MIT, or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is one of the most well-respected, intense, and iconic universities for the pursuit of STEM and STEM-adjacent subjects in the world. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts right alongside Harvard, MIT is one community focused on innovation. The university offers about 4,600 undergraduate students an education rooted in the practical world. Engineering and science are the lenses’ through which they engage with the world, often layered with humanities subjects in non-traditional and unexpected ways. The combination works. MIT has been home to 100 Nobel laureates and 60 National Medal of Science winners. The acceptance rate is a mere 4.8%.
If you’re searching for MIT on the Common App and are confused as to why it isn’t coming up, you are neither crazy nor alone in your confusion. Unlike nearly every other top school, MIT does not accept the Common App nor the Coalition App — like Georgetown, they’ve got their own system. This means that applying to MIT takes a bit more time and thoughtfulness than universities on the shared Common App system, so you’ll want to plan ahead. As you plan, remember to account for standardized testing. While many colleges have suspended testing requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, MIT requires either the SAT or the ACT for prospective first-year students — and successful applicants have nearly perfect scores.
Below, we’ll break down the MIT essays so you can pair your amazing scores and outstanding grades with writing that makes a difference.
If want to attend MIT, send us an email. We’re experts at helping driven students get into the best schools in the nation.
Instead of asking for one main essay, MIT has five short essay prompts which each require an answer 100-200 words long. There’s a lot you’ll have to do in less than 200 words, though. They know from your transcripts and scores that you are smart, and they know from your recommendations that you’re going to work hard and be a team player. What they still need to see, though, is you. So, don’t waste your essays on reiterating information that’s already laid out in other parts of the application. Show the application readers pieces of yourself that they won’t see anywhere else. This is how to do it…
What field of study appeals to you the most right now? (Note: Applicants select from a drop-down list.) Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you.
This is the MIT “Why Us” prompt, and you’ll have to be super compact. Despite the short length, you’ll also still need to tell a story. Clearly state what you want to study, but frame it within a narrative that illuminates both why you want to study the subject you’ve chosen and why you want to study it at MIT. For example, if you want to study engineering with the goal of designing high-tech prosthetic limbs, you might write about how this course of study was inspired by an uncle who lost a leg, and a particular professor and program at MIT would set you on the course to truly make a difference in the world. To do this in such a tight amount of space, you’ll need to use clear, crisp, and direct language.
We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it.
We love this prompt because it speaks to exactly what we said earlier. They can see your classes and your scores. They know your activities. They are fully aware that you’ve probably been crafting your extracurriculars around sounding impressive for this, and other college applications, for years. And guess what, they aren’t all that impressed. They don’t care as much about what you do to sound like a big deal as much as they do about what you do because you truly enjoy it. They want to know how you spend your time when no one is looking.
So, what do you do when you don’t have to? We like students to look small for this prompt and really zoom in on one activity, or even one part of an activity, that you are deeply passionate about. For example, if you love playing billiards, you could focus in on a particular shot you practice over and over again. If you love cooking, you could share a meal you make for family. If you love building things, you could write about the difference between two types of wood. Pick something you are passionate about, and then bring the reader as close in as you can, so they experience your enthusiasm alongside you.
How has the world you come from—including your opportunities, experiences, and challenges—shaped your dreams and aspirations?
This prompt is another fun one — and a great one to eventually re-develop for other colleges as well, so give it some additional thought and effort as it may serve you across multiple applications. But it’s also an intimidating prompt. So much can fit under the umbrella of this prompt, so how are you supposed to narrow it down?
First, we want to make it clear that this isn’t a hardship test. For some applicants, there is something difficult from their past that is worth writing about here. We’d group extreme hardship, such as houselessness, under that category. But even if you choose to write about something difficult you’ve faced for this prompt, you need to hold the last five words of the prompt as the most important: “shaped your dreams and aspirations.” You can’t let an answer get bogged down in what you faced, but instead must be elevated by what you see in your future.
For most students, however, it doesn’t make sense to write about hardship for this prompt because — and we know this sounds harsh — whatever it is you’ve gone through there is someone who’s had it worse, they’re also applying to MIT, and they may write about it. Instead of staking your luck on the reader feeling bad for you, aim to inspire, invigorate, and enliven the reader! Focus in on one experience that shaped you. It could have been tough, or it could have been a triumph, or both. It could have been related to friends, family, school, an extracurricular, or just life. Ideally, the experience you write about is not related to a school sports team. Most importantly, though, it must be something you can write about in detail in a short amount of space, which means picking a particular moment to focus in on.
Whatever you write about, remember to go back to those core 5 words. What are your dreams and aspirations, and how did this experience shape them.
MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. Describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together.
MIT keeps coming in with the great prompts this year! Collaboration is key to success at MIT, so they want to know how you’ll contribute to the creative ecosystem centered on teamwork that they’ve fostered so carefully.
We undoubtedly sound like a broken record by now, but to answer this prompt successfully in the compact space allowed, you must focus in on a specific moment and experience. We love when students pick an experience related to what they want to study at MIT, like a class project or experience in a club. For example, if you and the robotics club you are part of identified, diagnosed, and solved a crucial design flaw at the eleventh hour before a robotics competition, write about it. If a community service project combined your love for the parks in your hometown with your passion for building small bridges over seasonal streams, write about it. If you worked with a few friends to put together a STEM workshop for younger students at your school, write about it.
Whatever you choose to write about, remember to frame it within the context of a scene and a moment. Don’t try to describe everything; focus on the details.
How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it?
This is an exciting prompt because it doesn’t require you to have saved the day or triumphed in some splendiferous manner. Rather, they’re interested in how you “managed” the situation — how did you get through it?
Like (nearly) always, we like small things here. Ideally non-academic things, too. Something in your life outside of school that cropped up unexpectedly and you had to roll with it as best you could, and learned a lot in the process. Even better if it’s something you didn’t get out of unscathed. This is a great place to introduce vulnerability and mature self-awareness. You know you can’t win at everything all the time, and that’s actually ok. Don’t push that too far, though. You still need to impress the application readers with your preternatural competence, so give a glimpse of struggle but allow yourself to triumph, even if just making it through was itself an astonishing act.
The Final Box
After the formal prompts, MIT offers one final blank box without a formal prompt — and they want to hear what you have to say. And you should have something to say. What you put here will be intensely personal and customized to who you are, and sections like this are what we specialize in optimizing into the secret weapon of your college application. If you’re questioning how to answer this non-prompt, we can help.
The Activities Section
There is one more thing we want to hit on here before sending you off to conquer the application. Unlike the Common App, MIT doesn’t let you list ten activities (and then sometimes even upload a resume). Instead, they only allow for four — so you’ll need to pick the four you care about most and that you feel will stand out most on your application. Select activities that exhibit these three key factors:
Longevity: You’ve done an activity for an extended period of time, showing long-term commitment.
Collaboration: An activity is a group activity that require teamwork
Prestige: You have succeeded in the activity at a high level, receiving recognition, awards, or other forms of prestige.
If you have lingering questions, let us know. We can help.
Applying to MIT is tough, so send us an email. We are experts at crafting your perfect application.