Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school is known for its STEM programs, but MIT also expects applicants to be well-rounded with diverse and dynamic interests. Their programs are truly top-notch and the school is known for outstanding resources and a competitive environment. The acceptance rate for the class of 2025 was 4%.
Shout out to MIT for having their supplement ready in June! Heads up, MIT does not use the Common App. Before we dive into their supplements, please read the below excerpt that appears on their website:
“You should certainly be thoughtful about your essays, but if you’re thinking too much—spending a lot of time stressing or strategizing about what makes you “look best,” as opposed to the answers that are honest and easy—you’re doing it wrong.”
Read this as many times as you need. Applying to college is stressful but this is a gift. If you’re applying to MIT, you should (read: absolutely need) have perfect grades and test scores. They know you’re smart, so try to have some fun.
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? (250 words or fewer)
You might have noticed that a lot of colleges will use this structure: a phrase and then a question. And sometimes, you should not answer the question directly. Instead, your response to the question should inform how you respond to the entire prompt. So rather than saying “and my community has shaped my dreams because….,” you should allow that information to simply be a part of your 250-word essay.
Think about the place where you feel safest and most at home. It might be literally at home with your family, and it’s also totally fine if it’s not. We like to think of communities as safe spaces where you are free to express yourself. We would avoid using school for this one because your academic achievements have already been established and there’s a specific school question below. But clubs and communities are great!
A community can be the group of people that you watch movies with, your book club, or your friends from camp – pretty much any group of people. When the admissions team reads this response, they just want to get a sense of the things that you care about and cherish. So, if your community is the group of people that you meet up with every Saturday to go on a walking food tour, drop them right into that scene. Explain what happens, the details you think are irrelevant, and why you love it so much. This can be achieved by thinking small and honing in on a singular example that speaks to how you and your community spend your time. Don’t worry too much about the dreams and aspirations aspect of this, just write with passion and be genuine.
Pick what field of study at MIT appeals to you the most right now, and tell us more about why this field of study appeals to you. (100 words or fewer)
This is a very short version of a “Why Us” supplement and we would be lying if we said the shorter ones aren’t much harder. But you can do it. Start by looking through the majors at MIT and find the one you want to study. If you can’t find anything, you might want to rethink applying. Once you have your major, think about the most concise way to explain why you plan to study Chemical Engineering. You pretty much have two options: go all in (as in geek out) on one bigger story or string together a few experiences that lead you to this moment. After that, highlight one class that you can’t wait to take and explain how what you’ve already done will help you do well in that course. Then, find a professor who is doing cool research in your area of interest and pitch yourself as their research assistant!
As for structure, you can string this together however you’d like. Just make sure that you’re hitting the high points and editing it multiple times. Make a bunch of copies of the paragraph and try it different ways until you’ve got it down to 100 words without cutting out a bunch of meat.
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. (200–250 words)
With this question, they’re literally begging for levity. MIT is hard. It’s competitive and it will be stressful at times. They want to know what you do for fun. Who doesn’t love fun? As they mentioned earlier, this is not a trick question. Don’t tell them that you spend your free time researching cryptocurrency, unless that’s true.
What would you do for leisure or on Sunday afternoons? Don’t think too hard on this one, and be honest. And whatever you do, don’t tell them that you don’t have any free time because school is too taxing. They’ll know right away that you don’t have what it takes to go to MIT.
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)
“From tackling the worlds biggest challenges to being a good friend” is the most important statement made in this supplement. We have range, ladies and gentlemen! If you’ve solved something technically, that’s a great thing to write about here. If you’ve helped a friend or family member when they needed it, that’s just as good. When have you helped someone? Think about it and write down a few examples. Don’t choose the one that you think makes you sound the most important, pick the one that meant the most to you. Your response should read like a story, from start to finish, and be generous with the details. Just be mindful of your secondary character, and by that we mean don’t allow their presence in the story to overshadow you. Let them be a mirror for your good deed!
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)
It can be difficult to talk about failure and things going wrong because it sounds insane to tell colleges that you’ve messed up. But mistakes are human and this question is really asking about growth. The misstep itself is not the most important aspect of your response here, rather you want to focus on how you managed the situation and moved forward. Maybe you tried to launch a business that failed, forgot a closing bracket while writing code, or forgot your grandmother’s birthday. Or maybe you used salt instead of sugar in your chocolate brownies. Whatever challenge you write about it, let that be starting point of the essay and not the entire essay. Once you’ve established what went wrong, you should explain how you got past it and grew from the experience. While some reflection is likely necessary, you should also take them through the actual steps that you took.
Before you start writing anything, you should look at your list of activities and the rest of your application. Keep in mind that nothing should be redundant, so don’t write about things that appear elsewhere in your application. Aside from your common app essay, this is your only chance to add dimension to your application. Don’t double down on anything and edit more times than you think is necessary.
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