In some cases, you may have the ability to choose the type of grades you want to send us. Numerical or letter grades help us get a better understanding of your mastery in a subject. We encourage students to send those types of grades if they have them, because they help us make better decisions. Grades that are pass/fail give us confidence you have the minimum proficiency in a course to successfully pass.

Please remember that no matter which type kind of grades you send, they are only one piece of the overall application. We look at other factors such as testing, what your teachers say, etc., in order to understand your academic preparation for MIT. If there is an extenuating circumstance that has impacted your performance in a class, or a decision to take a course pass/fail instead of with a letter grade, you can use the additional information section on the self-reported coursework page to provide additional insight.

We will also ask you what you would like us to call you—preferred first name. Preferred first name is the name we will use in all official print and email communication from our office. If we share your information with another MIT office, they may use your preferred name or your legal name in communications, depending on the purpose. For example, Student Financial Services will use your legal name and the Office of the First Year may use your preferred first name. If you have any concerns or questions, please reach out to us at 617.253.3400.

All of our privacy policies can be found on our website. But so that you are aware, we do share some limited data with other offices at MIT for administrative purposes (the Registrar’s Office and Office of the First Year for example) and with some vendors performing services under contract with us. We do not share information with any other outside parties—this includes family members, friends, teachers, or anyone else.

If you are planning on applying to MIT and would like to see our testing requirements, please visit our Tests and scores page.

Our Transcripts page has information on how to have your counselor submit your transcript to us.

Please note: If you send us a copy of your transcript while we are waiting for your official transcript to be submitted and processed, we will add it to your application as a placeholder until we receive your official transcript.

Our Transcripts page has more information on how to have your counselor submit your transcript.

Please note: If you send us a copy of your transcript while we are waiting for your official transcript to be submitted and processed, we will add it to your application as a placeholder until we receive your official transcript.

If you’re named a QuestBridge Finalist and ranked MIT, your QuestBridge application will be forwarded to us for review, and we will contact you about filling out our additional MIT QuestBridge Supplement. You do not need to fill out a first-year application if you are a Finalist; the QuestBridge application and MIT QuestBridge Supplement will act in place of the MIT first-year application.

Please note: Along with the MIT QuestBridge Supplement, we require an official school transcript. If your counselor/school official already sent an official transcript through the QB application, please allow 7–10 business days for this to be reflected on your Applicant Status page (located in the MIT application portal after you have submitted your QB supplement). If you did not submit an official transcript with your QB application, you can request an official transcript from your school counselor on your Applicant Status page after you submit your QB supplement.

We accept QuestBridge applications without a humanities/social sciences/language teacher letter of recommendation, but if your application didn’t include a math/science teacher letter of recommendation, we strongly recommend asking one of your math or science teachers to write one for you. If you are selected as a QuestBridge Finalist, you will be able to add the recommender information to your MIT QuestBridge Supplement, and they will receive directions on how to submit their letter.

MIT will contact both matched and unmatched Finalists in early December, and let them know what their next steps should be.

If you applied for the QuestBridge Match but were not selected as a Finalist, you are still welcome to apply to MIT through our Regular Action cycle using our application portal. If you are not a Finalist, you must fill out the entire MIT first-year application.

MIT practices need-blind admissions for all students. If you’re admitted, MIT will assemble a financial aid award made up of grants and scholarships that will meet 100% of your demonstrated need. This usually means an award similar to the College Match Scholarship.