Cambridge, MA · Private · 4,535 undergraduates · urban
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Extremely selective
MIT is the school most closely identified with engineers who build things, from robots and rockets to companies. The undergraduate version starts with a common science core, then moves quickly into labs, maker spaces, and paid research through UROP. Students who want polished boundaries between class, project, and hobby may find the place relentless; students who take machines apart to understand them usually recognize the culture immediately.
Institutional profile
Top tier Exceptional in career outcomes, and exceptional in academic standing.- Admission
- 4.7% admitted
- Price by income
- Varies across five income ranges
- Completion
- 96.4%
26,904 applicants in the reported year
Compare recent average annual costs by household income
$143,372 median earnings 10 years after enrollment
What sets MIT apart
Research is an undergraduate habit
UROP gives students a direct route into faculty research rather than reserving laboratory work for graduate school.
Everyone begins with the same scientific foundation
The General Institute Requirements establish mathematics, science, humanities, and communication work before a major fully takes over.
The application is MIT’s own
Applicants answer MIT-specific questions rather than applying through the Common Application.
The MIT pattern
From scientific foundation to working prototype
MIT turns technical curiosity into repeated cycles of learning, testing, and revision.
Complete the Institute core
Mathematics, science, humanities, and communication give every student a shared starting language.
Join a lab or project team
UROP and student teams put undergraduates beside working researchers and builders.
Make the idea work
A design, experiment, performance, or company forces theory to survive contact with the real world.
Can I get in?
4.7% admitted
MIT expects command of the hardest mathematics and science available, but scores alone do not settle the decision. The application needs evidence that the student tests ideas, works well with other people, and acts on curiosity without waiting for an assignment.
Recent applicant pool
26,904About 5 in every 100 applicants were admitted.
Academic range
Of admitted students, 83% submitted an SAT, and 31% submitted an ACT. Nearly everyone admitted sent a score, so leaving one out is the unusual move here.
In the season card
Where your GPA sits in the entering class
The full entering-class GPA distribution for MIT, in nine bands from 4.0 down, with your own record marked on it.
See where I landIn the season card
What MIT weighs when it reads a file
See how this college describes the role of grades, testing, essays, recommendations, activities, and demonstrated interest.
- Course rigor
- GPA
- Test scores
- Essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Demonstrated interest
What moves the application
The evidence that separates a strong file
Mathematical readiness
Show mastery of advanced quantitative work in the context of what the school offered.
Hands-on curiosity
Point to something tested, built, repaired, investigated, or improved outside the ordinary assignment.
Collaboration
Use examples that show how the applicant contributes when difficult work belongs to a team.
A person beyond STEM
The short responses should make room for humor, responsibility, community, and interests that are not another credential.
How to apply
Rounds, route, and required materials
MIT uses its own application and offers Early Action and Regular Action. Short responses should reveal how you think and works, not restate a technical résumé.
$75 application fee
Can I afford it?
Compare annual cost by household income.
MIT uses need-based aid and does not award merit scholarships. The published total is therefore a poor guide for an aided family; compare the institutional estimate with competing net prices.
College funding
Scholarships and financial aid
Review available aid, application requirements, and renewal terms.
In the season card
Average annual cost by household income at MIT
Compare recent average net prices across five federal income ranges and estimate a 4-year cost for yours.
- $0–30k
- $30–48k
- $48–75k
- $75–110k
- $110k+
Is it worth it?
Completion, debt, and earnings
Engineering and computing lift the earnings profile, while the research culture sends a substantial share of graduates toward advanced study. High completion and restrained borrowing strengthen both routes.
Degree completion across the reported entering cohort
First-year students who return for year two
And what that comes to against what they earn.
Reported 10 years after enrollment
Academic portfolio
Largest bachelor’s fields
How many students finish in each field, and median earnings four years after completing the program.
Computer Science
Admits separately
Mechanical Engineering
Admits separately
Mathematics
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering
Admits separately
Physics
What is campus life like?
MIT beyond the classroom
The campus runs along the Charles River, but its social structure comes from residence halls, living groups, labs, and project teams. Boston and Cambridge are close; the workbench remains the center of gravity.
Residence halls have distinct cultures
Students explore residence communities before settling in, and living groups differ meaningfully in pace, traditions, and social style.
Dining depends on the residence
Some halls center daily life on dining plans; cook-for-yourself communities make shared kitchens part of the social experience.
Teams build things that have to work
Robotics, solar cars, rockets, performing arts, publications, and service groups give practical work an audience beyond a class grade.
Living groups carry much of the social load
Residence halls, fraternities, sororities, student-run living groups, and project teams matter more than a single campus-wide social scene.
Fast terms with a January reset
The pace is demanding, while January’s IAP creates a month for short courses, travel, experiments, and projects.