MIT in London: My impressions

This week I went along to an MIT-Sloan on-the-road event. It was much as you’d probably expect. A fairly brief presentation from some enthusiastic admissions staff, a quick group Q&A with some Alumni from the years who have since moved to London, and a networking chat afterwards.

Unfortunately, Harvard Business School were in London on the same evening in some dreadful scheduling. My planned dash across London didn’t materialize as MIT started late so I only have MIT to report back on. I hope HBS will be back before the end of the summer but I’m not optimistic.

There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with the presentation. Sloan came across as professional, enthusiastic and sold their obvious strong points well – a connection to the world’s most prestigious science and technology academic programs is not to be sniffed at, as well as some of their strong joint-degree programs which I’m personally very interested in.

I always feel this sort of evening  is a little difficult to really portray the personality of an institution. Much of the information I recognized from the website or other sources, but nonetheless it was nice to meet and talk to real life people rather than tapping at a keyboard.

Sloan’s new building. Alumni opinion – much nicer than the old one.

It was nice to hear some of the Alumni on the new facility at Sloan – “I wish it was there when I studied there!” was a common quote. It was reassuring to hear that they seemed to think Sloan had modernized successfully, as up until now I’d had the impression the school was slightly out-of-date. Some of the pictures in the presentation and the theme of the conversation on modern subject matter did much to persuade me otherwise.

They also sold some of the aspects of what may be considered a slightly more traditional quant-heavy course rather than the more case-based approach down the road at HBS. I’m not sure what I think about teaching styles being emphasized across a whole school – my own opinion is that some modules will suit the case method and some will suit a traditional teaching style and I’d prefer a mix and a freedom for academics to choose what they feel is appropriate, but most places seem to sell one method or another.

As a side note, it was also nice to meet some fellow applicants (rivals?) and also a fellow GMATClub-er, Dominic. I recognized the same slightly nervous and apprehensive look in their eyes that I was feeling. Good luck to everyone out there who feels the same at the moment!