Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research institute renowned for its engineering, math, and science — or STEM — programs centered on innovation. MIT is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Harvard University and only a short distance from Boston. There are 4,602 undergraduate students and 11,574 students in total. When considering applying to MIT, it’s important to remember that it is more than a school that is big on math. They expect every student to be well-rounded, requiring a diversity of courses, and there are exceptional research and maker opportunities for those looking to put their passions into play.
MIT is exceptionally competitive. Harvard isn’t just a neighbor; it’s equivalent. The acceptance rate is an astonishingly low 6.7%.
Before you get too excited and go looking for the MIT application on the Common App — stop. You won’t find it. MIT uses their own application: MyMIT. Since it’s not on Common App, there is no central, all-important Common App essay. Instead, they require a series of short-answer questions that are similar to the supplement prompts you see on the Common App.
Don’t confuse this application with the Common App, though. It’s intense, and not just because it requires filling out an entirely new application from name to SAT score to essays. The application asks for a lot from students, but it’s not surprising. An exceptional and exceptionally specialized school should have an exceptionally rigorous application.
Luckily, if you’ve been working in the Common App, you will see that there is cross-over between the most common Common App supplement questions and the MIT questions. This means that there is potential for reusing concepts, or even selections, from answers you’ve already written.
Here are the five MIT application questions:
We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do for the pleasure of it. (100 words or fewer)
Before you start this prompt, let the word “pleasure” sit in your brain and in your stomach for a few minutes. Mull it over. What does pleasure mean to you? How does something pleasurable feel, and what is that feeling paired with? Is it satisfying? Is it self-confirming? Is it confidence-building? Is it active, or is it more observational?
MIT’s application readers are going to hear a lot about you as a student in this application. Now they want to know you as a person. Take everything that you do on your school’s campus off of the table for this prompt. Then remove everything that is ‘organized’ — such as sports teams, clubs, or societies. Focus on something that you pursue outside of those structures, something that you aren’t likely to win an award for or gain recognition from. It needs to be something that you genuinely do just because you enjoy it. Show the reader why.
Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why? (100 words or fewer)
Like the one above, this is a very short answer, so you need to be concise and specific in a small amount of space. As an applicant to a school that is so STEM heavy, you should know what you want to Major in. If you just can’t decide, you must know, at minimum, what department your eventual major would fall into. Once you have your major and/or department identified, you need to find a professor you would like to work with. When you write about them, you must specify why you are mentioning them. We know there isn’t a lot of space (this paragraph is 133 words), but you should also include a specific course within the department that you’d like to take, or program you would like to take part in.
At MIT, we bring people together to better the lives of others. MIT students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way in which you have contributed to your community, whether in your family, the classroom, your neighborhood, etc. (200-250 words)
Overall, the MIT questions are pretty straightforward. This one isn’t, and it has some pretty serious potential pitfalls. First, before you start, remember that the MIT readers want to hear about something you do, or have done, in your community — not outside of your community and certainly not outside of your state or country.
Look for something that is either very small or a simple action with a small but meaningful interpersonal impact. Alternatively, you can choose something long-term and preferably on-going. Whatever you pick, focus on relationships built through engagement — how you have interacted with others — over describing the physical actions you’ve done. People are more interesting than, say, sorting cans.
Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, clubs, school, community, city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations? (200-250 words)
This prompt asks you to try and squeeze a lot into a short supplement, so don’t try to say everything in such a small amount of space. Focus on one place or group — and, in contrast to the last prompt, this is a prompt where we prefer to focus on place. Places are begging to be written about in a way that is vivid and cinematic, so let that work for you!
As you write, think about how the ‘world’ you are focusing on has shifted your perspective more than how it has impacted your ‘dreams,’ as that can come off as unpleasantly lofty. Stay grounded for the best results.
Tell us about the most significant challenge you've faced or something important that didn't go according to plan. How did you manage the situation? (200-250 words)
Before we start in on this one, let’s set something straight: This cannot be a horror story. It can’t be something trivial, and you shouldn’t trivialize things that are genuinely tough and complicated — and tough and complicated are great places to mine for stories — but you shall not write a horror story.
The key to this prompt is the question: “How did you manage the situation?” In order to answer this question, you need to be present in your answer. You can’t just write about yourself or about something that happened to you. You need to be actively engaged and making moves. You need to be managing. Managing doesn’t always mean solving a problem, but it does mean doing something, whether physical or psychological. Coping is something, as is taking action.
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