MIT Sloan
What they weigh
- Innovation mindset — Sloan is MIT, quantitative and builder-oriented
- Concise, direct communication (the cover letter format tests this explicitly)
- Leadership through systems-thinking, not just people-management
- One letter of professional recommendation (not academic)
Essay prompts
“Submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Conform to standard business correspondence. Include one or more examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria.”
“Tell us something about yourself not captured elsewhere in the application.”
“Two essay questions are sent with your interview invitation. You complete them before the interview.”
Oba’s take
MIT Sloan is the most unusual application format in deferred admissions — no traditional essays, just a cover letter and a one-minute video. The cover letter is genuinely a cover letter: your name, why you qualify, a concrete example or two, signed off. Not an essay disguised as a letter. The one-minute video is a personality test. Don't script it so tightly that you sound like a robot — they're checking if you can communicate clearly under mild pressure. One of the underrated things about Sloan: they take one letter of recommendation, and it's professional, not academic. That's a smaller ask than most programs. If you're quantitative, builder-oriented, and can communicate concisely, Sloan is worth a serious push.
11 modules covering narrative, essays, recommenders, school research, and the interview. Built specifically for deferred applicants.
Read the Playbook →One-on-one coaching on your essays and narrative. Small number of students per cycle. Junior program: $3,500/yr or $400/mo.
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