MIT Sloan Acceptance Rate, Deconstructed
Clocking in at just 12.1%, the MIT Sloan acceptance rate in 2021 was the second-lowest of all MBA programs— just behind Stanford GSB and neck-and-neck with Harvard Business School. With its relatively small 450-person class size, the Sloan School of Management is one of the highest-ranked MBA programs worldwide and the most exclusive. (In 2020, COVID-related adjustments skewed admission rates, giving MIT an unusual 22% acceptance rate. But percentages have since settled back down.)
The MIT Sloan School of Management has a multi-faceted appeal. Its location in the heart of Boston’s finance, health sciences, and tech industries is one of the school’s strengths, and students frequently collaborate with peers at Harvard’s Kennedy School. MIT is naturally a go-to brand for applicants with solid tech bona-fides.
However, Sloan is making significant efforts to diversify its class in terms of industries and demographics. Women in MIT Sloan’s incoming class increased from 35% in 2015 to 46% in 2021. Moreover, the bulk of pre-MBA industries for admitted applicants includes consulting (23%) and financial services (23%), with technology representing a slightly lower percentage of admits than in past years.
Drilling Down on the MIT Sloan Acceptance Rate
To help demystify the MIT Sloan acceptance rate drivers, we evaluated SBC client data from the 2021–2022 season. Our findings show that admit patterns have increasingly relied on qualitative aspects, as seen in Sloan’s unique Cover Letter format. MIT also seeks a broader range of applicant attributes, emphasizing data analysis skills and a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
An applicant’s history of tangible achievement is a major driver for MIT Sloan. It can be even more predictive of admissions success than rigid categories such as grades or test scores.
SBC consultant DeeDee, a former MIT Sloan admissions committee member, says, “MIT Sloan is tech-focused and looks to solve the world’s problems in new ways. I always sensed a special something, a spark, in the candidates I recommended for admission that set them apart. It’s a sense of self not everyone has.”
The SBC process:
To preserve anonymity for our client pool, we’ve deconstructed each of our client profiles across these criteria:
- Nationality
- Industry
- Employer
- College
- GPA
- Test scores
- Other distinguishing factors
To get started, our consultants shared client attributes for each of these criteria. Next, we aggregated the outcomes for MIT Sloan admits according to personal, extracurricular, and professional domains. Finally, these visuals showcase the kaleidoscope of qualities found in MIT Sloan admits across a sampling of recent SBC clients.
A recent MIT Sloan admit and Stacy Blackman Consulting client shared this sage advice: “Don’t get lost on a tangent, opining on your big ideas for how the world should be—that will come after school—focus on you and what you’ve done to mould the world you’re in.”
She added that her SBC consultant “helped highlight the unique elements of my personality, story, so that my goals shined through. My SBC consultant reviewed my entire application—not just the essays but also my resume, data form, recommendation letters etc.—and squeezed out every opportunity to differentiate myself. She had a direct working style, which I appreciated, and used my time well. SBC was instrumental in getting me into MIT Sloan.”
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford.  Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year.  Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
For more inspiration, check out our HBS and GSB dual admit study here. Also, see Harvard Business School Acceptance Rate, Deconstructed, and Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate, Deconstructed.
If you’d like to speak with one of our Principals about your MBA candidacy, please request a free analysis here.
