accepted essays to mit

46 Essays that Worked at MIT

Updated for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle.

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a world-renowned research university based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Known for its prioritization of intellectual freedom and innovation, MIT offers students an education that’s constantly on the cutting-edge of academia. The school’s star-studded roster of professors includes Nobel prize winners and MacArthur fellows in disciplines like technology, biology, and social science. A deeply-technical school, MIT offers students with the resources they need to become specialists in a range of STEM subjects. In many ways, MIT is the gold standard for creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving.

Unique traditions at MIT

1. "Ring Knocking": During the weeks preceding the MIT Commencement Ceremony, graduating students celebrate by finding a way to touch the MIT seal in the lobby of Building 10 with their newly-received class rings. 2. "Steer Roast": Every year in May, the MIT Science Fiction Society hosts a traditional event on the Killian Court lawn for incoming freshmen. During the Steer Roast, attendees cook (and sometimes eat) a sacrificial male cow and hang out outside until the early hours of the morning. 3. Pranking: Pranking has been an ongoing tradition at MIT since the 1960s. Creative pranks by student groups, ranging from changing the words of a university song to painting the Great Dome of the school, add to the quirkiness and wit of the MIT culture. 4. Senior House Seals: The all-senior undergraduate dormitory of Senior House is known for its yearly tradition of collecting and displaying seals, which are emblems that represent the class of the graduating seniors.

Programs at MIT

1. Global Entrepreneurship Lab (G-Lab): G-Lab provides undergraduate and graduate students with the skills to build entrepreneurial ventures that meet developing world challenges. 2. Mars Rover Design Team: This club is part of the MIT Student Robotics program that provides students with the engineering, design, and fabrication skills to build robots for planetary exploration. 3. Media Lab: The Media Lab is an interdisciplinary research lab that explores new technologies to allow individuals to create and manipulate communication presentation of stories, images, and sounds. 4. Independent Activities Period (IAP): A month-long intersession program that allows students to take courses and participate in extracurricular activities from flying classes to volunteering projects and sports. 5. AeroAstro: A club that provides students with the opportunity to learn about aerospace engineering and build model rockets.

At a glance…

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Cambridge, MA

Real Essays from MIT Admits

Prompt: mit brings people with diverse backgrounds and experiences together to better the lives of others. our students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. describe one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you to contribute to your community..

Last year, my European History teacher asked me to host weekly workshops for AP test preparation and credit recovery opportunities: David, Michelangelo 1504. “*Why* is this the answer?” my tutee asked. I tried re-explaining the Renaissance. Michelangelo? The Papacy? I finally asked: “Do you know the story of David and Goliath?” Raised Catholic, I knew the story but her family was Hindu. I naively hadn’t considered she wouldn’t know the story. After I explained, she relayed a similar story from her culture. As sessions grew to upwards of 15 students, I recruited more tutors so everyone could receive more individualized support. While my school is nearly half Hispanic, AP classes are overwhelmingly White and Asian, so I’ve learned to understand the diverse and often unfamiliar backgrounds of my tutees. One student struggled to write idiomatically despite possessing extensive historical knowledge. Although she was initially nervous, we discovered common ground after I asked about her Rohan Kishibe keychain, a character from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. She opened up; I learned she recently immigrated from China and was having difficulty adjusting to writing in English. With a clearer understanding of her background, I could now consider her situation to better address her needs. Together, we combed out grammar mistakes and studied English syntax. The bond we formed over anime facilitated honest dialogue, and therefore genuine learning.

Essay by Víctor

i love cities <3

Prompt: 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.

I slam the ball onto the concrete of our dorm’s courtyard, and it whizzes past my opponents. ******, which is a mashup of tennis, squash, and volleyball, is not only a spring term pastime but also an important dorm tradition. It can only be played using the eccentric layout of our dorm’s architecture and thus cultivates a special feeling of community that transcends grade or friend groups. I will always remember the amazing outplays from yearly tournaments that we celebrate together. Our dorm’s collective GPA may go significantly down during the spring, but it’s worth it.

Essay by Brian

CS, math, and economics at MIT

Prompt: Describe the world you come from (for example, your family, school, community, city, or town). How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?

The fragile glass beaker shattered on the ground, and hydrogen peroxide, flowing furiously like lava, began to conquer the floor with every inch the flammable puddle expanded. This was my solace. As an assistant teacher for a middle school STEM class on the weekends, mistakes were common, especially those that made me mentally pinpoint where we kept the fire extinguishers. However, these mishaps reminded me exactly why I loved this job (besides the obvious luxury of cleaning up spills): every failure was a chance to learn in the purest form. As we conducted chemical experiments or explored electronics kits, I was comforted by the kids’ genuine enthusiasm for exploration—a sentiment often lost in the grade-obsessed world of high school. Accordingly, I tried to help my students recognize that mistakes are often the most productive way to grow and learn. I encouraged my students to persist when faced with failure, especially those who might not have been encouraged in their everyday lives. I was there for students like Nathan, a child on the autism spectrum who reminded me of my older brother with autism. I was there for the two girls in a class of 17, reminding me of my own journey navigating the male-dominated world of STEM. I wanted to encourage them into a lifelong journey of pursuing knowledge and embracing mistakes. I may have been their mentor, but these lessons also serve as a crucial reminder to me that mistakes are not representative of one’s overall worth.

Essay by Sarah J.

cs @ stanford!! lover of STEM, taylor swift, and dogs!

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Someone with the same interests, stats, and background as you

MIT Essays that Worked

Mit essays that worked – introduction.

In this guide, we’ll provide you with several MIT essays that worked. After each, we’ll discuss elements of these MIT essay examples in depth. By reading these sample MIT essays and our expert analysis, you’ll be better prepared to write your own MIT essay. Before you apply to MIT, read on for six MIT essays that worked.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university in Cambridge , Massachusetts. Since its founding in 1861, MIT has become one of the world’s foremost institutions for science and technology . With MIT ranking highly year after year, the low MIT acceptance rate is no surprise. Knowing how to get into MIT means knowing about MIT admissions, the MIT application, and how to write MIT supplemental essays.

MIT Supplemental Essay Requirements

The MIT application for 2022–2023 requires four short essays. Each essay should be up to 200 words in length.

MIT essay prompts :

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., describe the world you come from (for example, your family, school, community, city, or town). how has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations.

• MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds and experiences together to better the lives of others. Our students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you to contribute to your community.
• Tell us about a significant challenge you’ve faced (that you feel comfortable sharing) or something that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?

MIT changes the wording of these prompts a little bit every year. As a result, our MIT essay examples may look a little different from the prompts to which you will be crafting your own responses. However, there is a lot of overlap between current and past prompts and often the underlying questions are the same. In other words, even if the prompts differ, most of our MIT essays that worked are still helpful. Even MIT essay examples for prompts that are gone can be useful as a general sample college essay.

As one of the best universities worldwide, MIT is nearly impossible to get into without a good strategy . Even if you don’t have a stellar ACT or SAT score , your essays may impress admissions officers. Let’s briefly analyze each prompt so we know what to look for in MIT essays that worked.

MIT Essay Prompt Breakdown

1. extracurricular essay.

First, you’ll write about an activity you enjoy, whether it’s baking, doing magic tricks, or writing fanfiction. Remember, strong MIT essay examples for this prompt show genuine enthusiasm and explain why the activity is meaningful. Choose a hobby you can write about with gusto while also showing what it means to you.

2. Your Background Essay

Next, we have a prompt asking about your background. This is a classic question; in every other sample college essay, you find answers to this prompt. This question is intentionally open-ended, allowing you to write about any aspect of your background you’d like. In the MIT essays that worked, the “world” has something important to say about the author’s values or outlook.

3. Community Essay

Then, the third essay asks how you work with diverse groups to contribute to a larger community. MIT wants to see that you can work toward community goals while valuing diverse perspectives. But don’t worry. They don’t expect you to have solved world hunger—pick something that demonstrates what community means to you.

4. Significant Challenge Essay

Lastly, we have the failure essay, which seeks to answer how you persist in the face of adversity. Notice the prompt doesn’t mention “overcoming,” so this can be a time that you completely flat-out failed. Everyone handles setbacks differently, so effective MIT essay examples illustrate the author’s unique way of managing failure. It doesn’t have to be a particularly unique or unusual failure, although that may help you stand out .

How to Apply to MIT

MIT doesn’t accept the Common or Coalition Application. Instead, there’s a school-specific application for all prospective students. The 2022 Early Action MIT application deadline was November 1. The Regular Action MIT application deadline is usually January 1, but it’s been extended this year to January 5, 2023. The financial aid information deadline is February 15, 2023.

Depending on your admissions round, you need to submit all materials to the Apply MIT portal by the specified deadline.

MIT application requirements

• Basic biographical information, including your intended area of study
• Four supplemental essays
• A brief list of four extracurricular activities that are meaningful to you
• Self-reported coursework information
• A Secondary School Report from your guidance counselor, including your transcript
• Two letters of recommendation : MIT recommends one from a STEM teacher and one from a humanities teacher.
• SAT or ACT scores —MIT is not test-optional for 2022–2023!
• The February Updates form with your midyear grades (goes live in mid-February)

Furthermore, interviews are offered to many—but not all—students; not being offered an interview doesn’t negatively reflect on your application. At the end of this article, we compile more resources regarding the rest of the application. If you have specific questions about your application, reach out to the MIT admissions office .

Now that we’ve discussed the prompts and MIT admissions process, let’s read some MIT essays that worked. We have six sample MIT essays to help you learn how to write MIT supplemental essays. And, if you’re looking for more tips on managing the application process, watch our webinar on Building Your College Applications Timeline!

MIT Essay Examples #1 – Cultural Background Essay

The first of our MIT essay examples responds to a prompt that isn’t exactly on this year’s list. Let’s take a look. The prompt for this MIT essay that worked is:

Please tell us more about your cultural background and identity in the space below (100 word limit). If you need more than 100 words, please use the Optional section on Part 2.

Although the wording isn’t identical to any of this year’s prompts, it is similar to prompt #2. Remember, essay prompt #2 asks about the world you come from, which is essentially your background. However, MIT essay examples for this prompt speak more specifically about cultural background. With a shorter word limit, concise language is even more critical in MIT essays that worked for this prompt.

MIT Essays That Worked #1

My dad is black and my mom is white. But I am a shade of brown somewhere in between. I could never wear my mom’s makeup like other girls. By ten, I was tired seeing confused stares whenever I was with my dad. I became frustrated and confused. I talked to my biracial friends about becoming confident in my divergent ancestral roots. I found having both an understanding of black issues in America and of the middle class’ lack of exposure gave me greater clarity in many social issues. My background enabled me to become a compassionate, understanding biracial woman.

Why This Essay Worked

MIT essays that worked effectively show that the author can think about the bigger picture. This author describes their experiences as a biracial woman while addressing the wider scope of racial issues. While you shouldn’t reach to reference irrelevant societal problems, MIT essays that worked do often incorporate big ideas.

In addition, this author mentions conversations with biracial friends. MIT essay examples often include collaboration and community, and this one is no different. Often, sample MIT essays about cultural background will connect that heritage with one’s community. It shows that you value what makes you unique and can find it in others.

Lastly, strong MIT essay examples display reflection and personal growth. Do you understand the ways your experiences have shaped you, and can you write about them? Can you point to areas where you’ve grown as a result of your experiences? MIT essays that worked link the topic and the writer’s personal growth or values.

MIT Essays That Worked #2 – Activities Essay

The second of our MIT essay examples answers a prompt that’s on this year’s list.

In other words, write about a hobby or extracurricular activity—and what it says about you. As we mentioned above, MIT essays that worked for this prompt aren’t all about lofty ambitions. If you don’t read textbooks in your spare time, don’t write an essay claiming that’s your hobby. Be honest, thoughtful, and enthusiastic while finding a way to make your uniqueness show through. Let’s read one of many MIT essays that worked for this prompt.

MIT Essays That Worked #2

Adventuring. Surrounded by trees wider than I am tall on my right and the clear, blue lake on my left. I made it to the top after a strenuous hike and it was majestic. There is no feeling like the harmony I feel when immersing myself in nature on a hike or running through the mud to train for my sprint triathlon or even fighting for a pair of cute boots on black Friday. I take pleasure in each shade of adventure on my canvas of life, with each deliberate stroke leading me to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences.

MIT essays that worked use precise language to appeal to readers’ emotions. Note words like “strenuous,” “majestic,” “harmony,” and “deliberate.” The strategic use of vivid words like this can strengthen MIT essay examples and heighten their impact. But don’t overuse them—like paintings use a variety of shades, you should play with the intensity of your words.

Another benefit of colorful language is conveying meaning more deeply and precisely. Well-written MIT essay examples layer on meaning: this author likes adventuring through nature as well as life. With effective diction, you can make the most of the words you’re given. Consider using metaphors like in this MIT essay conclusion, comparing life to a canvas.

Now, think about your impression of the author after reading this. They’re active, ambitious, and, above all, adventurous. We know they like to challenge themselves (training for a triathlon) but also like fashion (buying cute boots). And we see from their concluding sentence that they have no intention of slowing down or pulling back. In under 100 words, we’ve got a clear snapshot of their worldview and see their adventuring spirit fits MIT.

MIT Essay Examples #3 – Why Major Essay

The third of our MIT essays that worked answers a prompt that isn’t on our list for 2022.

Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why?

This is a classic “Why Major” essay, asked by hundreds of colleges every year. Obviously, the prompt asks about your academic interests . However, it subtly asks about school fit : why is MIT the best place for you to pursue this interest? Although this sample college essay prompt isn’t in this cycle, you should read as many sample MIT essays as possible. MIT essays that worked for the “Why Major” essay prompt illustrated the author’s academic interests and motivations. Let’s see what the next of our sample MIT essays has to say.

MIT Essays That Worked #3

My first step in to the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research was magical. My eyes lit up like Christmas lights and my mind was racing faster than Usain Bolt. I was finally at home, in a community where my passions for biology, chemistry, math, and engineering collided, producing treatments to save lives everywhere.

I pictured myself in a tie-dyed lab coat, watching a tumor grow in a Petri disk then determining my treatment’s effectiveness. If I am admitted to MIT, I look forward to majoring in bioengineering and shaping and contributing to the forefront of bioengineering research.

Earlier, we said that MIT essays that worked use vivid language to drive home their point. This sample college essay is no different. Describing their instantaneous reaction, the author pulls us into their headspace to share in their delight. Following that, they show us their vision for the future. Finally, they state directly how they’ll work toward that vision at MIT.

This author points out that bioengineering aligns with their interests across math and the sciences. There’s no rule saying you can’t be purely into math, but MIT strives to cultivate the world’s leading minds. Many MIT essays that worked present the author as a multifaceted person and intellectual. If you write a Why Major essay for a STEM field, it may be worth your while to take an interdisciplinary angle.

Among other parts of these MIT essays that worked in the author’s favor is the mention of an experience. Many model MIT essay examples directly reference the author’s life experiences to connect them with their interest. For instance, this author frames their essay with a visit to a cancer research institute. We don’t know if it’s a tour or an internship—the reason for their visit is less important than the impact.

MIT Essay Examples #4 – Community Essay

At this point, we’ve gone through half of our MIT essay examples. Moving on, we’ll read three MIT essays that worked for prompts (nearly) identical to this year’s. Next, we’ve got a prompt asking about community contributions.

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.

It’s very similar to this year’s third prompt, with one crucial difference. The current prompt asks for “one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you .” While past MIT essay examples for this prompt could have focused on individual efforts, now you should focus on group efforts. In particular, groups where “people who are different from you” also play key roles. This is intentionally open-ended, allowing for endless kinds of differences.

With that said, let’s continue with our MIT essay examples.

MIT Essays That Worked #4

“I’m going to Harvard,” my brother proclaimed to me. My jaw dropped. My little brother, the one who I taught to pee in the toilet, the one who played in the pool with me every day of the summer for 7 years, the one who threw me in the trash can 3 months ago, had finally realized the potential I have seen in him since he was a little kid. And I was thrilled.

He told me that after attending the Harvard basketball program, he knew that attending college was the perfect opportunity for him to continue playing the sport he loved as well as get a very good education. His end goal (this is where I almost cried) was to become an engineer at Nike. The best part, though, is that he asked me to help him achieve it. 

I was astounded that he thought so highly of me that he trusted me to help him. That night, we began discussing various fields of engineering that he could pursue, as well as the internship opportunities that he classified as “so cool.” As soon as school started, I bought him a planner and taught him to keep his activities organized. I go over homework with him and my baby brother almost every night.

I love using my knowledge to contribute to my family with my knowledge. I am so proud of my brother and our progress. I cannot wait to see him grow as he works to achieve his dream.

Perhaps while reading the prompt, you thought all MIT essays that worked discussed setting up a food bank or working at a hospital. Not so! What really matters for this essay is the impact the community has on you. In sample MIT essays like this one, we see just how important the writer’s family is to them. If your family means the world to you, don’t shy away from writing about them!

On the other hand, while many sample MIT essays discuss family, the best ones remember to center the author. It may seem selfish, but in an applicant pool of over 30,000 , you must stand out. You have to beat that low MIT acceptance rate by putting your best foot forward. Notice how the author’s feelings and thoughts show through in their interactions and reactions. Even in recounting their past with their little brother, you see them as a caring, playful older sibling. They’re thoroughly proud of their brother, his ambitions, and the trust he’s placed in them.

MIT Essay Examples #5 – Describe Your World 

The fifth of our MIT essay examples answers a prompt in circulation this year. Hooray!

This “world” is open-ended to allow writers to explore the communities and people that have shaped them. This essay calls for deep introspection; can you find a common thread connecting you to your “world”? Some MIT essays that worked discuss family traditions, other city identities, etc. Whatever you choose, it should reflect who you are now and who you want to become.

MIT Essays That Worked #5

I was standing on the top row of the choir risers with my fellow third graders. We were beside the fourth graders who were beside the fifth graders. My teacher struck the first chords of our favorite song and we sang together, in proud call and response “Ujima, let us work together. To make better our community. We can solve! Solve our problems with collective work and responsibility.”

Then the students playing African drums and the xylophones on the floor began the harmonious percussion section and we sang again with as much passion as nine-year-olds can muster. This was my world. As a child, my community was centered around my school. At my school we discovered that if you love something enough, and work hard enough for it, you can do great things for both yourself and others around you.

In the years since I left, I reflected back on the lessons I learned at school. I determined I wanted to focus on the things I love – mathematics, science, and helping others. I also want to harmonize my abilities with those of other people so that we can work together to make the world a better place. Today I aspire to work in integrative research as a bioengineer to address the pressing medical issues of today.

For those who don’t know, ujima is the Swahili word for collective work and responsibility. The most well-crafted MIT essay examples employ narrative devices like framing and theme to leave a lasting impression. This essay, for example, introduces ujima with the choir scene—which itself is collective work—then reflects on the general concept. In every sentence, this writer works with the idea of collaboration and the positive power of the collective.

Among sample MIT essays, this can be challenging if you haven’t thought critically about your past and present. This writer clearly values collective responsibility and sees their future through that lens. They speak directly to their interests and their aspirations of bioengineering. All in all, they show careful consideration of ideas that have influenced them and the direction they want to take.

MIT Essay Examples #6 – Significant Challenge

The last of our MIT essays that worked answers a prompt nearly identical to one from this year.

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? 

The only difference is that this year’s prompt indicates you should feel comfortable sharing what you write about. This seems obvious, but you may be surprised how many students dredge up traumatic experiences in sample college essays. The issue isn’t that these experiences are unpleasant to read; on the contrary, they may be painful to write about. Although many MIT sample essays are somewhat vulnerable, you don’t have to write about experiences you’d rather keep to yourself.

With that said, let’s read the last of our MIT essay examples.

*Please be advised that the following essay example contains discussions of anxiety and panic attacks. 

Mit essays that worked #6.

Ten o’clock on Wednesday, April 2016. Ten o’clock and I was sobbing, heaving, and gasping for air. Ten o’clock and I felt like all my hard work, passion, and perseverance had amounted to nothing and I was not enough. It was ten o’clock on a Wednesday, but it all started in August of 2015. I moved cities in August 2015. I knew the adjustment would be hard, but I thought if I immersed myself in challenging activities and classes I loved, I would get through the year just fine.

I was wrong. With each passing month I experienced increased anxiety attacks, lack of satisfaction in any and every activity, and constant degradation of my personal happiness. By April, I was broken. Naked, bent over the toilet, sweating, shaking, choking on the tightening of my own throat, thinking “not enough, not enough, not enough.” 

It was extremely challenging to pick myself up after such a hard fall. When I finally made it out of the bathroom, I crawled to my room and read “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. Her struggle encouraged me to rise to this challenge stronger than I had been before. I prioritized my own happiness and fulfillment, taking care of my body and mind.

I finally realized I did not have to do everything on my own, and began collaborating with my peers to finish the year strong and begin initiatives for the next year. I became a stronger, more confident woman than ever before.

Now, you may understand why this year’s wording includes “that you feel comfortable sharing.” While the author’s vivid description helps immerse us in the moment, a reader may hope they’re okay now. Again, you don’t need to strictly avoid traumatizing moments—but don’t feel obligated to share anything you don’t want to. In any case, the diction is indeed very precise and helps convey just how shaken the author was.

Furthermore, we see how the author dealt with this challenge: they were inspired by Maya Angelou. This ability to seek and find strength beyond yourself is crucial, especially in an ever more connected world. At the end of the essay, the writer notes how they’ve changed by working with others to accomplish goals. Their renewed confidence has made them even stronger and more willing to face challenges.

MIT Essay Examples – Key Takeaways

So after reading six sample MIT essays, what do you think? What are the takeaways from these MIT essays that worked? It goes without saying that you should read more sample MIT essays if you can. Additionally, when you draft your own MIT essays, take time to revise them and have other people read them.

MIT Essays that Worked Takeaways

1. discuss experiences.

The best MIT essay examples keep it real by talking about the author’s experiences. Can you think critically about how they have made you who you are? Find ways to address the prompt with your background and life experiences. You may also find sample MIT essays easier to write when they’re rooted in your reality.

2. Use precise language

Two hundred words are, in fact, not that much space. MIT essays that worked use every word to paint a vivid picture of the writer and their world. Mark Twain said it best: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is … the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.” Choose your words carefully to refine your meaning and strengthen your impact.

3. Reflect on yourself

In college essays, it’s all about you and your personal narrative . So don’t miss any opportunity to introspect on your experiences, community, and personal growth. Demonstrate that you know yourself well enough to point to specific influences on your worldview. We all move through the world in different ways—why do you move the way you do?

4. Be genuine

You’ve heard this a thousand times, and we’ll say it again: be yourself . While you hear all about the typical MIT student and what MIT looks for , we’re all unique individuals. As, or even more, important than good scores or a huge activities list is an accurate representation of you . Write about extracurriculars and subjects and communities that are important to you—not what you think will sound impressive.

Additional MIT Resources from CollegeAdvisor

We have a wealth of resources on how to get into MIT here at CollegeAdvisor.com. We’ve got a comprehensive article on the MIT admissions process, from the MIT acceptance rate to deadlines.

MIT Admissions

Speaking of the acceptance rate, we take a closer look at that, too.

MIT Acceptance Rate

If you’re wondering about MIT tuition and costs, read our breakdown .

MIT Tuition & MIT Cost

Finally, we’ve got a guide covering application strategy from start to finish.

Strategizing Your MIT Application

MIT Essays that Worked – Final thoughts

Placing among the top American universities, we see MIT ranking highly every year, and for good reason. By the same token, it’s very challenging to get admitted. So, in order to get in, you need to know how to write MIT supplemental essays.

We read through several MIT essays that worked and identified strengths in our MIT essay examples. Use these tips when writing your own essays to craft a strong application!

This article was written by  Gina Goosby . Looking for more admissions support? Click  here  to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how  CollegeAdvisor.com  can support you in the college application process.

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How to Write the MIT Essays 2020-2021

The recording will load in a moment., about this livestream, massachusetts institute of technology | mit.

Learn how to write the MIT essays and distinguish yourself as an applicant that is the right fit for MIT.

Hale Jaeger will provide an in-depth breakdown of each of the essays, discussing how to optimize and tailor a response to each one by breaking down the purpose of the prompts.

He'll also open up the floor to answer any and all questions about the MIT-specific essay prompts. If you’re not sure where to start, this livestream will help you figure out the best plan for you.

Video Transcript:

In today's presentation on writing the MIT application essays for the 2020 2021 cycle, I am a current senior at Yale University. So while I am not an MIT student, and can't necessarily answer all of your questions about what it's like to go to MIT, this is my fifth year working with CollegeVine through the admission cycle. So I have lots of experience with writing these kinds of essays. So I'm really prepared to answer those questions. So please, please feel free to throw those questions into the chat box on your screens throughout the evening. I will try to answer the questions as we go. But if not, if I don't get to your question, in the moment, we are going to end with a q&a session. So if I don't get to your questions in the beginning, I'll try to make sure to answer them by the time we wrap up for the night. Without further ado, though, I'm going to jump right in to the presentation. And so that starts with just what we're going to be covering today. We'll start with a little bit of background about MIT and about the college applications process. And then we'll take take a deep dive into each of the essays that you will be asked to answer and asked to write for the MIT application. And like I said, we'll end with opening the floor for q&a.

So just to jump into the background, MIT is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge is contiguous to Boston. It's also the home of Harvard University. So it has a lot of connections with Boston and with other institutions, namely Harvard, and you can actually take some classes at Harvard if you're an MIT student, and vice versa. It is a really highly regarded institution as well as ranked number three and a tie. US News and World Report's for 2020. And it's especially well known for its STEM programs, though it is also really highly regarded for its business program. It's definitely a selective school, and it offers an early action rather than early decision. But if you're not ready to, if you haven't already submitted your application, if you're watching this presentation, you're likely headed for the regular action deadline, or maybe you're prepping for next year. And so that early action is something to keep in mind.

Just a quick overview on what's important to know about college essays is that these are part of the holistic application process, they are not necessarily going to be considered for exactly 30% of your application, but they do get a pretty heavy weight, because they are the best place for a reader to get to know you and your personality. So usually, these essays are about 700 words or fewer anywhere between really 100 to 700. And some schools ask you to write several and other schools only asked for one or two, as you saw MIT is on the longer end, and that they ask for more than one essay, but they're all fairly short. And these are a great place to reveal something about yourself who you are, again, this is part of that personal component of the application. And so you want to be sure to convey something meaningful about your personality and who you are beyond your grades and your test scores. And whatever else is on your resume. It's important to know that MIT is not on the common app. It has its own application. And so for that reason, they asked a bunch of questions. And none of them is a personal statement per se, but they have questions that span the entire spectrum of what a college might ask. And so they're fairly straightforward. But that doesn't mean you can give generic answers, you definitely want to make them personal to you and to MIT, in order to build a connection with the school as we go forward. And so make sure you are using authentic reasoning and specific details that added personal dimension to your writing, and helps you to stand out.

And the case of a school like MIT that has so many essays, you have to treat them sort of as a portfolio. What that means is that they shouldn't all be considered in a vacuum. Each of them is going to be one facet of your application and the same reader is going to look at all the essays you submit. So they'll have some context that That being said, they don't necessarily read them all. In order, so you don't want to rely on one or site one in another essay, they should each stand alone, but they should provide a different dimension of your cohesive application, they should complement one another, not be repetitive.

So jumping into the MIT essays, as I said, they're not using the common application, they use my MIT their own proprietary application product. And so what that looks like is five unique supplementary essays, plus one additional optional essay that I'll talk about at the very end. And so as you're starting those off, we're just going to read through what the prompts are that you're going to be asked to respond to. The first prompt is describe the world you come from, for example, you're fed family clubs, school, community, city or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations 250 words or fewer. The second prompt asks you to 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 in 100 words or fewer. The third prompt asks, 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 in 200 to 250 words. And then the last two prompts here are at MIT, we can 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 to 250 words. And lastly, tell us about the most significant challenge you faced or something important that didn't go according to plan. How did you manage the situation 200 to 250 words. Like I said, there's also that optional essay at the end, which asks you to in 150 words, or fewer talk about your cultural background if it's been important to you.

So jumping forward into the first prompt, as we do that, I want to throw a question to you guys. So I'll be launching a poll, it'll be great to get some feedback from you just to understand where everyone is in the cycle. So I'll be asking you some questions throughout, please do give me some answers there, because it'll be really helpful for us. But without any further ado, we're going to talk about the first question about the world you came from. Whether that means your family clubs, school, community, city or town, and they want to know how it shaped your dreams and aspirations. So what this essay is asking you to do is reflect on your past and your present, to see how it's shaped your future. And so this is a pretty common essay type. It's asking you about your community and the place that you call home. So start maybe by thinking about your aspirations, and working backwards, what are your goals? What do you hope to achieve, especially after college, and how has your community helped you to realize those goals to understand and recognize them. You can also work you know from in a chronological kind of way, rather than working backwards from your aspirations. You can think about it in terms of what is a community that's really important to me, which community is really formative in my life? And what has it taught me and which goals and aspirations because has that influenced, so you can work at it from either direction. But as this last bullet says, you're reflecting on the past and present, to take a look into the future, that's going to be something that you hear me say a lot in this presentation. And in every other one. It's all about taking your past experiences, and seeing where they're headed and seeing where they're directing you to.

So, to give an example of what this kind of essay might look like, we have an example here about breathing fresh air. Okay. So maybe you are somebody who has grown up in a very smoggy city like Los Angeles or Beijing. Beijing is a really interesting example because it's a place where the air quality is so bad, a lot of the time that people are often seen wearing masks, even pre pandemic. And so, you grew up in this place, or maybe you spent a couple years there, and it made you realize how important it is for us to transition towards green energy and that has sort of fueled your passion for sustainability and green technologies and eco friendly practice. And so now you want to study environmental engineering, and architecture. And that's what you're interested in pursuing as a career. It doesn't necessarily have to be a career goal that you explore here, especially because you do answer a question about your major in the next product. But that's a usually a pretty good concrete place to pin an aspiration, you don't necessarily have to stick to what this is, this is not asking you to set your future in stone, of course, but it's an example for you to keep in the back of your mind.

Another example of an essay, responding to this prompt might be about a children's hospital, for example, if your parents work as pediatric nurses at the Children's Hospital nearby, and you spent a lot of time there watching your parents work with these kids. And to the point where the hospital is basically your second home, and you're observing, and you're learning and you're taking it all in, and maybe you grew up and you started volunteering at the hospital. And you could focus on a lot of different things. Why, for example, you know, if it was really painful for you to see kids suffer, but you also get to see this glimpse of hope, and people who really care about getting better and making other people better. And seeing how much joy The staff was able to bring to the patients to their families, and the community around you. So maybe this is, you know, undercutting your, or underscoring your motivation to go to medical school or to become a nurse yourself, like your parents and spread hope, you know, in this kind of setting.

So just sort of in conclusion on this type of essay, and this particular prompt, every one of the examples that I mentioned here is recreating or retelling an important story, and maybe a moment a single anecdote that analyzes how the world that you're talking about, led to the realization of the goals and aspirations you have for the future. So it's that it's that future look that forward facing direction, towards personal growth, that shows what this essay is really asking you to do, which is to reflect on what your dreams are, and where they came from. And while this, this says, preferably tied to your career, and missions, partly because that's an easy way to put it in perspective of your own future. But it doesn't necessarily have to be related to your career, it can absolutely be a more personal goal, especially if you're like me, and you had no clue what you wanted to do when you graduated upon applying to college.

One key thing here, as is going to be important for pretty much every essay you write from here on out, specificity conveys authenticity. So the danger of writing a generic essay is that it doesn't actually share very much about you personally, as but so the more detail you can include, the more if this feels like you, this feels like your voice. And I can get a sense as a reader of who you are and what you'll bring to my campus at MIT. And so that's a really good rule of thumb, that you should be thinking of whenever you write a personal essay like this, you know, am I being as specific as I can be? I haven't stopped to check for questions yet. So I just want to take a quick moment to see if you guys have any questions. So far, I'm not seeing any. So I'm going to keep on going I'm also going to throw another poll your way, just to see where we are in the process. Prompt two is a why major question. They're asking you which field of study that MIT offers is going to be appealing to you right now. And tell us more about why this field of study appeals to you. So it's really just asking you, why do you want to study what you want to study. And the key phrase here that a lot of schools don't include, but which everyone implies is right now, this is not something you are signing with. In blood, these are not writing this in stone, you are 100% free to change your major. Most people change their major at least once during their college career. I changed my major twice in the last couple years. So you are absolutely by no means committed to the major that you write this essay about.

And you'll notice you'll know only got 100 words maximum to write this essay. So you have to really condense what you want to say down into this and while specificity is still important or A lot less room here for detail. And in the other 200 to 250 words that MIT is asking you to write. This is a really standard, straightforward question. None of MIT's questions are kind of out to get you or fool you or trick, you may just want to know, what are the reasons that you want to study this field. And you want to give something that we call authentic reason? These are not things related to prestige, or post graduation salary. Or just because what's what your parents want you to do. They want to know what you're passionate about, and why. What are the past experiences you've had, that have influenced your decision to pursue this further in the future? How have you interacted with this in ways that have been meaningful to you. And so you want to be able to tie this from your past into your future at MIT. And MIT actually has pretty distinctive majors, I think they call them courses rather than majors. So you're gonna want to check out what their programs are called, because they do have unique titles. And as a result also might have some interesting curricular emphases that aren't necessarily common at every single school. So you want to check that out for sure. So you want to see what resources they have on offer, and talk about how you'll be taking advantage of those. So this functions primarily as the Why Major essay, but it's really asking you why do you want to study this at MIT? So you want to make sure that it's not a generic essay, it's specific to MIT programs and what they have on offer. If you're undecided at the moment, that's totally okay. Like I said, most people change their majors a couple times, I actually gave another presentation a little while ago, about how to write a wide major essay if you're undecided. And so I won't go too much into it here. But basically, you just want to find a couple things, one or two things that you're interested in pursuing or exploring, maybe you're not, you know, committed to, but you want to check it out a little more. And talk about why you think these might be potential areas of interest for you. Even if they're not things you want to solidly say, this is what I'm studying. And again, as always, specificity is going to be your best friend here.

So for example, with MIT, you might want to study electrical engineering, and computer science or eeks. Because that's going to really help you start a startup in your future, and helps you look at both the hardware and the software sides of things. And it has a new curriculum in place at MIT with more flexibility and interdisciplinary study and independence for the undergrads. So you have the opportunity to explore eeks, as a department, specifically at MIT. And you also might want to talk about entrepreneurship, Since launching a startup obviously, takes some business acumen. And so, as I said, at the beginning of the presentation, MIT has a very strong business program and economics program. So you might want to be able to connect with those programs, and see what's going on, and the Sloan School of Business. And that'll really help you to get yourself off the ground with this kind of essay.

You might also want to be talking about specific researchers that you want to work with, or specific classes that you're excited to take. So you don't want to necessarily pin yourself down if you're undecided. And they get that. But there are lots of ways to make this specific without feeling like you're committing to something you're not passionate about. Again, I want you to make sure that you're talking about this in a way that shows how clear your passion is. Whether that's for research, or for entrepreneurship, or anything that you're thinking of pursuing a major and because prestige and clout are not going to translate as passion, it's going to be really easy to tell. So if you are interested in something it makes for a great story, make sure you just focus on those long term goals and what you are hoping to get out of this program at MIT and tie it back to your past experiences. I know that that's a really tall order to place into a very short essay. So the art attire, there's not a ton of room for detail, but you can make sure that you get some good information in there.

The next piece of the application puzzle that we're putting together here is about question about something that you enjoy. You know, what is something that you do not because you have to, but because you want to 200-250 words is a pretty generous margin here. And it lets you really explore something, this is probably one of your extracurricular activities. But it also might just be a hobby. So what do you do in your free time. And you're going to want to use this opportunity to discuss something you haven't talked about in other essays. And that goes back to the idea of essays as a portfolio. And again, like with the major, you want to be honest, here, you don't choose something that sounds impressive. You rather you'd rather put something forward that demonstrates your genuine, authentic passion, or something.

That being said, being honest, doesn't necessarily mean using an idea that isn't reflective of who you are, and what you will bring to MIT, you still want to be putting your best foot forward. So for example, you want to choose something that is going to show that you can think meaningfully and maturely about something, scrolling through your Tik tok, or looking at memes all day isn't going to be something that resonates really strongly with an admissions reader. You probably want something a little more substantive here, volunteering, maybe if that's meaningful to you, it might be a job that you have, it might be babysitting for your younger siblings or cousins, this can be one of those things that you just love to do. And you do it without being asked, because it's something you want to do. And so you can approach this essay structure, once you have a topic in your mind, you can take it in one of two directions, okay? Either stick to the moment in time method, which is you know, a brief anecdote about a specific episode in which you were doing this activity. And you want to just tell that story recreating a single moment in time, I can raise how much you love it, or you want to look at it from a longitudinal method, you know, saying, This is what I love. This is how I discovered it. This is how I've engaged with it and how I've grown through it, this is what it's taught me, and this is how I hope to continue doing it in the future. Um, you're going to want to incorporate some elements of both, for example, even if you're doing the longitudinal method, you want to include details of a meaningful moment, to give authenticity to it. But the moment in time also has to have some context to it some explanation, you can't just drop yourself right in the middle of the story and never explain how we got there. And so I want to give an example to show what this might look like. So if your passions when you love to do is sunset photography, maybe you want to tell a moment in time story about when you were sitting on a pier, and watching the sun go down and you lift up the camera. And as the colors on the sky just sort of turned this gorgeous gradient and the sun hits the horizon, you take a photo, and you hear the click and you just feel all your stress melt away. That's a great moment in time that shows what really vivid imagery, something that makes you feel right.

But maybe you want to approach it a different way. Talking about the first time you ever took a photo personally ever had a camera in your hands. And you went on this sort of long journey, taking pictures of lots of different things until you finally settled on sunsets. And what does that mean for you? You know, what have you gotten out of this? Maybe it's a question of understanding balance and perspective. Either way, no matter what direction you're taking this, you want to be telling us what you do that you love, why you love it, and while how this activity has shaped you and what you've learned from it, what you've gained from it. Okay, so the lessons you've learned are going to be important here. And make sure again, try to throw in some good details here. It makes it seem really authentic and meaningful and personalizes the essay and makes you stand out. A second option here Another example might be to talk about Rubik's cubes. You love doing Rubik's cubes, you've been doing them forever, you know all sizes from the force side. Now four sided the two by two grid, two things that are huge. Maybe not even cubes at all. So you just love to solve puzzles, you love challenges, and you love trying to do better than you did last time. And so you can do this again moment in time focusing on a single solve. Or you can make it more of a narrative from growing and from the basic Rubik's cube to the more complex ones and how you see challenges. And you know that there's some method, and you're just trying to figure out what that looks like and how to make it work. And yes, this is kind of a nerdy thing. But again, this is the MIT application after all, so you're in good company, if you are worried about it being too nerdy. Just to summarize, you want to use good imagery, good details to tell a compelling story. This is a very show don't tell, because this isn't a new love. This is something you're passionate about, you shouldn't have to describe it. And then bullet point kind of way, this is very pathos filled essay, ideally.

Moving on to the next of the essays, I want to ask you guys another quick question. So feel free to answer in the polls again. This essay, number four here is about your impact, and your community and the people around you, and how you work to improve the lives of those around you. And whether that's your community, family, classroom, neighborhood, whatever that means. And so this is a really broad question asking you to talk about a time or a way in which you cared about other people. And so, if you look at the examples, they give family, classroom neighborhood, big challenges being a good friend, you don't need to go with something massive, it doesn't have to be I have created lasting peace in the Middle East. Like that's not really what they're going for here. They want to know, what human interactions Do you have, that you use to improve the world. And so you don't have to panic if you haven't cured cancer, you're okay. It can be as simple as being a good friend having the ability to support people who need to be supported in your life. That's totally okay. So just think about a time where you made a positive impact in the world around you and the community around you in the lives of the people around you. Show that you're generous that you want to make a difference that you work hard to make a difference, and put in good emphasis on what that outcome looks like. What did you do? And how did it pay off for the other people involved? In addition, this is another essay where you want to have gotten something out of this experience. We want to know what it changed about you. Why does this matter to you? And how did you grow is really sort of the key here. So maybe you volunteered with the Red Cross or at a local retirement home, maybe you found it a club at school that was about bringing education to children in need, it doesn't matter what your cause is, or how it word you can take. Maybe it was just a time that you stood up for someone who was being picked on. Um, do you just have to give meaning to it? If it's meaningful for you that'll come across? Maybe so tying in that personal significance that personal development is going to make it seem like it matters in ways that we might not get otherwise from such a short essay. So give that act personal meaning, and we want to know what we're supposed to learn about you from this, you know, maybe you'd want to compare yourself before and after. But that might be a stretch given the length of the essay.

So an example here might be you tutored a teammate or a friend, somebody on your varsity sports team was struggling in math, for example, worried about failing and didn't really see the point. Just thought that they were bad at math. And that was it. So you decided you were going to help to tutor that friend and do it for free every week, and just help as in any way you can? Because it's something that makes sense to you. And maybe you work with them every week for a month or two months and finally they get their first a on a test or a homework. And they're really excited by that they are not just getting it not understanding Getting the concepts but understanding why they're important. And maybe they even start to like math, maybe they don't. But just what is the outcome there? And then what did you get out of it, maybe you learned that you really like to teach maybe that maybe you gained a new appreciation for math or learned new study tactics, that help you to understand concepts in ways that bring other subjects together in ways you hadn't anticipated. So maybe was a What do you get out of it, but in a way that is very spiritual and not material. Make sure you're emphasizing your generosity here in a humble way, by getting that outcome and what you got out of it as well. Um, so that's one example.

A second example might center on food waste, for example, perhaps you realize that your school has just a huge amount of food waste going on. So you work with administration, and maybe the student council and sustainability group and you push for composting as a system within your school. And you help to reduce waste in that way, and you work with the principal and the school board, and you make it happen, not just in your school, but all over the district, you know, and this sparks, you know, an interest in sustainability and environmental engineering or environmental studies, it doesn't have to start that it doesn't have to jumpstart it, per se, but maybe it furthers it, or it gives it a new perspective. Now, which one of the ways in which you've grown? Okay, so the situation, the way you did the outcome, and what you how you grew from that.

Um, we have one more of the main essays here, before we get to this sort of optional secret essay that they've hidden on their application. And this last one is about the most significant challenge that you faced, or something that didn't go according to plan and how you manage that. Cuse me, I'm sorry. So it's asking you about either the most significant challenge you faced, or something important that didn't go to plan. Either away, you can't, you're not going to go wrong with this essay. I will say you don't have to necessarily focus on the most significant challenge that you faced, okay. But you do want to focus on something that has some weight, some gravity to it. Because you want to make sure that you're not trivializing this. They're trying to figure out how you handle truly difficult situations, and what you take away from them, and what you put into them. So as you go through it, make sure you are describing the significance of this situation, why it's important to you. Because, again, if it is too trivial, it'll look like you're not taking it seriously, or you don't know how to engage with real challenges.

And so that's not to say you have to write about something that is really difficult for you to talk about still. But you shouldn't be writing about getting a B on a calculus test, you know, it should be something that does have some meaning, some significance to it. And so you want to think about what happened, what you did, and the steps that you took, and you want to show what came with it, you know, what was the outcome in general? And also, how did you grow? Again, just like the last essay and some of the other ones before that. We want to know what happened in your past? And where is it leading in your future? Why was this challenge so important to you? You know, what was your reaction in the moment? What was your reaction leader and how did you approach a solution? And how did this challenge you to grow and mature in important ways. Again, common mistakes include choosing something that's just far too trivial, like doing poorly on one task is not really going to help here. You also want to avoid things that are really cliche. For example, a sports injury. Okay, that's something that lots of readers have read a million times. And so you want to be able to put a unique spin on something like this. Something that you definitely want to try to avoid often includes romantic relationships and breakups, those are often a little too personal and difficult to make serious and mature. So you want to stick to something a little more workable.

For example, if you didn't want to do something about the sports injury, so it's a really significant challenge, you want to spin it in a new way. Maybe instead of classic story, which you can picture as, like a training montage in your head, no, I got injured, I couldn't play in a big game, I had to go through rehab and physical therapy, eventually, I got back on the field the next season, and we and I was, was able to lead the team to a state championship title, that story is a little played out. A more unique approach might be you got injured, and then you were forced to stay away from the sport. And so you picked up a new hobby, like writing. And now you love English, and you want to go into journalism. And so, you know, maybe, or maybe you got injured, and you started to sell on the sidelines a lot and you love realize you love the strategy and sort of the philosophy of the game more than you actually like playing it. And that's how you got into political science, or chess or something new and different, you know, so it's, you're skipping the cliche, and you're going in a new direction, something that is surprising to a reader.

Another example might be something, we have the Bandung Conference. If you went to Model United Nations, and you were on this panel, in this conference, you showed up, you've been preparing for months and months and months, but one of the other delegates couldn't make it got sick. So you needed to suddenly switch sides, you had to be on the opposite side from the one you'd prepared for. This could be very scary. But instead of panicking, you get as much information as you can in a short time. And maybe you get there and they call on you and you still blank, you still have no idea what to say you ask them to come back to you. And so they circle back and you still make, you know, a confident, articulate argument. And even if you don't come out on top, in this situation, you've learned something about the importance of preparation, but also the importance of being flexible, being adaptable to new situations and changing conditions.

a different example might be about a robotics club experience, where you start the competitive Robotics Competition club at your school, you get the interest in students together, and you get it approved. But for some reason, the administration decides they don't want this club around. And they reject your proposal. And then you get other people to rally around you, you get support from other peers and maybe faculty, and you figure out exactly why this would be beneficial to your school community. Maybe they still say no, even if you don't persuade this school board, maybe you realize you enjoyed the research of it and the debate. And so you've gone now and joined the debate club instead, and you found your people there. And something has been really important to helping you discover this new passion that you wouldn't have otherwise realized. So this is a sort of way to spin a different type of essay out of something that could be a really typical question.

Before we go into the last, sort of what we've labeled the secret essay. I have a cup and one more poll for you for now. Another one's coming soon. Don't worry, I know you were worried about more polls. So please do give us a little bit of feedback. But as I'm going into the secret prompt, what I want to say about it, is that we call it the secret prompt because it's not listed on their website. Rather, it only appears on the application and it's an optional prompt. Please tell us more about your cultural background and identity in the space below 150 words or fewer. And so it is optional, technically here and there is some overlap with prompt one. But you should still consider answering this question. We like to say the most optional things on these applications are not truly optional, you should still consider them as mandatory. There are very few exceptions. For example, Duke University asks about being a member of the LGBTQIA plus community? And if that's an important part of your identity, and if it's not, you should definitely not answer that question. But this kind of question is one that a lot of applicants can relate to, you have something in your background that's meaningful and has had some influence on your life experience. So this might relate to your minority status in some way, your religion, or your ethnicity or your nationality, but it could also relate to other aspects of your identity. And so you don't want to rule it out just because it says it's optional. And again, here, you have the option to do more moment in time or more longitudinal. Now, is there one example of a story that really helps display why your background is important to you? Or is it something that's easier told, by talking about the entire course if your life, you know, either approaches valid, you might want to think about, you know, your weekly family dinners, say, if you, you know, have lots of big families, and within your larger extended family, you have lots of cousins and aunts and uncles, and they all converge for dinner every Sunday. And you get to tell stories, your you know, your older relatives tell stories about the old country, and they have celebrations that are specific to your culture, maybe that's something that's really important. And you want to focus in on something like that. But again, narrative show don't tell specificities, your best friend and these kinds of things.

And that does bring us right towards the end, I want to summarize, before we move to the q&a portion of this call here of this presentation, the most important things I want you to take away from this presentation are that you want to be articulating your active role, your past and present in something and how it points to your future, the ways you've grown from what you do, and where you are and who you are. You want to use specific details so you can show and not tell and convey your passion in an authentic way. And you want to, you know, get feedback throughout the process. Ask the people around you, teachers, advisors, parents, or you could use college vines free tools to get your essay peer reviewed. So feel free to get other perspectives on this, throw other eyes at these essays, once you've written drafts, because you want to be able to give these the best you can and show off who you are.

And that does sort of bring us to the end of this presentation. So I'm going to stop sharing my screen. And I am going to open up for questions from you guys. Because I want to be able to answer the questions that you have about these types of essays and these options here. And what that looks like. I know I've talked a lot at you in the last 45 minutes or so. So I don't want to keep blathering at you if you have specific questions or specific specific things that you want to know. So please start putting those questions in the chat box. I haven't seen any just yet. So I'm really excited to see what you guys are interested in learning about writing these essays. A brief note is that the presentation that I've just given here is being recorded. And so you'll be able to access it at any point in the future. Just by going back to this website, you'll be able to share it if you would like or you can just revisit. And that same that same thing is true for all of the presentations that we give here at CollegeVine. They're always free and they're always available. So if there's anything that you are interested in, that you think there might be another presentation about already, for example, writing the Why major essay, especially if you're undecided. You can go back and check that out. Um, and it will be in our archives You can also go back and check out our college fair from a couple weeks ago, where we had students from all different universities, giving panels and talks about what their student experiences like. You can go back and see, you know, what do MIT students have to say about being at MIT? So these are things that you can absolutely investigate further for free through CollegeVine. But at the same time, I'm here live right now to answer questions that you have. So please, please do give those questions up to us. Or if you have any feedback on how this presentation went for you what you're hoping to see more from CollegeVine in the future, you can put that in the box as well. And we'll review it and we'll take it into account. I am going to continue talking until I have some questions.

Great. We have one question here. Because these prompts are on the shorter side, should students aim to write in a narrative style or to summarize events so that there's more room for the meaning? This is a great question. And one that's not necessarily confined to these essays, you know, short essays, I think, are some of the most difficult ones to write. Because you have so much to say, I would still recommend using anecdotes here, because they are much more personal, and can show a lot about you and how you think and what your voice sounds like. You should definitely be reserving room for explicit analysis, you know, so in a 250 word essay, you should be devoting at least 50-75 words to analysis here. And that's not a hard and fast rule, it's rule of thumb, you should be telling a story, and then telling us why that story is important and what it means for your food. And that might take a couple tries to write something and then cut it back and then cut it back and then cut it back. But it's always easier to write more and then cut stuff out than it is to work with a skeleton and try to flesh it out. Because if you think about the word count, you might leave out the most important thing because you just don't get there. So I recommend writing everything you have to say. And then cutting out the fluff and making things more concise and condensing it from there rather than working the other direction. That's a great question.

I'd love to see some other questions as well, about this or about the essays in general for MIT, or just the college applications process? Um, what are the questions that you have about what this might look like and what is expected from you? I definitely want to be able to give you guys the answers that you're looking for. In whatever realm that is that you feel you need guidance in. In the meantime, launching the very last poll while I wait for questions, that's the thing, love. If you guys don't ask me questions, I have time to ask you questions. So we're going to need you to put in some participation here to make sure that we're getting everything shipshape here and answering the questions that you guys feel we haven't yet addressed.

I'm not seeing any new questions rolling in at the moment. So I'm going to give it another minute. I'm going to let it keep keep and keep tabulating and keeping you know, pulling in the things that you guys are putting into the box. But I'm not seeing too much. So it looks like we're sort of drawing to the end of our presentation. I know every time I say that I'm going to wrap it up. That's when the questions start flooding in, because it's just how the karma of the universe works out for these things. But even though I've said the words wrap up, I'm still not seeing lots of new questions. So I'm just going to give it another minute. Before I do call it a night. And again, you guys totally have the option here to come back and watch later. You can also check out which live streams we have coming up and register for those. For example tomorrow we have a live essay review. We have another how to write essays kind of presentation coming up for Georgetown. So I'm going to show you guys that one in case you were hoping to register for something like that. Um I'm sorry if that pulls is coming up for you again, you can feel free to ignore it the second time. But, again, if there's anything that you guys feel was missing from this, please put it in the box. And I'll try to answer it now or we'll take it into consideration for the future. Alrighty, I am still not seeing any new questions coming on in. So I am going to Oh, here we go.

There's one. Usually you're told not to write about personal issues such as politics. What about talking about specific companies that you want to investigate or that you admire? So I'm not exactly sure what context you're thinking of this end. But it's always okay to be talking about the experiences you've had. Um, so if you worked at a company, and it was a really formative experience for you, it changed what you want it to do in the future, for example, that's a really valid experience to write about, because it shaped you into the person who is applying to college today. If you're thinking about it in the future, where you're saying, okay, I had this one experience. And I think I like consulting, for example. And so now I want to explore x consulting firm, that's not necessarily the direction I would take it, you want to think about more resources that are available at MIT, you know, maybe they have a campus consulting firm that you want to explore or business clubs or economics clubs, or things that, you know, are being operated through the Sloan School for business. So you have MIT specific opportunities there. So if that's answering your question, I hope it is, if it's not feel free to put a follow up in the box, and I'll try to address it. But the my general advice is, feel free to talk about your past experiences as they've influenced your future. When thinking about the future, think more in fields and sub topics, and not so much in specific companies, unless that company's doing something truly unique. But you can think about it in this way. And for years, a lot is going to change by the time you graduate from college. The odds that that company is the only one doing what they do is pretty those odds are pretty slim. So maybe I would talk more about the field or the research or the work rather than name dropping a company, especially if it has nothing to do with being a student at MIT.

Right, What other questions do we have? Is there anything else that's sort of outstanding, that we haven't had the opportunity to discuss together? I want to make sure that I'm getting you guys the answers that you're hoping to hear, or that you are excited to hear or need to hear, though those aren't always the same thing. Is there anything else that you guys are missing that you feel we haven't yet touched on that you are hoping to hear more about? Alright, I'm not seeing any new questions. But I'm going to talk pretty slowly. So that I'm making sure not to miss a new question right at the buzzer. Because I know that you guys are hearing me a little bit after I'm talking. So I want to account for that lag. But otherwise, it seems like I can go ahead and wrap this presentation up and bring us home. So thank you guys for asking your questions. Thank you for tuning in tonight. We're always excited to be able to bring you some information that's going to be helpful for you and your application process. As always, best of luck. You guys are excellent and I hope to see you in the future at some of our other streams. Have a great rest of your night.

Undergrad College: Yale University '21

Work Experience: I am a senior at Yale and excited to begin my fifth admissions cycle working with CollegeVine. After four years of working directly with students, I can't wait to engage with the people and the process in new and innovative ways online.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to get into mit: 5 expert admissions tips.

College Admissions , College Info

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of the best schools in the world. If you want to be one of the few students accepted into MIT every year, you'll need to make sure your application is up to snuff.

In this article, we'll break down exactly how to get into MIT, from the test scores you need to the tips and tricks that'll help your application stand out.

How Hard Is It to Get Into MIT?

MIT is one of the most selective schools in the world. Currently, MIT's acceptance rate is 4.1%, which means it only accepts around 4 applicants for every 100 people that apply.

A 4.1% acceptance rate means that MIT is extremely competitive to get into. You'll need excellent grades, test scores, essays, and letters of recommendation to even be considered.

What Is MIT Looking for in Its Students?

You can learn a lot about what MIT is looking for in its students from the university's website :

"The MIT community is driven by a shared purpose: to make a better world through education, research, and innovation. We are fun and quirky, elite but not elitist, inventive and artistic, obsessed with numbers, and welcoming to talented people regardless of where they come from."

This statement, while not MIT's formal mission statement ( which is worth reading, too ), tells a lot about what MIT is looking for in its applicants.

MIT want students who break molds —they're incredibly intelligent, but they also think outside of the box. Don't follow everyone else's path if you want to get into MIT—create your own.

MIT students are genuinely excited to learn and innovate. They're not interested in accolades (though they certainly earn them)— they're motivated by discovery and intellectual stimulation more than recognition.

MIT students don't fit into any particular profile, except that they're all highly, highly talented.

Can You Apply to MIT Early?

MIT allows students to apply early action. That means that you can apply to MIT and receive notification of your acceptance months before other students, but you don't have to commit to MIT if you're accepted.

MIT's early application deadline is November 1 and students are notified in mid-December.

According to the MIT admissions statistics for the Class of 2026, applicants who applied early action had a fairly significant advantage over students who applied at the regular deadline (a 4.7% acceptance rate for early action applicants vs a 2.2% acceptance rate for regular action applicants + those whose early action applications were deferred). 

MIT Application Deadlines and Requirements

MIT has its own application. It doesn't accept the Common Application, Coalition Application or Universal Application. To complete the MIT application you'll need to submit:

• SAT or ACT scores
• Four short essays
• Two letters of recommendation, one from a math or science teacher and one from a humanities, social science, or language teacher
• Your high school transcript, though are no specific coursework requirements for MIT applicants

The MIT Early Action deadline is November 1 . Applicants are notified of their status in mid-December.

The MIT regular admission deadline is January 5 . Applicants are notified of their status in mid-March.

What GPA Do I Need to Get Into MIT?

MIT has a very low acceptance rate, so it's important that your application is as strong as possible to be considered. One of the most important parts of your MIT application is your high school coursework.

MIT doesn't specify a minimum GPA requirement and doesn't release the average GPA of admitted applicants. (The school does provide other admissions statistics like average test scores .) That being said, due to the caliber of students accepted at MIT, we can assume that the average GPA is quite high . You should look to get mainly As, with a high few Bs on your transcript.

MIT will also be paying attention to your course load—are you challenging yourself, or are you coasting on easy classes? You should take the most rigorous classes your school offers —whether that's honors, AP, or IB courses—or even look into taking courses at the local community college to show that you're not afraid of an academic challenge… and that you can succeed at one, too!

What Test Scores Do I Need to Get Into MIT?

You don't just need great grades to get into MIT—you need great test scores, too. Let's take a closer look at what scores you need to get into MIT.

What SAT Test Scores Do I Need to Get Into MIT?

The middle 50% of MIT applicants earn between a 1510 and a 1580 on a 1600 SAT scale. In other words, 75% of admitted students score above a 1510 on the SAT. Put another way, you'll need get as close to a perfect score as possible to make sure you're putting yourself in a good position to get in (if you choose to submit test scores).

If you do submit test scores, you'll need to have extremely high SAT scores to be able to get into MIT. Fortunately, MIT uses "Highest Section" scoring (also known as " superscoring "). Basically, superscoring means that MIT will consider your highest section scores across all the SAT test dates you submit.

MIT's superscoring policy is good news for applicants—it means that you can prep and retake the score without worrying about hurting your previous scores. If you're wondering how many times you can (or should!) take the SAT, be sure to check out this article .

What ACT Test Scores Do I Need to Get Into MIT?

It's no surprise that admitted students have high ACT scores, too. The top 75% of admitted students score a 34 or above on the ACT. With so many applicants scoring 34 and above, a lower score won't be very impressive.

Fortunately, MIT also superscores ACT scores for applicants. That means that, if you take the ACT multiple times, MIT will consider the highest score achieved in each section. You can learn more about taking the ACT multiple times here.

Do I Need TOEFL Scores to Get Into MIT?

Non-native English speakers are encouraged (but not required) to submit scores from an English proficiency exam . MIT accepts the following tests, with the given minimum and recommended scores.

MIT Application Essays

MIT requires that you answer a few short questions , rather than write one long essay. You'll need to answer four short prompts (each answer should be roughly 200 words ) on various aspects of your life: a description of your background, what department you're interested in at MIT, what you do for fun, a way that you contribute to your community, and a challenge that you have faced in your life.

The MIT essay prompts are designed specifically to get to the heart of what makes you...well, you . Remember, MIT wants applicants that are interesting as people. MIT places a high value on having students with quirks and unique passions, not just high test scores.

You'll submit your MIT application essays along with an activities list and a self-reported coursework form as Part 2 of your MIT application, regardless of whether you're applying for the early action deadline or the regular admission deadline.

Here are the 2022-2023 MIT essay prompts:

• 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.
• Describe the world you come from (for example, your family, school, community, city, or town). How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?
• MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds and experiences together to better the lives of others. Our students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you to contribute to your community.
• Tell us about a significant challenge you’ve faced (that you feel comfortable sharing) or something that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?

You can learn more about how to ace your MIT essays in our in-depth article on the topic .

5 Tips for Getting Into MIT

It's very difficult to get into MIT, but it's not impossible. MIT admits around 1,400 students a year, and you can definitely be one of them! Follow these tips for how to get into MIT by making sure your application stands out from the crowd.

#1: Highlight the Unique Aspects of Your Identity

We've said it already and we'll say it again: MIT likes unique applicants. They say so on their website! Your essays are an opportunity to highlight the special facets of your personality. If you built a video game about pickles for fun, this is the time to share it!

The more unique you are, the better! Your application will stand out even more if you take those interests and apply them to academic pursuits. Show that your academic curiosity intersects with your passions.

#2: Put a Lot of Effort Into Your Academics

MIT students are high-achievers. To be accepted, you need to be one, too. You should have a strong plan for studying for the SAT or ACT so that you achieve the best score possible.

If you're still in your freshman, sophomore, or junior year of high school, plan to take some advanced classes to up your GPA. You'll need to be disciplined and work hard to compete with the other applicants.

MIT wants students who will succeed on their campus—you need to demonstrate that you're up to MIT's academic challenge.

#3: Ace Your Essays

Your essays are the best opportunity to show off your skills and your unique interests. You should put a lot of effort into every one of the five MIT essays. Don't wait until the last minute to write your MIT essays—start them with plenty of time so that you can revise and receive feedback.

Keep in mind that while there are no right ways to write an admissions essay, there are definitely some wrong ones! Be sure to check out this article before you get started so you can avoid any pitfalls.

#4: Convince MIT That You'll Do Something Great With Your Education

MIT doesn't want to admit students who will be content to take their expensive diploma and sit at home doing nothing with it. MIT wants to accept students who are going to accomplish world-changing things, who contribute positively to their communities while in college, and who help other students accomplish great things as well.

The best way to convince MIT that you'll do this while there? Contribute positively to your community while you're in high school. Past behavior is a predictor of future behavior. If you show that positive contributions are a part of your modus operandi as a student, MIT will feel confident that you'll bring that attitude to its campus, too.

#5: Hyper-Focus

You don't need to be captain of the football team, the co-chair of the debate team, and the first chair violinist in the school orchestra to get into MIT. Don't try to be great at every—pick one (or two) activities and pursue it relentlessly.

This is called having a spike and helps you stand out more. Don't aim to be generically good at a lot of things—be hugely, amazingly good at one thing.

Instead of trying to lead twenty different committees, pick the one that's the most special to you and give it everything you have. Put down the football and the debate notecards and focus on violin if that's what you love. Audition for world-class ensembles, enter competitions, basically just stand out.

Don't strive for above average at a lot of things—be excellent at one.

What's Next?

Starting your MIT application? Check out our in-depth guide on how to apply to MIT .

Your MIT essays will help your application stand out. Read our in-depth guide on these five short answer questions to know exactly what to do .

Wondering what your chances of getting into an Ivy Leave or Ivy League caliber school is? Check out our complete guide to Ivy League acceptance rates.

Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females.

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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!

Read these MIT essay examples to inspire your writing.

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)

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 the 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.

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)

First, remember that the prompt is asking for an activity that isn’t required of you . If you’re the captain of your school’s varsity basketball team, then don’t write about basketball (even if you do play for pleasure outside of school). MIT wants to know something about you that they can’t already find elsewhere in your application, something outside of your academic and extracurricular responsibilities. Essentially, MIT is asking you: “ What do you do in your free time? ”

A great way to approach this prompt is to construct a brief anecdote to illustrate your passions. Do you love reading because you enjoy imagining yourself in fictional worlds? Do you find peace in painting natural scenery? Now is a great time to describe these experiences.

Here are some examples:

• Photography – Sitting on the pier, you watch as the sky transitions from blue to yellow, and from yellow to orange. With your camera in hand, you capture the exact moment that the sun touches the horizon, the moment that the colors begin to fade into a gradient. Perhaps the sound of your camera’s shutter acts as an instant stress reliever. Or perhaps you love the ability to capture nature’s wonders from a different perspective. Either way, the vivid imagery here makes writing an anecdote a very powerful approach.
• Baking – Do you love the aroma of homemade baking? Do you love experimenting with new recipes and creations? Maybe you love the meticulousness of measuring out ingredients and combining them to form one cohesive unit. If this sounds like you, write an anecdote about how you use baking as an outlet for your creativity. Use sensory details to briefly go through the process of that new cupcake recipe you came up with, sharing with the reader your passion for innovative baking. You’ll definitely make the admissions officer drool a little bit with this one.
• Rubik’s Cube – You love the thrill of solving a challenging puzzle. Starting with no instructions, you figured out the secret behind solving the cube and how to move each square to the right place. After a few more tries, you can now solve it in just a few minutes, a reflection of your ability to quickly learn and master difficult puzzles. While this may be a “nerdier” example, don’t be afraid to let your inner nerd shine (this is MIT after all). 

What makes each of these examples strong is the employment of imagery and sensory details. Although the response must be brief, you want to make the admissions officer interested in what you love; appealing to the five senses is an excellent way to do so. Don’t tell them that you love photography, show them that you love it by transforming your answer into a story.

Be honest — don’t lie for the sake of sounding more impressive. While volunteering at the local homeless shelter may sound very humble, don’t write about that if it isn’t what you actually do in your free time. MIT can spot essays that try too hard and lying about humanitarian efforts is definitely one of those instances. 

While it’s important to be honest, make sure to also use good judgment when articulating your response. Generally, anything goes for this prompt and you can essentially write about anything you’re passionate about. But if your favorite activity is “looking at memes,” it might be better to choose something else.

How has the world you come from—including your opportunities, experiences, and challenges—shaped your dreams and aspirations? (200 words)

Out of the many prompts, this one is the most open-ended. MIT is asking this question to see how your environment has shaped you as an individual. When thinking about your “world”, think about the unique culture, community, and people you have interacted with and consider how they each have contributed to the person you are today. Consider how they have shaped your value systems and the way you view the world. 

A great way to start brainstorming for this prompt is to think about your dreams and aspirations first; what do you hope to achieve in your lifetime? Next, reflect on specific opportunities, experiences and challenges that you have faced in your community and evaluate how these factored into your individuality and personal goals. 

Perhaps you grew up on a Native American preservation and were a central figure in the tribe’s pow-pow committee but faced backlash from park rangers for planning rituals in public areas, and this fueled your desire to work in politics to defend indigenous land-rights. Or maybe your childhood love for building Lego masterpieces contributed to your goal of becoming a civil engineer. Either way, remember to reflect on your past (or present) and use this reflection to analyze your future.

What each of these examples succeeds in doing is analyzing the “world” from the lens of challenges, experiences, and opportunities that led to a specific dream or aspiration.

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)

For this prompt, MIT wants to see your selfless side by looking at the strategies you take to help those around you. Don’t panic if you haven’t saved hundreds of lives or discovered the cure for cancer; as the prompt suggests, helping your community can be as simple as lending a shoulder for your friend to cry on. Your community can be practically any group from family, neighbors, classmates, sports team, etc.

Whether big or small, think of a time that you made a positive impact on one or more people. Maybe you have experience volunteering at the Red Cross or at your local retirement home. Or maybe you founded a club at your school with the goal of bringing education to children in need. No matter what the cause is, show the admissions officers your generosity and willingness to make a difference in your community.

Here are a few more examples:

• Tutoring a Teammate – One of your cross country teammates said that she was struggling in her Algebra 2 class, and was worried about failing. She didn’t see the point of math and thought she was just “bad” at it. You volunteered to tutor her for free on a weekly basis. After just a month of your tutoring sessions, your teammate got her first A on a test. This sparked your interest in teaching math, as you were able to get your teammate to not only understand math concepts, but also appreciate them.
• Food Waste Campaign – You noticed your school cafeteria was generating tons of daily food waste, so you created a campaign to implement a compositing system and encourage students to reduce their waste. You gathered a team to research different composting services, contact your principal and the school board, and create educational materials on how to compost correctly. The program was successful at your school and diverted several tons of food from the landfill weekly. You’re currently working on getting the system implemented across the district.

What both of these examples succeed at doing is describing the impact that an action has on others. Whether it be putting a smile on someone’s face or preventing a child from contracting a deadly disease, remember to show the reader what the outcome of your efforts were. Tying in your personal development is another great way to heighten the magnitude of your contribution, as it gives your actions more significant personal meaning. Ask yourself: How did you grow from this experience? What changes did you see?

How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it? (200 words)

The idea of this prompt is similar to the archetypal “ Overcoming a Challenge ” prompt. Whether it is a personal situation or a challenge, MIT wants to know how you handle difficult situations that suddenly arise and what you learn from such experiences.

You want to construct an anecdote that goes through both the situation and/or challenge and your thought process. When crafting your response, start by briefly describing the situation or challenge, making sure to answer the question, “ What was so significant about this event? ” Next, go into detail about the steps you took to approach the unexpected event and how you went about this process. Make sure to discuss the outcome of the situation and show the admissions officer how you matured from this experience, specifically identifying what you have learned from this experience. The most common mistake students make is to focus too much on the situation or challenge, rather than their thought process, emotions, and their growth.

As you brainstorm and begin drafting your response, here are some guided questions to get you thinking:

• Why was this challenge so important to you? What is the significance?
• At that moment, what was your reaction to the situation? How did it affect you (thoughts, emotions)?
• Were the steps you took to manage the situation successful? Why or why not?
• How did this challenge allow you to grow and mature as an individual?

Try to avoid “challenges” that are too trivial; although you may be upset that you got a B on that one calculus test, this is not a significant enough challenge to analyze. For this prompt, it’s important to demonstrate personal growth and maturity, as this shows your capacity to adapt to difficult environments.

You should also try to avoid challenges that are cliche , such as:

• A sports injury
• Working hard in a difficult class
• Adjusting to a new culture or school
• Facing tragedy (death, illness, abuse)
• Romantic relationships and breakups

These tend to be very common experiences that have a predictable outcome, often focus too much on the challenge instead of your growth, or are simply inappropriate topics for your essay. Of course, you can still choose to write on a common topic if you feel that you can write something especially meaningful, but it’s better to find a more original experience to share.

You can, however, “spin” a cliche topic. For example, the “sports injury” essay tends to go: you get injured, can’t play, have to go through rehab, and you eventually get back on the field and succeed. A more unique approach would be to talk about how your injury led you to start a blog while you were recovering, and that became a big passion. Or, how your injury made you realize that you actually liked the strategy of the sport more than the actual sport, which led to your interest in competitive chess.

Here are some good examples:

• You had to switch positions last-minute on your Model UN simulation of the Nuremberg Trials. You’d researched and prepared your arguments for months, but a delegate showed up late, so you needed to represent the opposite side you’d prepared for. Instead of panicking, you gather as much info as you can in a short time to argue the other perspective. When it’s your turn to speak, you blank out, however, and the Committee Director says they’ll come back to you. You take a deep breath, refocus, and re-outline your notes. When it’s time to speak again, you present a confident and articulate argument. The experience teaches you the importance of both preparation and adaptability.
• You are passionate about robotics and wanted to start a competitive robotics club at your school. You gathered a group of interested students and began the process of getting the club approved by the administration. To your disappointment, your club was rejected. Instead of accepting defeat, you and your peers petitioned the school in hopes of having the board members reconsider their decision. While you didn’t ultimately win over the school board, you discovered your talent for persuasive speaking in the process, and decided to join the Debate Team. You’ve since won several awards and even got to give a local TED Talk.

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)

This is your typical “ Additional Information ” prompt, and while we usually recommend that you fill out all optional prompts, this is an exception. As MIT says themselves, many students won’t need this space to complete their application.

However, if you have unusual circumstances or a significant experience you weren’t able to address, you should write about it here. Some potential topics include:

• Family responsibilities that prevented you from taking on traditional extracurriculars
• Financial hardships
• Death of a loved one
• Unique extracurricular that can’t be fully explained in the Activities section

While your other essays should have a more narrative quality, your response here can be more straightforward, and you also don’t need to take up the full 350 words. 

Just avoid using this space for topics that may be deemed trivial, such as explaining that B on your transcript when you otherwise have straight A’s. Significant dips in grades for reasons out of your control are certainly fine to explain, but make sure that anything you cover here is actually a major part of your high school experience and development.

It’s important to note that in light of the Supreme Court striking down the use of affirmative action in college admissions, many colleges have added open-ended prompts that give students the opportunity to discuss their racial background. Because the ruling allows colleges to consider race on an individual basis, essays are the prime place for you to reveal your racial background and its effect on you. If you feel that your racial background has impacted you significantly, this is the place to discuss that.

Where to Get Your MIT Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your MIT essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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October 14, 2022

MIT Sloan Executive MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2022 – 2023]

These essay questions show that the MIT EMBA adcom seeks applicants who have the judgment and practical skills to take on the challenges that will fly at them as they redefine and reshape industries and functions to meet the needs of the future. Applicants who push the boundary of what’s possible and provide principled leadership amidst a torrent of change. The essays (including Statement of Purpose) are your main means to show that you possess the qualities that indicate fit for the MIT EMBA. While the statement of purpose challenges you to succinctly create your applicant portrait, the three essay questions probe how your perspective, ideas, and thinking lead to specific impacts and outcomes. As always, MIT Sloan is interested in what you’ve done – actions you’ve taken and impacts you’ve created.

In an overall plan for the essays, the statement of purpose works as a positioner, an opening pitch, a frame. In each of the three essays, strategically select experiences that show different facets of your experience to give a comprehensive view. Also, if possible, discuss recent experiences in at least 2 of the essays, to allow the adcom to see you working at a high level and to show what you’ll bring to the table. A pitfall of the essays is potential overlap in topics and examples. Before drafting essays, I suggest mapping out your topics and examples to ensure you present different types of impacts and experiences and “allocate” your relevant examples/experiences optimally. Finally, MIT EMBA’s mission is stated at the start of the essay questions; keep it on the radar for context as you draft the essays.

MIT Executive MBA application writing prompts

Mit executive mba statement of purpose.

Please provide a statement on your personal and professional qualifications. What is motivating you to apply to the MIT Executive MBA at this point in your career? (500 words or less)

This is your portrait – your candidacy at a glance. It should convey a vivid, immediate sense of you as a person and as a candidate for this program. It should go beyond just facts to present a point of view and a message (theme). Determine your message before drafting the essay, and be guided by it in selecting and elaborating the content details.

Beware of a potential pitfall: in discussing the qualifications (ideally reflecting accomplishments), do not repeat your resume  in prose format. Select your examples thoughtfully, focusing on those that (a) are truly distinctive and relevant to the EMBA and/or (b) support your goals directly or indirectly, and (c) reflect your message. Make a short, meaningful point about each, such as the insight it lends or its influence on you. Don’t forget to include at least one personal (non-work) accomplishment!

For why you are pursuing the MIT EMBA, of course you’ll discuss your professional goals and objectives. Focus not only on what you want to do, but also why — your vision, what motivates this plan. Addressing “why now” should be part of this goals discussion. Finally, address how this program will help you realize your plans – note 2-3 specific attributes and components of the program and thoughtfully link them concretely to your needs. 

MIT EMBA application essays

Three essays are required. The two short-form essays, and one long-form essay will provide you with the opportunity to highlight recent experiences from your professional life.

MIT Executive MBA essay #1

Lasting impact can happen on large and small scales. Tell us about how you inspired your team, and what you learned about yourself as a leader, through a recent difficult time. (300 words or less )

The bulk of the essay will focus on action – your chosen story of leading/inspiring your team through difficulty to achieve a lasting impact. While the story should reflect MIT’s educational mission, don’t strain to find something that literally mirrors all the specific points (innovative, principled, generate ideas, advance management practice). Rather, your story can reflect the spirit of this mission. The key to making this a gripping, memorable essay is including a bit about your thought process as you narrate your actions – at a key point, why you made an important decision, etc. And note the word “recent” in the question – hence the experience should have occurred within the last couple of years.

MIT Executive MBA essay #2

MIT Sloan finds strength through diversity. We believe that a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and well-being is a key component of both principled leadership and sound management practice. We seek to create a community that encompasses all dimensions of diversity and fosters excellence within MIT Sloan. This includes diversity of identity, thought, role, and perspective. Please describe a time when you contributed toward making a work environment or organization more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse. (250 words or less)

Again, MIT seeks evidence that you take actions and have an impact that are consistent with its values. They are interested in learning how you implement change in what essentially is culture: diversity, inclusivity, welcoming – a potential pitfall here is to use “warm and fuzzy” verbiage; MIT is interested in concrete changes that make a real difference. You should cite actual outcomes as a result of your contributions. With only 250 words, keep it simple: focus on telling the story . Be sure to clarify your own actions and note your thinking at 1-2 key points. In selecting your example, keep in mind your topics for essays 1 and 3, to ensure that all together you are representing strategically meaningful aspects of your experience.

MIT Executive MBA essay #3

Please tell us about a time when you introduced an idea that changed the way in which your organization approached a business challenge or opportunity. What factors did you consider, what barriers or obstacles did you face, and how did you measure success? (500 words or less)

This question requires you to address both thought (idea) and action (introduced…). MIT Sloan seeks people who have strength in both areas – who have vision and can execute that vision.

A suggested approach is to draft it straightforwardly, as a story: start with your idea and what prompted it, and then narrate your action – how you introduced the idea, and how you implemented it. Conclude with the results, clarifying the change in approach to the opportunity or challenge, and how you measured the success.

There are 2 ways to address the last part of the question. Option A: As you narrate the story, include and “zoom in” on factors you considered and the barriers/obstacles you encountered in the process; make them part of the story. Option B: narrate the story, and then in a concluding paragraph discuss the factors you considered and the barriers/obstacles faced.

For expert guidance with your MIT Sloan EMBA application, check out Accepted’s  MBA Application Packages , which include comprehensive guidance from an experienced admissions consultant. We’ve helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to MIT Sloan’s EMBA program and look forward to helping you too!

MIT Executive MBA 2023 application deadlines

Source: MIT Sloan EMBA website

Related Resources:

• Executive MBA Essays: How to Make an Impact [Sample Essay]
• MIT Sloan EMBA and Sloan Fellows Programs: Move from Success to Significance , a podcast episode
• EMBA: The Ultimate Guide for Applicants

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How to Write the MIT Application Essays 2023-2024

October 13, 2023

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a coveted university for students who are passionate about STEM subjects. Known for its highly selective admissions process, it is no surprise that MIT is considered one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. If you have your sights set on majoring in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Computation and Cognition, or any of the other specialized programs offered at MIT, it is crucial to effectively communicate your unique qualities and contributions through the MIT application essays for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Unlike other universities that use the Common App, MIT has its own application system called MyMIT . This means that you do not have to worry about repeating your Common App personal statement topic . However, it also means that the essays you submit to MIT serve as both your personal statement and supplemental responses. It is important to make the most of these essays by showcasing your passion for MIT and providing essential context about your interests and background. With only a 4% acceptance rate, MIT is highly competitive, and you have five prompts to convince the admissions officers why you are the perfect fit for this esteemed Boston institution. To assist you through the writing process, I have provided an outline of each prompt, along with dos and don'ts for your responses, and additional tips for the MIT application essays in 2023-2024.

MIT Application Essays 2023-2024

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..

The diverse range of fields of study offered at MIT allows students to find their true calling and embrace their passions. One effective strategy for approaching this prompt is to reflect on the subjects that have consistently captivated and motivated you. Are you drawn to the intricacies of artificial intelligence or the potential of renewable energy? By introspecting and exploring your genuine curiosity, you can authentically articulate your passion for a specific field of study at MIT.

Moreover, it is crucial to research the resources and opportunities that MIT provides in the chosen field. As a world-renowned institution, MIT offers unparalleled facilities and renowned professors in various fields. You can highlight your awareness of these resources to further strengthen your response. Whether it is the cutting-edge laboratories equipped with the latest technology or the interdisciplinary collaborations that foster innovation, demonstrating an understanding of how MIT's offerings align with your interests will showcase your commitment and enthusiasm.

By carefully considering your own interests and conducting thorough research about what MIT has to offer, you can effectively convey your unwavering dedication and motivation for a specific field of study at MIT. This prompt serves as a gateway for you to showcase your perspectives, aspirations, and how you envision contributing to the academic community at MIT.

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.

MIT values students who are particularly invested in activities and topics that are meaningful to them, no matter what the scale. If you have a highly meaningful hobby that isn’t a conventional extracurricular per se, MIT is telling you to go for it. Just the introductory paragraph to most essays requires over 100 words—you might find it difficult to restrain yourself while talking about your favorite activity. In order to get your point across, you need to put less emphasis on describing the activity—limit it to one or two sentences - and more on what brings you joy about it. Why is it your favorite? How does it recharge you in a way others may not? Has it shaped your perspective in a significant way?

Since admissions officers will see your activities list through MyMIT, you should find ways to include anecdotes that will convey additional information about yourself. While you should not pick a purely academic activity or something that you think MIT wants to hear, you also should think of something beyond sleeping, eating, or hanging out with friends. Your outlook on the activity should be unique and help you stand out among your peers.

How has the world you come from—including your opportunities, experiences, and challenges—shaped your dreams and aspirations?

It’s crucial that you go through all of the prompts offered by the MIT application essays 2023-2024 before you decide on a topic for each of them because what you cover in this first prompt might also be a good fit for Prompt 4. And if you are invested in more than one community, then you’re in luck! Either way, your answer to questions 1 and 4 should not cover the same topic because each essay is meant to add new information about you.

A good clue on what to write here comes from the second part of the question, “how has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?” It’s time to think about your goals again. Is there any community or group which has played a strong role in solidifying your goals? If the answer is yes, there’s your answer. Start your essay by introducing the chosen world—keep it brief as you have another segment to cover. The major focus of your essay should lie in elaborating on the connection between the topic you’ve chosen and your career aspirations. Use anecdotes as evidence to drive your point home for admission officers to better visualize the impact. 

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.

Since the prompt clearly states that there are no specific boxes that your choice of community has to check, think about a place where you’ve actually made an impact. Think about how to differentiate yourself—while service trips abroad definitely could count as community service, they won’t help paint a memorable picture of you because lots of students participate in them. You could write about the smaller circles such as your family, friend group, or neighborhood. You may have helped the community as a whole or you could have helped one or two individuals who belong to it. 

To think about the kinds of contributions to elaborate on, ask yourself the following questions:

• How have you collaborated with others in your community?
• Have you taken any risks to help others? How have they paid off?
• Have you spearheaded any initiatives towards change?
• Are there any service examples that portray your curiosity and creativity?
• Why do you care about this community? How have you shown it? 

If you choose a larger community—like your whole school or city—make sure your essay still focuses on your own contribution and role. A response to such a prompt needs to follow the classic “show, not tell” advice. Admissions officers won’t be satisfied with just “I helped my family.” You need to dig deeper and convince them through the MIT application essays 2023-2024 that you are the kind of hardworking and passionate individual who can thrive at MIT.

How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it?

MIT values candidates “ who are not only planning to succeed but who are also not afraid to fail .” When admissions officers read prompts about challenges students have overcome, they don’t want to know every single detail about the hurdle. The response should be more focused on the way the student reacted in the situation and how they’ve grown from the circumstances. Don’t pick an experience where you gave up easily after failing to do something. Your essay should highlight your strength and resilience in the face of an obstacle.

The definition of a “challenge” may vary from person to person. The keyword here is “significant.” Avoid writing about situations such as a bad grade or a sprain playing soccer that might be minor in comparison to issues other students have faced. Instead, think about an instance that showcases how your ability to recover from a struggle and proves your determination as well as your humility. Instead of writing general statements, focus your essay on your actions you took during the situation and the lessons you picked up. 

This is a great opportunity to tell admissions officers about the way you respond to tough moments - end your essay on a positive note!

Additional Tips for Writing the MIT Application Essays 2023-2024

• Use Your Common Application Profile As Inspiration: Chances are, other schools on your list use the Common Application so you’ve already filled it out. The Common App can be a great source of letting you know the kind of context colleges want to know about you. If there’s anything that you’ve mentioned in the Common App that you haven’t gotten a chance to express for MyMIT—whether it’s mentioned in your personal statement topic or an impressive award—you may be able to include it somewhere in your response to the MIT application essays 2023-2024!
• Read the Website Very Carefully: Research is extremely important before sitting down to answer school-specific questions and the MIT application essays 2023-2024 are no different. Luckily, MIT has very detailed information for prospective students that can help you go deeper into admissions officers’ minds. Use the information given on the “ What we look for ” page to get an idea of which characteristics you should emphasize in your responses.
• Use Strong Examples : The MIT application essays 2023-2024 are all about gauging your intellectual pursuits, community involvement, and engagements outside the classroom. Since the word limits for the prompts aren’t generous, each of your essays should focus on being as specific as possible in depicting your personality and interests. Adding specific examples lets admissions officers understand your perspective better and envision the areas of campus where you’d contribute and how you’d fit in with the MIT community.

When considering the MIT application essays for the 2023-2024 academic year, it is crucial to craft your responses in a manner that showcases your passions and unique perspective, setting you apart from other applicants. These essays serve as both your personal statement and supplemental essays, so make sure to put forth your most compelling arguments to convince admissions officers that you are a perfect fit for MIT. If they grasp your context and agree with your potential contributions to the institute, you will be one step closer to receiving that coveted acceptance letter. Best of luck on your journey!

If you are looking for a college admissions counselor to help maximize your chances of getting into your dream school, we can help! InGenius Prep has helped more than 6,000 students around the world gain admission into the most competitive schools including Harvard, Yale, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, NYU, and more. Sign up for a free strategy call today and join the 6,000+ students we've helped get accepted into their dream schools. 

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MIT Essay: Which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why? | Joseph

Joseph , Massachusetts Institute of Technology Class of 2024

Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at mit appeals to you and why.

My dad used his Ph.D. in chemistry to help develop the McDonald’s coffee cup. Over time, I became fascinated with his experiments. Isotopes, oxidation, esterification; it was a world so unfamiliar yet so alluring. I had to explore more.

Similarly, I’m interested in applying my studies in ChemE to the work at MIT’s Office of Sustainability. Since taking a trip to Treehaven, a nature preserve in Wisconsin, I’ve felt drawn to working in environmentalism. Through opportunities like the Food and Sustainability Working Group and Envision Cambridge, I look forward to experiences that will shape my future in green chemistry.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2024

About the author 🎓, major: computer science, economics, and data science, accepted universities: massachusetts institute of technology (mit) northwestern university vanderbilt university university of southern california (usc) university of michigan--ann arbor university of north carolina--chapel hill (unc) georgia institute of technology (georgia tech) case western reserve university university of illinois--urbana-champaign (uiuc) purdue university, hometown: naperville, illinois, more essays, common app essays →, harvard essays →, mit essays →, princeton essays →, stanford essays →, yale essays →, common application essay: describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve | dyllen.

Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma –

Stanford Supplemental Essay: Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning | Dyllen

The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you

Stanford Supplemental Essay: Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you | Dyllen

Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your

Stanford Supplemental Essay: Tell us about something that is meaningful to you and why | Dyllen

Tell us about something that is meaningful to you and why The day’s memories flash through my mind as I lie in bed. The piano

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Opinion Guest Essay

This Is Peak College Admissions Insanity

Credit... Illustrations by Pete Gamlen

Supported by

By Daniel Currell

Mr. Currell, a lawyer and consultant, was a deputy under secretary and senior adviser at the Department of Education from 2018 to 2021. He is a trustee of Gustavus Adolphus College.

• May 1, 2024

Selective college admissions have been a vortex of anxiety and stress for what seems like forever, inducing panic in more top high school seniors each year. But the 2023-24 admissions season was not just an incremental increase in the frantic posturing and high-pressure guesswork that make this annual ritual seem like academic Hunger Games. This year was different. A number of factors — some widely discussed, some little noticed — combined to push the process into a new realm in which the old rules didn’t apply and even the gatekeepers seemed not to know what the new rules were.

It happened, as these things often do, first gradually and then all at once.

It started with a precipitous rise in the number of people clamoring to get in. The so-called Ivy-Plus schools — the eight members of the Ivy League plus M.I.T., Duke, Chicago and Stanford — collectively received about 175,000 applications in 2002. In 2022, the most recent year for which totals are available, they got more than 590,000, with only a few thousand more available spots.

The quality of the applicants has risen also. In 2002, the nation produced 134 perfect ACT scores ; in 2023 there were 2,542 . Over the same period, the United States — and beyond it, the world — welcomed a great many more families into the ranks of the wealthy, who are by far the most likely to attend an elite college. Something had to give.

The first cracks appeared around the rules that had long governed the process and kept it civilized, obligating colleges to operate on the same calendar and to give students time to consider all offers before committing. A legal challenge swept the rules away, freeing the most powerful schools to do pretty much whatever they wanted.

One clear result was a drastic escalation in the formerly niche admissions practice known as early decision.

Then Covid swept through, forcing colleges to let students apply without standardized test scores — which, as the university consultant Ben Kennedy says, “tripled the number of kids who said to themselves, ‘Hey, I’ve got a shot at admission there.’” More applications, more market power for the schools and, for the students, an ever smaller chance of getting in.

Last year the Supreme Court’s historic decision ending race-based affirmative action left colleges scrambling for new ways to preserve diversity and students groping in the dark to figure out what schools wanted.

Finally, this year the whole financial aid system exploded into spectacular disarray. Now, a month after most schools sent out the final round of acceptances, many students still don’t have the information they need to determine if they can afford college. Some will delay attending, and some will forgo it entirely, an outcome that would have lasting implications for them and, down the line, for the economy as a whole.

These disparate changes had one crucial thing in common: Almost all of them strengthened the hand of highly selective colleges, allowing them to push applicants into more constricted choices with less information and less leverage. The result is that elite admissions offices, which have always tried to reduce the uncertainty in each new year’s decisions, are now using their market power to all but eliminate it. This means taking no chances in pursuit of a high yield, the status-bestowing percentage of admitted students who enroll. But low uncertainty for elite colleges means the opposite for applicants — especially if they can’t pay the full tuition rate.

Canh Oxelson, the executive director of college counseling at the Horace Mann School in New York, says: “This is as much uncertainty as we’ve ever seen. Affirmative action, the FAFSA debacle, test-optionality — it has shown itself in this one particular year. Colleges want certainty, and they are getting more. Families want certainty and they are getting less.”

In 2024, the only applicants who could be certain of an advantage were those whose parents had taken the wise precaution of being rich.

The Early Bird Gets the Dorm

For Ivy Wydler, an elite college seemed like an obvious destination, and many of her classmates at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., were headed along the same trajectory. After her sophomore year of high school, she took the ACT and got a perfect score — on her first try, a true rarity. Her grades were stellar. So she set her sights high, favoring “medium to big schools, and not too cold.”

Touring campuses, she was dazzled by how great and exciting it all seemed. Then she visited Duke, and something clicked. She applied in the binding early decision round.

It’s a consequential choice. Students can do so at only one college, and they have to promise to attend if accepted, before knowing what the school’s financial aid offer will be. That means there is at least a chance an applicant will be on the hook for the full cost, which at Duke is $86,886 for the 2024-25 year. Students couldn’t be legally compelled to attend if they couldn’t afford it, but by the time they got the news, they would have already had to withdraw their other applications.

If full tuition isn’t a deal killer, as it wouldn’t be for Ivy’s family, the rewards are considerable. This year, just over 54,000 high school seniors vied to be one of only 1,750 members of Duke’s incoming class. The 6,000 who applied in the early decision round were three times as likely to get in as the 48,000 who applied later.

Until recently, early decision was a narrow pathway — an outlier governed, like the rest of this annual academic mating season, by a set of mandatory practices laid out by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which is made up of college admissions officers and high school counselors. Those rules said, for example, that colleges couldn’t recruit a student who was already committed to another school or actively encourage someone to transfer. Crucially, the rules said that colleges needed to give students until May 1 to decide among offers (noting early decision, which begins and ends in the fall, as a “recognized exception”).

The Justice Department thought those rules ran afoul of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which bars powerful industries from colluding to restrain competition. At the end of 2019, NACAC agreed to a settlement mandating that the organization “promptly abolish” several of the rules and downgrade the rest to voluntary guidelines. Now if they chose to, colleges had license to lure students with special offers or benefits, to aggressively poach students at other schools and to tear up the traditional admissions calendar.

At that point, nothing restrained colleges from going all in on early decision, a strategy that allows them to lock in students early without making any particular commitments about financial aid. Of the 735 first-year students that Middlebury College enrolled last year, for example, 516 were admitted via binding early decision. Some schools have a second round of early decision, and even what amounts to an unofficial third round — along with an array of other application pathways, each with its own terms and conditions.

With the rules now abandoned, colleges got a whole new bag of tricks. For example, a school might call — at any time in the process — with a one-time offer of admission if you can commit on the spot to attend and let go of all other prospects. Hesitate and it’s gone, along with your chances in subsequent rounds. “We hear about colleges that are putting pressure on high school seniors to send in a deposit sooner to get better courses or housing options,” says Sara Harberson, the founder of Application Nation, a college advising service.

To inform these maneuvers, colleges lean on consultants who analyze applicant demographics, qualifications, financial status and more using econometric models. High school seniors think this is checkers, but the schools know it’s chess. This has all become frankly terrifying for students, who are first-time players in a game their opponents invented.

Application season can be particularly intimidating for students who, unlike Ivy, did not grow up on the elite college conveyor belt. When Rania Khan, a senior in Gorton High School in Yonkers, N.Y., was in middle school, she and her mother spent two years in a shelter near Times Square. Since then she and her younger brother have been in the foster system. Despite these challenges, she has been a superb student. In ninth grade, Rania got an internship at Google and joined a research team at Regeneron, a biotechnology company. She won a national award for her study of how sewage treatment chemicals affect river ecosystems. Looking at colleges, she saw that her scores and credentials matched with those of students at the very top schools in the country.

One of the schools she was most drawn to was Barnard. “I like that it’s both a small college and” — because it’s part of Columbia — “a big university. There are a lot of resources, and it’s a positive environment for women,” she said. And it would keep her close to her little brother.

Barnard now fills around 60 percent of its incoming class in the early decision round, giving those students a massive admissions advantage. It would have been an obvious option for Rania, but she can’t take any chances financially. She applied via the general decision pool, when instead of having a one in three chance, her odds were one in 20.

Officially, anyone can apply for early decision. In practice it’s priority boarding for first-class passengers.

Unstandardized Testing

When selective colleges suspended the requirement for standardized testing, it didn’t really seem like a choice; because of the pandemic, a great many students simply couldn’t take the tests. The implications, however, went far beyond mere plague-year logistics.

The SAT was rolled out in 1926 as an objective measure of students’ ability, absent the cultural biases that had so strongly informed college admissions to date. It’s been the subject of debate almost ever since. In 1980, Ralph Nader published a study alleging that the standardized testing regimen actually reinforced racial and gender bias and favored people who could afford expensive test prep. Many educators have come back around to regarding the tests as a good predictor of academic success, but the matter is far from settled.

Remarkably, students still take the exams in the same numbers as before the pandemic, but far fewer disclose what they got. Cindy Zarzuela, an adviser with the nonprofit Yonkers Partners in Education who works with Rania and about 90 other students, said all her students took the SAT this year. None of them sent their scores to colleges.

These days Cornell, for example, admits roughly 40 percent of its incoming class without a test score. At schools like the University of Wisconsin or the University of Connecticut , the percentage is even higher. In California, schools rarely accept scores at all, being in many cases not only test-optional, but also “test-blind.”

The high-water mark of test-optionality, however, was also its undoing.

Applicants tended to submit their scores only if they were above the school’s reported median, a pattern that causes that median to be recalibrated higher and higher each year. When Cornell went test-optional, its 25th percentile score on the math SAT jumped from 720 to 750. Then it went to 760. The ceiling is 800, so standardized tests had begun to morph from a system of gradients into a yes/no question: Did you get a perfect score? If not, don’t mention it.

The irony, however, was that in the search for a diverse student body, many elite colleges view strong-but-not-stellar test scores as proof that a student from an underprivileged background could do well despite lacking the advantages of the kids from big suburban high schools and fancy prep schools. Without those scores, it might be harder to make the case .

Multiply that across the board, and the result was that test-optional policies made admission to an elite school less likely for some diverse or disadvantaged applicants. Georgetown and M.I.T. were first to reinstate test score requirements, and so far this year Harvard, Yale, Brown, Caltech, Dartmouth and Cornell have announced that they will follow. There may be more to come.

The Power of No

On Dec. 14, Ivy got an answer from Duke: She was rejected.

She was in extremely good company. It’s been a while since top students could assume they’d get into top schools, but today they get rejected more often than not. It even happens at places like Northeastern, a school now ranked 53rd in the nation by U.S. News & World Report — and not long ago, more than 100 slots lower than that. It spends less per student on instruction than the Boston public schools .

“There’s no target school anymore and no safety school,” says Stef Mauler , a private admissions coach in Texas. “You have to have a strategy for every school you apply to.”

Northeastern was one of the 18 other schools Ivy applied to, carefully sifting through various deadlines and conditions, mapping out her strategy. With Duke out of the way, her thoughts kept returning to one of them in particular: Dartmouth, her father’s alma mater. “My mom said, ‘Ivy, you love New Hampshire. Look at Dartmouth.’ She was right.” She had wanted to go someplace warm, but the idea of cold weather seemed to be bothering her less and less.

Meanwhile Rania watched as early decision day came and went, and thousands of high school seniors across the country got the best news of their lives. For Rania, it was just another Friday.

A Free Market in Financial Aid

In 2003, a consortium of about 20 elite colleges agreed to follow a shared formula for financial aid, to ensure that they were competing for students on the merits, not on mere dollars and cents. It sounds civilized, but pricing agreements are generally illegal for commercial ventures. (Imagine if car companies agreed not to underbid each other.) The colleges believed they were exempt from that prohibition, however, because they practiced “ need-blind ” admissions, meaning they don’t discriminate based on a student’s ability to pay.

In 2022, nine current and former students from an array of prestigious colleges filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit — later backed by the Justice Department — arguing that the consortium’s gentlemanly agreement was depriving applicants of the benefits of a free market. And to defang the defense, they produced a brilliant argument: No, these wealthy colleges didn’t discriminate against students who were poor, but they sure did discriminate in favor of students who were rich. They favored the children of alumni and devoted whole development offices to luring the kinds of ultrarich families that affix their names to shiny new buildings. It worked: Early this year, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Emory and Yale joined the University of Chicago in conceding , and paying out a nine-figure settlement. (They deny any wrongdoing.) Several other schools are playing on, but the consortium and its rules have evaporated.

This set schools free to undercut one another on price in order to get their preferred students. It also gave the schools a further incentive to push for early decision, when students don’t have the ability to compare offers.

For almost anyone seeking financial aid, from the most sought-after first round pick to the kid who just slid under the wire, the first step remained the same: They had to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, or FAFSA.

As anyone knows who’s been through it — or looked into the glassy eyes of someone else who has — applying for financial aid can be torture at the best of times. This year was the worst of times, because FAFSA was broken. The form, used by the government to determine who qualifies for federal grants or student loans, and by many colleges to determine their in-house financial aid, had gotten a much-needed overhaul. But the new version didn’t work , causing endless frustration for many families, and convincing many others not even to bother. At mid-April, finished FAFSA applications were down 29 percent compared with last year.

“The FAFSA catastrophe is bigger than people realize,” says Casey Sacks , a former U.S. Department of Education official and now the president of BridgeValley Community and Technical College in West Virginia, where 70 percent of students receive federal funds.

Abigail Garcia , Rania’s classmate and the 2024 valedictorian of their school, applied to in-state public colleges as well as Ivies. She couldn’t complete the FAFSA, however, because it rejected her parents’ information, the most common glitch. She has financial aid offers from elite schools, all of which use a private alternative to the government form, but she can’t weigh them against the public institutions, because they are so severely delayed.

For most students, 2024’s FAFSA crisis looks set to take the uncertainty that began last fall and drag it into the summer or beyond. “That’s going to reduce the work force in two to four years.” Ms. Sacks says. “FAFSA completions are a pretty good leading indicator of how many people will be able to start doing the kinds of jobs that are in highest demand — registered nurses, manufacturing engineers, those kinds of jobs.”

As the FAFSA problem rolls on, it could be that for the system as a whole, the worst is still to come.

Can Any of This Be Fixed?

On the numbers, elite college applicants’ problems are a footnote to the story of college access. The Ivy-Plus schools enroll less than 1 percent of America’s roughly 15 million undergraduates . If you expand the pool to include all colleges that are selective enough to accept less than a quarter of applicants, we’re still talking about only 6 percent of undergraduates. The easiest way to alleviate the traffic jam at the top is to shift our cultural focus toward the hundreds of schools that offer an excellent education but are not luxury brands.

Luxury brand schools, however, have real power. In 2023, 15 of 32 Rhodes scholars came from the Ivies, nine from Harvard alone. Twenty of this year’s 38 Supreme Court clerks came from Harvard or Yale. If elite colleges’ selection process is broken, what should we do to fix it?

Here’s what we can’t do: Let them go off and agree on their own solution. Antitrust law exists to prevent dominant players from setting their own rules to the detriment of consumers and competitors.

Here’s what we won’t do: Legislate national rules that govern admissions. Our systems are decentralized and it would take a miracle for Congress not to make things worse.

But here’s what we can do: Hold the schools accountable for their processes and their decisions.

Institutions that receive federal funds — which include all elite colleges — should be required to clearly state their admissions criteria. Admissions as currently practiced are designed to let schools whose budgets run on billions of taxpayers dollars do whatever they want. Consider Stanford’s guidance to applicants: “In a holistic review, we seek to understand how you, as a whole person, would grow, contribute and thrive at Stanford, and how Stanford would, in turn, be changed by you.” This perfectly encapsulates the current system, because it is meaningless.

Colleges should also not be allowed to make anyone decide whether to attend without knowing what it will actually cost, and they should not be allowed to offer better odds to those who forgo that information. They should not offer admissions pathways tilted to favor the rich, any more than they should offer pathways favoring people who are white.

It just shouldn’t be this hard. Really.

The Envelope Please …

Ivy has the highest academic qualifications available inside the conventional system, and her family can pay full tuition. Once upon a time, she would have had her pick of top colleges. Not this year.

Over the course of the whole crazy admissions season, the school she had come to care about most was Dartmouth.

Along with the other seven Ivies, Dartmouth released this year’s admissions decisions online on March 28, at 7 p.m. Eastern. Ivy was traveling that day, and as the moment approached, she said, “I was on the bed in my hotel room, just repeating, ‘People love me for who I am, not what I do. People love me for who I am, not what I do.’”

She was rejected by Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Columbia and the University of Southern California, where Operation Varsity Blues shenanigans could once guarantee acceptance but, as Ivy discovered, a perfect score on the ACT will not. She landed on the wait list at Northeastern. She was accepted by Michigan and Johns Hopkins. And Ivy was accepted at both her parents’ alma maters: the University of Virginia and Dartmouth, where she will start in September.

For Rania, the star student with an extraordinary story of personal resilience, the news was not so good. At Barnard, she was remanded to the wait list. Last year only 4 percent of students in that position were eventually let in. N.Y.U. and the City University of New York’s medical college put her on the wait list, too.

A spot on a wait list tells applicants that they were good enough to get in. By the time Rania applied to these schools, there just wasn’t any room. “It was definitely a shock,” she said. “What was I missing? They just ran out of space — there are so many people trying to get into these places. It took two weeks to adjust to it.”

She did get lots of other good news, a sheaf of acceptances from schools like Fordham and the University at Albany. But then came the hardest question of all: How to pay for them? Some offered her a financial aid package that would leave her on the hook for more money than undergraduates are allowed to take out in federal student loans. Even now, some colleges haven’t been able to provide her with financial aid information at all.

Rania had all but settled on Hunter College, part of the City University system. It’s an excellent school, but a world away from the elite colleges she was thinking about when she started her search. Then at almost the last moment, Wesleyan came through with a full ride and even threw in some extra for expenses. Rania accepted, gratefully.

For Rania, the whole painful roller coaster of a year was over. For so many other high school seniors, the year of broken college admissions continues.

Daniel Currell, a lawyer and consultant, was a deputy under secretary and senior adviser at the Department of Education from 2018 to 2021. He is a trustee of Gustavus Adolphus College.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Carlos Nunez-Sosa will attend MIT.

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It’s graduation season and a high-achieving Orange County Public Schools student will be among the group.

Carlos Nunez-Sosa has been accepted into schools like Yale, Duke, Harvard and many others.

As the school year winds down, students at East River High School are trying to finish strong. Among them is Nunez-Sosa, a student with a 5.308 grade point average who recently made a big decision.

“Harvard, Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania,” he said.

In all, there were 17 elite universities, all hoping to bring him in. Ultimately, he picked his dream school, MIT in Massachusetts.

Nunez-Sosa is the son of a couple who immigrated to the U.S. 20 years ago. His dad is from Cuba and his mom is from Honduras.

From a young age, he watched them build a home remodeling business, but also watched how they treated others.

"If anything, there’s one thing they told me to focus on is to be a good person," he said.

Nunez-Sosa is also a member of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps or JROTC. It was one of several things that piqued his interest over four years in high school.

His student rank suffered a bit because of joining, but he knew it was the best for him as a person.

"I knew that grades wasn’t everything for me,” he said. “Even though I’d have a higher GPA or class rank, those numbers weren’t going to define me. They weren’t what my goal was. My main goal was to grow and that’s what better aligned with my goals."

Between JROTC and class, he played sports like cross-country, became homecoming king, and even tried out for East River’s production of The Addams Family, where he got the lead role.

He credits a performance from his younger sister in "Beauty and the Beast."

"When I was in that audience, I cried a few times, but she just inspired me," he said. "She did it so well that it opened up my mind of how great theater productions can be, and I wanted to be a part of it."

Nunez-Sosa was recently named a Gates Scholarship winner, as well as a Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, meaning his parents can keep the money they saved for his budding education.

“It just made me proud of what I can achieve,” he said.

When he does choose, the plan is to study immunology.

"So I was born with a myriad of allergies. Over 20. It was bad with milk, eggs, peanuts and soy. Those would give me anaclitic shock."

His allergies forced the prestigious West Point Academy, one of his considered schools, to not admit him. He said it was disappointing, but it inspired him to study his issue, to help future generations.

"If you can’t live to serve, then you don’t have a reason to live," Nunez-Sosa said, quoting Mother Teresa.

“There’s someone else who has to take the next step and there are several people who’ve done that for me,” he said.

In a school of more than 2,000 kids, Nunez-Sosa hopes he and other seniors to be beacons of light, showing students no matter what, if you put your mind to it, you too can achieve it.

"Find your limits. Don’t set the limit for yourself before you even try to do it," he said. "Don’t waste your time-- that’s my bit: Don’t waste your time."

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✅ The first-year and transfer applications for fall 2024 are closed. Fall 2024 transfer decisions are now available in the application portal .

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