The HASTS program attracts students from around the world who seek an interdisciplinary program that will prepare them primarily as professional scholars. Others have applied their training to careers in law, business, journalism, and museum work.
No
Students in the HASTS program come from a wide range of academic disciplines and professional spheres. Reading student and faculty bio pages may help to determine whether this program is right for you. Prospective students are encouraged to contact a HASTS faculty member or student who is appropriate to their area of research and interest.
Funding for HASTS doctoral students includes five years of guaranteed support provided that the student maintains reasonable academic progress. This covers MIT tuition, 9 months of stipend, and 12 months of individual health insurance annually. Funding is provided through a combination of fellowships (including those which students earn on their own), teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and the like.
Yes, MIT offers an expanding array of options for graduate and family housing on campus and provides information for students who wish to live off-campus.
On the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education's website.
We cannot give probabilities of acceptance. The admissions committee is made up of faculty from all three departments, and participants vary from year to year. Test scores are only one component of an application, and the admissions committee takes the entire application into consideration when making its decision. Essays describing research interest and intellectual direction are critical. Students should express long term interests in science and technology and their historical and social dimensions.
Visits before the application deadline are not necessary. Top candidates will be contacted for interviews in February and March. If a candidate cannot travel to Cambridge, the interview may be done via telephone or video conference/chat.
No. Admitted students are required to begin the course in September.
All pieces of the application should be submitted online through Graduate Admissions (this is a new procedure as of the 2012 admissions cycle). If you cannot use the online system, you may download a PDF of the application from the Graduate Admissions website and follow instructions from there. Please contact hasts@mit.edu with any questions.
When you submit your application through MIT Graduate Admissions online, a message is sent to your evaluators with a link to an online evaluation form (see the bottom of page 2 of the online application). If an evaluator does not want to use the online evaluation form, please ask him/her to mail the paper form and/or recommendation letter in a sealed envelope directly to the department:
Doctoral Program in HASTS
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E51-163
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Paper forms can be found within the downloadable application (starting on page 31) on the Graduate Admissions website.
This is not required, and therefore does not appear on the online application for the HASTS program.
The admissions application fee must always be paid by someone. In very few instances, the application fee may be paid by the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education. Send an email request to hasts@mit.edu if you would like to request a waiver.
There are no parameters for the writing sample in terms of content, but its length should not exceed that of an article or chapter.
Transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended should be submitted. Applicants who participated in a study abroad/academic exchange do not need to provide a transcript from the host institution if the courses appear on your home institution's transcript.
Please scan all transcripts into one PDF (or other uploadable file) and submit on page 8 of the online application. Applicants who are advanced to round two of our admissions process will be required to provide an official, sealed transcript from each post-secondary school attended.
We would much rather receive the transcripts electronically this year. However, if it is difficult for you to submit them this way, we will accept original transcripts that come in an envelope sealed by the institution. Please note that these must be received by January 3rd (extra time given because MIT is closed on the 1st and 2nd).
Applicants should submit their most current transcripts possible. If the grades for the fall semester are not available early enough to submit your application on time, it is fine to submit without them.
Although there is no minimum GRE score to apply, students are required to take the general test (a subject test is not required) and submit their scores. GRE scores are good for five years. The GRE code for MIT is 3514 and the HASTS program is 2703.
Students whose native language is not English must take the IELTS or TOEFL. Students who have received instruction in English in their primary and secondary schools and students who have been in the US for four years or longer and have received a degree from an American institution may be eligible for a waiver of this requirement by sending a written request to the department (hasts@mit.edu). Please submit waiver requests well BEFORE the admissions deadline, so you have time to take the IELTS or TOEFL if your waiver is not approved.
What are the minimum score requirements for the IELTS and TOEFL?
A minimum score of 7 is required for the IELTS. For the TOEFL, a minimum score of 90 (internet-based; 577 on the paper-based) is required for visa certification. Test scores should be obtained from the past two years.
How do I submit either a TOEFL or IELTS score?
When sending TOEFL scores, use MIT's institutional code, 3514.
For the IELTS, you must request your official test scores be sent directly from the test center where you take the exam. There are no institutional codes. You should request that the test scores be sent to:
Doctoral Program in HASTS
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E51-163
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Application forms and supplementary pieces (writing sample, transcripts and letters of recommendation) must be submitted online or postmarked by January 1st. GRE, TOEFL and IELTS exams must be taken by December 31, 2011 in order for scores to be considered for admission. We will allow for processing time for the scores to get to us if the exams were taken in November/December 2011.
The HASTS admissions committee normally begins reviewing applications in mid- to late-January. Notification is sent to admitted students in writing following the completion of that process, which may take until early April. Admitted students must notify the Institute of their intentions by April 15.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
MIT HASTS Building E51-163 | 617-253-9759 | hasts@mit.edu |