Graduate Admissions Criteria

All graduate applicants to MIT apply to their specific departments using a general graduate application. This application, and other MIT graduate application requirements, appear on the MIT graduate admissions Web site.

There's no special formula or secret that guarantees an offer of admission from MIT Aero-Astro. However, following are some of the metrics used in evaluating graduate admission applications specifically within our department.

Prior degrees

You'll need to have earned a Bachelor's Degree prior to entering a graduate program. (Applicants from some French universities may be exempt.) If you're applying to one of our doctoral programs, you'll need to have both Bachelor's and Master's degrees. Your undergraduate and graduate degrees need not be in aeronautics or astronautics to be a viable applicant.

Preparation

You must have a strong background in mathematics and physics, and, with rare exception, familiarity with an engineering discipline. In some cases, unfulfilled entrance requirements may be satisfied during your first year of graduate study. If you're radically changing fields, advance study before applying is recommended. You should also address your reasons for changing in your Statement of Objectives, a very important part of our graduate application.

MIT Aero-Astro is organized into three research sectors: Information, Vehicle Technologies, and Aerospace Systems. The Sector Selection Form should be filled out and submitted with your application to indicate in which area of study you wish to focus. Our Sector Selection form is included in the online application, and in the Forms and Documents Section of our website.

Grade Point Average

Your GPA should be a minimum of B (3.0 on a four-point scale, or 4.0 on a five-point scale).

Graduate Record Examination

You should score in at least the 80th percentile on both the Quantitative and Analytic sections of the GRE. To be eligible for Fall admission, this exam must be taken by our application deadline of December 15.

Test of English as a Foreign Language

If English is your native language, or if all of your education from primary school forward has been in English, you are not required to take this exam.

But, if your language of instruction beginning in primary school was not English, you'll need to take the TOEFL and score a minimum of 250 on the computer-based exam. (600 on the paper-based version, 100 on the internet-based version). We do not waive the TOEFL examination for applicants who fit the above criteria, even for those who complete an SB or SM degree at an English-speaking university prior to applying to MIT. To be eligible for Fall admission, this exam must be taken by our application deadline of December 15.

Common research interests

Your Statement of Objectives should relate to department faculty and researchers' current activities and research. If there is no department research in your area of interest, you're not going to be a strong candidate for admission.

Advisor availability

Even if you have an outstanding record, vitae, recommendations, and potential to excel in Aero-Astro, we may not be able to offer you admission. We will not admit more students than our faculty can effectively advise. This number varies term-to-term, and specialty-to-specialty, depending on the composition of our applicant pool and our current graduate student population.