MIT Sloan students in class. Courtesy photo
MIT’s Sloan School of Management enrolled a class of MBAs this fall with the highest average GMAT scores in history, a six-point jump in the Class of 2020 average to 728 from 722 last year. On some level, the new average allows Sloan to catch up with some of its peer schools. At Columbia Business School, the latest entering class average GMAT soared eight points to 732 this year–the average at both Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
MIT’s median GMAT score of 730, reflecting a ten-point rise from last year, now equals that of its cross-town rival Harvard Business School. MIT Sloan did not release the full range of GMAT scores for its 409 enrolled MBA students but did publish the middle 80% which is 700 to 760, scores that would likely discourage applicants with sub-700 numbers from applying to Sloan. At HBS this year, GMATs range from a low of 610 to a perfect score of 800, while at Kellogg they range from a bottom score of 590, topping out at 790.
Unlike an increasing number of schools–HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Yale–MIT Sloan chose not to publicize its average GRE numbers in releasing its newest class profile. Sloan does provide GRE ranges for the middle 80% of accepted students who took the GRE. Sloan reported that the 80% quant range was between 158 and 169, while the verbal fell between 154 and 169.
Ironically, international enrollment went up to 38% from 36% at a time when many school are reporting a decline in non-U.S. applicants and students. Women make up 42% of the newest Sloanies, exactly the same percentage as last year. Sloan said the new class hails from 49 countries. Class of 2020 students arrived at Sloan with an average 4.9 years of work experience.
31% OF THE CLASS MAJORED IN ENGINEERING AS UNDERGRADS
The school did not report on its application volume in the class profile. A year ago, Sloan received 5,798 applications, a slight rise of 91 more applicants, an applicant pool that led to last year’s 404-member class.
As is typical of MIT Sloan, engineers make up the largest undergraduate major (31% of the entering class) Economics (21%) and business (20%) are in second and third place. Humanities and social science majors represent only 14% of the entering class. In contrast, they make up 44% of Stanford’s entering MBA students.
When it comes to pre-MBA work experience, some 21% of the class is composed of consultants, with 19% from financial services and 18% from technology, media, and telecom. Another 14% had racked up their work experience in either the government or public sector, while 8% bring a background in industrials and 7% in the energy industry. Students with resumes that show they worked in the healthcare and life sciences fields account for 6% of the class, consumer goods and services 5%, and professional services 2%.
CORE COURSES COMPLETE AFTER FIRST SEMESTER
One of Sloan’s biggest advantages is its curriculum. To call it “flexible” would be an understatement. For one, the core courses last just one semester. In other words, students can spend the second semester pursuing their passions and doctoring their deficiencies through electives. Between Sloan’s exacting academics and hands-on opportunities, students can gain a subject level mastery and industry-based experience that provides a huge head start before they even start their internship. Such flexibility is complemented by the Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), a week-long break between the quarters where students can make global or industry treks or participate in intensive workshops on topics like strengthening leadership or delivering a TED Talk.
Such wrinkles appeal to a different type of student – one who is heavily in demand by employers. According to U.S. News’ 2017 survey of business school administrators, Sloan ranks as the top program in bread-and-butter specializations of information systems and operations according to business school administrators. At the same time, it places among the top schools for logistics, entrepreneurship, and finance. Not surprisingly, Sloan grads earn some of the heftiest paychecks starting out, including a $145,826 average for the Class of 2016.
Such outputs are the result of high satisfaction results among employers. In fact, Sloan earned the second-highest marks in Bloomberg Businessweek’s annual recruiter survey in 2016, which Dean Schmittlein attributes to their graduates’ penchant for impact and selflessness. “’Your graduates simply go farther, faster, in our firm than the graduates of other schools.’ That is what I hear most – from the firms that track such things. Our graduates do more to move the whole organization forward (not just moving themselves forward), and that keeps them coming back.”
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