Dont know how many people are applying to MIT Sloan, but their essays are too tough. They require many more examples and much more introspection. Check these out:
1. When did you have an impact on a group / organization?
2. Challenging interaction with a person or group?
3. A time when you defended an idea?
4. A time when you executed a plan?
The bigger challenge is to show a ‘complete’ picture of yourself, since there is enough opportunity. So its good that Rod Garcia is giving one a great opportunity, just that this reminds me of an exam where the questions are easy, and even though you get many right, you may still get a low GPA. And thats why this essay pack is so challenging!
Now, I can sure write about many times when I defended my idea, or had a challenging interaction (I could write a whole book on my challenging interactions actually), but do these four essays show four different and important facets of my personality? With the shape of my current essays, I’m a bit worried.
They all look great in isolation, but as a set they do not get that “synergy”
Same is happening to me with Darden. Though it is the shortest and I have already applied to 3 schools by now- I still find it to be the trickiest.
Add to it different comments from different people which increases the confusion exponentially!
Best of luck with your Sloan.
I’m applying to MIT R1, too, and I COMPLETELY agree. The essays make it very difficult to find any examples outside of the workplace. I broke the within 1-2 years rule (which I hear is no longer firm, but probably still a good idea) on Essay #4 — anything else just wasn’t going to work for me.
Good luck!
I pushed my MIT app to the second round, for the exact reasons you face. The toughest part of the app is the whole story, and how to make the pieces fit- definitely takes more time than any other app according to me. Good luck for the R1 app ..