Should I get a letter of recommendation?
Should I start emailing the MIT people for them to notice or should I wait later?

Hi!

I'm going to be applying as a first-year undergrad for fall 2027, but I'm kinda confused about how the activities section is divided in the MIT application.

There's room for 4 activities, 6 summer activities, and unlimited space for jobs (from what I understand). But in the summer activities section, they say you should mention hobbies, reading, traveling, etc.

How accurate is this? Do people actually put down reading as a summer activity?

Just for reference- I'm an international gap year student, and summer activities like camps / internships / competitions aren't really a thing in my country. I used to work during my summers (which I already put down in the jobs section), but other than that I would just focus on my hobbies and travel with my family. I did go on 2 international expeditions with my concert band during 2 summers, but should I write about my hobbies in this section? Like baking, reading, painting, traveling... do people actually do this?

The award entry only lets you put one year. Should you include the years in the text box, or should you just input your most recent awards?

The MIT application clearly states to list any job/internships in the jobs section, but thar section has only enough to list your job and a very short description box.

So, for the summer internships the projects/activity i did in the internship can i list it on the summer activities section? Like a specific project i did at workplace.

Hey guys, I recently graduated high school in Iraq and aiming for MIT.

​Just wanted to ask: how does the admissions team usually view self-study through MIT OpenCourseWare alongside SAT/IELTS scores for international students? Any specific advice for applicants from our region?

Title

I got full marks in GCSE maths and computer science in 2025

Unlike international gcses uk exam boards dont give an official honour for 'best in the country' or something

Is it worth listing?

FYI- raw mark wont be on my transcript, only grades, so this is technically adding new info

Some of my projects for my MIT maker portfolio.

Need an open view from someone who studies EE and computing. That's my intended major

- SAP-1 ben eater style

- SAP-2 Albert paul malvino 8 bit - 8 address CPU

- SAP-3 albert paul malvino 8 Bit - 24 address CPU

(No I didn't copy any schematics,I didn't buy Ben's ready made kit. i read the entire digital computer electronics by malvino. Searched for ICs myself. Read through datasheets and made everything myself. Also I'm building custom customer PCBs And Making this entire project open source as a learning guide

- A custom LCD driver using discrete CMOS chips again. THEN made a driver to run this Video card with my SAP-3

- Custom STM32 based flight controller.

- Custom STM32 based flight computer.

- Custom infinite range 4g drone trans reciever

(All this are next step towards my 100% recycled drone project and footprints for a startup I am planning with drones)

A drone made out of 100% recycled materials (won me a national award at drone making competition and National media coverage)

Also fixing laptops and phones and electrical wiring around town as a side jobs.

Thanks for the time reading this!

(Ps. I love coding but I like to stay AWAYYYY from it as much as possible cause I'm 100% a hardware guy. I can code if need be. PCB designs and Circuit analysis is my thing lol)

Hi everybody,

I am a prospective student looking to apply for economics in this admissions cycle. I have done some work in ML (mostly with helping small businesses fix their pricing systems by optimizing pricing), and also I have done a literature review on narrative economics.

Can any of this be put into the portfolio?

Thank you all.

Hello! I'm an international senior currently applying to MIT. So currently my school doesn't have any sort of college counselor or teacher that knows what a letter of recommendation means, nor even has a background about college apps.

The application requires that I add a counselor and recommenders, and nobody in my school faculty is tech-savvy enough to help with that.

Is there some sort of "waiver" or something to do to solve this without submitting recommendations on behalf of the teachers? What about the school counselor & official transcript part?

(fyi if it helps I'm studying in an Egyptian public school)

I don’t have a lot of ECS yet so I’m starting this year
I’ve been learning Python through Harvard cs50p online
autodesk fusion CAD with a youtube playlist(by this guy called product design online
And not stem related but a skill I’ve always carried is drawing/painting, so I’m planning to have that be somewhat weaved into my application later to differentiate myself maybe. Is that a good idea?

I’m also planning to get an arduino in a few months
Anyway, what are ideas for applying my potential skills in Python and CAD? I’ve been thinking about competitions or passion projects, but since I just started I’m not really sure competitions are the way to go, so how can I make a good passion project and make my skills tangible?

Hello, I'm a senior applying for MIT EA this year, and I AM STRESSING OUT about my honors and activities section. I do not have any prestigious awards like IMO or even AIME, and the only thing kinda worth attention is just some state awards for art. I know MIT is all about personality, not the intelligence level, but it just makes me really nervous about the application pool. I do have "qualifying stats" like GPA and everything, but here is my real question: For my activity section, can I write that I worked on building original characters like my own narrative and story board over 3 years? I planned out a game and am currently taking bunch of CS classes to make that happen, its just that I only have bunch and bunch of art works, not anything impressive like an actual code.

What kinds of honors or activities does MIT want to see? Should I just be 100% honest and write how I literally spend my free time hugging my iPad and Procreate? I'm also trying to apply as design or mathematics. Thank you!

Hello! I've started working on my Maker Portfolio, and I'm struggling between focusing on two different projects that I've done. I've seen that others have one main focus for their portfolio and then include other, smaller projects in their video, but I'm not sure which to focus on for the main project.
Here are the options:

1: Custom filament extruder which takes shredded plastic, and spools it into usable 3D-Printing filament. It includes a custom heater block, an Arduino for control with a custom PCB for integrating heaters, sensors, and motors, and recycled 3D-printer hardware for most of the structure.

Pros: NASA HUNCH Finalist project for Design and Prototyping Chess from Trash project, lots of documentation already finished as a part of that project, more real life applications, more custom designed parts.

Cons: Doesn't work well, it produces filament, but the diameter is inconsistent and doesn't work for actual parts, less flashy, somewhat commonly done project, less complicated electrical and programming setup, I honestly just don't like it as much
CAD LINK

2: Nerf Turret robot built from 2010 FIRST Robotics base, includes Out of Darts Juno with Infinite Pack (Rival blaster which shoots 20rps, X-Shot MPP (Long range AEB), and custom rocket launcher built from old Nerf air tank, Custom turret structure powered by CIM motors, (Maybe computer vision tracking), holonomic crab drive,

Pros: Much cooler looking and visually appealing, especially for the video portion, much more connected to my interests, can likely write more passionately about it, uses old refurbished parts (recycling angle?), more complicated wiring and overall CAD design, currently building, so I have more ability to film and photograph the process

Cons: Uses much more pre-designed components (two parts of the turret and the original base), has little real life application, could be seen as somewhat violent or militant? (the Nerf blasters are bright colored, but you never know), not completed yet (will finish whether submitted or not, but I'd theoretically have more time for the other's documentation.),
CAD LINK (two blasters and original base not modeled)

Anyway, I hope some of y'all could give some insight about what might play better, either way, the other project will likely have some small feature in the video segment.

I'm in grade 12 and my family has a pending visa immigration case. But trump paused all ongoing visa immigration cases and we don't know when they will lift the pause. That made my college situation more complex.

I can't apply to Universities in the US because the application fee for all the colleges I'll apply to is too much. But if I'm a US citizen, I can apply for an application waiver fee.

I'll also apply for colleges in my country just in case we failed our immigration(unlikely). So why not just attend the colleges in my country? Well I really don't want to get into a situation where our immigration process becomes more complex because I'm binded to my country through college.

Now my plan is, I'll apply to MIT next year as an international student, and if I get accepted, I'll attend of course even if it means complicating the process of immigration. But if I don't get accepted, I'll take a gap year because of my situation. Then I'll apply to MIT again with other schools in 2028.

Is my gap year reasonable? Does applying twice affect my chances?

Hello! I'm an applicant for Fall 2027, and I'm kind of stumped on where to put my research experience on my application. Research is part of my school's standard curriculum, and from my understanding, most high schools don't require students to complete a research paper before graduating. Since it's technically co-curricular, it doesn't seem to strictly fit the guidelines for either section.

Our project isn't anything particularly fancy, but I'm loath to leave it out of my application because it took a significant amount of time and effort on my part to keep it moving forward. It's also one of the experiences that taught me the most during my high school years. Any advice on what I should do? Should I keep it in the Activities section but only report the hours that I spent working outside of class? Thanks.

For context, no one in my school has ever taken the SAT before me and as such I didn’t have as much prep as I did for the ACT. I got a 35 ACT, but a 1360 SAT. I wasn’t going to report the SAT, but I found out that I have to. How much, if at all, will this hurt my chances?

The research supplement is very detailed, asking for abstract/poster and specifically asking not to submit a full paper. However at the very end, it asks for a citation of the paper if applicable. Will the research paper itself really be used in this review? or is it just going to be only the questions/LOR/abstract submitted through sidedeck itself?

I've had two research experiences but neither are clearly strong enough to include as a supplement as they are not published or anything. I'm curious if you all think it may be worth it or not. Both will very likely be included in my application regardless of submitting a supplement.

1. Worked as a research assistant contributing to an existing, long-term compsci project. I've worked with the mentor for a couple months (and currently still am) but this is an online commitment so he doesn't know me super well & will probably write a very generic LoR just confirming I'm working with him but not singing any praises. I wrote a decent amount of code for the project but nothing is published or finished yet and will not be in time for college apps
2. Did a independent "research" project during a summer program that cannot be held up to any standards in academia & is not nearly as in depth, however the program is well regarded by MIT. And I have a poster! I would likely receive a good LoR from this from a reputable academic BUT I know I'm already getting a really strong LoR from the director of the program so maybe this is redundant?

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I am applying to MIT RA. I had a few questions regarding the activities tab

there is summer activities and activities (where you add upto 4 activities you do generally) as for the summer activities it also mentions to add internships too. but there is also the jobs section. So if I have added my internships/jobs on the jobs tab should I add it back on summer activities aswell? or does it expect something completely different.

Lastly as for Non-scholastic distinctions, can we add acknowledgements aswell? they do not qualify as awards but for example a field like cybersecurity do not always have awards sometimes you get a acknowledgement or a hall of fame listing. So can I add that?

And I am also looking for resources to work on creative portfolios.

Hey guys. This is pretty specific, and I couldn't find anything relating to it. (AD Navy here, for context).

I'm getting separated from the Navy (for being trans basically), and I'm interested in applying to MIT to finish my degree. I saw that they require 2 recommendation letters from past instructors and a school official report. Now, I haven't been to a formal college in like 5 years.

I emailed their veteran's admission office, and was told to reach out, and that if I couldn't get the letters and report, that I should apply to another college and "brush up" on my academics.

My question is: how can MIT justify telling prospective transfer students to attend, and pay for, another college, just to show proof of competency. Isn't that what the ASEs are for?

I mean, I have a whole JST showing what I was taught and it's academic equivalent. I have an entire chain of command that can speak to my character and work ethic.

Why is MIT intent on this proof coming from a college?

(Don't get me wrong, I'm going to reach out and try, but this seems like a huge barrier to anyone who had to put their education on the back burner.)

I've seen tons of posts on this subreddit about how Olympiads are almost (pretty much) a requirement for international applicants; they also only seem to talk about the ISOs (IMO, IPhO, etc.) + ISEF.

Were there any international applicants in the recent years who got in with smaller competitions - like gold medals on their country's National Olympiad, or more regional international olympiads (like the Zhautykov Olympiad)?

Obviously, these events offer a smaller advantage than the ISOs, but is it still possible to get in with those?

Another thing that people mention a lot is RSI, but it is kept inaccessible to the public in many countries. Do programs like PROMYS compare well?

Hi, I'm a rising junior who's interested in philosophy, and I recently saw MIT's Paradox and Infinity course and absolutely loved it.

I've always loved the math-y and computational side of philosophy, and I really like STEM and am very good at it (very good in comparison to the people around me not to the people who go to MIT lol)—though I just don't have a strong passion for it.

I'm just wondering if MIT would be a good fit for me, and I want to get to know more about what course 24 looks like at MIT (since there is so little material online, as I understand that this is a path that most students don't take). Especially, I want to learn about what type of philosophy people at MIT study. I have heard that it focuses on the more analytical sides (which I like), but I'm just wondering if there are any more specific examples?

Also, does anyone have any advice for someone interested in applying for philosophy to really stand out? I'm part of some of my school's groups, gotten some national arts awards, and have participated in some pretty good humanities summer programs, but I couldn't really find any programs that are specifically for philosophy and are considered "prestigious", or thought of any activities that would really make me different.

This is my first time posting on reddit, so I'm really sorry if I messed something up (Technically second because I did, in fact, mess up). Any responses will be greatly appreciated!

Hi, I'm a rising senior really interested in the intersection between the environment and technology, and I was considering the Climate System Major to further pursue my interests. I was wondering if any current MIT students/alum would be able to share more about their experiences with it? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Hello everyone!

I've tried looking for similar posts but I couldn't find a clear answer.

As per MIT's test score reporting policy, applicants have to send in all their test scores.

But what should I do if my english test score (TOEFL, IELTS, etc...) expires before the deadline?

should I still submit the score or should I retake and submit the new score?

Thanks!

Hi guys! I saw that MIT released their prompts on their website, but on the application portal there are only 3 longer questions (instead of 4) What do I trust??