MIT SLOAN · MBA GUIDE
MIT Sloan’s MBA is a two-year, full-time program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, starting each fall with a one-semester core. Instead of a long goals essay, Sloan asks for a 300-word cover letter and two short videos. Start here to understand the program and prepare each part of your application.
Fall 2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE PROGRAM
Your first semester is a shared core, taken with one of six cohorts and a smaller study team. After that, you choose from electives across MIT, can take up to three Harvard courses, and work on real company projects.
YOUR FIRST SEMESTER
Six required courses, from Data, Models, and Decisions to Financial Accounting, plus one core elective, taken with your cohort and study team.
ACTION LEARNING
Labs in areas such as analytics, global entrepreneurship, healthcare, and sustainable business pair classroom methods with client projects. A required spring week, the Sloan Intensive Period, pauses regular classes for hands-on work.
ELECTIVES
After the core, you take electives worth 144 units and can add a certificate from the six Sloan currently lists, such as Business Analytics or Product Management.
You can take electives anywhere at MIT, and MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) offers more to do each January. Sloan has more than 80 clubs of its own, and MIT has more than 500.
The core courses: Leadership Challenges for an Inclusive World; Economic Analysis for Business Decisions; Data, Models, and Decisions; Communication for Leaders; Organizational Processes; and Financial Accounting. You add one of Managerial Finance, Introduction to Operations Management, Competitive Strategy, or Marketing Innovation.
Your cohort: Each cohort is named for an ocean or sea, from Atlantic to Pacific, and is split into smaller, diverse study teams.
Certificates: Sloan currently lists six: Finance, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Sustainability, Healthcare, Product Management, and Business Analytics. Optional seminars include AI, entrepreneurship and innovation, and finance.
The labs: Named labs include Analytics, Global Entrepreneurship (G-Lab), Healthcare, Operations, Product Management, and Sustainable Business.
Life outside class: Students run conferences and events, and partners can join a Significant Others community. MIT’s family housing is limited and requires you to live together full time and show evidence of family status.
Health insurance: Coverage is mandatory. You’re enrolled and billed for MIT’s student plan unless you get a waiver for an approved plan of your own.
MBA Early (deferred admission): For students in their final year of college, or graduate students who went straight from college into their program, who graduate between September 2026 and August 2027 and have no full-time work experience beyond internships or co-ops.Medical, law, and PhD students going straight through aren’t eligible. You work for two to five years, then start the MBA. The deadline is April 13, 2027, at 3:00 p.m. ET, with decisions in June 2027, and there’s no application fee.
MBA Early’s application: Two recommendations, one professional and one academic, plus a 300-word cover letter and two videos like the main MBA’s, with no organizational chart or extra references.Admitted students pay a $750 deposit, then $750 in each later year they defer. The deposits are nonrefundable and count toward tuition.
Leaders for Global Operations (LGO): A 24-month dual-degree program that pairs the MBA with study in one of LGO’s engineering departments, starting in early June, with 45 to 50 students. One application is considered for both LGO and the MBA. For the Class of 2029, the deadline is November 4, 2026, with interviews in January 2027 and decisions in late February 2027.
LGO’s application: Three recommendations (one professional and two technical, preferably academic), a 300-word cover letter, a 300-word statement on the engineering department you chose, two videos, and an organizational chart. If LGO turns you down, you can’t apply to the main MBA again in the same cycle.
Dual degrees: Sloan names three routes: LGO, city planning with MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and public policy with Harvard Kennedy School. For Harvard Kennedy School, you apply to both schools at the same time, in Sloan’s Round 2. Check the planning route’s timing with both departments.
Ten or more years of experience: The MIT Sloan Fellows MBA is a separate 12-month residential program for mid-career applicants, with its own rounds. This guide covers the two-year MBA.
English: Sloan doesn’t accept TOEFL or IELTS scores. It assesses your English in the interview.
Degrees: You need a four-year degree, or a three-year equivalent from outside the U.S., by the time you enroll.
Your visa document: MIT’s International Students Office issues your I-20 after you accept, pay the deposit, and complete MIT’s onboarding. For a fall start, you can request it only after April 15 of that year, and processing takes 15 business days once everything is in.
Proof of funds: Official, signed documents in English (or certified translations), issued within the past one to two months, showing funds for 12 months, including any dependents. A loan counts only once it’s approved for MIT and you’ve accepted it.
Working while you study: Sloan doesn’t allow MBA students to work during the first core term. After that, F-1 on-campus work is generally limited to 20 hours a week during term, and any off-campus work, even unpaid, needs authorization first.
UNDERSTAND WHAT SLOAN LOOKS FOR
Sloan looks for curiosity, strong analysis, leadership, and respectful collaboration in “thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities.” Its FAQ says it evaluates achievements you’ve already shown, ideally from the last three years, rather than a why-MBA or future-goals story.
RECENT IMPACT
Your cover letter and résumé should show results you’ve had. Sloan sets no minimum years of work and no preferred industry. Internships don’t count as full-time work, but PhD research can.
Letrado’s adviceList your five strongest recent examples before you write anything. The best two usually become your cover letter.
INTELLECTUAL ABILITY
The application asks for your grades in calculus, communications, microeconomics, organizational behavior, and probability and statistics, alongside your GMAT or GRE score.
Letrado’s adviceIf one of those courses is missing or weak, use the space for additional qualifications to show a recent course or certificate that covers it.
COLLABORATION
Your recommender is asked how you interact with others, and one of Sloan’s sample video questions asks what you did when a colleague wasn’t contributing.
Letrado’s adviceHave a real example ready of a team problem you helped fix, including what you got wrong first.
WHAT SLOAN DESCRIBES
Round 1 interviews run from late October to early December, and Round 2’s from February to March
Invited applicants submit one more short written answer. Sloan doesn’t publish its question
A virtual, one-to-one behavioral interview with a member of the admissions staff
Interviews are scheduled in Eastern Time, and current students don’t evaluate applicants. Because Sloan doesn’t accept English tests, the interview is also where it assesses your English.
CLASS OF 2028 · UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2026
The GMAT Focus Edition is the current version of the GMAT, scored from 205 to 805. The middle 80% of the class scored 645 to 715. On the GRE, the middle 80% scored 160 to 170 in Quantitative Reasoning.
Before the MBA, 37% worked in consulting, 16% in technology, and 14% in finance.
These describe one class, not minimums. Sloan sets no minimum test score or GPA.
WHAT SLOAN ASKS FOR
One professional recommendation, preferably from your manager or supervisor and never from family, is due by your round’s deadline. Sloan allows only one letter. You also name two different professional references as contacts. They don’t write letters.
Your recommender answers six questions, including how you stand out from others in a similar role, an example of your impact, how you interact with people, and the most important constructive feedback they’ve given you and how you responded.
The organizational chart shows where you sit, with your own role circled in red, who reports to whom, and where your recommender and references fit. You can remove confidential names.
WHAT SLOAN SAYS
Sloan’s video instructions ask you to speak in your own words: “Avoid reading from a script or pre-written response.” It also says not to translate your recommendation yourself.
The admissions pages and FAQs we checked don’t set a general rule on AI or admissions consultants. If the application asks you to confirm anything about your work, follow it.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
Sloan lists two rounds for fall 2027 entry, both closing at 3:00 p.m. ET. Its FAQ says merit fellowships are open equally in both, so choose the round where your application is ready.
Round 1
Sep 29, 2026Round 2
Jan 12, 2027LGO (Class of 2029)
Nov 4, 2026MBA Early (deferred entry)
Apr 13, 2027Your recommendation is due by your round’s deadline too. Sloan doesn’t publish exact interview-invitation dates, the main MBA’s deposit, or dates for 2028 entry.
A 300-word cover letter, a 90-second video, and a second video answering a random question. The résumé is one page, in Times New Roman at size 10. The fee is $250. Current Peace Corps members and U.S. active-duty military and veterans can ask for a waiver before paying.
Required, taken online or at a test center, with no minimum score. The Executive Assessment isn’t accepted for this MBA. Take the test by your deadline. Official scores can arrive shortly after.
Scans from every university you attended, with certified translations if needed. Report grades on your school’s own scale, and add your grades in five named subjects.
One letter, preferably from your manager, plus contact details for two other professional references.
A chart showing your role and reporting lines, then a virtual interview if you’re invited.
Which tests: The GMAT (the Focus Edition or the older 10th Edition) or the GRE. The two GMAT editions use different scales, 205 to 805 and 200 to 800, so don’t compare their totals directly.
Sending scores: Self-report your score in the application, then send official scores: GRE code 3791, or choose the MIT Sloan MBA program when you send GMAT scores. Sloan judges each sitting on its own, even if your GMAT report also shows a Superscore built from several sittings.
Your GPA: Don’t convert it. If your university doesn’t give a cumulative GPA, calculate one as best you can from your degree courses and explain how. Leave class rank blank if you don’t have one.
Official records: You send official, signed or sealed transcripts only after you’re admitted. A digitally signed file should be printed and scanned before you upload it.
If you’re reapplying: You submit a complete new application and a new recommendation, plus a summary of what has changed, up to 200 words. You can apply once a year. An earlier MBA Early application doesn’t make you a reapplicant.
If you and a partner are both applying: You each submit your own application, and Sloan considers each one individually.
Deferrals: Considered case by case. Sloan encourages you to apply for the year you plan to enroll.
If you run your own company: Sloan asks seven extra questions of 50 words each, covering when your company was registered, your role, co-founders, revenue model, three years of revenue and costs, and investment received.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
300 words and two videosA cover letter of up to 300 words, not counting the address and greeting, a video of up to 90 seconds, and a second video answering a question you see only when you record it.
Sloan doesn’t publish a separate goals essay for the main MBA. The cover letter carries your professional evidence, and the videos show how you speak and think.
Letrado’s adviceChoose your two strongest recent examples before you draft. Sloan prefers achievements from about the last three years, so a short letter built on two clear examples beats a career summary.
Address it to the Admissions Committee, in standard business format, with one or more professional examples that show you meet Sloan’s criteria.
Share “who you are, where you come from, and what’s shaped the person you are today.” Record it in one unedited take, facing the camera, with no music or subtitles.
Sloan’s examples include the achievement you’re most proud of, and what you did when a colleague wasn’t contributing to a group project. Sloan doesn’t say how long you get to prepare or answer.
Sloan asks invited applicants for an extra short answer. The question and its limit appear only after you’re invited.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Sloan’s 2026–27 tuition is $91,892, including a $2,200 MBA program fee, and covers course packs but not textbooks. Sloan’s financing pages don’t print a full MBA budget, so add your own living costs using MIT’s estimates below.
ADMISSIONS
Sloan decides on your application without looking at your ability to pay.
MERIT FELLOWSHIPS
Admitted students, U.S. and international, are considered, usually with your offer. Both rounds have equal access, and the fellowships pay toward tuition.
OTHER AID
Loans and other aid are arranged once you’re admitted. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can file the FAFSA (the U.S. federal aid form) early, with MIT’s code 002178.
Some named fellowships need a separate application, so check the list as soon as you apply.
Fellowships and assistantships (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED TUITION · 2026–27 ACADEMIC YEAR
$91,892This is one year of MBA tuition, including the program fee. The lines below are MIT’s standard living estimates for graduate students, for nine or twelve months. MIT tells Sloan applicants to use Sloan’s tuition, not the standard graduate tuition on the same page.
For fall 2027 entry, use the 2027–28 tuition when Sloan publishes it. In your first year you can ask to add up to $2,400 for a computer, and total support, including loans, can’t exceed MIT’s cost of attendance.
MIT Sloan tuition and financing (opens in a new tab)
AI illustrationLetrado’s adviceDon’t count on paid teaching or research roles: they’re competitive, start only in the second semester, and pay varies.
For MIT Sloan’s Class of 2025, the median base salary was $180,000 for jobs in the U.S., $140,000 in Europe, $110,000 in Asia, and $100,000 in Latin America. Three months after graduating, 91.0% of job seekers had received an offer.
2025–2026 MBA employment report (PDF) (opens in a new tab)ADMITTED TO MIT SLOAN · R.H.
He was a Taiwanese semiconductor product manager with six years in engineering and product roles. His early story leaned on the industry’s growth. We helped him show which decisions were his, and compare very different programs in the U.S. and Asia.
He assumed better technology would win a customer over.
Changing a production process meant cost and downtime for the customer.
He went back to his engineering colleagues and admitted his first view had ignored the customer’s reality.
Sloan’s cover letter (opens in a new tab) asks for professional examples that show what you did. R.H.’s strongest example was a misjudgment he noticed and corrected, not a win he borrowed from his industry.
AI illustrationHIS MIT SLOAN OUTCOME
Offered a place in the MIT Sloan MBA
HIS CHOICE: MIT SLOANStata Center, MIT · Photo: Rhododendrites / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
Nanyang cost less and offered strong access to his region, and Guanghua a valuable mainland China network, but MIT offered exposure beyond his home market. He built a financial and visa plan that recognized the risk of studying in the U.S.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
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