Ask mbaMission

Hi,

I am seeking a quick suggestion about the Sloan cover letter. The question says:

"Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization."

I have talked in detail about 2 accomplishments (one professional and 1 communty). The professional accomplishment discusses my impact on my organization.

Do you think this is the correct approach? Or should I talk about the impact separately and then discuss 2 other accomplishments?

Thanks!

Dear Mustang -

Thanks for your questions about the Sloan cover letter. I went back on our mbaMission blog and found the suggestions posed last year. I have copied it below.

Yes, I think you are better off talking about the two accomplishments and then for the professional one highlighting the impact on the organization. Presumably, they are independent stories, and I am afraid separating the impact portion of the answer may be confusing and dilute the professional accomplishment.

I hope this helps.
Jennifer

From last year's MIT Essay Analysis from our blog: https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/06/ ... 2009-2010/

Cover Letter:Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.

You will note that unlike most schools, Sloan does not ask for MBA candidates to discuss either future goals or "why Sloan." This is not an oversight! In keeping with its conviction that past behavior is the best predictor of future success, Sloan wants applicants to emphasize past actions and thought processes rather than long-term aspirations. Rather than paraphrasing what the admissions committee wants, we will let Admissions Director Rod Garcia (from an interview with the MIT-Sloan newspaper) tell you: "the admissions committee does not explicitly ask applicants for their future goals to prevent candidates from telling stories that they think the AdCom wants to hear." According to Mr. Garcia, "That's why we don't ask the 'Why Now?,' 'Why MBA,' and 'Why Sloan' type of questions that every other business school asks because these questions are leading questions, i.e. they lead the interviewees to tell the interviewer what the interviewer wants to hear. So, to go around this trickery, we ask candidates to talk to us about past examples instead."

Our advice? If you believe it necessary to include your goals in order to provide context, do so, but limit them to the extent possible. Similarly, mentioning Why Sloan is not expected nor encouraged, but if you feel a need to do so anyway, again, keep it brief, relevant and specific.

While the MIT cover letter differs from the typical personal statement, some "global" fundamentals still apply. Thus, we offer our "mbaMission Personal Statement Guide" to you, free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

Any tips on how to structure the cover letter? I briefly told the story of how I got to where I am today, while highlighting my accomplishments. Am I doing it the wrong way? Are bullet points in the end a must? THANKS!

There is no hard and fast structure for cover letters. As you mentioned, I think it is important to mention your past accomplishments and key stories of personal and professional development. In some cases bullet points help with organizing these, but sometimes a couple of paragraphs are fine, too. If you think you do not need bullet points, do not feel like they are a must!

A closing sentence with why this brings you to MBA school in general and MIT in particular as your next step usually makes sense as well.

Hope this helps,
Jennifer

jkhousto wrote:There is no hard and fast structure for cover letters. As you mentioned, I think it is important to mention your past accomplishments and key stories of personal and professional development. In some cases bullet points help with organizing these, but sometimes a couple of paragraphs are fine, too. If you think you do not need bullet points, do not feel like they are a must!

A closing sentence with why this brings you to MBA school in general and MIT in particular as your next step usually makes sense as well.

Hope this helps,
Jennifer

Thank you for your response. I am also talking about what what shaped my educational and professional decisions and what I learned from them. Am I going too far? Also, is it better to use quantifiable or non-quantifiable results when talking about the impact on the organization? Thanks

BruceLee -

Without reading your draft cover letter, I am wary of giving you any detailed guidance for fear of leading you astray. I think the educational and professional decisions could be very relevant but they are not required.

As for results, depending on your field and the situation, quantitative results can be very compelling. Numbers for your division's growth, sales, or other similar key metrics usually can sum up your impact and seem impressive in a most efficient manner. However, some achievements do not lend themselves to these measurements, and in those cases you need to use descriptive terms. Sometimes recommendation letters can also describe these impacts as well and can serve to augment your description of an achievement.

Hope this helps -
Jennifer

That makes sense, thank you. The thing is all my quantifiable accomplishments are listed on my resume and simply restating them in the cover letter would seem pointless, unless I can choose one and somehow expand it by going into details. The impact that I stated in the cover letter shows how how my actions increased workplace morale and department efficiency, but since MIT is very quant oriented, I second guess this strategy. Any further advice? Sorry for so many questions. I truly appreciate your input.

Please do not try to tailor your application to a general notion that MIT is "quantitative." Tell the best stories and create a compelling narrative about you!

You can certainly mention an impact that improved morale. But HOW do you know that morale improved? Did attendance improve? What metric or key indicator let your team know that efficiency improved? Etc. The point is that you cannot just say "it improved" - you must say how this was key to the business and show that YOU were a key, pivotal player. (Your recommenders should also be supporting these themes as well.)

It is fine to use the cover letter highlight and expand on an item from your resume as well.

Thanks,
Jennifer

The cover letter says -include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization.

Does this impact have to be different from the ones in the essays ??

Not necessarily. In some cases you can use the essays to explain a story and/or accomplishment in more detail than the letter will allow. In other cases, you might briefly mention something in the letter as merely a passing reference that is similar to another story you are talking about in your letter or essays. Regardless, you do not have to mention the same items (and only the same items) in both of them.

Thanks,
Jennifer