The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts along the bank of the Charles River Basin. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research. However, in the past 60 years, MIT’s educational disciplines have expanded beyond the physical sciences and engineering into fields like economics, philosophy, linguistics, political science, and management.
Founded by William Barton Rogers in 1861, MIT followed the European university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. The university was one of the pioneers in research and training collaborations between the academy, industry, and government.
Collaborative arrangements with industrialists like Alfred P. Sloan and Thomas Edison led the school to establish an Office of Corporate Relations and an Industrial Liaison Program in the 1930s and 1940s. These programs now permit over 600 companies to license research and consult with Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty and researchers. Undergraduates are required to complete an extensive core curriculum called the General Institute Requirements.
The science requirement, generally completed during freshman year as prerequisites for classes in science and engineering majors, comprises two semesters of physics classes covering classical mechanics and electricity and magnetism, two semesters of math covering single variable calculus and multivariable calculus, one semester of chemistry, and one semester of biology. Undergraduates are also required to take a laboratory class in their major, eight Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences classes (at least three in a concentration and another four unrelated subjects).
MIT eases freshmen into their undergraduate experience by grading all first semester courses on a pass/no entry basis. Second semester classes are scored with letter grades, but anything below a C is not reported on the student’s transcript. After that…well, MIT’s classes have a reputation for being very intense. But there is no doubt that the university’s students receive a world-class education. The university guarantees housing for all four years and freshmen are required to live on campus.
Undergraduates participate in research through something called UROP – the Institute’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. By the time they graduate, ab08t 85 percent of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students will have collaborated on and helped produce real, ground breaking research. In fact, many undergraduates find their names appearing in published papers. A few even earn patents.
Acceptance Rate
Academic Qualifications
SAT Range (25 to 75 Percentile)
ACT Range (25 to 75 Percentile)
Application Deadlines
Early Decision
Non-restrictive Early Action application deadline: November 1
Decisions are mailed by mid-December.
Regular Decision
Regular decision deadline: January 1
Decisions are mailed by mid-March.
Transfers
Transfer application deadline: March 15
Decisions are mailed by May 1.
Admissions Criteria
Freshmen Admissions
Number of 2018 (Class of 2022) applicants: 21,706
Enrolled: 1,110
Yield: 77.2%
Acceptance rate: 6.7%
Early Action Admissions
Number of 2018 (Class of 2022) applicants: 9,557
Admitted: 664
Acceptance rate: 6.9%
Waitlist Admission Statistics
Number of 2017 (Class of 2021) waitlisted applicants: “over 400”
Acceptance rate: “under 3.5%”
Transfer Admissions
Number of applicants: 569
Admitted transfer applicants: 27
Acceptance rate: 4.7%
Academic Qualifications
Average GPA: N/A
Top 10% of High School: 97%
Middle SAT Range (25 to 75 Percentile)
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 700-790
SAT Math: 760-800
Middle ACT Range (25 to 75 Percentile)
ACT Composite: 33-35
ACT English: 34-35
ACT Math: 33-36
Standardized Test Requirements
SAT/ACT required
Writing portion not required
SAT Subject Tests required — one in math (level 1 or 2), and one in science (physics, chemistry, or biology e/m)
Graduation Rates
Loan Defaults and Rhodes Scholars
Salary After Attending
R&D Expenditures
Campus Safety
Score Card Information
Graduation Rates
4 years: 84%
5 years: 91%
6 years: 93%
Loan default rate: 1.0%
Total Rhodes Scholars: 47
Salary after attending: $94,200
R&D Expenditures: $946,159
Campus Safety
Sex offenses: 22
Robberies: 1
Aggravated assaults: 0
Burglaries: 16
Car thefts: 3
Net Cost and Total Expected Cost of Attendance
Average Net Price By Income
Student Debt
Additional Information
Tuition, room and board (2018-2019): $67,030
Total estimated cost of attendance (2018-2019): $70,240
Net Cost
Average: $21,576
By income
$0 to $30,000: $5,968
$30,001 to $48,000: $3,029
$48,001 to $75,000: $8,633
$75,001 to $110,000: $16,544
$110,001 and more: $42,237
Graduates with student debt: 27%
Average student debt at graduation: $24,954
Student Residence
Undergraduate Class Sizes
Student to Faculty Ratio
Student Population
Additional Information
Student to Faculty Ratio: 3 to 1
Women: 46%
Undergraduate Class Sizes
Under 20: 70%
20 to 39: 14%
40 to 99: 12%
100+: 4%
Student Population
Total: 11,376
Undergraduate: 4,524
Student Residence
In State: 9%
Out of State: 80%
International: 11%
