MIT Application Essay Key Prompts

MIT Application Essay Key Prompts

What is a difficult essay, one would ask? It can make you introspect, become surprisingly creative, or, conversely, very laconic. Some essays are fraught with pitfalls, while others are straightforward, but they also encourage to step away from the topic. So, the most difficult essay on the MBA program at MIT Sloan School of Management. Prepare a cover letter for an MBA program at MIT Sloan. Describe your achievements, give an example of how you influenced a group, organization or a community. Alternatively - feel free to order your paper from a professional essay writer.

Question Overview

Since Sloan does not ask the standard question “about career goals,” your work experience will be presented in a CV and in this essay. The cover letter should contain material that is usually included in an essay on career goals, and at the same time you need to convince the admissions committee to enroll you. This cover letter should be built on the example of those that you write when looking for work.

In addition, you have the opportunity to demonstrate in this essay why you fit MIT. According to the given format, you should use a marketing approach, focus on those aspects that represent you as an excellent candidate for the college, and give up the narrative style of ordinary essays.

The question asked highlights your key achievements and what impact on the college and community you can make, describe them as clear, interconnected examples that explain why you are applying and are a suitable candidate.

The Main Essay

The essay is not a writing test. It doesn’t have to be fit for publication in a newspaper. The essay is the place in your application where the MIT look for your voice — who you, your family and your friends are, what drives you, what’s important to you, what makes you tick. Be honest, be open, be real — connect with them.

That’s all that matters. The rules are simple: write your own essay. That’s the best advice anyone can give to you. Your application is full of grades and test scores and teachers writing things about you and interviewers writing things about you and things inferred from your participation in clubs and sports and whatever else you do... the essay is the one place where you get to say, “Hey, I’m a human being, let me connect with you on that level, here is my voice, here is who I am.” That’s all the MIT admissions committee are really looking for. A little helpful editing or proofreading from a parent or teacher is fine, but don’t let anyone take your voice away. 

The 500-word limit is a guideline, not a strict cut-off. Simply use good judgment — your application readers won’t mind if your essay is 550 words, but 1,000 words may be a different story.

If you upload a file, please be aware that small formatting losses can occur. Don’t worry about this — you certainly won’t be penalized! 

  1. Essay Prompt Option A. Tell them about an experience which, at the time, really felt like “the end of the world”— but had it not happened, you would not be who you are today. Describe the process through which you discovered value in the negative.
  2. Essay Prompt Option B. Describe the world you come from, for example your family, friends, clubs, school, community, city or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations? 

Career goals

Many candidates ask whether it is possible to write that they want to enter a business school in order to study possible career directions and decide on the goals already on the program. There are exceptions, but actually you shouldn’t do this, because this will violate the integrity of the essay. Not only can you not talk about career goals, but also complicate the answers to questions regarding motivation. If you have no career plans yet, it's time to determine where you started, how far you have come for now and where you want to get to. To leave the labor market and go to business school, you need to significantly invest your time and money, but you want to convince the admissions committee that you thought out your decision well before spending money, and that the MBA program at MIT is a necessary step in achieving your career goals.

Keep in mind that this essay tests your leadership skills as well. It doesn’t matter if you run a student club at MIT or a company that is on Fortune 500 List; you must define goals based on incomplete information and plan a course for their implementation. By the way, this is a clear description of the problem you will encounter when answering this question.

Why MIT?

A key part of this essay is about how you can achieve your goals with MIT and how you will contribute to the program. In order to write a successful cover letter, it is very important to provide convincing arguments why MIT is absolutely necessary for you to achieve career goals.

If your goals are limited in size and scope, then investing time and money in training at the Sloan MBA is not too smart. On this program, you can acquire leadership skills that will help you achieve amazing career results. But studying at MIT will not be equally beneficial for any career, and the admissions committee expects the candidate to explain in detail how his / her professional and personal development plans to match what the college offers. The school needs students with serious motivation who will benefit most from the training.

Key Achievements

In a cover letter to MIT, you should give examples of your achievements, as well as the impact that you had on the organization. Although it carries out the task of an essay on career goals, which is required in many other programs, do indicate successes concerning  both the profession and activities beside work and study.

Show your enthusiasm and positive attitude by talking about your career vision. Before you start writing a cover letter, formulate how you see your career in the future to determine why you are applying for a place in the MIT Sloan. Having set your career goals, it will be easier for you to answer the question “Why MIT?” And explain to the admissions committee how the MBA program fits into your plans.

It will take time to create an effective career vision, and the following are questions to help you evaluate and improve it:

  1. Does your career vision give you a clear idea of ​​who you want to be?
  2. How inspirational and positive is it?
  3. How memorable and captivating are your wordings?
  4. It is impudent, but isn't it at the same time divorced from reality?
  5. Does it combine long-term passion, values ​​and deeper interests?
  6. Is this really meaningful to you?

Questions to help you:

  • Identify priority studying / development needs based on your professional goals and career vision. What courses, professors and clubs are ideally suited to them? What has the chosen college achieved in the field where you plan to build your career?
  • How will this business school change you for the better? The MIT program is not limited to the acquisition of “key skills”, it offers personal growth, broadening of prospects, acquiring new ideas, developing management and leadership skills, etc.
  • How does this college, its culture and/or type of students suit you and your needs?
  • What made you particularly impressed, why did you choose this program from among others? What attracted you when you visited the campus and/or talked to students, professors or graduates?
  • Why do you like the program, the format of studying, the curriculum, and the college location?
  • What needs in terms of leadership, management and development of teamwork skills will this program meet with the help of its courses, capabilities and student organizations?
  • What benefit will you get from all aspects of the program, including beside work and study? What contribution can you make?

Advice from MIT Students

“Just be yourself — if you’re accepted, you’ll know that MIT is perfect for you, not the person you tried to be on your application.” — Karen Sittig

“In my application, I decided to emphasize my passions and where I came from. I wasn’t afraid to write that some of my favorite interests did not involve math or science or that to this day I still spend afternoons playing with Legos. Showing who you are is of the utmost importance because the perfect school for you is where your personality will feel right at home.” — Omar Abudayyeh