[求助]MIT 的 Essay Two

虽然不是关于题目的解答,但希望能够通过SLOAN ADCOM的访谈, 为你带来些写作上的灵感.

Down to Earth at MIT

The laceName>SloanlaceName> laceType>SchoollaceType> offers a friendly environment and plenty of resources for self-starting students, says its admissions chief Rod Garcia has been the director of Masters' Admissions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management since 1995. Garcia joined MIT Sloan in 1988 after leading admissions at the laceType>UniversitylaceType> of laceName>ChicagolaceName>'s Graduate School of Business.

Garcia says that a demonstrated pattern of achievement in an applicant's background can be as important in gaining admission to Sloan as extended work experience. He recently spoke with BusinessWeek Online reporter Jeffrey Gangemi. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

Q: How is application volume this year?
A: I would say we're just about flat from last year. In 2002, B-schools got a surge in applications, then there was a dip in 2003 and 2004. Now we're seeing the bottom of the dip, and that will mean more applications in the coming years.

We have always had two regular deadlines for the MBA pool, and in between, there is a separate deadline for our Leaders in Manufacturing program. It's a formal joint degree program with the school of engineering and the school of management. Those students enter in June, and the [program's] entire length is 24 months. The regular MBA program is 18 months.

Q: What makes an applicant stand out?
A: We look for two sets of core competencies. One is easily seen through past performance (work, grades, and GMAT scores), and we call that demonstrated success. The other attributes are harder to spot. You have to dig deeper. These are things like leadership, the ability to influence people and decisions, hunger, motivation, setting goals and achieving them, as well as innovation and creativity.

Q: How do you judge these sets of competencies?
A: We judge demonstrated success through the hard data, as well as recommendation letters coming from work. I often get requests from people who want to submit a third recommendation letter. While helpful, those recommendations don't demonstrate the data we're looking for.

We ask for specific data and examples -- like the impact the candidate has had on a person, group, or organization -- from the applicant's direct supervisor. Also, we ask for the characteristics they would like to change about the person. The more specific examples the recommender can provide, the more legitimacy we give to the letter.

We judge the softer competencies in the essays. One of the essay questions asks applicants to tell us about a time when they had a difficult interaction with a co-worker. The underlying principle here is that past behaviors are good indicators of the future. These personal attributes are the things people rarely change through education.

Q: As you review applications now, are soft skills more important than 10 years ago?
A: In the past, the traditional way of screening applications was to read an application with a blank sheet of paper, without any concrete set of criteria. Many times, admissions officials reference the mantra of "why MBA, why my school, and why now?" In the traditional screening method, people can tell you what you want to hear. We introduced a more competency-based method in 2001, and we use that for all assessment. We are now looking for a specific set of attributes, instead of just going by feel.

Q: How would you describe the culture at Sloan, as well as at MIT in general?
A: First of all, it's a friendly environment. MIT Sloan is a small school, so students here definitely know each other. MIT is a roll-up-your-sleeves type of place, with a lot of interaction between faculty and students. It's an environment without hierarchies that's not run like a business and, as a result, the people here are down-to-earth.

If you're looking for a place with a high degree of customer service, this isn't the place for you. If you're willing to do the work and discover for yourself the vast resources available, then this is a good place for you.

Q: What's the average GMAT score?
A: Last year the average was 697. In the past it has always been above 700. This means we're flexible and we don't just focus on the hard numbers. The lower end of our threshold is in the 620 to 630 range. We would prefer to put together a diverse student body, because we believe that students learn more in that environment.

Q: How much work experience do you require?
A: People who think they need three to five years of work experience are wrong. This year we have one student who will be joining us straight from college. If a college student is able to articulate a level of achievement and show a pattern of setting goals and accomplishing them, that evidence can be just as impressive as work experience.

Q: What tips can you provide for someone preparing for an interview at Sloan?
A: Interviews are by invitation only. We will interview everyone we admit. Members of the admissions committee do all the interviews. Within an interview, we're looking for specific examples. We don't ask why an applicant wants to come to Sloan or what they want to do after the MBA. We'll ask questions like: Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision under pressure.

We try to probe certain characteristics that the application has left in question. If they can't talk about it or give details of the story, it probably didn't happen. We also force them to talk from the "I" perspective and not hide behind the "we."

Q: What are you doing to attract more women?
A: Our average hovers around 30%. We wish it would be higher. A year ago we were formally invited to join the Forté Foundation, and we're very pleased with that. We created five fellowships -- two half-tuition and three $4,000 fellowships for women.

We also work with a group called Sloan Women in Management not only to recruit potential applicants but to increase the yield of admitted female applicants. We're trying to give them a feel for what this place is like. MIT is sometimes seen as hard or cold, but once [people] come here and realize there are others like them, they are more likely to enroll.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to add?
A: There has never been a better time to apply to MIT Sloan. The economy is starting to get better. It looks like starting salaries are rising again. We welcome applications whether [the prospects] have one, two, or five years of experience.

Also, the definition of diversity is broader than most people think. If people were humanities or social sciences majors during undergraduate study, they ought to look at MIT Sloan, because we have a place for them here as well.

我也是很疑惑,究竟是要突出 "Creativity" that make you go beyond sth;

还是要突出"leadership" that make you go beyond sth ?

请高手们指点一下小第。