Admit rate has ranged 4%–7% over the last 5 years. Source: IPEDS via Urban Institute.
Acceptance & SAT from Common Data Set / IPEDS; net price, earnings & graduation from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~1–2 years — verify with the school.
MIT isn't just a top-ranked engineering school—it's a pressure cooker for the world's most obsessive problem-solvers, where students bond over sleepless nights in maker spaces and professors casually drop Nobel Prizes. With a 4% acceptance rate and a culture that treats 'impossible' as a personal insult, this is where you go to build the future (or at least survive the problem sets).
Admission requirements
Test scores required
Required
High school transcript
Letters of recommendation
Test scores (SAT/ACT)
Considered (not required)
Grade point average
Class rank
College-prep program
TOEFL (non-native English)
Source: IPEDS Admissions survey (2022) via Urban Institute. Covers formal factors only — it does not reflect essays, extracurriculars, or other holistic criteria.
More details
Undergrad enrollment
4,535
In-state tuition
$62,396
Out-of-state tuition
$62,396
Need Met
100%
Acceptance Rate
4-5%
Average Aid Package
$67,740
Median Early Salary
$109,923
Student-Faculty Ratio
3:1
4-Year Graduation Rate
96%
Sticker Price (2024-25)
$82,730
Outcomes & value
Outcomes & value
Median earnings (10 yr)
$143,372
Value (earnings ÷ net price)
7.1×
Median debt at graduation
$14,768
Graduation rate
96%
First-year retention
99%
Reducing loan balance (3 yr)
92%
Pell (lower-income) share
56%
First-generation share
26%
Endowment / student
$5,418,460
Top-earning majors
Median earnings by field of study (highest credential), ~2 years after completion.
Computer Science$127,993
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering$121,226
Mathematics$117,572
Economics$110,878
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology$94,408
Business/Commerce, General$94,408
Campus & location
Campus safety
On-campus violent crimes (2024)
6
Per 1,000 students
1.32
On-campus criminal offenses classed as violent (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the most recent reported year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education Campus Safety and Security (Clery Act). Counts reflect what’s reported to the school, and urban campuses often report more partly due to non-student incidents nearby — read alongside campus size and setting, not as a standalone safety verdict.
Climate
Pleasant days / yr
91
Summer high
81°F
Winter low
25°F
Annual rain
49"
Annual snow
31.4"
Natural-hazard risk
Relatively High
Pleasant days counts days per year with a mean temperature of 55–75°F, a high at or below 90°F, a low at or above 45°F, and little precipitation — a transparent comfort measure, not a weighting we invented. Computed from Open-Meteo ERA5 daily history (2019–2023). Natural-hazard risk is the county’s composite rating from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Deep dive — research, future-scholar output & economic mobility▾
Research output
Institutional h-index
2,254
Scholarly works
346,338
Institutional research volume and impact from OpenAlex. The h-index reflects large research universities and will be low for teaching-focused liberal-arts colleges — not a measure of undergraduate quality.
Share of this school’s graduates who go on to earn research doctorates (2010–20), by national rank and per-capita yield (NSF institutional-yield ratio). A signal of a research-oriented student culture — not a causal promise, since it partly reflects who enrolls. Only top producers appear. Source: NSF NCSES, Baccalaureate Origins of U.S. Research Doctorate Recipients.
Economic mobility
Mobility rate
3.4%
Bottom → top quintile
Quick answers
What is the acceptance rate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's acceptance rate is approximately 5% (Cambridge, MA), based on the most recent figures we compiled from public and primary sources.
What SAT score do you need for Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
Admitted students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology typically score 1520–1580 on the SAT (the middle-50% range). Scores outside this band are still admitted, especially with strong applications.
How much does Massachusetts Institute of Technology cost?
At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the average net price (after aid) is about $20,111 per year. Actual cost varies with financial aid and residency.
How many undergraduates attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology enrolls approximately 4,535 undergraduate students.
Where is Massachusetts Institute of Technology located?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located in Cambridge, MA.
Admissions
Getting into MIT is like winning a lottery where the tickets are made of perfect SAT scores and math Olympiad medals. The Acceptance rateThe share of applicants a college admits in a given year. A 10% acceptance rate means it admits about 1 in 10 applicants. hovers around 4-5%, with just 1,340 spots for over 33,000 applicants in recent years. The middle 50% SAT range is a jaw-dropping 1520-1570, and ACT scores cluster at 34-36—essentially requiring perfection. MIT's admissions office emphasizes they evaluate applicants holistically, but let's be real: you'll need near-flawless academics and something extraordinary (like building a nuclear reactor in your garage) to stand out.
Class of 2025 stats: 4.03% acceptance rate (1,340 admits from 33,240 apps)
Class of 2030 stats: 4.58% acceptance rate (1,299 admits from 28,349 apps)
Early Action advantage: About half the class is admitted EA, where acceptance rates are slightly higher
Earnings = median of students working ~10 years after entry; debt = median of graduates. Value divides 10-yr earnings by one year’s net price — read it as earnings per dollar of annual cost, not a full lifetime ROI; it favors lower-cost schools. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~2 years and reflect all students, not your intended major.
Physics$84,653
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering$83,177
Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (field-of-study earnings). Figures cover graduates who received federal aid and lag ~2 years; not all programs report data.
67%
From bottom quintile
5%
Mobility rate = the share of students who both start in the bottom household-income quintile and reach the top quintile; bottom → top is that chance conditional on starting at the bottom. Source: Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Cards (Chetty, Friedman, Saez, Turner & Yagan). Reflects 1980–82 birth cohorts, so it’s directional, not current.
MIT's curriculum is a gauntlet thrown at the feet of geniuses—its legendary Course 6 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) alone graduates more tech billionaires than some countries. The institute operates on a brutal 'drinking from a firehose' philosophy, with no grade inflation to soften the blow. Students don't just learn material; they reinvent disciplines, whether through the Media Lab's boundary-pushing experiments or the AeroAstro department's literal rocket science.
Signature programs:
Course 6 (EECS): The crown jewel, feeding students directly into Silicon Valley
Course 2 (Mechanical Engineering): Where you build robots before breakfast
Course 16 (Aero/Astro): For future SpaceX engineers
Comparative Media Studies: Surprisingly strong humanities counterpoint
The workload is legendary—'IHTFP' (I Hate This F***ing Place) is half-joke, half-cry for help—but the resources are unmatched: Nobel laureates teach intro classes, undergrads get published in Nature, and failure is just 'iteration.'
MIT's culture is best described as 'collective trauma bonding'—students survive by forming tight-knit groups in dorms like the anarchic East Campus or the glass-walled Simmons Hall. With 500+ clubs ranging from the Chocolate Science Lab to the Underwater Hockey Team, there's a niche for every flavor of nerd. Greek life dominates social scenes (over half of male students join frats), while hacks—like placing a police car on the Great Dome—serve as creative stress relief.
Key quirks:
The 'Toolbox' in East Campus: A student-run machine shop open 24/7
Steer Roast: An annual party where engineers barbecue a full steer
Brass Rat: The most obsessively designed class ring in academia
Primal Scream: Midnight yelling sessions before finals
As one Redditor put it: 'You'll pull three all-nighters a week, but you'll do it with people who can explain quantum mechanics using memes.'
MIT doesn't just open doors—it launches graduates through them at escape velocity. The 96% graduation rate is among the nation's highest, and the median early-career salary ($110K) quickly jumps to $148K within five years. Silicon Valley recruiters treat the campus like a talent farm, with CS majors regularly pulling $200K+ starting packages. About 40% of graduates immediately enter top PhD programs, while others found startups (like Dropbox) before their diplomas arrive.
By the numbers:
Median early salary: $109,923 (1 year out)
Median mid-career salary: $148,383 (5 years out)
99.8% freshman retention rate
Top employers: Google, Microsoft, SpaceX, McKinsey
The only downside? You'll forever answer 'Why didn't you go to Harvard?' at cocktail parties.
At $82,730 total cost (2024-25), MIT would be prohibitively expensive—if not for its aggressively generous Need-based aidFinancial aid awarded based on your family's ability to pay, as measured by forms like the FAFSA, rather than on achievements.. The institute meets 100% of demonstrated need, with the average scholarship hitting $67,740. Nearly 60% of undergrads receive aid, and families earning under $140k often pay $0 tuition. Even upper-middle-class students benefit: the median Net priceWhat a family actually pays after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the sticker price — usually far less than the published cost. after aid is just $10,268.
Financial snapshot:
Sticker price: $82,730 (tuition + room/board)
Average aid package: $67,740
57% of students receive MIT Scholarships
No Merit aidScholarship money awarded for achievements like grades, talents, or test scores — not based on your family's financial need.—only need-based
The message is clear: If MIT wants you, money won't be the obstacle. (The problem sets will be.)
MIT isn't merely a university—it's a intellectual boot camp for the planet's most relentless builders. Where else can you take quantum physics from a Nobel winner, then collaborate on a satellite project before dinner? The culture prizes raw ingenuity over tradition: students routinely skip class to work on startups, and getting 'hacked' (like when the Great Dome became R2-D2) is considered an honor. The alumni network reads like a who's who of tech (Bose, Buzz Aldrin, Kofi Annan), and the 'MIT brand' guarantees recruiters will fight over you. Just remember: you're signing up for four years of sleep deprivation, existential crises, and the most transformative education on Earth.
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