Admission to the MIT CDO Program

Admission for Non-MIT Students

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The CDO program does not offer a PhD degree at this time. However, the CDO master's degree program is a natural adjunct to many MIT doctoral programs in engineering and science. Students interested in admission to the CDO program in conjunction with an MIT departmental PhD program should contact us directly at cdo_info@mit.edu .

Requirements
Deadline
Application Fee
Application Process
Contact Information
GRE/IELTS Requirements
Financial Support
Non-Discrimination Policy

Requirements

Although there are no formal academic requirements for admission, prospective students should have a strong foundation in a core disciplinary area such as engineering, materials science, physics, or mathematics. The program is very technical, and as such, we expect all applicants to have a firm foundation in and understanding of linear algebra and multivariable calculus.

Application Deadline

The application deadline for fall term admission to the CDO program is January 10 for the following September. The deadline for September 2011 admission is January 10, 2011. The CDO program does not offer spring term admission. Students are notified via email of admissions decisions by early March.

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Application Fee

The MIT graduate application fee is $75. The fee is a mandatory requirement set by the Institute, and the CDO program does not grant fee waivers. The application fee can be paid by personal check, money order, MasterCard or Visa.

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Application Process

All applicants must use the MIT CDO online application. If there are extenuating circumstances necessitating the use of a paper application, please contact the CDO administrator.

Online Application

All applicants to the CDO S.M. program are now required to use the unique online CDO application. The link to the CDO application can be found on MIT's “How to Apply” graduate admissions web page.

As part of the online application, all applicants to the CDO program must submit the following:

• Three letters of recommendation
• Certified academic transcripts ordered from your undergraduate institution (transcript copies are not accepted)
• Completed Grades section of the application
• Statement of objectives (limit essay to one page), and Statement Comments, if any
• Official GRE General Test score report (Department Code: 1699), sent to MIT by ETS
• Official IELTS score report, sent to MIT by IELTS

Receipt of your application will be acknowledged via email by the CDO admissions coordinator. If you do not hear from the program within three weeks of application submission, please send email to cdo_info@mit.edu.

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Admissions Contact Information

All admissions-related documents should be mailed directly to:

CDO Admissions Coordinator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 35-329
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Email: cdo_info@mit.edu

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GRE / IELTS Requirements

 

GRE

All applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Aptitude Test. The advanced subject test is recommended but not required. The MIT code for submitting GRE score reports is 3514.

English Language Proficiency Requirement and IELTS

As of Fall 2010, the CDO program requires international applicants from non-English speaking countries to take the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) instead of the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). The IELTS exam measures one's ability to communicate in English in four major skill areas: listening, reading, writing, and speaking. A minimum IELTS score of 7 will be required for Fall 2011 admission to the CDO program. For more information about the IELTS, and to find out where and how to take the exam, please visit the IELTS web site.

TOEFL NO LONGER ACCEPTED

For international applicants from non-English speaking countries, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) will no longer be accepted as of Fall 2010 admission. Instead, international applicants are required to take the IELTS, as noted above.

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Financial Support

CDO students may:

• Be self-supported and perhaps finish in 12-18 months
• Obtain RA or TA support and finish in 18+ months

Unless you have been awarded a scholarship or a fellowship from one or more funding organizations, you may need to provide your own funding to cover all or part of your MIT tuition and other expenses.

Most internal sources of support at MIT are in the form of research assistantships (RAs) and teaching assistantships (TAs). CDO administrators are in contact with CDO-affiliated faculty and other MIT faculty and monitor faculty funding and research/teaching needs to look for matches between faculty research interests, funding, and the profiles of admitted CDO students, in order to help students find opportunities for financial support. However, we are not able to guarantee financial support for any of our students. Students who arrive on campus without having secured financial support will be expected to pay their own tuition, fees and living expenses.

Important program change notice: 
The Singapore-MIT Alliance no longer offers fellowships for the SMA-CE and MIT CDO dual master's degree program. The final year for SMA-CE fellowships was Academic Year 2009-2010. No additional fellowships will be given.

For more information on financial support, email us at cdo_info@mit.edu.

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Nondiscrimination Policy

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MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
77 Massachusetts Avenue   Room 35-329  Cambridge, MA 02139   617-253-3725  cdo_info@mit.edu