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For anyone who has many interests, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to choose just one major to write about. It is completely fine, and even expected, that you may be undecided , but spend time condensing your list of potential majors to one or two that you are truly interested in pursuing further.
How to Write the MIT Application Essays 2023-2024
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, colloquially known as MIT, is known as one of the world’s most prestigious research universities with top programs in STEM. Consistently ranked in the top 5 national universities, MIT draws in accomplished students from across the globe.
Located just outside of Boston in Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT affords students the opportunity to explore their intellectual and extracurricular passions in a thriving urban setting. Beyond STEM, MIT also offers students an equally prestigious business and entrepreneurship program, making its urban environment all the more conducive for both business and engineering opportunities.
Keep in mind that MIT does not use the Common Application, and instead uses its own system called MyMIT . For the 2023-2024 application cycle, MIT is requiring students to complete 5 additional essays, all of which, understandably, can seem quite intimidating upon first glance. However, CollegeVine is here to help and offer our guide on how to tackle MIT’s essays!
MIT Application Essay Prompts
Prompt 1: 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. (100 words)
Prompt 2: 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. (150 words)
Prompt 3: How has the world you come from—including your opportunities, experiences, and challenges—shaped your dreams and aspirations? (200 words)
Prompt 4: 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. (200 words)
Prompt 5: How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it? (200 words)
Prompt 6 (optional): No application can meet the needs of every individual. If there is significant information that you were not able to include elsewhere in the application, you may include it here. (Many students will leave this section blank—and that’s okay.) (350 words)
Prompt 1
What field of study appeals to you the most right now? Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you. (100 words)
This prompt is classic “Why This Major?” question that asks you what you want to study and why you want to study it. Most importantly, it asks you why you want to study this major at MIT. Ultimately, the most compelling response to this essay prompt is one that:
- Demonstrates your passion for the major that you have chosen.
- Integrates your past and present studies and interests seamlessly with your future at MIT and your long-term academic and professional goals.
- Addresses specifically why MIT―the campus, resources, faculty, programs, and opportunities―is the place where you need and want to study.
MIT has a unique list of distinctive majors . Before you start brainstorming and drafting a response to this prompt, spend ample time exploring the various courses on the MIT website. You should pinpoint a few courses of study that appeal to you and then dive deeper into what the curricular emphasis is of each course of study, what resources and opportunities are available, and which faculty might you be interested in studying with or whose research you find compelling.
The key phrase in this prompt is “right now,” which many schools don’t include in their “Why This Major” essay prompt, but which all schools imply. This key phrase means that if you matriculate at MIT, you will in no way be required to major in the field of study that you write about in response to this prompt. You are free to choose and change your major, and most students change their major at least once during their college career.
For anyone who has many interests, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to choose just one major to write about. It is completely fine, and even expected, that you may be undecided , but spend time condensing your list of potential majors to one or two that you are truly interested in pursuing further.
This straightforward prompt requires a concise response since it has only a 100-word limit. While specificity is still important, there is less space for detail than in the other 200 word prompts that MIT asks you to write.
Once you have introduced the field of study that most appeals to you, you will need to discuss why this field appeals to you. The reasons that you give need to be authentic reasons; they should be based on pure intellectual curiosity, personal goals, and strongly held values. Avoid listing prestige, post-graduation salary, or your parents’ desires as reasons for choosing your major or MIT. The admissions committee wants to know what you are genuinely passionate about and why.
Here are some key questions to consider before writing:
- What past experiences of yours have influenced your decision to study this field at MIT?
- What coursework or independent study have you pursued in this field?
- What classes are you interested in taking at MIT?
- Who are the teachers that you have had, thought leaders in this field, or other role models that inspire you to pursue this course of study?
- Who are the professors or researchers at MIT that you would want to learn from or work with?
- Who are the people that you wish to serve, or whose lives you hope to improve, through working or doing research in this field?
- How did you first discover this field of study?
- How do you engage with this field of study inside and outside of the classroom?
- How do you envision yourself using this field of study in your future career?
- Why is this field of study personally meaningful to you?
With these ideas in mind, you should be able to write a concise response about why you have picked your major of choice and why MIT will be the perfect fit for you.
How to Get Into MIT + Admissions Requirements
Because MIT is consistently one of the most selective colleges in the world, we get messages from tons of students asking how to get into MIT.
Well, to get into MIT you’ll need near perfect grades and SAT or ACT scores, strong extracurricular activity involvement demonstrating things like commitment to community and leadership, and essays that help you to stand out from other applicants.
But in case you were thinking that applying to MIT is just a numbers fest, a heads up: the only thing that MIT ranks as “very important” in its application process is character/personal qualities. So yes, you’ll need pretty amazing academic qualifications, but that’s something every other applicant will have. Those won’t set you apart.
Last year 33,240 students applied and less than 5% got offered a spot in the freshman class.
That doesn’t mean you can’t be one of the applicants that gets into MIT. But it does mean you need to be aware of what odds you’re up against. That way, you can prepare the best MIT application possible. And that’s exactly why we’ve put together this guide to how to get into MIT and MIT admissions requirements.
When you’re ready, you’ll submit your application through MIT’s Application Portal; they’re one of the few schools not on the Common App. But not to worry—this article will walk you through what you need to know when applying to MIT.
A quick note on college rankings: we think they’re generally a bad way to think about where you should go to college. We talk about why rankings are bad in greater detail here, but essentially, a lot of things that go into college rankings don’t actually tell you whether you and the school would fit well together, or that the school is someplace you’ll thrive.
