Life at MIT
LGO students join a tight-knit community that extends far from the classroom. 45 to 50 students make up each year’s LGO cohort, and the small class size makes it possible to forge strong connections. At the same time, LGOs have all of the MIT student life opportunities at their fingertips.
When you arrive on campus, community building starts immediately. The MIT culture emphasizes collaboration and innovation, and LGOs benefit from being a small group within larger MIT. After an intense summer session with only fellow LGOs, the class is integrated into Sloan MBA life. They’re encouraged to engage fully in the MIT Sloan MBA experience.
Even with rigorous coursework, LGOs still have time for a full social calendar. LGO students take leadership roles in the MIT Sports Analytics Conference and Sloan Senate. They’ve volunteered at MIT hackathons and integrated with graduate research groups alongside PhD students. Whether it’s chairing a committee or planning the Domestic Plant Trek, students are deeply involved in the management of the program.
LGO Clubs and Activities
LGO students actively shape their experience through student-run committees. Committees are responsible for key aspects of the program, and inform how many core LGO activities and curriculum are structured. There are 11 committees that students can join and lead:
- Action Learning
- Active Allyship
- Alumni Relations
- Director’s Advisory
- Domestic Plant Trek (DPT)
- International Plant Trek (IPT)
- Internship & Career Development
- Machine Intelligence for Manufacturing and Operations (MIMO)
- New Student Recruiting (NSR)
- Seminars
- Student Life
There are a variety of roles within each committee, and participation levels vary depending on student interest. Students can build leadership skills, contribute to the LGO community, and help improve the program experience. Participation in committees is close to 100%, and many students chose to join more than one.
Student life as an MBA is very busy! Sloan has over 60 clubs, from the professional and the social. Previous LGOs have joined the Operations Management club to prepare for a career in operations, the Entertainment, Media, & Sports club to organize the largest student-run conference in the country. Others ran the Happy Belly Club to find all the best spots to dine across the greater Boston area. An LGO recently founded an MIT Sloan Microbrewing Club.
MIT-wide Clubs
There are over 500 clubs at MIT. Popular among LGO students are the MIT Energy Club, which brings the campus together to analyze the most difficult challenges in energy, and the 100k Competition, a startup pitch contest. The 100K Competition is the perfect opportunity to connect a technical idea to a commercial application. Fostering this connection is a primary goal of LGO, and the experience has led a few LGOs to start their own companies.
Sports and Recreation
MIT Recreation has a variety of on campus facilities and programs. Students can pick up a wellness yoga class, take private lessons with a trainer, or join the LGO intramural hockey team. There are 18 intramural sports and over 30 club teams at MIT with teams at every level. If you are missing your NCAA days or just want to learn something new, there’s a team for you.
Research
MIT is a research leader across many fields. As LGO is an industry research-focused program, our students have many opportunities working directly with companies to explore and learn by doing. The six month industry based research internship and Sloan’s Action Learning Labs are just two examples. It is relatively rare for an LGO student to participate in traditional lab research or be a research assistant (though many LGOs opt to be Teaching Assistants during their two years) due to the time constraints.
At MIT, your significant other (SO) and family are full members of the community! SOs can join LGO committees and extracurricular events, utilize MIT services to find jobs in Boston, and connect with other parents for playgroups, clothing exchanges, and more. LGO SOs provide a supportive network for each other throughout the two year program. In addition to official MIT resources, Sloan also has a dedicated group for SOs. Spouses and partners can request an MIT ID card, which gives them access to the MIT buildings, fitness facilities, and libraries.
Other resources for students and their loved ones include the MIT Graduate Assistance and Information Network (GAIN), a 24/7 network of professionals who provide life management resources and referrals to help make life easier, and MIT’s Office for Graduate Education Family Resources.
