How to Apply to the MBA Program

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).

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)

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 second) 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.

A detailed recommendation can tell us a lot about you. Make sure you select an individual qualified to speak about your results as a professional and your potential as a leader.

Some important details:

• MBA applicants must submit one letter of recommendation.
• A recommendation from a professional contact is preferred, ideally a manager or supervisor.
• We do not accept recommendations from family members.
• Your letter of recommendation must be received by the deadline date for the round you are applying (see above for our deadlines.) It is your responsibility to remind your recommender to make sure it is submitted on time.

MIT Sloan utilizes the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation form. More information about the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation can be found here. Please navigate to the Recommendation Letter section of the application and add your recommender’s contact information; they will be sent instructions on how to submit their letter.

We want to make sure we give you the best chance to show us your strengths, so please provide us with contact information for two additional professional references. If we still have questions after reading your application, we might reach out to one or both of these references. Similar to your recommender, these additional references should be able to speak to your professional and/or academic background. These two individuals should be different from your recommender.

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 details 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.

Please scan and upload your transcript(s) from all colleges and universities you attended or are currently attending. If you are currently earning a degree, please upload your most up-to-date transcript. We review transcripts carefully, please double check that what you have uploaded is legible; if you can’t read it, neither can we!

Some important details:

• All applicants to the program must hold a four-year undergraduate degree or three-year equivalent undergraduate degree from outside of the U.S, by time of matriculation.
• Do not mail any hard copies of official academic records or transcripts.  
• If you received an undergraduate degree as part of a Master's program, please include an undergraduate entry in addition to your Master's degree.
• If your transcripts are not in English, please scan and upload both the original and the certified translation.
• We cannot accept “digitally signed” or encrypted transcripts. If you’re having difficulty uploading your document, this may be the reason. Print out your transcript, scan it, and upload the PDF.

Once admitted to the program you will be required to provide an official signed and sealed transcript from all schools attended. Any discrepancies between the scanned transcripts and official transcripts may result in a candidate’s rejection or a withdrawal of our offer of admission.

Standardized tests, such as GMAT and GRE are a component of the application process and play an important role in our holistic evaluation process. The admissions committee will continue to accept the remote/at-home version of these exams. Because of the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MBA program will allow candidates for the 2022-23 admission cycle to submit a request for a test waiver, should their current situation prevent them from safely being able to access an exam. On the waiver request, you will be required to answer “Are you able to safely access a GMAT or GRE either in person or virtually?” If the waiver is approved, and the candidate is admitted, no test will be required. To request a test waiver, please start your application and navigate to the Test Scores section and fill out the test waiver request form; once submitted, you will receive a response as soon as possible.

We will accept self-reported test scores by the application deadline, and welcome either traditional or online version of exams. Official scores should also be sent using the following school codes:

• To share your GMAT score, please enter Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - MIT Sloan School of Management
• GRE School Code: 3791

We welcome applicants from many types of academic backgrounds and do not have any academic prerequisites. That being said, we want to understand what relevant coursework you have already completed in order to assess how prepared you are for our core MBA courses.

In the application, we ask you to tell us which courses (if any) in the following subject areas you have taken. We’ll also ask what grade you received in each course.

• Calculus
• Communications
• Linear Algebra
• Microeconomics
• Organizational Behavior
• Probability
• Statistics

Additionally, if you earned special certifications or took professional development courses in your spare time, please tell us about them! Feel free to submit academic evidence not already on your transcripts, such as: professional certifications CFA, CPA, ACCA, among others; non-degree coursework such as MITx MicroMasters, CORe, edX, MBA Math, or any other non-degree coursework you completed.

Applicants are invited to expand on their background by responding to the following optional 250 word short answer question:

How has the world you come from shaped who you are today? For example, your family, culture, community, all help to shape aspects of your identity. Please use this opportunity if you would like to share more about your background.

This question is truly optional; applicants will not be evaluated more positively or negatively should they choose to respond. This is an opportunity for you to share more about yourself with the Admissions Committee, should you choose to do so.

The non-refundable application fee of $250.00 USD must be paid online prior to submitting your application.

We offer fee waivers to the following applicants:

• Admit.me Access Participants
• Current Peace Corps Members
• Current Teach for America Members or Alumni
• Forte MBA Launch Participants
• Leadership Brainery Participants
• MLT/Jumpstart MBA Prep Fellows
• Veteran or Active Duty U.S. Military Personnel

Participants from the following list of programs, conferences, and fellowships are also eligible for an application fee waiver:

MIT Sponsored Programs

• MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP General)
• MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP Biology/BCS/CBMM)
• MIT CONVERGE
• On-Campus MIT ACCESS Program
• MIT Media Lab Open House Travel Grant Recipients
• MIT Laureates and Leaders
• MIT Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular System (EBICS)
• Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST) Summer Institute

Fellowship Programs

• Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems Research Experience for Undergraduates (EBICS REU)
• Gates Millennium Scholars Program
• Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP)
• Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
• Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC)
• McNair Scholars Program
• Mellon Mays Minority Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF)
• Morehouse College Dr. John H. Hopps Jr. Defense Research Scholars Program Hopps (HOPPS)
• National Association of African American Honors Programs (NAAAHP)
• Questbridge
• Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement Program (RISE)
• The National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM)
• University of Baltimore Maryland County Meyerhoff Scholars Program
• Woods Hole Partnership Education Program

Events and Conferences

• ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing
• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
• Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS)
• Annual Ivy Plus Puerto Rico Event
• Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM (ERN)
• FIU McNair Scholars Research Conference
• MC-STEMP GEM GRAD Lab
• National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE)
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP)
• National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP)
• Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
• Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

In addition to the list above, attendees of some recruitment events and conferences where MIT Sloan is present may qualify for an application fee waiver. If you are in attendance at one of these events, you will be notified at the conclusion of the event and the payment section of your application will reflect the waiver automatically.

To request a fee waiver, please start your application and navigate to the Payment section where you will find the fee waiver form and information on the documentation required to obtain the waiver. Your request will be reviewed and you will receive an email with the results. If your fee is waived, it will be reflected on in your application and you will be able to proceed with submission. 

Please note that all fee waiver requests must be submitted at least ONE week before the application deadline and we cannot grant retroactive fee waivers if the application fee has already been paid online.

In addition to submitting all of the MBA Application components listed above, LGO Applicants must complete the following:

Recommendations

LGO applicants must submit a second letter of recommendation (total of two letters of recommendation). The second recommendation must be from an academic source or someone who can speak definitively of your technical skills (this letter does not have to follow our outlined questions). Please advise the person you have chosen that he or she is the technical recommender. Both recommendation letters must be submitted by the LGO application deadline. More information may be found on the LGO website.

Engineering Master's Program

Select an engineering master’s program you wish to pursue, using guidelines explained on the LGO applicants-only section of the application.  More information may be found on the LGO website.

The MIT Sloan MBA program and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS) offer a dual-degree program that can be completed in three years:

• One year in residence at one school
• A second year in residence at the second school
• A third year with one semester at each school

Applicants who wish to pursue the dual degree option must receive:

• Admission to the MIT Sloan MBA program;
• Admission to the Harvard Kennedy School; and
• Permission from MIT Sloan to pursue the dual degree option in three years

Applicants intending to pursue the dual degree option with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS) should follow the MBA applicant instructions above. While we will accept and review Dual Degree applications in all rounds, applicants are encouraged to apply in Round 1 or 2.

Applicants may apply to both programs in the same year. Alternatively, current HKS students may apply to the MIT Sloan MBA program during their first year of study at Harvard. Current MIT Sloan MBA students may apply to HKS in their first year of study at MIT. Instructions for each option are included below.

Candidates admitted to both programs who are not granted permission to pursue the dual-degree option in three years have the option to complete the two degrees in four years.

CONCURRENT APPLICANTS

If you apply to the MIT Sloan MBA program and the Harvard Kennedy School in the same year and wish to be considered for the dual degree option, you must note on your application that you are applying concurrently to MIT Sloan and HKS and notify MIT Sloan immediately if you are accepted into HKS.

We will review your application to determine whether you will be granted permission to pursue the dual degree option. You may be required to submit additional information after admission to MIT Sloan.

Please note: If you choose to begin your studies at MIT Sloan in your first year, you will have more flexibility in completing the MBA degree requirements.

HKS STARTERS

First-year HKS students may apply in any round, but we encourage you to apply in Round 1 or 2. If you are admitted to the MBA program, the MIT Sloan School will review your application to determine whether you will be granted permission to pursue the dual-degree option.

MIT SLOAN STARTERS

Candidates interested in pursuing the dual-degree option who begin their studies at MIT Sloan must apply to HKS in their first year at MIT Sloan. Candidates must also notify the MBA Program Office of their intention to apply to HKS by the end of the first semester.

For applicants who applied for entry in a previous year, we require that you complete and submit a new and complete application. We strongly encourage you to submit new application materials and emphasize what has changed since you last applied. Reapplicants may submit their applications in any round, and will have an opportunity to highlight changes since their previous application in a short-answer question. LGO reapplicants must submit their applications by the LGO deadline. You can find more information in our FAQs.

This program allows students to pursue an MBA and a Master in City Planning (MCP) in three academic years. Students may apply to both programs concurrently or apply during their first year of the MBA or MCP program. Submission of supplemental application materials may be required before students are accepted to the dual degree option.

The MIT Sloan MBA program and the MIT Department of Urban Studies (DUSP) offer a dual-degree program that can be completed in three years:

• One year in residence at one school
• A second year in residence at the second school
• A third year with one semester at each school

Applicants who wish to pursue the dual degree option must receive:

• Admission to the MIT Sloan MBA program;
• Admission to DUSP; and
• Permission from MIT Sloan to pursue the dual degree option in three years