MIT Sloan MBA Recommendation Questions
The online MBA application for the MIT Sloan School of Management requires a single recommendation, preferably from a professional contact and ideally a manager or supervisor who is qualified to speak about your results as a professional and your potential as a leader. Recommenders must submit online; MIT is only able to accept electronic recommendation letters.
The MIT MBA recommendation questions for the 2025-2026 admissions season are available below.
2025-2026 MIT Sloan Recommendation Questions
Section 1: Recommender Information
- Context of Relationship
- Nature of relationship
- Occasionally candidates would like to be considered for other MIT programs or partner schools and ask us to share their applications with these programs. Please indicate if you would like us to share your recommendation.
Section 2: Ratings
Please rate the applicant on the following criteria, in relation to other high-potential people you know.
- Truly Exceptional (best in 5 years)
- Outstanding (best in year)
- Above Average (top 25%)
- Average (top 50%)
- Below Average (bottom 50%)
- Unobserved
Each of the qualities/characteristics listed has a drop-down menu for the recommender to choose their rating:
- Leadership Potential
- Creativity
- Resourcefulness
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Energy and Initiative
- Ability to Work in a Team
- Oral Communication Skills in English Language
- Written Communication Skills in English Language
- Presence
- Analytical Thinking and Reasoning
Based on your professional experience, how do you rate this candidate compared to her/his peer group?
- Unable to assess
- Below average
- Average
- Very good (well above average)
- Excellent (top 10%)
- Outstanding (top 5%)
- The best encountered in my career
Overall,…
- I do not recommend
- Recommend this applicant, with reservations
- Recommend this applicant
- Enthusiastically recommend this applicant
Section 3: Recommendation Letter
Please upload a letter or one document that addresses the following questions and cites specific examples or observations about the candidate. Recommendations should be no longer than two pages.
1. How long and in what capacity have you known the applicant?
2. How does the applicant stand out from others in a similar capacity?
3. Please give an example of the applicant’s impact on a person, group, or organization.
4. Please give a representative example of how the applicant interacts with other people.
5. Please tell us anything else you think we should know about this applicant.
6. Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response.
Note: MBA applicants must provide contact information for two additional references. Similar to the role of a recommender, these additional reference contacts should be able to speak to the applicant’s professional and/or academic background. A member of the admissions committee may reach out to these references at any time during the evaluation process, should there be additional questions about the applicant’s background and/or experiences.
MBA Applywire
In addition to my undergraduate degrees in landscape architecture and geography, I also have an MA in geography 3.9 gpa, and a PhD in Architecture. I am currently a VP at my company and a likely candidate for CEO in the near future. I want to continue working while pursuing my MBA to increase my chances of moving into the CEO role. Also, my goal is to start my own ClimateTech firm in the next several years. An MBA will help achieve both of these goals. For each of the selected schools, I would pursue their online MBA program so I can continue working. While I, of course, want to attend a prestigious program, I'm not willing to sacrifice my money or too much of my company's money to spend six figures on an online MBA. That is a part of the driver for the programs I have selected to look at. In the US, it is rare that online programs provide funding; a bit seems to be available at European programs.
- International Male, 26, southeast Asian (non-Chinese/indian)
- BEng, top 15% of the class, the best local uni (but unknown outside of the country)
- (0.5Y) Global LDP program of a F500, left early to join consulting
- (2.5Y) at S&, strategy consulting in the field of fintech/ banking, top tier performance (5% of the cohort in the region, early promotion)
- (1Y) Left S&, started my own fintech for underserved teenagers, got pre-seed funding from a tier 2 Banking VC, closed after a year due to regulations change, small scale with multiple impact rewards (20k+ farmers
Goals: Join a fintech in the US (strategy div), or Financial services consulting (like OW, McK) incase i can't secure a fintech position (internationals), with a long term goal of starting another fintech
- International Male, 26, southeast Asian (non-Chinese/indian)
- BEng, top 15% of the class, the best local uni (but unknown outside of the country)
- (0.5Y) Global LDP program of a F500, left early to join consulting
- (2.5Y) at S&, strategy consulting in the field of fintech/ banking, top tier performance (5% of the cohort in the region, early promotion)
- (1Y) Left S&, started my own fintech for underserved teenagers, got pre-seed funding from a tier 2 Banking VC, closed after a year due to regulations change, small scale with multiple impact rewards (20k+ farmers
Goals: Join a fintech in the US (strategy div), or Financial services consulting (like OW, McK) incase i can't secure a fintech position (internationals), with a long term goal of starting another fintech
Education: B.Tech Information Technology (Tier-2 college)
GPA: 9.16/10 (Converted equivalent: 3.91).
Standardized Testing: 715 GMAT Focus (99th percentile equivalent).
Professional Achievements (Bulge bracket investment Bank)
Role: ML Engineer , ~3 YOE now (will have 5 at the time of matriculation).
High-Impact Innovation: Awarded "Most Innovative Project" for three consecutive years (2024 ,2025 and 2026).
Secured 1st Place in 2025 and 2nd Place in 2024 in the Technology Innovation Program
Revenue Generation: Designed and implemented a scalable recommendation system for wealth management that drove a 45% increase in revenue for the targeted segment.
Operational Efficiency: Engineered an Agentic AI system for automated customer support, significantly reducing overhead and optimizing resource allocation.
System Integrity: Spearheaded a performance audit that resolved critical failure rates in cloud-native microservices, ensuring zero-downtime for high-stakes financial data.
Leadership & Civic Engagement
Youth Parliament: Recognized for leadership in simulated legislative environments; developed high-level skills in policy advocacy, structured debate, and consensus-building. Winner of District level in 2025,2026
Strategic Collaboration: Partnered with senior stakeholders to align technical roadmaps with institutional wealth management goals.
Post-MBA Goal
Short-Term: Transition into Investment Banking (IB), specifically within Technology or FinTech coverage groups, leveraging technical depth to advise on M&A and capital markets activity.
Long-Term: Executive leadership within the global financial services ecosystem.
MBA LiveWire
Round 3, non traditional background
Round 3, non traditional background
WL since R1. Not sure if it’s over, even if I wasn’t rejected.