Rod Garcia, the assistant dean of admissions at MIT Sloan, announced the creation of a formal deferred admissions MBA program at MIT Sloan similar to other successful ones at HBS and Stanford GSB. In fact, MIT Sloan had for a few years operated a sort of “backdoor” deferred admissions program for college seniors, but this announcement is good news because it signals an expansion of the program, formalizes the process, and take a lot of the guess work out for potential applicants.

Here are the details:

• Applicants may come from any undergraduate institution (not just MIT)

• Undergraduates may apply if they are graduating during the current academic year

• Graduate students may apply if they are graduating during the current academic year and entered their program directly after leaving college (i.e. have no full-time work experience)

• If admitted, students come to Sloan for their MBA after accumulating between 2 and 5 years of work experience (similar to how HBS and Stanford does it)

Here is the timeline:

• Applications due: Monday, April 8, 2019, 3:00 p.m., EST

• The admissions committee notifies applicants of their decisions: Wednesday, May 8, 2019

• Admitted applicants must reply to their offers: Sunday, June 1, 2019

The Benefits:

We’ve long written about the benefits of applying to MBA programs while still in college, and all those arguments remain true for MIT Sloan, one of the most exclusive MBA programs in the country whose alumni have founded fortune 500 companies such companies as E*Trade, Hubspot, Zipcar, and Akamai Technologies. A deferred admission offer allows students to pursue much riskier opportunities early in their career, increasing their earning potential and limiting their downside with the MBA offer.

The Bottom Line:

Interested in applying? Fill out our “What are my odds?” link and we’ll chat about building your case for:

• Why a deferred MBA program is right for you and why MIT can’t simply wait to admit you later

• What compelling narrative you can write that will help you stand out in a an MIT Sloan applicant pool where 87% of candidates are rejected

• What specific resources you need from MIT, such that you can’t get your MBA from anywhere else

• Assurance you can give MIT that you’re not applying to them as a backup to HBS or GSB