Sloan

<p>I know that Sloan is one of the best business schools in the country, but is it worth going to MIT for?</p>

<p>And also, is admission into Sloan considerably easier than admission to other MIT schools?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>undergrad or grad school?</p>

<p>Business schools make their name on their MBA programs. The rankings float year to year, but MIT is always in the top 10. Apart from a tiny percentage of students who are looking for PhD's in Management in order to pursue academic careers in business schools, the Sloan school is designed around the MBA. </p>

<p>Yes you can get an undergraduate degree, an SB in Management, but who cares. All a good undergraduate business degree is useful for is to get you into a good MBA program, and most of those want some work experience first.</p>

<p>Is it worth going to MBA purely to go to the Sloan school of Management?? For an MBA, absolutely. For a Bachelor's degree, only if the rest of the MIT experience excites you.</p>

<p>-Mikalye</p>

<p>
[quote]
And also, is admission into Sloan considerably easier than admission to other MIT schools?

[/quote]

MIT's undergrad program does not admit by school or by major, so getting into MIT to major in management is no more or less difficult than getting in to study math.</p>

<p>"MIT's undergrad program does not admit by school or by major, so getting into MIT to major in management is no more or less difficult than getting in to study math." (wrote Molliebatmit)</p>

<p>To expand just a bit:
At the undergraduate level, there are some universities with separate "Schools" of business, engineering, arts and sciences, etc - and separate admissions pathways into each. Other schools have one admissions pathway, and you sort it out for yourself when you get there. And there are others in between.</p>

<p>For instance, U Penn has four separate admissions streams: Arts & sciences; Engineering; Business (Wharton) and Nursing. Once you get into one of the programs, changing to another had a high degree of difficulty. Columbia is another - and even more extreme example. You getv accepted either to Columbia College, or to the Fu School of Engineering. Different pools, different tracks. The Fu folks do take some liberal arts courses with the college types, but the membrane between the two programs is well nigh impermeable for those who seek to switch (not to say it can't be done). </p>

<p>On the other hand, Princeton has one admissions stream for both arts and sciences, and for the school of engineering. You fill out a separate additional essay if you are interested in the possibility of engineering, but the membrane barrier between the different parts is very low, and switching fairly common. </p>

<p>MIT is different again. There is just one admissions stream (as Mollie pointed out) for sciences, engineering, arts and management. One rigorous selection process. And one common core set of Institute Requirements, which include math through differential equations, two semesters of physics, and one each of MIT's own brew of chemistry and biology. To my knowledge, NO OTHER UNDERGRAD BUSINESS has requirements anything like that. </p>

<p>So: You cannot be admitted to Sloan at the undergrad level. You get admitted to MIT, slog through the same freshman curriculum, and then take your courses at Sloan - while fulfilling MIT's other requirements for humanities, arts and social sciences, and in communications. </p>

<p>My $0.02? Get your BS/SB/BA in something other than business. Stretch your mind on something that is worth a full four years.</p>

<p>For the MBA (SM in the way old days), Sloan is definitely worth going to, if it fits your style and preference. Sloan used run a little more to a mix of lectures, informal discussion, and case studies (in the old days). The Harvard MBA program was - and is - hard over with the case study method and rigorously competitive discussion. I had the chance to study at both, and preferred the case study method. Your mileage may vary.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Yes you can get an undergraduate degree, an SB in Management, but who cares. All a good undergraduate business degree is useful for is to get you into a good MBA program, and most of those want some work experience first.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well, I think that's too strong. I wouldn't say that "all" a good undergraduate business degree is useful for is to get you into a good MBA program. It certainly seems to me that you can also use it to get a very nice job right out of undergrad. </p>

<p>As you can see from p.17 of the following pdf, Sloan undergrads actually earn the 2nd highest average starting salary of any major at MIT (1st being EECS). And, frankly, Sloan is easier than many of the other majors at MIT, especially the engineering majors. </p>

<p>Furthermore, as you can see from p.12 of the pdf, many Sloan grads end up with some of the most desired employers in the country - i.e. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, etc. </p>

<p><a href="http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/graduation06.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/graduation06.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hence, what Sloan seems to offer is a major that requires less work and provides a better-paying job than most other majors at MIT. Seems to me that that's a pretty darn sweet deal. </p>

<p>You will also notice that Sloan undergrads actually get paid salaries at least as high as that of the Wharton undergrads. {Athough to be fair, a lot of Wharton undergrads end up in financial services where much of their compensation is derived from bonuses, not salary}. </p>

<p><a href="http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/graduation.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/graduation.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>But the point is, I can't agree with the notion that the only thing a good undergraduate business degree is useful for is to get you into a good MBA program. Seems to me that, at least in the case of Sloan, many people seem to accomplish quite nice things with a Sloan SB degree.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Stretch your mind on something that is worth a full four years.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Oh, come on now. Business is a worthy field of study too. While other business schools may not offer much intellectual heft, there's a lot of good stuff coming out of the Sloan School. For example, much of the operations research, innovation, information technology, and finance work at Sloan is truly cutting-edge.</p>

<p>
[quote]
For a Bachelor's degree, only if the rest of the MIT experience excites you.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Now, this is sentiment with which I can agree. You should come to MIT for undergrad, even if for the Sloan School, only if you think you can fit into the rest of the MIT culture. After all, as mentioned above, you still will be required to take all of the MIT GIR's. You will still be living in MIT housing where you will be interacting with the rest of the undergrads. So you do have to make sure that you fit in.</p>