How to apply to the Master of Finance (MFin) program

A complete application for 2023 entry requires:

• Resume

  Please submit a one-page resume. This will help us easily track your academic and career path. For jobs and internships, try to focus on your 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.
  • Full-Time Work Experience: Full-time work experience is defined as more than four months of post-degree work. This should be paid and full-time. Please include company name, your title, results-oriented bullets that demonstrate your skill set, and dates.
  • Internship(s): An internship is categorized as official work done through a company. Your internship may either be paid or unpaid, as long as you were hired directly by the Human Resources department at the company. We should be able to call Human Resources to verify that you participated in the official internship. Please include company name, your title, results-oriented bullets that demonstrate your skill set, and dates.
  • Other Work Experience: If you worked with a mentor or someone with relevant industry experience or if you participated in a project or research that was not official (i.e., you were not hired by the Human Resources department), please list this experience on your resume. Include details of your experience, who you worked with, results-oriented bullets, and dates.
  • Additional information: Please include extracurricular activities/community service, technical skills/certifications, special skills/interests, and languages spoken (if applicable).

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• Short-Answer Questions

  The mission of the MFin program at MIT Sloan is to create the next generation of principled, global financial leaders able to apply with the latest modern finance theories and methods. We’re interested in students with the drive and ambition to go on to advance financial management practice and improve the world. Using relevant, verifiable details, such as awards, rankings, media references, etc, applicants are asked to respond to three short-answer questions. Each response should be 200 words or less.

  Question 1: Please discuss your past academic and professional experiences and accomplishments that will help you succeed in the Master of Finance program. Include achievements in finance, math, statistics, and computer sciences, as applicable.

  Question 2: Tell us about your short-term and long-term professional goals. How will our MFin degree help you achieve these goals?

  Question 3: What personal qualities will enable you to contribute to the advancement of our mission?

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• Optional Short-Answer Questions

  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.

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• 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

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• Video Question 2

  All MFin applicants will be prompted to respond to a randomly generated, open-ended question.

  Video Question 2 is a part of your required application materials and will appear as a page within the application, once the other parts of your application are completed.

  The question is designed to help us get to know you better; to see how you express yourself and to assess your communication style. It does not require prior preparation and will not be a technical question.

  Applicants are given one minute to prepare a 60 second response.

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• Letters of Recommendation

  MFin applicants must submit three letters of recommendation.

  A detailed recommendation can tell us a lot about you. Make sure you select individuals able to speak about your qualifications and impact.

  • One letter must come from someone who can speak to your quantitative abilities.
  • If you are a current student, you should submit two letters from your current school and one letter from a recent internship, preferably from a previous supervisor.
  • If you are working full-time, one letter of recommendation should come from your most recent employer and another letter of recommendation from an academic source, preferably a previous professor. The third recommendation can be either academic or professional.

  Some important details:

  • We do not accept recommendations from family members.

  • Recommenders must submit their letters online.

  • Recommendations may be either letter or short answer format.

  • Recommendations should not exceed two pages.

  • Your letters of recommendation must be received by the deadline date. It is your responsibility to remind your recommender of the deadline date and to make sure it is submitted on time. ​​​

  Please choose recommenders who are able to provide specific answers to the following questions:

  • How long and in what capacity have you known the applicant?

  • How does the applicant stand out from others in a similar capacity?

  • Please give an example of the applicant's impact on a person, group, or organization.

  • Please give a representative example of how the applicant interacts and communicates with others, including peers and superiors.

  • Please give an example of how the applicant has synthesized and executed on an assigned task and/or mastered new material.

  • Which of the applicant's personal or professional characteristics would you change?

  • Please tell us anything else you think we should know about this applicant.

  Please navigate to the Recommendation Letter section of the application and add your recommenders’ contact information; they will be sent instructions on how to submit their letter.

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• Academic Transcripts

  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.

  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.

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• Relevant Coursework & Professional Certifications

  Our curriculum is rigorous. Knowing what courses you’ve taken will give us a quick way to assess how you might handle the MFin curriculum. Please list courses that you are currently taking or that you have completed in the following areas:

  • Linear Algebra
  • Multivariable Calculus
  • Probability
  • Statistics

  Applicants are also welcome to submit other pieces of academic evidence such as professional certifications or non-degree coursework; all of which may assist the Admissions Committee in its evaluation process. 

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• Test Scores

  Standardized tests, such as GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, IELTS are a component of the application process and play an important role in our 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 MFin program will allow for candidates for the 2022-23 admission cycle to submit their application without the test and review their submitted material as is and without negative inferences. If admitted, candidates will not be required to take a test.

  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:

  • GRE School Code: 3845
  • GMAT School Code: X5X-QS-69
  • TOEFL School Code: 3935 (We will not accept MyBest TOEFL Scores)
  • IELTS School Code: MIT Graduate Admissions

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• Application Fee

  The non-refundable application fee of $150.00 USD must be paid online prior to submitting your application.

  We offer fee waivers to the following applicants:

  • Current Teach for America Members or Alumni
  • Current Peace Corps
  • Leadership Brainery Participants
  • 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.

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