MIT Sloan School of Management MBA Admissions Interview

The MIT Sloan School of Management is an integral part of MIT’s rich intellectual tradition of
education and research and the business school ranks amongst the world’s leading MBA
programs.

The School traces its beginnings back to 1914 when it was the engineering administration
curriculum in the MIT Department of Economics and Statistics. In 1925, a master’s degree in
management was established and, in 1931, the world’s first university-based executive
education program -- the MIT Sloan Fellows -- was created. The MIT School of Industrial
Management was formally established in 1952. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a 1972
Sloan alumnus, delivered the opening address at the School's recent 50th anniversary
celebration.

Some of MIT Sloan School's most unique aspects include:

• The MIT Sloan Leadership Model

• The MIT $50K Competition
• Global E-Lab
• Biomedical Enterprise Program
• Center for eBusiness at MIT
• MIT Sloan China Project

Below is the three-page transcript of our interview with Rod Garcia, Director of MBA
Admissions, on May 10, 2004.

What new changes are occurring on campus and how is Sloan evolving?

Our new curriculum has brought more flexibility to the student’s experience, with 75% of the
courses electives and few required courses to complete beyond the one semester core.

Each semester now has a 6-1-6 schedule with the middle period being Sloan Innovation Period
where students get to attend faculty seminars on their cutting edge research; stuff that won’t be
in the textbooks for years. And our experiential courses like Global Entrepreneurship Lab --
where students travel to over 30 companies in 15 countries -- are enormously popular.

I think you’ll see even more integration between theory and practice. It is an area where we are
uniquely positioned to add value.

Last year, applications for your full-time program declined by what percentage?

Declines of 15-20% were common across all our peer schools.

Are you seeing any early indications of how this year’s application volume may compare
to the 2002-2003 season?

I don't have the final statistics yet but applications are down this year. There are several
explanations for this. First is the prolonged weak economy. In a weak economy, people quit
their jobs and go to graduate school and in a prolonged weak economy, there are fewer people
left in the pipeline. Demographics also have something to do with the pipelines. Remember
declines in college applications some 8-10 years ago? This age group is now applying to
business schools. And finally more and more candidates are applying to fewer schools and
fewer applicants are applying to multiple schools.

How about the demographic makeup of the applicant pool?

In our particular case, we've seen increases in applications from certain parts of the world (Asia)
but we've also seen decreases in other parts (Latin America).

What general advice would you like applicants considering Sloan to know?

Be yourself. Spend more time than you think you need thinking of what you’ve done, how
you’ve done it, worked with people, came up with ideas, etc. We want to know about your
process as much or more than the results you’ve had.

You’ll see our questions are designed to elicit the details of your experience. Don’t give us big
picture statements -- give us the closeup of who you are.

When do you encourage applicants to apply?

When they are ready. We have admits with 0 years of full-time experience and admits with 20.

Are there any specific characteristics that you target in the applications to help you
identify the ‘best fit’ candidates?

Yes, we have 11 characteristics that help us focus in on the core qualities of success. I won’t
name them here but they are what might be expected in a top-tier MBA candidate. The
difference in our process is that our admissions staff works very closely together to determine
benchmarks of success and potential. We feel we have great repeatability across readers and
interviewers.

What should applicants most heavily emphasize in their work experience?

Progression is often overlooked -- not titles but levels of responsibility, significance of projects
etc. Also, outside of work activities often have major potential to make a positive impact on us

How important is an applicant’s GMAT score and what advice do you have for applicants
who struggled with this exam?

The GMAT score is one indicator and a useful one because every candidate takes it. But its
only purpose is to evaluate how candidates might do in certain traditional courses. It doesn’t tell
you how the applicant will work on a team, what level of emotional intelligence or drive they
bring to the programs, what kind of ideas they can generate.

We are fortunate to have an applicant pool where almost everyone is extremely qualified, so it
always pays to make every indicator as strong as you can, but the GMAT doesn’t weigh nearly
as much as most applicants think.

What is Sloan’s policy regarding applicants who take the GMAT multiple times?

We will take the highest score.

What was the GMAT score range for admitted applicants this past year?

Eighty percent of our scores fall between 620 and 730 and our average GMAT score is 710.

Your fifth essay question requests information about an example of a situation when an
applicant’s thinking was different from his or her colleagues or superiors. What types of
examples does the admissions committee really like to see?

All kinds! We left it general on purpose -- it's not the difference that matters as much as your
reaction to it … what did you think, feel and do then?
How important is the interview in the admissions process and what specific applicant
traits are you using the interview to gauge? What types of questions should applicants
expect to be asked?

The interview is very important -- and we interview everyone we admit -- and all are conducted
by the admissions committee. We use it to flesh out the application and probe deeper into the
behavior and motivations of the applicant. All interviewers will inquire about your past
experiences, and will probe for the details of your process. You might be asked one question
with a lot of follow-ups or several questions.

All interviews are done by admissions officers -- i.e., full voting members of the admissions
committee -- although some of those committee members are alumni. We all train together and
have a similar voice in the discussions.

Are these interviews conducted blind or is the applicant’s file reviewed beforehand?

We read the file beforehand and also the readers’ comments on that file; that way we can use
our limited time to zero in on what we really need to learn.

Let's talk about waitlists. How many applicants do you anticipate will end up on the
waitlist for at least some part of the year?

Roughly 190 candidates were put on the waiting list this year. That number represents roughly
7% of our applicant pool.

How many of them will be eventually accepted off of the waitlist and what advice would
you like to share with any waitlisted applicant who happens to read this interview
transcript?

Depending on how many admitted applicants will accept our offer of admission this year, we
may end up admitting less than 20% of our waitlist candidates.

How are re-applicants viewed by Sloan and what do they need to do to be successful the
second time around?

There is no disadvantage to reapplying. Many applicants improve their application significantly

through new experiences or greater effort put into explaining the same experiences

Does your staff re-examine their previous application(s)?

Yes, we have access to them but they are not the primary focus of the evaluation.

Describe how the financial aid process works and what admitted students can expect in
terms of scholarships, assistantships, and loan guarantees.

Our CitiAssist loan is guaranteed by the School -- for international students as well -- so
everyone who gets in qualifies for that aid and can attend. We also offer some merit-based
scholarships. We also have an unusually high amount of assistantships available that range
from $5,000 to $18,000. About 50 slots exist per semester. They are competitive, but a great
source of financial help if you get one.

How helpful do applicants generally find a campus visit?

VERY. I think most people know the value of the curriculum but they are very surprised by the
close-knit and down-to-earth student body. We really are a special place and almost everyone
comes away impressed.
How does their visiting campus influence your view of their candidacy?

We often see their applications improve because they know more about us and are excited, but
there are no special “bonus points” given for visiting.

Do you have any special instructions or advice for applicants who wish to visit the Sloan
campus?

Sign up on the web for our Ambassadors Program -- we will introduce you to student hosts, take
you to class, lunch and give you a “day in the life” view of the School. Our goal is to give you a
glimpse of the community at work and play, not put on a show. Also, the students don’t report
to the admissions office and we wouldn’t want them to: so you get a very candid sense of the
School this way.

What specifically should IT applicants do to differentiate themselves in their

applications?

One common failing is spending a lot of time convincing us you are an excellent IT person. We
want to know about your management skills and achievements.

Can you briefly describe the housing situation for your students?

We have a brand new graduate dorm on campus, as well as married student housing with day
care on site that overlooks the river, and some of the nicest neighborhoods in Boston are 5-10
minutes away by Train: Beacon Hill, Harvard and Central Squares, Back Bay, etc.

What distinguishes MIT Sloan and its students?

Everybody is smart, but everybody is down to earth and interested in more than their own
careers. They are interested in the world around them and in their peers, and they have a global
vision of industry.