By Jane Deutsch, MIT LGO Director of Admissions and Career Development
Jane Deutsch
Every fall, MIT LGO candidates ask me about the LGO application process and what they can do to create a competitive application. My advice is this: make your application as strong as possible, tell the story of who you are, what you aspire to achieve, and why LGO is a fit for you. Support your application with recommendations from people who know you and your work well.
Here are some of the questions I get most frequently about admissions and financial aid.
The MIT LGO program has one admissions deadline: Monday, December 17, 2012. Because LGO is a dual degree program, you have a choice of applying online either through MIT Sloan School of Management or through one of seven affiliated departments in the School of Engineering.
In all cases, you must:
If you apply through an engineering program, you must submit all the materials required by both LGO and that particular program.
From an admissions standpoint, it doesn't matter which application route you take, because we follow the same process for reviewing all applications.
Some applicants make their decision based on a closer affinity with one school than the other. Others choose based on what degree they're seeking (M.B.A., S.M. or Ph.D.) if they're not admitted to LGO. For instance, candidates applying through MIT Sloan who aren't admitted to LGO will be automatically considered for the second round of M.B.A. admissions. Candidates applying through some (but not all) engineering programs who don't get into LGO will be considered for the S.M. or Ph.D. program in that area.
Another factor to consider: MIT Sloan requires either the GMAT or GRE, while the School of Engineering accepts only the GRE.
The LGO website has information about the LGO curriculum for each engineering program. Still not sure which school to apply through? Identify your greatest strengths and weigh them against each program's acceptance criteria. You can also contact students in the different departments through the Ask a Student page, or you can talk to students, alumni, faculty and/or staff members during LGO Ambassador Day on November 5 to get other perspectives.
The LGO fellowship, which covers a portion of each student's tuition over both years, is available to all our students. LGO partner companies offer this generous support as part of the ongoing investment they make in our students and the program. The amount of the fellowship varies each year. For the most current information, visit our Program Costs page.
MIT LGO partner companies also sponsor a few students. If you work for one of our partner companies, you should certainly inquire about potential sponsorship.
Successful LGO candidates have preferably three or more years of experience (with a minimum of at least two years) and a degree in engineering, computer science, math, biology, or one of the physical sciences. Only under very rare and unusual circumstances will we accept someone with less than two years of experience.
The letter describing your technical abilities should ideally come from a professor, but if there isn't one who knows you well enough or who would remember your academic work, you can have this letter come from a work supervisor who has knowledge of your technical abilities. Overall, this letter should assess your ability to look deeply into a technical or engineering problem. For more information on the technical letter of recommendation, click here.
LGO considers every application and the evaluation process is exactly the same whether you're a U.S. citizen or an international applicant. It's important to note that LGO defines an international applicant as one who has neither citizenship nor permanent-resident status in the United States.
Historically, a small percentage of each LGO class has been international. Our partner companies (which fund the majority of the program) expect most of our graduates to be pre-authorized to work in their facilities. However, as our mix of partner companies evolves to include more global firms, we may increase the international percentage in each class.
