MIT Sloan Essay Questions & Tips

If you’re applying to MIT Sloan’s MBA program, you’ve likely given thought to what you want to express in the required 300-word Cover Letter (or, ideally, have already started working on it). Perhaps the trickiest thing about the unique MIT Sloan essay is the word limit, which is incredibly short and forces you to have a laser focus on the elements of your personality / experience that demonstrate your fit with Sloan’s culture. Keep reading for tips to maximize those 300 words as well as advice on what to share in the required video statement.

MIT Sloan Essay Questions

“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 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).”

In addition to the cover letter, Sloan asks you to submit a 60-second video statement, as described in the following prompt:

“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!”

MIT Sloan Essay Tips

Let the Prompt Be Your Guide

Pay close attention to the language of the MIT Sloan essay prompt because it helpfully describes the qualities Sloan seeks in a successful applicant. Many of these are similar to those sought by all of the top MBA programs – intellectual strength, track record of accomplishments, and ability to bring dimension to the cohort. However, the critical things to note here are those that make Sloan different – its orientation towards an independent mindset and creative problem-solving. They don’t just want someone who ‘got the job done’, they want the person who redefined the problem and came up with a solution no one had thought of before.

With only 300 words at your disposal, you simply don’t have space to separately demonstrate you possess each of the more basic traits. For these, utilize the other components of the application – your GMAT/GPA can help prove your intellect, your resume showcases your history of accomplishments, and your video essay should highlight what makes you unique. In the cover letter, make a solid case – supported by one or maybe two stories – that you are an innovative thinker who isn’t afraid of rocking the boat to enable progress.

Anchor on One Story that Highlights a Capstone Accomplishment and Demonstrates Fit with Sloan

The ideal story to use is career-focused (given the tone of the prompt), fairly recent, and has a connecting thread with how you will contribute at Sloan if admitted. Make a list of your ‘capstone’ accomplishments and select the one (or maybe two if they are short) that highlights how you led in a way that transformed others’ thinking, creatively solved a problem that had stumped others before, or identified an opportunity that no one had thought of (or had the courage to raise) before. These are the types of stories that will resonate with the Sloan adcom.

In addition to telling this story, your cover letter should read similarly to one you would use to apply to a job (that you REALLY want). The adcom has provided the ‘job description’ (i.e., what they look for in candidates), you need to convincingly pitch that YOU are the best candidate to fulfill these criteria. Tell your story but also tell the adcom why they should care. In other words, draw the connection as to why the story you’ve told about yourself (and the qualities it proves you possess) will make you a perfect fit for Sloan. Additionally, explain how you will put these qualities to use while at Sloan to benefit the experience of your peers in class, clubs, recruiting, etc.

Past Accomplishments, Not Future Goals, Should Be the Focus

We find that applicants always want to build in a discussion of their career goals and why MBA / why Sloan into their cover letter. We get why this is tempting! That said, 300 words is incredibly limiting, and the Sloan cover letter should be more about sharing what you will ‘give’ to Sloan than about what you will take away from it. You can certainly orient the ways you will contribute at Sloan towards things (i.e., clubs, classes) that are relevant to your future career goals. But, in our experience, it is hard to fully develop both what you will ‘give’ and what you will ‘take’ in 300 words.

MIT Sloan Video Statement Tips

Since your cover letter will likely be professionally focused, the video statement is a great place to share who you are outside of work and the unique attributes you would bring to the class. Specific content will vary from person to person of course, but remember that Sloan values independent thought, fearless creativity, and passion. What about you hits on these notes?

Perhaps the most important thing to do to ensure you submit a strong video statement is practice. You only have one take to get it right, so you need to make sure you know what you are going to say and that it fits concisely into one minute. This is hard to know unless you practice multiple times, OUT LOUD. Please trust us on this one – you will kick yourself if you work hard to perfect your cover letter only to walk away unsatisfied with what you submit for this portion of the application due to lack of practice.

If you’d like assistance with your Sloan essays or your broader MBA application strategy, click here to schedule an initial consultation!