FAQ

• The program is a full 24 months and begins in early June each year.

• We partner with seven different departments to offer a wide array of engineering specializations and research areas. Each department has different admissions review processes, requirements, and academic background expectations. Reviewing the department pages on our website can give insight into what individual departments are looking for in candidates. Our partner departments are: 
  • Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Nuclear Science and Engineering
  • Operations Research
• Some departments, like Chemical Engineering or the Operations Research Center, are looking for specific backgrounds and coursework, but most of our departments are more flexible and interested in diverse STEM backgrounds. Many of our students use the dual degree to pivot into a new field of study. While specializations like sustainability, robotics, manufacturing, and analytics can be studied in several of these departments, it helps to look into classes you want to take and faculty you want to work with to better understand where your particular interests lay. Reviewing past internship projects and seeing what departments students were in can also shed light on what kind of research you can do in each subject area.

• The program begins in June each year and the first three months are the LGO Summer Core, a mix of foundational engineering, management, and leadership coursework. In the fall, LGOs are fully integrated into Sloan’s MBA Core. The six month research internship starts in either February or June of the first year. The remaining two semesters on campus are spent completing a mix of business electives and engineering courses depending on the individual student’s engineering department and interests. The Master’s thesis is based on research conducted during the internship at one of our partner companies, and completed in the second year. You can see an example of the curriculum layout on our Program Timeline.

• LGOs take a mix of business and engineering courses throughout their two years. Each engineering department has different requirements, and each student’s course plan is guided by the LGO program office and an engineering advisor. While LGOs have many requirements, course selection is flexible and largely based on individual goals and interests. LGOs take 8-12 management classes and 5-6 engineering classes. Engineering courses tend to be heavier investments in terms of time spent on work outside of class and in class units.

• After the completion of Summer Company Days and during the LGO Summer Core, a survey designed by the student committee is sent the class to determine what companies they might be interested in working with and what kind of projects they are interested in working on. This information is shared with the partner companies who generate projects based on this survey and their own business needs. 
• The list of projects is posted to the class, who then interview for projects that catch their interest. Students can interview for several projects, based on whatever criteria is important to them. Students rank the projects they interviewed for, companies rank the students who interviewed with them for a project, and that information is fed into a matching algorithm. 
• All students are guaranteed an internship. Some partner companies and some projects have restrictions on what candidates they can offer an internship to, based on company policies such as a specific engineering background, minimum years of experience, citizenship status, and availability for hire after graduation.

• Yes, all LGO internships are through our 20+ industry partner companies. All internships are sourced through the LGO Program office and the internship matching process is managed by LGO staff and a student committee.

• Yes, every year we have a handful of internships that are located abroad.

• Yes, every year there are some internships located in the Boston area. If you are looking to not relocate for six months, location is one consideration during the internship interview and matching process. Most LGOs will relocate for the duration of their internship.

• Not all internships will be open to international students.

• Sometimes. Some projects are open to various departments and are considered “open market”. Some projects are for students in specific disciplines or with specific skill sets, or are “closed market” projects.

• The required MS thesis is based on the research internship that you will complete at a partner company. As an integrative experience, the actual internship and thesis project you select will encompass both management and engineering perspectives.  

• You will have two advisors; one from the Sloan School of Management and one from the School of Engineering. 
• During the semester that precedes your internship, you will further define the internship scope and the LGO program office will help you to find the right faculty fit in this process.
• Some internships already have an advisor assigned to them; when you express preferences for those projects, you also will be signing up for a particular advisor. Some students have faculty advisors assigned at admission (e.g. AeroAstro and CEE).

• Each LGO cohort consists of 45-50 students.

• The current LGO classes come from a variety of places, industries, and backgrounds. You can learn more about our students from the Meet our Students and Class Profile pages.

• All of the career resources, clubs and extracurricular opportunities available at Sloan, and the School of Engineering, as well as the greater MIT community are available to LGO students. This includes the option to obtain roles as Teaching Assistants, lead campus clubs and organizations, participate in case competitions, hackathons, and conferences, play on intramural sports teams, and explore opportunities at the Sloan Sustainability Initiative, the Martin Center for Entrepreneurship, MIT delta v, MIT Sandbox, The Engine, etc.

• Many of our students enter the program with their SO and families. Some resources available to support LGO families making the transition include MIT Spouses & Partners Connect, the Graduate Assistance and Information Network (GAIN), the Significant Others of Sloan Club, in addition to on-campus family housing options and child care centers.

• We look for candidates with a STEM background and approximately 2 to 10 years of full-time work experience. Candidates best suited for the program have high leadership potential, strong technical problem solving skills, and a curiosity to solve problems at the intersection of business and technology. MIT is a collaborative and innovative environment, where students who want to take a hands-on approach to learning will thrive.

• Any prior STEM designated degree or extensive STEM coursework would make a candidate admissible to LGO.

• No, LGO requires a prior STEM degree or extensive undergraduate/graduate STEM coursework and does not accept bootcamp credit as a replacement.

• Having a successful career track is an important part of your application to the program. On average, students work about 5 years before coming to LGO, however candidates with at least one year and up to ten years of full-time work experience are eligible.
• We very rarely accept students with less than two years of post-graduate experience, as applicants with some industry experience tend to be more competitive. If you are currently in undergrad, you might also be interested in the Sloan MBA Early Admissions program. Undergraduate seniors can apply for early admission and deferral to the Sloan MBA program, and then work for 3 to 5 years before matriculating. If accepted for Sloan early admission, you can then apply for LGO the fall before you plan to matriculate.
• If you have more than 10 years of work experience, we would recommend that you look into the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA program.

• While graduate education and research experience can strengthen an application and can offer a valuable and diverse perspective, it is not considered full-time work experience.

• To apply to LGO, you apply with ONE application through the Sloan School of Management application portal. You can learn more about the process on our Application Directions page.

• Re-applicants tend to do well in the admissions process, as they can reflect on ways to further strengthen their last application. There is also a section of the application that asks, if you are a re-applicant, what has changed. This is typically a few sentences or a paragraph highlighting any achievements or areas of growth from the previous year. While we cannot give specific feedback on past applications, we are happy to answer any specific questions you have as a re-applicant, and we take a candidate’s continued commitment to LGO very seriously. 

• Yes. Many of our students hold a prior MS in Engineering before attending LGO. They are often highly technical professionals looking to pivot into a new field of engineering research. As long as the applicant is not applying for an MS degree in the engineering subject they already have an MS degree in, they are considered admissible to LGO.

• In the past, due to the application review process that varies across each engineering department, only a small portion of applicants were admitted in Round 1 compared to Round 2. We anticipate that one application round will provide a more streamlined process for LGO candidates in receiving their admission decision.

• No, LGO applicants submit ONE application. Students apply through the MIT Sloan School of Management. You can learn more on our Application Directions.

• You can only apply to one engineering department through LGO in a cycle. Very occasionally, if a candidate may be a better fit for a department different to that which they applied, LGO admissions will reach out to discuss the possibility of transferring their application to be considered for another engineering department. 
• An admitted LGO candidate is admitted to the specific engineering department they applied to and only that department. When an applicant has been admitted and has accepted our offer of admission, they cannot switch to a new engineering department.

• While MIT graduates receive the same LGO application review process as any other candidate, graduates from MIT who are interested in LGO are often great candidates because they are familiar with the experiential and innovative learning culture at MIT. 

• Each engineering department varies, however some do encourage candidates to complete coursework to further strengthen their application. Please contact LGO admissions at lgo@mit.edu to learn more.

• The 2024/25 application for the LGO Class of 2027 will open in late July 2024. The application deadline is November 6, 2024.

• You will receive an email notifying you of a decision letter released within the application portal.

• Yes, interviews will be scheduled by invitation only, after an initial evaluation of a complete application. We only interview a select number of candidates who apply and receiving an invitation to interview does not guarantee admission to the program.

• Both GPAs are considered along with the coursework completed.

• You can submit your GPA as is. Please do NOT convert your grades from your previous studies into percentages or other grading scales. We work with applications from all over the world, and review transcripts with a variety of grading scales.

• We do not accept transfer credit or grant course waivers.

• Yes, if you have any updates to your application after submission, you can email those updates to lgo@mit.edu and we will attach the updates to your application.

• We recommend applicants do not provide any additional material outside what the application lists.

• Yes, if you take a test after submitting your application you can email your updated test scores to lgo@mit.edu and we will add them to your application. Please send any test scores within two weeks after the application deadline in order to add the scores to your application materials.

• We require two letters of recommendation, one professional and one technical, with the option of submitting a third additional technical recommendation letter.
• The professional letter should come from someone who is familiar with your work experience, ideally a supervisor. Examples of recommenders for the technical reference include a previous professor, a manager or senior colleague who is in a technical role such as chief engineer or data scientist. We prefer and encourage an academic source when possible.

What is the format of the letters of recommendation? Are the technical letters of recommendation different from the professional?

• All LGO recommenders are sent the same format for letters with the addition of two technical prompts that are specific to the technical recommenders, which the professional recommender does not need to answer (unless they want to, more information is always welcome!) It is up to you to communicate to your technical recommenders that they are expected to answer these prompts, and we encourage you to share the additional technical questions with your technical recommenders before they start their letter. The technical prompts are:

  1. Please give an example of an engineering/technical project or challenge that the applicant faced, and the resources they used in addressing it.
  2. Assess this applicant’s ability to continue graduate education in an engineering field, based on your observations of how this candidate addresses advanced technical coursework and problems.

   

• The 60-second video statement is designed to bring more dimension to your application, and share your personality in an interactive way with the admissions committee. In the application, we ask you to introduce yourself to your future classmates, tell us about your past experiences, and explain why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your degree. The video does not have to be formal, we just ask that you shoot the video in one take (no editing) and speak directly into the camera. We love watching the video statements, but please remember to be mindful of background noise as we want to see and hear you clearly.

• You may be eligible for a fee waiver if any of the following apply:

• We accept either the GMAT or GRE.

• Standardized tests, specifically the GMAT (Focus Edition and 10th Edition) and GRE are a critical component of the application process and play an important role in our holistic evaluation process. The Admissions Committee expects that you will submit a GMAT (Focus Edition and 10th Edition) or GRE score to be reviewed as part of your application. Both the remote and in-person versions of these exams are accepted with no preference. If your current situation prevents you from being able to submit a test score, you may request a test waiver explaining the situation; the Admissions Committee will take your request under advisement and let you know if the waiver has been approved. If the waiver is approved, and you are later admitted, the Admissions Committee reserves the right to offer conditional admission such as, but not limited to, receiving a certain score on the GMAT or GRE or taking a supplemental class.The test waiver request form is not intended to be a Statement of Academic Readiness and should focus only on the circumstances surrounding your inability to take a GMAT or GRE.

• We will accept self-reported test scores by the application deadline, and welcome either the traditional or online version of exams. Test scores must be valid by the application deadline. Official scores should also be sent using the following school codes:

  To share your GMAT score, please enter Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – MIT Sloan School of Management
  GRE School Code: 3791

• No, LGO does not ask for the TOEFL or other English language tests.

• If you submit more than one set of test scores, admissions will look at the highest cumulative score.

• No, there are no minimum test scores that would disqualify an applicant, as we read each application holistically. You can see the average scores of our current LGO students on our Class Profile.

• We review each application holistically and the test score is only one of many factors we consider when reviewing. Do not be discouraged if your score is below the range or average, as each part of an application is carefully taken into account, and there is no one piece of an application that will make or break an admissions decision.

• Another component of your application that can demonstrate quantitative skills is the technical recommendation which should address your approach to problem solving through analytical and technical mindset. 

• Tuition for the full two-year program is the same as MIT Sloan’s MBA price. Before financial aid, tuition is currently estimated to be approximately $161K for the full two-year program. You can learn more about the costs of the MIT LGO program on our Financial Aid and Costs page.

• With the generous support of our partner companies and alumni, the LGO program awards over $5 million in fellowships and scholarships to each incoming class. All admitted students who are not fully funded by an outside source are awarded a generous fellowship and considered for additional scholarship funds. On average, the LGO Fellowship covers at least half of total tuition for the two years. The fellowship is distributed throughout the two-year program, and is applied toward the program’s tuition costs or as a stipend. LGO communicates the total financial aid package together with the acceptance letter.

• Students typically finance their education through fellowship/scholarships, savings, loans, government employer sponsor or some combination of these. The LGO Fellowship is granted to all admitted LGO students and international students can additionally qualify for private loans. The Office of Graduate Education (OGE) also offers excellent resources for additional fellowships and scholarships that are sponsored by organizations outside of MIT LGO and Sloan.

• Once you have been admitted into LGO and enroll, you can start applying for financial aid. You can learn more at MIT Student Financial Services.

• Unlike a regular MIT engineering graduate student, LGOs are not primarily funded through department assistantships, but students can be a TA if they are interested in the experience and want to work more closely with a faculty member in either Sloan or the School of Engineering. TA-ships are more common than RA-ships due to the time constraints of a dual degree. Around 1/3 of LGOs become a TA during their two years at MIT.
• Compensation depends on the nature of the TA-ship and the amount of time you are committing to the course. ​​A 100% appointment roughly equates to an average of 20 hours/week and you cannot pursue a TA position until after your first fall MBA Core semester.