- What are pre-MBA Internships and pre-MBA Programs?
The summer before you start the MBA program, you may be focused on wrapping up your previous job or taking a break – or thinking about how to gain additional work experience to prepare for your future career. The pre-MBA internship is not an essential part of the MBA experience, but it can help you build experience, confidence, and a network in a particular area of business in preparation for your MBA internship. MBAs may also want to consider participating in a pre-MBA program, and opportunity to learn more about a company or industry, often through learning activities and networking.
- Pre-MBA Internships – pre-MBA internships allow you to explore a new area of interest, or practice a skill set you know will be necessary for your next career step. These are more traditional internship experiences where you add value to the organization. They are often found through networking at early-stage and startup companies.
- Pre-MBA Programs – these programs are often found in large companies and while a company may use these programs to interview and extend early offers, students typically don’t have a typical internship experience that includes doing work for the company. It’s more of a “day in the life” and “get to know us” style of event/program. Students may participate in several of these programs if they’d like as they tend to be shorter than an internship. Details on many programs are listed below and posted on the AdMIT website.
- Diversity Equity & Inclusion Programs – diversity centered MBA Prep programs provide students from historically marginalized groups guidance to navigate the MBA application process and offer job market development opportunities through access to employer partners.
Where do I start?
Step 1. Identify What Experience You Want to Gain and What Skills You Have to Offer
Knowing what you want and what you have to offer is critical for the pre-MBA program or internship search. In cases where the company will be creating an internship around what you offer, you must be able to speak to what the company needs and how you can add value.
Step 2. Update Your LinkedIn Profile
If you are seeking a pre-MBA internship, we encourage you to update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your admittance to MIT Sloan.
Below are some actions you can take:
- Update your Headline to read: “MBA Candidate, MIT Sloan School of Management.”
- Add MIT Sloan as your current employer with the title of “MBA Candidate.”
- Add MIT Sloan to your Education section (include expected years of attendance, ex: 2024-2026).
- Keep your profile up-to-date by adding an end-date to your pre-MBA employer. This will also let companies know you are available to work.
Note: You can remove months from your employment dates.
We also recommend any updates to your profile to ensure it positions you well for the types of role you are seeking. Note: This can be an iterative process.
Where can I find opportunities?
Pre-MBA Internships are not part of an existing job market; they are often unpaid opportunities that a candidate creates through proactive networking and relationship building. Recent MIT Sloan MBAs have created pre-MBA internships at early-stage and growing startup companies. Over the last two years, students completing pre-MBA experiences have found opportunities in: financial services, mobile payments/payment systems, software development startups, ecommerce, automation, AI, cleantech/energy, real estate, consumer healthcare, agtech, social ventures, digital media, and venture capital/private equity.
If you are targeting startup or growing companies, reach out to your personal, professional, and alumni contacts – including the MIT Sloan Alumni Network on LinkedIn – who are working at firms of interest to you. Let them know you’ve just joined the MBA program at MIT Sloan and would like to learn more about their experience at the company, and whether their organization has ever offered pre-MBA internship opportunities. Again, be sure you have a strong pitch for you can contribute to their organization.
Pre-MBA Programs and Events are listed below and you may find additional programs highlighted on the AdMIT website. The industries most likely to have pre-MBA Programs are consulting and finance, although opportunities also exist in other industries at companies with robust recruiting programs, such as large consumer products companies. Some of these opportunities are focused on specific groups (women, BIPOC, veterans, LGBTQ+).
| Important: If your pre-MBA experience results in an internship offer for Summer 2025 that you are being asked to accept or decline before career advising begins in Fall 2024, please contact us at mbacdoadvisors@mit.edu before making any commitments. A career advisor can help you consider your options for responding to the offer. |
Companies with Pre-MBA Programs
These companies have offered pre-MBA programs in the past. They typically open their websites for applications each Spring. Updates to this list will be made monthly in spring 2024 (with deadlines).
Consulting
BCG International Office Summer Events
BCG Unlock (Registration Deadline: April 28, 2024))
ExperienceBain (Register by May 1, 2024)
Kearney Consulting 101 Panel | Road to Kearney (May 2, 2024)
PWC MBA Consulting Preview (2024 Dates Coming Soon)
The Strategy& Catalyst: Pre-MBA Consulting Journey (Application Deadline: May 10, 2024)
2024 McKinsey Early Access Overview (Complete by May 13, 2024)
McKinsey Virtual AMA: McKinsey Early Access & Inspire (May 1st 2024: 7pm)
LEK Consulting Pre-MBA Program (Application Deadline: April 26, 2024)
Finance
Goldman Sachs MBA Fellowship (Application Details to follow)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Early Insight Student Programs
Morgan Stanley MBA Program
Healthcare
Johnson & Johnson 2025 Intern Grad Procurement LDP
Programs for Historically Excluded Groups
BCG Empower: (Virtual Info Session: April 2, 2024 | Washington D.C. | June 24-26; Chicago | July 10-12): To apply for Empower, register for Unlock and identify yourself as Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and/or Native American/Alaska Native/Indigenous.
Bain & Company BASE Program (Application Deadline: May 5, 2024)
Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference (June 28-29, 2024)
Reaching Out Summer Treks
MBA Takeoff (Forté) (February 2024)
Toigo Real Estate Intensive (Deadline to Apply: March 31 2024)
Jumpstart Advisory Group Events (Spring 2024)
L.E.K. Consulting Pre-MBA Women’s Program (June 3 – 4, 2024)
L.E.K. Consulting Pre-MBA Diversity Program (June 6 – 7, 2024)
McKinsey Inspire hosted by McKinsey’s Black, Hispanic & Latino, and Indigenous networks (Apply by May 13, 2024)
Bain: Be Bold Scholarship (Application Deadline: May 8, 2024)
Kearney MBA Diversity Boot Camp Summer Associate (Application Deadline: May 20, 2024)
- Register for Intro to Kearney Webinar (May 9, 2024) – Learn about the MBA Diversity Boot Camp here.
Offered in 2023 (No Updates for 2024 Currently)
Analysis Group EngAGement Series (July 2023)
Kearney Middle East – Pre MBA event 2023 (June 15, 2023, 5:00pm – 6:00pm (GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi)
PWC MBA Consulting Preview (Applications not open at this time)
PWC Strategy and Middle East Women Fellowship (Apply by Sept 8th)
PWC Women Fellowship Program for Women in Consulting (Deadline July 13, 2023)
Deloitte Consulting Immersion Program (TBD – Expected October 2023)T. Rowe Price Pre-MBA Internship Program
T. Row Price Pre-MBA Stock Pitch Workshop (August 2-3, 2023)
Quidnet Energy, Pre-MBA Business and Finance Internship
Amazon Pre-MBA Technical Product Management Immersion
Google MBA Series: Overview for First Year Full Time MBA Candidates (June 21, 2023, 7:00 – 7:30 pm)
Google VetNet Career Week (June 13 – June 15, 2023)
Poets & Quants Pre-MBA Festival (Online, May 11th & 12th
Credit Suisse Investment Banking Pre-MBA Diversity Advancement Program Information Session (April 5)
Evercore Pre-MBA Process (also recruits through ROMBA, Toigo, Forté, JumpStart MBA)
EY Parthenon – Pre MBA Connect Day (July 27-28, 2023; application deadline June 21, 2023)
Forté Foundation Financial Services FAST Track Conference (May 18-19, 2023)
JumpStart Advisory Group Diversity Forums: Finance or Financial Services | Management Consulting | Brand and Product Management
LEK Pre-MBA Diversity Program Application Deadline April 28th, 2023 (also recruits through ROMBA, Forté Foundation, and Management Leaders for Tomorrow)
McKinsey Inspire Program for Black, Hispanic, Latin X (May 15, 2023)
Kearney Diversity Boot Camp (May 7, 2023)
2024 Diversity Conferences to Plan for:
