborative.
Listen on for admission tips and more…
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Touch MBA’s MIT Sloan MBA Essentials
Program Highlights (3:12)
- MIT Sloan began in 1914; the program offered its first masters degree in management in 1925.
- 1 intake/year in Aug
- Length: 22 months
- Campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the academic hubs of the world
- 400 participants/intake
- Class is ~45% international with ~60 nationalities / class
- 110 faculty
- 1 semester core classes, 3 semesters of electives
- Can take 3 courses at Harvard or MIT’s other schools
- Students can exchange at LBS or IESE
- 13 “action learning labs” (China, India, Leadership, Sustainable Business, Entrepreneurship, etc)
- 3 tracks: finance, entrepreneurship & innovation, enterprise management
- 2 certificates: healthcare, sustainability
- Host MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition
- Rankings: #9 Financial Times 2013, #4 US News 2014, #9 Bloomberg Businessweek 2012, #7 Economist 2012
- #1 Diversity of Recruiters by Economist 2012
- Accredited by AACSB
- Dual Degree with Harvard Kennedy School and Joint Degrees with Leaders for Global Operations and Systems Design and Management
- Strengths in entrepreneurship, industrial/manufacturing/logistics, organizational behavior
Admissions (18:59)
- Deadlines (for Aug 2014 intake)
- Round 1: Sep 24 (Mar 3)
- Round 2: Jan 7 (May 1)
- 4,133 applications received, 645 accepted, 413 enrolled (16% acceptance rate, 64% yield)
- Avg GMAT: 711 (80% range 660 – 760), Avg GPA: 3.57
- Avg age: 28 (23 – 35), Avg work experience: 5 years (80% range 3 – 7), no min work experience
- TOEFL and IELTS not required
- Interviews done by admissions office
- Looking for candidates who show: leadership and an ability to inspire others, a collaborative spirit and focus on community, intellectual curiosity and analytical strength, creativity to generate new solutions to existing challenges, growth in both professional and personal endeavors
- MIT takes a “data-driven” approach to admissions and focuses on an applicant’s successes and attributes in the past 3 years
- Ask recommenders if they have time to write you a good recommendation
Financing (30:26)
- Tuition
- Full-time MBA Tuition: $116,400 total
- Recommended budget: $178,000 total
- Scholarships
- ~4 million USD of scholarships available
- 20-25% of participants awarded scholarships, average scholarship amount ~$23,000
- Scholarships are merit-based and awarded along with offer
- Students can also apply to be teaching or research assistants and get discounted tuition
- Loans
- International students can apply for MIT graduate loans directly from MIT
Career (33:27)
- MIT Sloan MBA – Full-time placement report (Class of 2012)
- 96% of graduates had jobs within 3 months of graduation
- Average Salary (avg bonus): $118,500 ($25,000)
- 117% increase in salary (3 years after graduation)
- Top 5 regions graduates worked in: Northeast US (43%), West US (23%), Asia (9%), Midwest US (5%), Mid Atlantic US (5%)
- Top 5 recruiters: McKinsey (30), Amazon (20), BCG (16), Bain (12), Google (8)
- Top Functions: Consulting/Strategy, Finance, Operations, Technology
- ~22,000 MIT Sloan alumni worldwide in over 90 countries, 125,000 MIT alumni
- Student visa can be extended to allow graduates to stay in the US for 12 months after graduation
Get in Touch
- Meet MIT Sloan On The Road in a city near you
- Contact students through student clubs that match your interests
Show Notes
- MIT Sloan Admissions Tips Videos
- MIT Media Lab
- Profiles: Financial Times, Economist, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, US News, Poets & Quants
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