The MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program is a great option for students of undergraduate or master’s degree programs to secure a seat in one of the most coveted MBA programs after having an opportunity to explore a profession for a few years. This is especially good for students who are clear about pursuing an MBA degree after gaining a little experience in their choice of industries. If you are thinking about applying to the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program, there is a lot of information that needs to be collected regarding the criteria of eligibility, requirements for application, deadlines, the actual process of application, etc. All these things have been well researched and compiled here in this blog post.
About the Program
MIT is one of the most recognized names in the world. The MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program allows you to take a deferral period of a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 5 years before you actually start your regular MBA course from MIT. During this period, students are required to be engaged in full-time work experience in any sector of their choice. They encourage students from different geographies and different educational backgrounds to apply for the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program. Let us have a look at their class profile. Students in undergraduate or master’s programs can apply to the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program.
Class Profile
The students who applied for the class of 2022 represent 51 countries and come from different educational backgrounds like Engineering (33%), Economics (19%), Business (16%), Maths and Science (10%), Humanities (4%), etc. The class size is of 484 students and 33% of them are international. 38% of the total students are females.
Requirements for Applying
While applying to the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program, it is imperative to have all the things that are going to be asked in the application, ready beforehand. These have been mentioned here –
1) Cover Letter – The cover letter should be addressed to the Assistant Deans of Admissions, Rod Garcia and Dawna Levenson and contain details about the applicant like why she/he are suitable for the requirement of MIT. The cover letter should be of maximum of 300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation.
They seek for students who will be able to make the most of all the academic and non-academic opportunities provided at MIT. They look for independent, authentic, creative people who are good and innovative leaders.
2) Current resume – They have very specific requirements for the applicants’ resume. It should not exceed a length of one page in Times New Roman font and size 10 font. The resume should be in either word or pdf format. Also, another important requirement is to remove or black out the applicant’s name, address and contact information from the resume.
The below mentioned information about the applicant is required to be in reverse chronological order –
a) Education – This can include information about awards, scholarships, and professional societies.
b) Work Experience – This must include the name of the company, title, points to demonstrate specific skill-set of the applicants and their achievement, etc.
c) Additional information – This can include information like languages known, extracurricular activities/community service, technical skills including all the certifications, and special skills or interests.
3) Video statement – This is one of the most important requirement to apply to the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program. This video should be an introduction of the applicant to her/his future classmates and should not be more than 1 minute long. It should be a single take video and should not include background music or subtitles. In the video, one must cover why MIT Sloan is the best place for her/him.
The school recommends apps like QuickTime or iMovie to record the video. The supported file formats are avi, .flv, .m1v, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .webm, .wmv.
4) Academic Transcripts – Transcripts from all the undergraduate and graduate institutions attended by the applicant need to be shared. The degree-granting undergraduate institution should be the first one to be mentioned. If the degree has not been received yet, the most recent version of transcript needs to be uploaded. The median undergraduate GPA of the last class is 3.54.
If the transcripts are not in English, the applicants are required to upload both the original and the certified translation. If an applicant is selected, they would require official signed and sealed transcripts from all the attended schools. All the applicants are required to hold a 4 year undergraduate degree or 3 year equivalent undergraduate degree from outside of the U.S.
5) 2 Letters of Recommendation – This is another important requirement for applying to the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program. One of the letters needs to come from a professional recommender who has been a manger or supervisor of the applicant. She/he should be able to tell information like applicant’s achievements, potential, etc.
The other letter should come from a faculty member who can tell about the applicant’s academic abilities. In case a student, who is already in MIT wants to apply for the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program, she/he should get one letter from an MIT professor. The recommendations should not be more than 2 pages and should be either letter or short answer format. The questions mentioned below should be answered in the letters –
a) Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your academic environment.
b) How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? (E.g. what are the applicant’s principal strengths?)
c) Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response.
d) Is there anything else we should know? (Optional)
6) GMAT/GRE score – The GMAT range (middle 80%) of the last class is 680-760. The GRE range (middle 80%) for the Quant section is 156-168 and is 155-167 for the verbal section.
For international students, TOEFL/IELTS score is also required.
Application Process
If you make a decision about applying to the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program, the first thing to know is the application deadline dates for students outside of MIT and MIT students. The deadline date for outside students is in the mid of April and for MIT students is the beginning of November of the previous year. The notification of the Admissions Committee comes at the beginning of June for outside students. For MIT students, the notification comes in around mid-December the previous year. The admitted students need to reply to their offers of admission by the beginning of July. The applicants of the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program who are not selected for the interview process, get the decisions quite early.
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After the evaluation of applications, invitation to interviews are sent to some students. The final admission is confirmed after clearing the interview. If you want to get a seat at MIT through the MIT Sloan Deferred MBA program, you must focus on your overall development. Stay aware, stay ahead!
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