MIT Sloan MBA Interviews
For those of you preparing for your interviews, MIT’s goal is to meet you and get to know you better. They are looking to collect as much information as possible to supplement your application and to help support your candidacy for MIT Sloan.
They use a Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) model to assess candidates for the MIT MBA program. The interviewer will spend 30-45 minutes asking questions about your past experiences to better learn how you think, act, and reflect. It’s important to come prepared with stories and examples that you did not discuss within your written application. Keep in mind your interviewer will have reviewed your application prior to meeting with you.
The interviewer will be looking for concrete and specific examples that reveal one or several of the following traits:
- Influential leadership
- Ability to build relationships
- Drive and motivation
You can refer to the MIT sloan Interview Prep Guide to know more.
MIT Sloan MBA Frequently Asked Interview Questions
- Tell me something about yourself?
- Walk me through your resume?
- Why MBA? Why MIT?
- Why MBA now or Why MBA at this stage of your career?
- What is your short & long term goals?
- What is your Plan B if consulting/Investment banking does not happen?
- What are your key strengths? Can you give some examples please?
- What is your biggest weakness ? Can you give some examples please?
- How can you add value to the Class?
- Why should we take you?
- One reason that we should not select you?
- Interests and Hobbies – Be prepared!.. questions as basic as “Why do you do poetry (or any other activity” may be asked.
- Some Situational & Behavioral Question
- What would you describe are your greatest achievement to date?
- Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle that?
- Give me an example of a time when you did not meet a client’s expectation. What happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation?
- Case questions are fairly common in MBA interview especially for consulting aspirants. Below are a few sample for to practice for:
- How many Golf balls can fit in a Boeing 747?
- What’s the global market size for smartphones?
- Do you have any Question for us?
To know the Interview Process visit MIT MBA Interview Process page.
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 1
My R1 experience that you asked:
The ADCOM interview was centred around the essays. Asked for more examples than what was mentioned in the essay to see a pattern of behavior. Sought precision clarity on personal objectives and how MIT can be of help. Questions on conflict management, team and leadership styles.
Subsequent interview with program director was finer details on the discussion with ADCOM member. Questions on fitment, clarity, two way benefit to the individual and cohort, short & mid term. Just be yourself and speak out naturally.
Hope this helps.
Cheers and all the best
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 2
My interview experience was somewhat different from the others I have seen on the forum.
I had my interview a few weeks ago on campus. Instead of doing a deep dive into any of my essays, I was asked a series of six or seven questions where they want to new stories, mostly dealing with times I’ve failed or had differing opinions from a team. I don’t really feel that went into too much detail in any of them with my interviewer. I was also asked for specific stories of goal setting and whether I was successful.
My interview lasted about an hour with the last 15 minutes devoted to my questions
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 3
Hello folks,
Finished my Sloan interview at SFO. Most of the interview was behavioral with follow up questions. The interviewer was very friendly and took a lot of notes as I was answering.
1. Why MBA ? Why now ?
2. Why Sloan ?
3. What has changed in your application since submission ?
4. Behavioral questions and one/two follow up questions
– When your idea was shot down
– Mentored someone
– Personal accomplishment/goal
– Motivated a team towards a goal
– Led an initiative
– Conflict with a supervisor/co-worker
5. Anything else you would like the adcom to know
6. Time for questions at the end .
The wait begins and all the best to everyone!
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 4
My interview was 30 min total. I was warned by a friend (an alum) that the interview can be uncomfortable so I try to convince myself that it is by design.
Anyway, my questions were:
1. Update since last submitted
2. Time you led a team
3. Time your idea was shut down (I had to give two examples)
4. Why MBA
5. A time when you were uncomfortable
6. Explain the previous story in greater detail
7. Explain my career aspiration in greater detail
8. Any questions (I thought, really? already?)
The interviewer was nice but it’s hard to gauge what he thought
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 5
As others have said, it was very conversational — the adcom members are clearly very experienced and have done this a lot. They will absolutely ask follow-up questions on your stories, so be prepared for that and pick stories where you can add additional context.
Questions:
1. What’s new since you submitted your application? (Note: I think they ask everyone this so would have an answer prepared)
2. Questions on my experience / background
3. Tell me about a recent achievement / success you’re most proud of?
4. Tell me about your experience mentoring someone, how did they respond?
5. Tell me about a time when you worked with a challenging team member?
6. What is your favorite thing about your current role?
7. Why an MBA?
8. Why Sloan?
9. Why now?
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 6
Had my interview and it was very different to what I expected – only one behavioural question. Interview took about 30min, talked about my motivations, how I ended up at my current employer and some more general questions (a leader I admire, Why MIT, general questions about the company I work for).
Good luck everyone!
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 7
I had my interview with Sloan yesterday. it was great experience!
Here’s my advice for anyone who has an interview coming up and might be worried about it: act natural and be yourself!
Really. That’s it.
If you are invited to interview that means the AdCom already likes you and your story. In terms of interview prep, you should already have figured out who you are, what kind of impact you’ve had in your professional experience, and why MIT is the place for you. Sincerity is key. It is very hard to give “canned answers” to the types of questions you’ll encounter because the format is so conversational and because the questions probe deep for specific examples. If you have a sincere story and your experience is actually everything that you said it was on the application, then you should have no problem talking in detail about some of the projects you worked on, the conflicts you encountered, the relationships you built, or any other accomplishments that were mentioned on the application.
I started answering first question “What’s new since your application” giving a lot of details about my last project. Later, i understood that interviewer didn’t know anything about this particular project, although I wrote about it in my essays. In general, my interview was very and very conversational with only 1 or 2 behavioural questions, and questions on goals/Why MIT.
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 8
Interviewed by Admission Director
Carry your business card ( The adcom gave me his card before beginning the interview, I was not carrying mine)
1. Started off with Has anything changed from your previous application?
2. Dwelled on Resume , work profile
3. Several Behavioral questions , and then probed deeply on how did i behave in those situations, what was I thinking, what was the other guy thinking, why did I behave in that particular fashion, What were the repercussions, etc.
4. Tell me about a situation when u implemented a creative solution
5. Tell me about a situation when u were assigned to a broken process and you corrected it
6. Tell me about a time when u faced a difficult situation with your subordinates
7. What do you want to do post MBA?
8. Why Sloan?
9. Last question was – We have very less time left, so you could either ask me a question or you could tell me something more about yourself that is not there in your resume or that we have not covered so far. ( I chose to talk about myself )
All the best.
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 9
“The interview was conducted with a member of the adcom in a major hub city in Europe. The overall vibe of the interview as very friendly and conversational. Questions:
- What has changed since your application?
- What do you do in a project? How do you adapt to different teams?
- How would you benefit from an MBA and why is now the right time?
- Tell me about a time when a project at work did not go so well.
- Why do you want to do your MBA at MIT Sloan in particular?
- How would you characterize your leadership style?
- Any questions from your side?
The interview seemed to be on the shorter side and even though I felt we had a great conversation, I was quite scared due to the time aspect. When I received the call, I was lost for words on the phone but super happy about the decision.”
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 10
“Hi, My interview experience (skype): The interviewer called on time and introduced herself. The interaction began and stayed in conversation format. The questions asked were very general and on expected lines:
1. What has been a recent great achievement
2. Why do you think you succeeded
3. Talk about a time when things did not go well
4. How did you / your team respond to the situation
5. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult colleague
6. Why MBA and why Sloan
7. Any questions for me Just to add, the tone was very friendly and stress free.
There were a few follow up questions for each one of the above based on the stories I presented. My advise would be that the stories must be authentic and its vital that you go through them in detail while preparing so that the response to any question is experiential. I’d like to think that I did well. Lets hope for the best.”
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 11
I just wanted to give my interview experience:
I went into the smallish admissions room and I was waiting for over an hour with the different interviewees. Every single one was a Consultant or Banker from huge firms. Our interviews were staggered, 15 minutes apart.
There was a lunch with students, which was very nice. I was a little bit more nervous due to the impending interview. I went back into the waiting room to study after that.
The interview started and it was incredibly casual. I had planned for questions about my GPA, job transitions, the additional essay, and why I, as a re-applicant, was more prepared this year as opposed to last. I got the sense that all interviewers asked “What, if anything, has changed since you submitted your application?” I took the opportunity to mention a new leadership experience at work, but I punctuated it with something interesting/fun that had happened to me recently. This was actually something she had done recently and we talked for a couple of moments about this mutual activity. This didn’t last too long before I was asked a few standard behavioral questions that I had practiced for: “A time you received negative feedback.” “A time you lead oppositional members of a team.” Etc.
Then, in a bit of a curveball, I was asked about my goals and how I could achieve them at Sloan. I hadn’t practiced much for it because I wasn’t expecting it at Sloan, but my other interviews helped me here.
Overall I thought the experience was great! I felt comfortable, I felt loose, and most importantly, I think my passion shone through. Have a personality and don’t be a business machine would be my advice. Very few people are, but don’t get tense in the moment and forget that they want to get to know you, not the physical embodiment of your professional resume.
I really do hope that I get in as I felt the experience went very well. I loved the environment and all the students were very friendly, outgoing, and down to earth. Hopefully that helps for anyone waiting for an interview or anyone looking at Sloan in general. Best of luck to everyone, and hopefully we all get good news.
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 12
“Hi guys. I thought I’d share my interview experience in case it helps. Not for the first time, I met with an Admissions Director in Europe.
We actually had a great conversation. I had met my interviewer during Sloan‘s ‘On The Road’ event in my home city earlier this year, so we were already quite relaxed in each others presence.
This was a seasoned interviewer and, all in all, a tough person to read. I felt we had a good bond and I could answer all their questions confidently and enthusiastically, so left feeling I had done well.
Specific questions asked (maybe not in this exact order):
1. What has changed since your last application? [or since you submitted your application – always be prepared for this one!]
2. Tell me a bit more about [local charity I’m involved with and included on my resume] and what they do.
3. Give me a specific example of your leadership progression while [in my current role]. – What’s your long-term goal after coming to Sloan?
4. Have you considered which track you’d like to pursue? – You will be in the upper age range. Have you considered how you’ll handle this?
5. Anything else you’d like me to know about you? [good opportunity to jump right into a ‘greatest hit’ that has not been covered up to now]
6. Any questions for me?
7. Any final comments?
In general, Sloan gives you a lot of opportunities to mention things important or relevant to your application – be ready to grab those! – but I also think my experience as an older-than-average candidate might be different to the norm.
Sloan is also renowned for behavioural questions which means you may need to go deep into a particular story – way deeper than you might have planned. Have a few good stories to mind and rehearsed in your head before the big day or, better still, practice telling those stories with a friend who can dig into them and really press you for what you felt, how you reacted, why you did that etc.
I really felt my mock interviews with my consultant, alum friends and the bathroom mirror (I kid you not!) helped to prepare me to give concise and passionate answers.”
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 13
“The interview is 35-45 minutes long, and I would assume what they are trying to do is to put a face to the application. They want to know if you believe in what the various essays you have written say, and generally test your commitment and articulation. My interview was along those lines. They did not ask me any questions that would test my knowledge of systems design or anything like that. I also asked them a lot of questions when it was my turn, more to understand what I would need to do to complete the program.
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 14
I had my interview at SF. The interviewer was friendly, but the questions are really event specific (led a team, idea got shut down, a time that you were uncomfortable, etc). What I am really nervous about is how short my interview was – barely 30 minutes. I am hoping my interviewer didn’t just got bored with my answers.
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Question – 15
Interviewed in SF. I feel very nervous about it. Anyway, questions were as follows:
1. Changes since application
2. Why MBA, Sloan?
3. Time you failed
4. Time dealt with a difficult person
5. Describe an initiative you promoted
6. How do you gain buy-in
7. Talked about my time in the military a little
8. Any questions
The interview went for 30 minutes. It felt like the interviewer was a little tired of interviewing.
Hope for the best!