To apply for the System Design and Management Graduate Certificate in Systems and Product Development, please register as an applicant and complete the online application. For information on the master’s of science degree, visit this page.
The application for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle will open in September of 2024.
Deadlines and Important Dates
| Deadlines | Dates |
|---|---|
| Application deadline | April 25, 2025 |
| Recommendation letter due | May 2, 2025 |
| Admission decisions sent | June 6, 2025 |
Before You Apply
The Graduate Certificate in Systems and Product Development is designed for students that continue to work full-time and have support from their employer to fully participate in the SDM core class requirements. Certificate students do not take other classes at MIT, but all candidates must meet MIT’s demanding admission requirements and be approved by SDM’s admissions committee in order to enroll.
To qualify for the SDM graduate certificate program, candidates must either:
- Hold a B.S. degree in engineering, science, or technology, and have five or more years of professional experience; or
- Hold an M.S. degree in engineering, science, or technology, and have three or more years of professional experience in a technical field, including some leadership experience.
In addition, candidates should:
- Have experience contributing to a product or system development initiative; and
- Have had some responsibility as a group or team leader.
You may apply while working towards the minimum amount of experience required. For example, an applicant who has a B.S. and four and a half years of work experience may apply, as long as they have completed five years of experience by the time they begin the program.
Application Requirements
Electronic copies of official transcripts from undergraduate and graduate institutions from which you have received a degree(s) or performed graduate work must be uploaded using our online application form. Uploads may be in the form of a single- or multi-page PDF, or individual JPEG or TIFF image files.
Transcripts must be in English. Transcripts from international (non-US) institutions must be in English and certified.
The fee for applying to SDM is $90, payable by credit card online when you apply. You will be prompted for payment information after submitting your application.
Waivers for admissions fees are handled by the Office of Graduate Education. Please visit the OGE website to access the fee waiver form and to get more information on the waiver process.
One letter of recommendation must be supplied with your application. During the online application process, you will be asked to provide contact information for your recommender and may choose for them to submit their recommendations electronically.
The recommendation should be completed by an individual who can comment with certainty about an applicant’s intellectual and professional achievements. If your application is company funded, the recommender must be your current supervisor.
We do not accept recommendations from family members.
Standardized test scores such as the GMAT or GRE are not required for application to the certificate program.
However, if you wish to submit test scores, we will accept current or expired test scores as part of our holistic admissions review. We will accept self-reported test scores by the application deadline, and welcome either traditional or online versions of exams.
Test codes for the SDM program*:
- GMAT: X5X-QS-04 MIT Sloan School of Management-System Design and Management
- GRE: 3537-MASSACHUSETTS INST TECH SYS DE – Grad
*Note: SDM’s test codes are different from MIT’s. Please be sure to enter the correct codes to ensure we receive your scores.
All finalists for admission to the SDM graduate certificate program are required to attend an on-campus or video/virtual interview prior to receiving a final decision. These applicants will be contacted directly by the SDM Admissions Office.
The online application for the graduate certificate will require you to submit a resume and a statement of objectives. You should have these ready at the time of completing the application.
Information for International Applicants
Non-native English speakers applying to the graduate certificate program are required to demonstrate proficiency in English if they have not obtained a post-secondary degree at an English language institution. SDM requires the submission of scores on the Cambridge English, IELTS or TOEFL exam.
The Cambridge English Qualifications are English language proficiency exams. We accept the C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency assessments, which measure a student’s English language abilities for graduate studies and competitive professional environments. We expect a CEFR score of 185 or better, and it must be less than 5 years old.
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic exam measures the ability to communicate in English across all four language skills — listening, reading, writing, and speaking — for people who intend to study or work where English is the language of communication.
We expect an IELTS score of 7.5 or better, and it must be less than 2 years old. No code is required; select “MIT Graduate Admissions” as the reporting option.
The TOEFL exam measures the ability of non-native English speakers to use and understand the English language.
We expect a TOEFL score of 90 or better, and it must be less than 2 years old. The program code for SDM is 3514 MIT/SDM.
Reapplying to SDM
Those reapplying to the program need to submit the following:
- New SDM online application
- $90 application fee
- Updated statement of objectives
- Updated resume
- One new letter of recommendation
All other information will be carried over from your previous application.
Questions and Concerns
We are here to support you. If you have any questions, please contact the admissions staff at sdm@mit.edu.
This page last updated on August 30, 2024.