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How to Write the MIT Application Essays 2024-2025

This year, MIT has 5 required essays, and 4 optional essays. The 5 required essays cover a range of topics that you’ve likely already been thinking about throughout your college process: your intended major, a favorite hobby, an unexpected aspect of your educational journey, your collaboration skills, and managing a challenge.

The 4 optional essays concern extenuating circumstances in your school career. Although we typically advise you to respond to every prompt, even optional ones, these are truly optional–you should only write an essay if you actually have something to say.

Keep in mind that MIT does not use the Common Application, and instead uses its own system called MyMIT . So, in addition to the essays, make sure you leave yourself extra time to fill out your personal information and the other standard pieces of the application.

Read these MIT essay examples written by real students to inspire your writing!

MIT Application Essay Prompts

All applicants, required.

Prompt 1: What field of study appeals to you the most right now? (Note: Applicants select from a drop-down list). Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you. (100 words)

Prompt 2: We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it. (150 words)

Prompt 3: While some reach their goals following well-trodden paths, others blaze their own trails achieving the unexpected. In what ways have you done something different than what was expected in your educational journey? (225 words)

Prompt 4: MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. Describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together. (200 words)

Prompt 5: How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it? (225 words)

All Applicants, Optional

Prompt 6: No application can meet the needs of every individual. If there is significant information that you were not able to include elsewhere in the application, you may include it here. (Many students will leave this section blank—and that’s okay.) (300 words)

Prompt 7: If you have additional information about your family that you think is important for us to know, please include it here. (100 words)

Prompt 8: If there is anything we should know about your school’s course offerings, extenuating circumstances regarding your coursework, or school’s grading system, please use the space below. (250 words)

Prompt 9: We understand that sometimes things outside of your control impact your ability to complete [standardized] tests to the best of your ability. If you have an extenuating circumstance, such as exam cancellations or illness, please let us know here. (150 words)

What field of study appeals to you the most right now? Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you. (100 words)

This prompt is the classic “Why This Major?” question, that asks you what you want to study and why you want to study it. Most importantly, it asks you why you want to study this major at MIT. Ultimately, the most compelling response to this essay prompt is one that:

• Demonstrates your passion for the major that you have chosen.
• Integrates your past and present studies and interests seamlessly with your future at MIT and your long-term academic and professional goals.
• Addresses specifically why MIT―the campus, resources, faculty, programs, and opportunities―is the place where you need and want to study.

Before you start brainstorming and drafting a response to this prompt, spend ample time exploring the various majors , or “courses” as MIT calls them, on MIT’s website. You should pinpoint a few courses of study that appeal to you and then dive deeper into what the curricular emphasis is of each course of study, what resources and opportunities are available, and which faculty might you be interested in studying with or whose research you find compelling. 

The key phrase in this prompt is “right now,” which many schools don’t include in their “Why This Major” essay prompt, but which all schools imply. This key phrase means that if you matriculate at MIT, you will in no way be required to major in the field of study that you write about in response to this prompt. You are free to choose and change your major, and most students change their major at least once during their college career.

For anyone who has many interests, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to choose just one major to write about. It is completely fine, and even expected, that you may be undecided , but spend time condensing your list of potential majors to one or two that you are truly interested in pursuing further. 

This straightforward prompt requires a concise response since it has only a 100-word limit. While specificity is still important, there is less space for detail than in the other 200 word prompts that MIT asks you to write. 

Once you have introduced the field of study that most appeals to you, you will need to discuss why this field appeals to you. The reasons that you give need to be authentic reasons; they should be based on pure intellectual curiosity, personal goals, and strongly held values. Avoid listing prestige, post-graduation salary, or your parents’ desires as reasons for choosing your major or MIT. The admissions committee wants to know what you are genuinely passionate about and why. 

Here are some key questions to consider before writing: 

• What past experiences of yours have influenced your decision to study this field at MIT? 
• What coursework or independent study have you pursued in this field?
• What classes are you interested in taking at MIT?
• Who are the teachers that you have had, thought leaders in this field, or other role models that inspire you to pursue this course of study?
• Who are the professors or researchers at MIT that you would want to learn from or work with? 
• Who are the people that you wish to serve, or whose lives you hope to improve, through working or doing research in this field? 
• How did you first discover this field of study? 
• How do you engage with this field of study inside and outside of the classroom?
• How do you envision yourself using this field of study in your future career?
• Why is this field of study personally meaningful to you?

With these ideas in mind, you should be able to write a concise response about why you have picked your major of choice and why MIT will be the perfect fit for you.

We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it. (150 words)

First, remember that the prompt is asking for an activity that isn’t required of you . If you’re the captain of your school’s varsity basketball team, then don’t write about basketball (even if you do play for pleasure outside of school). MIT wants to know something about you that they can’t already find elsewhere in your application, something outside of your academic and extracurricular responsibilities. Essentially, MIT is asking you: “ What do you do in your free time? ”

A great way to approach this prompt is to construct a brief anecdote to illustrate your passions. Do you love reading because you enjoy imagining yourself in fictional worlds? Do you find peace in painting natural scenery? Now is a great time to describe these experiences.

Here are some examples:

• Photography – Sitting on the pier, you watch as the sky transitions from blue to yellow, and from yellow to orange. With your camera in hand, you capture the exact moment that the sun touches the horizon, the moment that the colors begin to fade into a gradient. Perhaps the sound of your camera’s shutter acts as an instant stress reliever. Or perhaps you love the ability to capture nature’s wonders from a different perspective. Either way, the vivid imagery here makes writing an anecdote a very powerful approach.
• Baking – Do you love the aroma of homemade baking? Do you love experimenting with new recipes and creations? Maybe you love the meticulousness of measuring out ingredients and combining them to form one cohesive unit. If this sounds like you, write an anecdote about how you use baking as an outlet for your creativity. Use sensory details to briefly go through the process of that new cupcake recipe you came up with, sharing with the reader your passion for innovative baking. You’ll definitely make the admissions officer drool a little bit with this one.
• Rubik’s Cube – You love the thrill of solving a challenging puzzle. Starting with no instructions, you figured out the secret behind solving the cube and how to move each square to the right place. After a few more tries, you can now solve it in just a few minutes, a reflection of your ability to quickly learn and master difficult puzzles. While this may be a “nerdier” example, don’t be afraid to let your inner nerd shine (this is MIT after all). 

What makes each of these examples strong is the employment of imagery and sensory details. Although the response must be brief, you want to make the admissions officer interested in what you love; appealing to the five senses is an excellent way to do so. Don’t tell them that you love photography, show them that you love it by transforming your answer into a story.

Be honest — don’t lie for the sake of sounding more impressive. While volunteering at the local homeless shelter may sound very humble, don’t write about that if it isn’t what you actually do in your free time. MIT can spot essays that try too hard and lying about humanitarian efforts is definitely one of those instances. 

While it’s important to be honest, make sure to also use good judgment when articulating your response. Generally, anything goes for this prompt and you can essentially write about anything you’re passionate about. But if your favorite activity is “looking at memes,” it might be better to choose something else.

While some reach their goals following well-trodden paths, others blaze their own trails achieving the unexpected. In what ways have you done something different than what was expected in your educational journey? (225 words)

This prompt asks you to reflect on a time when you deviated from the norm or went against expectations in your educational journey. MIT places a high value on creative thinking, so it’s no surprise that the admissions committee wants to see how you think independently, take initiative, or approach learning in a unique way. 

Understanding the Prompt

Taking a non-traditional approach to learning could involve a range of things, including:

• Pursuing a subject in an unconventional way.
• Going beyond your standard school curriculum to explore a passion.
• Challenging the expectations of teachers, peers, or even yourself.
• Finding an unexpected solution to an academic problem.
• Engaging in self-directed learning or projects that others wouldn’t have considered.

Brainstorming Questions

To help spark ideas, consider:

• Have you ever chosen a project or topic that was outside the scope of the assignment, simply because you were curious?
• Have you ever taken initiative in learning something independently (e.g., teaching yourself coding, designing experiments, or developing a new approach to a subject)?
• Did you ever step up to lead a class project or introduce a unique solution that others didn’t consider?
• Have you combined multiple disciplines or found new, unexpected applications for what you were learning?

What Makes a Good Response

A strong response will:

• Be specific : Focus on a single, clear example of how you did something different or unexpected.
• Highlight your initiative : Show that you took ownership of your learning and sought new ways to solve problems or explore your interests.
• Show broader growth or impact : Reflect on how this experience helped you grow intellectually, creatively, or personally.
• Avoid clichés : Focus on what makes your experience unique and how you broke away from the conventional path.

Example Response

“In my freshman year, I was assigned a project on the impact of technology on daily life, and I decided to build a working prototype of a smart home system. I had no background in coding or electronics, but the idea of creating something tangible excited me more than simply writing about it.

I spent weeks teaching myself how to code in Python and wiring sensors to detect motion and light. Through countless trials and errors, I built a system that turned lights on and off based on movement, going well beyond the project expectations. But I couldn’t help myself–the deeper I dove, the more I realized that I thrive on hands-on, self-directed learning.

This experience taught me that sometimes the most rewarding path is the one I create for myself—one that challenges me to stretch beyond what’s expected.”

This response works because it tells a specific, tangible, detailed personal story of how the student went beyond expectations. The essay also connects to the student’s growth more generally, by highlighting their curiosity, willingness to learn independently, and problem-solving skills—all qualities that align with MIT’s values.

MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. Describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together. (200 words)

For this prompt, MIT wants to see your selfless side by looking at the strategies you take to help those around you. Don’t panic if you haven’t saved hundreds of lives or discovered the cure for cancer; as the prompt suggests, helping your community can be as simple as lending a shoulder for your friend to cry on. Your community can be practically any group from family, neighbors, classmates, sports team, etc.

Whether big or small, think of a time that you made a positive impact on one or more people. Maybe you have experience volunteering at the Red Cross or at your local retirement home. Or maybe you founded a club at your school with the goal of bringing education to children in need. No matter what the cause is, show the admissions officers your generosity and willingness to make a difference in your community.

Here are a few more examples:

• Tutoring a Teammate – One of your cross country teammates said that she was struggling in her Algebra 2 class, and was worried about failing. She didn’t see the point of math and thought she was just “bad” at it. You volunteered to tutor her for free on a weekly basis. After just a month of your tutoring sessions, your teammate got her first A on a test. This sparked your interest in teaching math, as you were able to get your teammate to not only understand math concepts, but also appreciate them.
• Food Waste Campaign – You noticed your school cafeteria was generating tons of daily food waste, so you created a campaign to implement a compositing system and encourage students to reduce their waste. You gathered a team to research different composting services, contact your principal and the school board, and create educational materials on how to compost correctly. The program was successful at your school and diverted several tons of food from the landfill weekly. You’re currently working on getting the system implemented across the district.

What both of these examples succeed at doing is describing the impact that an action has on others. Whether it be putting a smile on someone’s face or preventing a child from contracting a deadly disease, remember to show the reader what the outcome of your efforts were. Tying in your personal development is another great way to heighten the magnitude of your contribution, as it gives your actions more significant personal meaning. Ask yourself: How did you grow from this experience? What changes did you see?

How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it? (200 words)

The idea of this prompt is similar to the archetypal “ Overcoming a Challenge ” prompt. Whether it is a personal situation or a challenge, MIT wants to know how you handle difficult situations that suddenly arise and what you learn from such experiences.

You want to construct an anecdote that goes through both the situation and/or challenge and your thought process. When crafting your response, start by briefly describing the situation or challenge, making sure to answer the question, “ What was so significant about this event? ” Next, go into detail about the steps you took to approach the unexpected event and how you went about this process.

Make sure to discuss the outcome of the situation and show the admissions officer how you matured from this experience, specifically identifying what you have learned from this experience. The most common mistake students make is to focus too much on the situation or challenge, rather than their thought process, emotions, and their growth.

As you brainstorm and begin drafting your response, here are some guided questions to get you thinking:

• Why was this challenge so important to you? What is the significance?
• At that moment, what was your reaction to the situation? How did it affect you (thoughts, emotions)?
• Were the steps you took to manage the situation successful? Why or why not?
• How did this challenge allow you to grow and mature as an individual?

Try to avoid “challenges” that are too trivial; although you may be upset that you got a B on that one calculus test, this is not a significant enough challenge to analyze. For this prompt, it’s important to demonstrate personal growth and maturity, as this shows your capacity to adapt to difficult environments.

You should also try to avoid challenges that are cliché , such as:

• A sports injury
• Working hard in a difficult class
• Adjusting to a new culture or school
• Facing tragedy (death, illness, abuse)
• Romantic relationships and breakups

These tend to be very common experiences that have a predictable outcome, often focus too much on the challenge instead of your growth, or are simply inappropriate topics for your essay. Of course, you can still choose to write on a common topic if you feel that you can write something especially meaningful, but it’s better to find a more original experience to share.

You can, however, “spin” a cliche topic. For example, the “sports injury” essay tends to go: you get injured, can’t play, have to go through rehab, and you eventually get back on the field and succeed. A more unique approach would be to talk about how your injury led you to start a blog while you were recovering, and that became a big passion. Or, how your injury made you realize that you actually liked the strategy of the sport more than the actual sport, which led to your interest in competitive chess.

Here are some good examples:

• You had to switch positions last-minute on your Model UN simulation of the Nuremberg Trials. You’d researched and prepared your arguments for months, but a delegate showed up late, so you needed to represent the opposite side you’d prepared for. Instead of panicking, you gather as much info as you can in a short time to argue the other perspective. When it’s your turn to speak, you blank out, however, and the Committee Director says they’ll come back to you. You take a deep breath, refocus, and re-outline your notes. When it’s time to speak again, you present a confident and articulate argument. The experience teaches you the importance of both preparation and adaptability.
• You are passionate about robotics and wanted to start a competitive robotics club at your school. You gathered a group of interested students and began the process of getting the club approved by the administration. To your disappointment, your club was rejected. Instead of accepting defeat, you and your peers petitioned the school in hopes of having the board members reconsider their decision. While you didn’t ultimately win over the school board, you discovered your talent for persuasive speaking in the process, and decided to join the Debate Team. You’ve since won several awards and even got to give a local TED Talk.

Prompt 6 (Optional)

No application can meet the needs of every individual. if there is significant information that you were not able to include elsewhere in the application, you may include it here. (many students will leave this section blank—and that’s okay.) (300 words).

This is your typical “ Additional Information ” prompt, and while we usually recommend that you fill out all optional prompts, this is an exception. As MIT says themselves, many students won’t need this space to complete their application.

However, if you have unusual circumstances or a significant experience you weren’t able to address, you should write about it here. Some potential topics include:

• Financial hardships
• Death of a loved one
• Unique extracurricular that can’t be fully explained in the Activities section

While your other essays should have a more narrative quality, your response here can be more straightforward, and you also don’t need to take up the full 300 words. 

Just avoid using this space for topics that may be deemed trivial, such as explaining that B on your transcript when you otherwise have straight A’s. Significant dips in grades for reasons out of your control are certainly fine to explain, but make sure that anything you cover here is actually a major part of your high school experience and development.

Additionally, note that MIT also has three additional optional “additional information” prompts, which are more focused. If you have some context to add about, say, your family life, you should include it in your response to Prompt 7 (although you can provide additional detail here if you aren’t able to fit everything there).

It’s important to note that in light of the Supreme Court striking down the use of affirmative action in college admissions, many colleges have added open-ended prompts that give students the opportunity to discuss their racial background. Because the ruling allows colleges to consider race on an individual basis, essays are the prime place for you to reveal your racial background and its effect on you. If you feel that your racial background has impacted you significantly, this is the place to discuss that.

Prompt 7 (Optional)

If you have additional information about your family that you think is important for us to know, please include it here. (100 words) .

This prompt is a chance to share any important context about your family that might have impacted your personal or academic life. It’s optional, so only respond if there are circumstances that significantly impacted your high school experience–most applicants will leave this section blank.

What to Include:

• Challenges or hardships: Financial struggles, health issues, or responsibilities (like caring for siblings or working to support your family).
• Cultural background: Unique traditions or family dynamics that provide context for your upbringing.
• Support or inspiration: Family values or influences that have played a significant role in your development.

What Not to Include:

• “Fun facts” about your background that you just didn’t have room for elsewhere: Going to baseball games every Sunday during the summer is a nice tradition, but that’s not the kind of thing MIT is looking for here.
• Details that aren’t relevant to understanding your candidacy for MIT: If your great-uncle is a world-renowned physicist, but you have no relationship with him, mentioning that will just come across as name-droppy.

Example Response:

“As the oldest of four siblings in a single-parent household, I’ve always had significant responsibilities at home, from helping with homework to working part-time to contribute financially. These experiences have shaped my time management and leadership skills, and showed me the importance of committing to supporting your family. Although balancing these duties with schoolwork has been challenging, it’s also fueled my motivation to succeed academically, knowing I’m setting an example for my younger siblings.”

Note that this response doesn’t just list what happened, but also highlights skills the student learned that will help them succeed at MIT. Overall, your response should be more factual than a typical supplement, but you should still give admissions officers some sense of why this story matters for understanding what kind of MIT student you’d be.

Prompt 8 (Optional)

If there is anything we should know about your school’s course offerings, extenuating circumstances regarding your coursework, or school’s grading system, please use the space below. (250 words) .

This prompt is an opportunity to provide any relevant context about your high school’s curriculum or grading system, or any challenges you’ve faced that might have impacted your academic performance. The admissions committee wants to understand your academic journey within the context of what was available or possible at your school.

Like the prompt above, only respond here if there’s something genuinely unique about your academic background. Admissions officers know that no two high schools are exactly the same, and that every high schooler hits a bump here or there. You should only use this space if something has significantly impacted your education.

Finally, do remember that your guidance counselor will be sending MIT a school report, which contains general information about your school’s academic offerings, grading system, and so on. You don’t want to waste admissions officers’ time by making them read the same thing twice, so you might want to ask your counselor to see a copy of the school report, so that you can provide them with meaningful elaboration rather than being redundant.

• Limited course offerings: If your school doesn’t offer AP/IB classes, honors courses, or electives in your area of interest.
• Extenuating circumstances: If health issues, personal challenges, or unexpected events affected your ability to take certain courses or perform your best.
• Grading system details: If your school uses a unique grading scale (e.g., no letter grades, or non-traditional GPA calculations), this is the place to explain.
• Standard “quirks”: Not using weighted GPA or assigning class rank are both very common, and thus don’t require additional explanation.
• Circumstances that are typical for high schoolers: Juggling extracurriculars and coursework is something most high schoolers do, so you don’t want to discuss that, unless there is additional detail that is truly unique to your circumstances–for example, your basketball coach being fired due to mistreating players, and the stress that placed on you impacting your performance in school, would be worth writing about.

“My high school offers a limited selection of AP courses, with only five available, and none in computer science. As a result, I wasn’t able to pursue the topic in as much depth as I would have liked. Despite these limitations, I supplemented my education by enrolling in online courses in computer science and attending local STEM workshops to explore my interests more deeply.”

Note that, like in the sample response for Prompt 7, there is also a positive element to this response. Resilience is one of the qualities admissions officers prize most, so any time you discuss an obstacle you’ve faced, you ideally want to also mention how you hurdled that obstacle, to highlight positive attributes that speak to your potential for success at MIT.

Prompt 9 (Optional)

We understand that sometimes things outside of your control impact your ability to complete [standardized] tests to the best of your ability. if you have an extenuating circumstance, such as exam cancellations or illness, please let us know here. (150 words) .

Since MIT requires all applicants to submit standardized test scores, unlike the many schools which have remained test-optional , they are giving you an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that affected your ability to take or perform well on the SAT or ACT. 

Again, don’t put something here just for the sake of it, and if you do have something to share, be clear and concise in describing the situation–focus on the facts.

• Exam cancellations : If test dates were canceled due to natural disasters or other events.
• Health-related issues : If illness or another medical situation impacted your performance on the exam day.
• Personal or family circumstances : If significant personal or family challenges interfered with your ability to prepare for or take the tests.
• Challenges many students face: Nearly everyone has trouble carving out time to study while also completing their schoolwork.
• Excuses for a poor performance: You don’t want to say things like “I would have done better, but….” Take ownership of your score, and if there are legitimate, concrete reasons you didn’t do as well as you think you’re capable of, share them, but don’t aimlessly speculate.

“Several SAT test dates in my area were canceled during my junior winter due to severe weather conditions, so I had limited opportunities to take the exam. My original plan was to take the SAT once in my junior year and once in my senior year, but because of these cancellations, I was only able to take it in my senior year.”

Unlike with the prior optional prompts, you don’t necessarily need to have a positive spin here. Just list the facts that impacted your ability to do as well as you would have liked on the SAT or ACT.

Where to Get Your MIT Essays Edited For Free

Do you want feedback on your MIT essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

Need feedback faster? Get a  free, nearly-instantaneous essay review  from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!

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A Protocol for MIT Admissions Essays by Lydia K. '14, MEng '16

Chemical SOP: Pen, paper: irritant if digested; Brains: gateway to thinking

September 26, 2012

• in Admissions ,
• Process & Statistics ,
• Words of Encouragement

Background:

I love writing. I love building on thoughts I can’t put words to, reading them back, and rewriting them until they feel true. I love knowing that I’ve said something I couldn’t say before and feeling like I’ve grasped a new emotion.

Admissions essays are intimidating. You’re condensing four years into 250-word essays. To do that you have to understand and acknowledge yourself and your growth, say goodbye to this stage of your life, and understand yourself as your own person. People who read your application will know you in a way you might not have known yourself.

Luckily MIT tells you exactly what they want :

• Alignment with MIT’s mission to make the world a better place
• Collaborative and cooperative spirit
• Risk-taking, or resilience and the ability and willingness to handle failure
• Hands-on creativity
• Intensity, curiosity, and excitement, also known as passion
• The ability to balance your coursework with more interesting things, like labwork, hobbies, and sleep
• Being a good person

In other words, MIT wants to see from your application that you

• are academically qualified to handle the MIT curriculum. This part’s the easiest. It should be covered by the classes you took and your grades and your SAT scores. I won’t touch on it again. You shouldn’t need to touch on it again in your application.
• will like it here. Are you social, in the sense that you can build a support network and enjoy things that aren’t classes? Are you resilient? Will you fall apart at your first few Cs? Will you still give your all the semester after?
• will add to the student body. Do you have an interesting past, an interesting worldview, and interesting hobbies?
• will do cool things with your MIT education. Do you have hopes and dreams? Do you have the initiative and courage to make them happen?

Think about how the choices you made throughout high school reflect these qualities. Some of them are already in your application: the classes you took, the grades you got, and your extracurricular activities. Think about what the people you asked for recommendation letters might say about how you interact with your peers and teachers, and what your interviewer might say about what you’re like in person. For each quality, list what your application will already have. Any gaps will need to be filled in with your essays. For each quality, especially sparse ones, list experiences or ideas that highlight that quality. They don’t all have to be academic. It might be more interesting if some of them aren’t.

Read the application essay prompts. Notice that they are framed around those same qualities. Jot down the first answers that come to mind for each question, including stories and examples where possible. It’s okay to use snippets from essays you’ve written before, if they reflect your personality and are relevant to the question. Think about if and how the experiences you listed earlier fit into the list of qualities. If you decide not to include them, make sure you still cover the list. Before you start writing, look through your notes and make sure there aren’t gaps.

Write. This is the hardest part and the least fun, so do it fast. Last semester my friend Amy ’13 showed me Write or Die . It’s helpful for writing fast. It saved my GPA last semester.

Take a break when writing gets difficult. I find it helpful to take a shower. I also like to read something short by a writer I admire to warm up my voice. If you can’t think of anything I recommend Coraline by Neil Gaiman. It’s concise, well paced, and creative. You might also listen to music that matches your essay’s emotion and isn’t distracting. I like writing to Lana Del Rey. She has a consistent beat, little variation in pitch, and words that blend into the music. She can be horribly depressing but she can keep me in the zone for hours.

Revision 1 , as you write or immediately after. If it comes naturally, try to include stories, dialogue, and descriptions, and to use more specific examples and images than general statements. Minimize adjectives and adverbs; instead, pick nouns and verbs that come as close as possible to the meaning you’re aiming for. Use a thesaurus if you have to. Avoid any cliché phrases that you hear or read often. Avoid very , a lot , completely , and totally , which are usually meaningless. Minimize is , has , of , under , over , on , in , heavy words which slow the pace and make your essay less engaging. Control your use of maybe , possibly , it seems , and I think . These phrases make you seem less confident as a narrator, which is useful sometimes but not usually in an admissions essay. If you’re feeling bold, add some alliteration and parallelism to connect important, related ideas. Be careful: if it feels forced it will be counterproductive.

Pay attention to how you group words. There’s a certain power in a sentence that is more or less constant. Shorter sentences usually condense power, while longer sentences diffuse it. A separation between the subject and its verb will diffuse power: the longer the separation, the less power per word. Anything in the gap between the subject and the verb is less likely to have an impact on the reader.

If you want to diffuse power you can do it by slowing the pace. Create pauses with commas and use heavy words, passive voice, maybe even an adjective or two. It can be interesting to soften the apex of your essay: you can make softer emotions feel more genuine and sick things feel more horrifying by putting them in a long, diffused sentence.

On the other hand, you can condense power to shock or to exaggerate the apex of a paragraph or your essay. Use as few syllables and commas as you can and make sure that every word you do use captures your meaning perfectly. Do not separate a subject and its verb.

An exception is endings: the end is the most powerful part of a sentence, paragraph, or essay. It’s conventional to put background or context information at the start of your sentence, paragraph, or essay and to put the more important conclusions and new information at the end. Sometimes people put a powerful short sentence at the end of an essay or story to maximize its impact. Unfortunately this often backfires: a short sentence at the very end of an essay implies a very meaningful epiphany or plot twist; if you don’t deliver, the reader will be confused and your target emotion will disappear.

When you’re satisfied, leave your essays alone.

Revision 2 , in a week or two. Reread your essays out loud. In this revision you are looking for what I call emotional lies. Catch and rephrase anything that sounds awkward or forced. Remove parallels and alliteration that feel forced. Make sure every word has the meaning in context you want it to have; use the thesaurus again if you have to. Follow the tone and the big picture as you read your application. Make sure it reflects you. It might not match the tone and big picture you envisioned in the beginning. The important thing is that it’s an accurate picture of you.

Quality Control and Safety:

I recommend you find one person to help you revise. I was lucky to have a mutual editing relationship with my dad. Try to find someone who knows you well, has read your writing before, and is a good writer. Preferably your editor will be more mature than you, not in your English class, and not involved in their own college admission process. Give them MIT’s list of qualities and start letting them read at the end of your second revision. Ask them to read after every revision. They’re there to catch awkwardness or emotional lies that you miss, and to check that the picture you’ve painted is true.

If you still have time, leave your essays alone again, for longer this time. Then reread them again to make sure they’re still as good as you thought they were.

Good luck, and have fun. Please don’t spend Halloween editing admissions essays. =)

EDIT: I didn’t realize it at first, but there are two texts that greatly influenced my writing and this blog post. If you’d like more (and better) advice, check out

• “The Science of Scientific Writing” by Gopen and Swan, which we read recently in 7.02 (Introduction to Experimental Biology and Communication)
• and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, which has been recommended by many of my writing professors.

You should also check out Chris Peterson’s blog post on writing admissions essays .

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MIT 2024-25 Application Essay Prompt Guide

Early Action: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 1

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 2024-25  Application Essay Question Explanations

MIT Requirements: Five essays of 100-200 words each

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Community , Activity , Diversity

How to Write Compelling Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Essays

MIT is seeking “a talented and diverse class of undergraduates who will learn to use science, technology, and other areas of scholarship to serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.” To get to know as much as they can about you, they’re asking for five short essays rather than one long essay—depending on the student, this can seem like a blessing or a curse! Each question is asking you something specific, so each of your answers should highlight a different aspect of your personality, experiences, or background. They advise you not to overthink, and we second that advice! If you read the prompts carefully, choose authentic, relevant experiences from your life, and tap into your inner storyteller, you’ll be sure to craft a compelling narrative for each prompt. Read on for specific guidance on each essay.

MIT Essay Prompts Breakdown

Rather than asking you to write one long essay, the mit application consists of several short response questions and essays designed to help us get to know you. remember that this is not a writing test. be honest, be open, be authentic—this is your opportunity to connect with us., for the 2024–2025 application, we’re asking these short answer essay questions: , what field of study appeals to you the most right now (note: applicants select from a drop-down list.) tell us more about why this field of study at mit appeals to you..

This is MIT’s version of a classic Why Essay . Even if you’re not completely sure what you want to major in yet, MIT wants to both learn about your academic interests and see how their offerings will suit your passions. If you can build a bridge between your own interests and the resources available at MIT, you’ll be well on your way to demonstrating your fit. So set aside a few hours and commit to some hardcore research on the MIT website. (Sorry, there’s no way around this, folks!) Beyond the basic departmental listings, look up information about news and research coming out of your department of interest, the kinds of courses available, and the opportunities other undergrads have had studying in your area of choice. Even if you have a wide array of interests, consider explaining how two or three departments might complement each other or foster your interest in a larger theme or cross-pollinating kind of way. Your ultimate goal is to show that your interest in MIT (just like your intellectual curiosity) runs deep!

We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it.

MIT is explicitly asking you to back away from the resume and forget your structured activities . It’s not about proving what you can do, but revealing what you love to do. Put another way, this prompt is about self-care: What brings a smile to your face? What helps you recharge your battery? What do you do and where do you go when you’re feeling down? When you start to think of things that feel a little silly or personal, you’re heading in the right direction. The activity you choose should be informal and unique to you. 

Although MIT invites you to be honest, we also suggest you balance your honesty with specific details and storytelling. You might want to try to come up with something a little more original than sleeping, reading, or hanging out with friends, but if these are your options, then you have to commit. If you like to spend time with your friends, what sorts of things do you do together? If you like to sleep, have you perfected the art of the power nap ? What are your favorite things to read and how do you organize your personal library? Let your personality and tastes shine through! And before you start to say, “But I really do love volunteering at the soup kitchen during my spare time,” don’t worry—there’s a community service essay a little later in this application.

While some reach their goals following well-trodden paths, others blaze their own trails achieving the unexpected. In what ways have you done something different than what was expected in your educational journey?

MIT seeks students who “pursue the things that interest them with energy and enthusiasm” and who “challenge themselves appropriately in the areas that are most interesting to them.” So this is your chance to show that, in your dogged pursuit of knowledge, you have taken risks and challenged yourself in unexpected ways. Think about times you made a decision against traditional advice or chose to pursue secondary interests to support your main passion. Maybe instead of a two-week internship at a local architecture firm, you spent the summer building sets at your local community theater to work on your mechanical engineering skills in a practical setting. Perhaps you took the AP Physics test in your junior year so you could take a sophomore-level physics class at your local community college this year. Take this opportunity to prove that your dedication to your education goes beyond your prescribed coursework and show why you’ll be a dynamic addition to MIT’s campus community. 

MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. Describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together.

This question asks for a specific story: a collaborative one in which you either sought to learn from others or contributed to your community together. This is a great opportunity to write about a professional experience (your first time working in the kitchen as a line cook!) or community service (tutoring refugee children in English!). Ideally, you should choose an experience that spans a decent amount of time—a few weeks or even months—so you can describe the phases of your collaboration and the end result. You should be driving at a lesson that you will be able to carry with you into the future (e.g., human connection is the same regardless of language or the power of local organizing). In other words, share a takeaway that will positively impact your collaborative contributions at MIT. 

How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it?

We’ve all encountered choppy waters in our lives, and admissions wants to hear about a time when you adjusted your sails. The situation or challenge you discuss here can really run the gamut, from covering for a colleague and taking on new responsibilities at your after-school diner job to dealing with a serious injury, though you’ll want to avoid topics that may seem trite (like a pop quiz you didn’t study for). Once you explain the situation or challenge to admissions, focus on what you took away from your experience. Maybe you learned that you work well under pressure (and can hold three milkshake glasses in one hand!) or that you are more resilient than you realized and capable of the hard work required to heal and rehabilitate after surgery. Give yourself time to brainstorm for this prompt, because we’re willing to bet you have a few stories to choose from here.

Depending on the question, we’re looking for responses of approximately 100–200 words each. There is also one final, open-ended, additional-information text box where you can tell us anything else you think we really ought to know.

This is MIT’s version of the Additional Info essay, which means that, unless you have something crucial to explain to admissions, and there is absolutely NOWHERE else on the application for you to write about it, you should skip this essay. Think about it: if you were an admissions officer, would you really want to read one more essay per applicant? That being said, this essay is perfect for students who have encountered extenuating circumstances and need an opportunity to explain them. In fact, we recommend saving those details for an Additional Info essay, so that you can use the rest of your application to highlight other parts of your amazing personality. So, if something has happened that affected your academic performance, this is a great opportunity to give the 4-1-1 (that means “information” because, in the Stone Age of the late 1900s, we used our rotary phones instead of the internet). 

Common Mistakes to Avoid in MIT Essays

The most common mistakes to avoid making in your MIT drafts are repeating the prompt in your essay (don’t waste your words), trying to sound like an academic (admissions wants to hear your authentic voice!), and using cliches (they’re ineffective and—let’s face it—lazy).

Why Choose College Essay Advisors for MIT Essays

We at College Essay Advisors have been guiding students one-on-one through the essay writing process for MIT essays for over twenty years. We take a holistic approach to these essays, considering each student’s application package as a whole and identifying their strengths to highlight. Our Advisors accommodate each student’s scheduling needs to virtually brainstorm, draft, and revise winning essays. It’s incredibly important to us that each student’s voice is preserved, and we pride ourselves in helping students to write successful MIT essays that differentiate them from similarly qualified applicants. For more information, submit a contact form below or review our one-on-one advising services or list of student acceptances . 

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Frequently Asked Questions

MIT asks applicants to pen five (5) short essays for the 2024-25 application cycle. 

Each of the five (5) short essays should fall somewhere between 100-200 words.

Admissions is hoping to learn about your academic interests and how MIT’s offerings will suit your passions and career aspirations.

Write authentically about yourself while addressing all parts of each essay prompt. MIT wants to learn more about your academic interests, extracurricular activity involvement, community contributions, character traits, and more! So, be honest and forward-thinking, and don’t forget to complete some old fashioned research so you can weave information into your essays that demonstrates the amount of time and thought you’ve put into your application.  

The MIT essays are designed to help admissions get to know you and connect with you in a way that your test scores and grades can’t facilitate. They are an important way for them to consider the kinds of applicants who will complement their goal to recruit and enroll a diverse class who will contribute to the local and global community in the 21st century.

Yes! Since MIT doesn’t use the Common Application, you can feel free to recycle material from your Common App personal statement in your MIT essays. However, if it doesn’t fit any of the prompts, don’t force it!

Great question! Your goal should be to tell a story that provides depth and insight as to how your academic interests materialized. Without going too far into the weeds, you’ll want to dig into the details of how your interest started and/or gained momentum. The best way to decipher whether you’re perfecting the balancing act is to share your drafts with a trusted friend, mentor, or College Essay Advisor!

"I just received admission to MIT. I would like to thank you for helping me out by patiently answering my questions and listening to my story and connecting me with [my Advisor]. I had a great experience with College Essay Advisors."

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MIT Essays that Worked

Mit essays that worked – introduction.

In this guide, we’ll provide you with several MIT essays that worked. After each, we’ll discuss elements of these MIT essay examples in depth. By reading these sample MIT essays and our expert analysis, you’ll be better prepared to write your own MIT essay. Before you apply to MIT, read on for six MIT essays that worked.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university in Cambridge , Massachusetts. Since its founding in 1861, MIT has become one of the world’s foremost institutions for science and technology . With MIT ranking highly year after year, the low MIT acceptance rate is no surprise. Knowing how to get into MIT means knowing about MIT admissions, the MIT application, and how to write MIT supplemental essays.

MIT Supplemental Essay Requirements

The MIT application for 2022–2023 requires four short essays. Each essay should be up to 200 words in length.

MIT essay prompts :

We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it., describe the world you come from (for example, your family, school, community, city, or town). how has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations.

• MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds and experiences together to better the lives of others. Our students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you to contribute to your community.
• Tell us about a significant challenge you’ve faced (that you feel comfortable sharing) or something that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?

MIT changes the wording of these prompts a little bit every year. As a result, our MIT essay examples may look a little different from the prompts to which you will be crafting your own responses. However, there is a lot of overlap between current and past prompts and often the underlying questions are the same. In other words, even if the prompts differ, most of our MIT essays that worked are still helpful. Even MIT essay examples for prompts that are gone can be useful as a general sample college essay.

As one of the best universities worldwide, MIT is nearly impossible to get into without a good strategy . Even if you don’t have a stellar ACT or SAT score , your essays may impress admissions officers. Let’s briefly analyze each prompt so we know what to look for in MIT essays that worked.

MIT Essay Prompt Breakdown

1. extracurricular essay.

First, you’ll write about an activity you enjoy, whether it’s baking, doing magic tricks, or writing fanfiction. Remember, strong MIT essay examples for this prompt show genuine enthusiasm and explain why the activity is meaningful. Choose a hobby you can write about with gusto while also showing what it means to you.

2. Your Background Essay

Next, we have a prompt asking about your background. This is a classic question; in every other sample college essay, you find answers to this prompt. This question is intentionally open-ended, allowing you to write about any aspect of your background you’d like. In the MIT essays that worked, the “world” has something important to say about the author’s values or outlook.

3. Community Essay

Then, the third essay asks how you work with diverse groups to contribute to a larger community. MIT wants to see that you can work toward community goals while valuing diverse perspectives. But don’t worry. They don’t expect you to have solved world hunger—pick something that demonstrates what community means to you.

4. Significant Challenge Essay

Lastly, we have the failure essay, which seeks to answer how you persist in the face of adversity. Notice the prompt doesn’t mention “overcoming,” so this can be a time that you completely flat-out failed. Everyone handles setbacks differently, so effective MIT essay examples illustrate the author’s unique way of managing failure. It doesn’t have to be a particularly unique or unusual failure, although that may help you stand out .

How to Apply to MIT

MIT doesn’t accept the Common or Coalition Application. Instead, there’s a school-specific application for all prospective students. The 2022 Early Action MIT application deadline was November 1. The Regular Action MIT application deadline is usually January 1, but it’s been extended this year to January 5, 2023. The financial aid information deadline is February 15, 2023.

Depending on your admissions round, you need to submit all materials to the Apply MIT portal by the specified deadline.

MIT application requirements

• Basic biographical information, including your intended area of study
• Four supplemental essays
• A brief list of four extracurricular activities that are meaningful to you
• Self-reported coursework information
• A Secondary School Report from your guidance counselor, including your transcript
• Two letters of recommendation : MIT recommends one from a STEM teacher and one from a humanities teacher.
• SAT or ACT scores —MIT is not test-optional for 2022–2023!
• The February Updates form with your midyear grades (goes live in mid-February)

Furthermore, interviews are offered to many—but not all—students; not being offered an interview doesn’t negatively reflect on your application. At the end of this article, we compile more resources regarding the rest of the application. If you have specific questions about your application, reach out to the MIT admissions office .

Now that we’ve discussed the prompts and MIT admissions process, let’s read some MIT essays that worked. We have six sample MIT essays to help you learn how to write MIT supplemental essays. And, if you’re looking to test your knowledge of college admissions, take our quiz below!

MIT Essay Examples #1 – Cultural Background Essay

The first of our MIT essay examples responds to a prompt that isn’t exactly on this year’s list. Let’s take a look. The prompt for this MIT essay that worked is:

Please tell us more about your cultural background and identity in the space below (100 word limit). If you need more than 100 words, please use the Optional section on Part 2.

Although the wording isn’t identical to any of this year’s prompts, it is similar to prompt #2. Remember, essay prompt #2 asks about the world you come from, which is essentially your background. However, MIT essay examples for this prompt speak more specifically about cultural background. With a shorter word limit, concise language is even more critical in MIT essays that worked for this prompt.

MIT Essays That Worked #1

My dad is black and my mom is white. But I am a shade of brown somewhere in between. I could never wear my mom’s makeup like other girls. By ten, I was tired seeing confused stares whenever I was with my dad. I became frustrated and confused. I talked to my biracial friends about becoming confident in my divergent ancestral roots. I found having both an understanding of black issues in America and of the middle class’ lack of exposure gave me greater clarity in many social issues. My background enabled me to become a compassionate, understanding biracial woman.

Why This Essay Worked

MIT essays that worked effectively show that the author can think about the bigger picture. This author describes their experiences as a biracial woman while addressing the wider scope of racial issues. While you shouldn’t reach to reference irrelevant societal problems, MIT essays that worked do often incorporate big ideas.

In addition, this author mentions conversations with biracial friends. MIT essay examples often include collaboration and community, and this one is no different. Often, sample MIT essays about cultural background will connect that heritage with one’s community. It shows that you value what makes you unique and can find it in others.

Lastly, strong MIT essay examples display reflection and personal growth. Do you understand the ways your experiences have shaped you, and can you write about them? Can you point to areas where you’ve grown as a result of your experiences? MIT essays that worked link the topic and the writer’s personal growth or values.

MIT Essays That Worked #2 – Activities Essay

The second of our MIT essay examples answers a prompt that’s on this year’s list.

In other words, write about a hobby or extracurricular activity—and what it says about you. As we mentioned above, MIT essays that worked for this prompt aren’t all about lofty ambitions. If you don’t read textbooks in your spare time, don’t write an essay claiming that’s your hobby. Be honest, thoughtful, and enthusiastic while finding a way to make your uniqueness show through. Let’s read one of many MIT essays that worked for this prompt.

MIT Essays That Worked #2

Adventuring. Surrounded by trees wider than I am tall on my right and the clear, blue lake on my left. I made it to the top after a strenuous hike and it was majestic. There is no feeling like the harmony I feel when immersing myself in nature on a hike or running through the mud to train for my sprint triathlon or even fighting for a pair of cute boots on black Friday. I take pleasure in each shade of adventure on my canvas of life, with each deliberate stroke leading me to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences.

MIT essays that worked use precise language to appeal to readers’ emotions. Note words like “strenuous,” “majestic,” “harmony,” and “deliberate.” The strategic use of vivid words like this can strengthen MIT essay examples and heighten their impact. But don’t overuse them—like paintings use a variety of shades, you should play with the intensity of your words.

Another benefit of colorful language is conveying meaning more deeply and precisely. Well-written MIT essay examples layer on meaning: this author likes adventuring through nature as well as life. With effective diction, you can make the most of the words you’re given. Consider using metaphors like in this MIT essay conclusion, comparing life to a canvas.

Now, think about your impression of the author after reading this. They’re active, ambitious, and, above all, adventurous. We know they like to challenge themselves (training for a triathlon) but also like fashion (buying cute boots). And we see from their concluding sentence that they have no intention of slowing down or pulling back. In under 100 words, we’ve got a clear snapshot of their worldview and see their adventuring spirit fits MIT.

MIT Essay Examples #3 – Why Major Essay

The third of our MIT essays that worked answers a prompt that isn’t on our list for 2022.

Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why?

This is a classic “Why Major” essay, asked by hundreds of colleges every year. Obviously, the prompt asks about your academic interests . However, it subtly asks about school fit : why is MIT the best place for you to pursue this interest? Although this sample college essay prompt isn’t in this cycle, you should read as many sample MIT essays as possible. MIT essays that worked for the “Why Major” essay prompt illustrated the author’s academic interests and motivations. Let’s see what the next of our sample MIT essays has to say.

MIT Essays That Worked #3

My first step in to the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research was magical. My eyes lit up like Christmas lights and my mind was racing faster than Usain Bolt. I was finally at home, in a community where my passions for biology, chemistry, math, and engineering collided, producing treatments to save lives everywhere.

I pictured myself in a tie-dyed lab coat, watching a tumor grow in a Petri disk then determining my treatment’s effectiveness. If I am admitted to MIT, I look forward to majoring in bioengineering and shaping and contributing to the forefront of bioengineering research.

Earlier, we said that MIT essays that worked use vivid language to drive home their point. This sample college essay is no different. Describing their instantaneous reaction, the author pulls us into their headspace to share in their delight. Following that, they show us their vision for the future. Finally, they state directly how they’ll work toward that vision at MIT.

This author points out that bioengineering aligns with their interests across math and the sciences. There’s no rule saying you can’t be purely into math, but MIT strives to cultivate the world’s leading minds. Many MIT essays that worked present the author as a multifaceted person and intellectual. If you write a Why Major essay for a STEM field, it may be worth your while to take an interdisciplinary angle.

Among other parts of these MIT essays that worked in the author’s favor is the mention of an experience. Many model MIT essay examples directly reference the author’s life experiences to connect them with their interest. For instance, this author frames their essay with a visit to a cancer research institute. We don’t know if it’s a tour or an internship—the reason for their visit is less important than the impact.

MIT Essay Examples #4 – Community Essay

At this point, we’ve gone through half of our MIT essay examples. Moving on, we’ll read three MIT essays that worked for prompts (nearly) identical to this year’s. Next, we’ve got a prompt asking about community contributions.

At MIT, we bring people together to better the lives of others. MIT students work to improve their communities in different ways,  from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way in which you have contributed to your community, whether in your family, the classroom, your neighborhood, etc.

It’s very similar to this year’s third prompt, with one crucial difference. The current prompt asks for “one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you .” While past MIT essay examples for this prompt could have focused on individual efforts, now you should focus on group efforts. In particular, groups where “people who are different from you” also play key roles. This is intentionally open-ended, allowing for endless kinds of differences.

With that said, let’s continue with our MIT essay examples.

MIT Essays That Worked #4

“I’m going to Harvard,” my brother proclaimed to me. My jaw dropped. My little brother, the one who I taught to pee in the toilet, the one who played in the pool with me every day of the summer for 7 years, the one who threw me in the trash can 3 months ago, had finally realized the potential I have seen in him since he was a little kid. And I was thrilled.

He told me that after attending the Harvard basketball program, he knew that attending college was the perfect opportunity for him to continue playing the sport he loved as well as get a very good education. His end goal (this is where I almost cried) was to become an engineer at Nike. The best part, though, is that he asked me to help him achieve it. 

I was astounded that he thought so highly of me that he trusted me to help him. That night, we began discussing various fields of engineering that he could pursue, as well as the internship opportunities that he classified as “so cool.” As soon as school started, I bought him a planner and taught him to keep his activities organized. I go over homework with him and my baby brother almost every night.

I love using my knowledge to contribute to my family with my knowledge. I am so proud of my brother and our progress. I cannot wait to see him grow as he works to achieve his dream.

Perhaps while reading the prompt, you thought all MIT essays that worked discussed setting up a food bank or working at a hospital. Not so! What really matters for this essay is the impact the community has on you. In sample MIT essays like this one, we see just how important the writer’s family is to them. If your family means the world to you, don’t shy away from writing about them!

On the other hand, while many sample MIT essays discuss family, the best ones remember to center the author. It may seem selfish, but in an applicant pool of over 30,000 , you must stand out. You have to beat that low MIT acceptance rate by putting your best foot forward. Notice how the author’s feelings and thoughts show through in their interactions and reactions. Even in recounting their past with their little brother, you see them as a caring, playful older sibling. They’re thoroughly proud of their brother, his ambitions, and the trust he’s placed in them.

MIT Essay Examples #5 – Describe Your World 

The fifth of our MIT essay examples answers a prompt in circulation this year. Hooray!

This “world” is open-ended to allow writers to explore the communities and people that have shaped them. This essay calls for deep introspection; can you find a common thread connecting you to your “world”? Some MIT essays that worked discuss family traditions, other city identities, etc. Whatever you choose, it should reflect who you are now and who you want to become.

MIT Essays That Worked #5

I was standing on the top row of the choir risers with my fellow third graders. We were beside the fourth graders who were beside the fifth graders. My teacher struck the first chords of our favorite song and we sang together, in proud call and response “Ujima, let us work together. To make better our community. We can solve! Solve our problems with collective work and responsibility.”

Then the students playing African drums and the xylophones on the floor began the harmonious percussion section and we sang again with as much passion as nine-year-olds can muster. This was my world. As a child, my community was centered around my school. At my school we discovered that if you love something enough, and work hard enough for it, you can do great things for both yourself and others around you.

In the years since I left, I reflected back on the lessons I learned at school. I determined I wanted to focus on the things I love – mathematics, science, and helping others. I also want to harmonize my abilities with those of other people so that we can work together to make the world a better place. Today I aspire to work in integrative research as a bioengineer to address the pressing medical issues of today.

For those who don’t know, ujima is the Swahili word for collective work and responsibility. The most well-crafted MIT essay examples employ narrative devices like framing and theme to leave a lasting impression. This essay, for example, introduces ujima with the choir scene—which itself is collective work—then reflects on the general concept. In every sentence, this writer works with the idea of collaboration and the positive power of the collective.

Among sample MIT essays, this can be challenging if you haven’t thought critically about your past and present. This writer clearly values collective responsibility and sees their future through that lens. They speak directly to their interests and their aspirations of bioengineering. All in all, they show careful consideration of ideas that have influenced them and the direction they want to take.

MIT Essay Examples #6 – Significant Challenge

The last of our MIT essays that worked answers a prompt nearly identical to one from this year.

Tell us about the most significant challenge you’ve faced or something important that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation? 

The only difference is that this year’s prompt indicates you should feel comfortable sharing what you write about. This seems obvious, but you may be surprised how many students dredge up traumatic experiences in sample college essays. The issue isn’t that these experiences are unpleasant to read; on the contrary, they may be painful to write about. Although many MIT sample essays are somewhat vulnerable, you don’t have to write about experiences you’d rather keep to yourself.

With that said, let’s read the last of our MIT essay examples.

*Please be advised that the following essay example contains discussions of anxiety and panic attacks. 

Mit essays that worked #6.

Ten o’clock on Wednesday, April 2016. Ten o’clock and I was sobbing, heaving, and gasping for air. Ten o’clock and I felt like all my hard work, passion, and perseverance had amounted to nothing and I was not enough. It was ten o’clock on a Wednesday, but it all started in August of 2015. I moved cities in August 2015. I knew the adjustment would be hard, but I thought if I immersed myself in challenging activities and classes I loved, I would get through the year just fine.

I was wrong. With each passing month I experienced increased anxiety attacks, lack of satisfaction in any and every activity, and constant degradation of my personal happiness. By April, I was broken. Naked, bent over the toilet, sweating, shaking, choking on the tightening of my own throat, thinking “not enough, not enough, not enough.” 

It was extremely challenging to pick myself up after such a hard fall. When I finally made it out of the bathroom, I crawled to my room and read “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. Her struggle encouraged me to rise to this challenge stronger than I had been before. I prioritized my own happiness and fulfillment, taking care of my body and mind.

I finally realized I did not have to do everything on my own, and began collaborating with my peers to finish the year strong and begin initiatives for the next year. I became a stronger, more confident woman than ever before.

Now, you may understand why this year’s wording includes “that you feel comfortable sharing.” While the author’s vivid description helps immerse us in the moment, a reader may hope they’re okay now. Again, you don’t need to strictly avoid traumatizing moments—but don’t feel obligated to share anything you don’t want to. In any case, the diction is indeed very precise and helps convey just how shaken the author was.

Furthermore, we see how the author dealt with this challenge: they were inspired by Maya Angelou. This ability to seek and find strength beyond yourself is crucial, especially in an ever more connected world. At the end of the essay, the writer notes how they’ve changed by working with others to accomplish goals. Their renewed confidence has made them even stronger and more willing to face challenges.

MIT Essay Examples – Key Takeaways

So after reading six sample MIT essays, what do you think? What are the takeaways from these MIT essays that worked? It goes without saying that you should read more sample MIT essays if you can. Additionally, when you draft your own MIT essays, take time to revise them and have other people read them.

MIT Essays that Worked Takeaways

1. discuss experiences.

The best MIT essay examples keep it real by talking about the author’s experiences. Can you think critically about how they have made you who you are? Find ways to address the prompt with your background and life experiences. You may also find sample MIT essays easier to write when they’re rooted in your reality.

2. Use precise language

Two hundred words are, in fact, not that much space. MIT essays that worked use every word to paint a vivid picture of the writer and their world. Mark Twain said it best: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is … the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.” Choose your words carefully to refine your meaning and strengthen your impact.

3. Reflect on yourself

In college essays, it’s all about you and your personal narrative . So don’t miss any opportunity to introspect on your experiences, community, and personal growth. Demonstrate that you know yourself well enough to point to specific influences on your worldview. We all move through the world in different ways—why do you move the way you do?

4. Be genuine

You’ve heard this a thousand times, and we’ll say it again: be yourself . While you hear all about the typical MIT student and what MIT looks for , we’re all unique individuals. As, or even more, important than good scores or a huge activities list is an accurate representation of you . Write about extracurriculars and subjects and communities that are important to you—not what you think will sound impressive.

Additional MIT Resources from CollegeAdvisor

We have a wealth of resources on how to get into MIT here at CollegeAdvisor.com. We’ve got a comprehensive article on the MIT admissions process, from the MIT acceptance rate to deadlines.

MIT Admissions

Speaking of the acceptance rate, we take a closer look at that, too.

MIT Acceptance Rate

If you’re wondering about MIT tuition and costs, read our breakdown .

MIT Tuition & MIT Cost

Finally, we’ve got a guide covering application strategy from start to finish.

Strategizing Your MIT Application

MIT Essays that Worked – Final thoughts

Placing among the top American universities, we see MIT ranking highly every year, and for good reason. By the same token, it’s very challenging to get admitted. So, in order to get in, you need to know how to write MIT supplemental essays.

We read through several MIT essays that worked and identified strengths in our MIT essay examples. Use these tips when writing your own essays to craft a strong application!

This article was written by  Gina Goosby . Looking for more admissions support? Click  here  to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how  CollegeAdvisor.com  can support you in the college application process.

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MIT Supplemental Essays 2024-25 — Prompts and Tips

September 11, 2024

When applying to MIT, a school with a 5% acceptance rate where a 1500 SAT would place you below the average enrolled student (seriously), teens should be aware that it takes a lot to separate yourself from the other 28,000+ applicants you are competing against. While trying to be among the 1 in 25 who will ultimately be accepted sounds like (and is) a rather intimidating proposition, around 1,300 individuals accomplish this epic feat every year. We’ve worked with many of these students personally and can tell you one thing they all had in common—exceptionally strong MIT supplemental essays.

(Want to learn more about How to Get Into MIT? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into MIT: Admissions Data and Strategies  for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

There are few schools that offer as many essays as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All applicants are required to respond to five prompts as they work through the MIT application. Your mission is to write compelling, standout compositions that showcase your superior writing ability and reveal more about who you are as an individual. Below are the MIT supplemental essays for the 2024-25 admissions cycle along with tips about how to address each one.

MIT Supplemental Essays – Prompt #1: 

We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it. (150 words)

There are many different ways that you can approach this prompt, but the first step is to take MIT at their word that they are sincerely interested in what you do “simply for the pleasure of it.” While this may be something that also happens to be high-minded and/or STEM-oriented in nature, there is no expectation that this will be the case.

In essence, you want to ask yourself, what brings you great pleasure and happiness? Universal experiences of joy like family, a beautiful sunset, smiling children, or your cat or dog curled on your lap are perfectly acceptable answers here. However, you could also talk about dreams for the future, more bittersweet moments, abstract thoughts, moments of glorious introversion, or even something semi-embarrassing and vulnerable. The only “wrong” answer to this question would be an insincere one. As you enter the brainstorming phase, just make sure to turn off your “resume mode” setting. Instead, allow yourself to embrace the limitless possibilities of this essay.

Essay Prompt #2 

What field of study appeals to you the most right now? Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you. (Note: You’ll select your preferred field of study from a drop-down list.) (100 words or fewer)

Generally speaking, we all have a story of what drives us to pursue a certain academic pathway and career. How did your interest initially develop? What was the spark? How have you nurtured this passion and how has it evolved over time? If you desire to go into engineering, this is a chance to talk about everything from your childhood fascination with how things work to your participation in an award-winning robotics program at your high school. Share a compelling (and, of course, true!) narrative about how your love of your future area of study has blossomed to its present levels.

You should then tie your passions into specific academic opportunities at MIT including courses , professors , hands-on research programs , or any other aspects of your desired major that appeal most to you.

MIT Supplemental Essays – Prompt #3 

MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. Describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together. (225 words)

How you interact with your present surroundings is the strongest indicator of what kind of community member you will be in your future collegiate home. This prompt asks you to discuss how you have collaborated with others (in any setting) in order to learn from them or contribute to a particular community. This could mean how you’ve collaborated with others during a group project, internship, extracurricular opportunity, sports event, or service project, to name a few.

Some words of warning: don’t get too grandiose in explaining the positive change that you brought about. Of course, if you and your team truly brought peace to a war-torn nation or influenced climate change policy on a global scale, share away. However, nothing this high-profile is expected. Essentially, MIT wants to understand how you’ve worked with other people—in any capacity—to expand your thinking or reach a common goal.

A few potential ideas for areas where you may have worked with/alongside others include:

• Racial injustice
• Assisting those with special needs
• Climate justice/the environment
• Making outsiders in a group feel welcome
• The economically disadvantaged
• Mental health awareness
• Clean-up projects
• Tutoring peers or younger students
• Charitable work through a religious organization

This is, of course, by no means a comprehensive list of potential topics. Most importantly, your story should be personal, sincere, and revealing of your core character and developing values system.

Essay Prompt #4

While some reach their goals following well-trodden paths, others blaze their own trails achieving the unexpected. In what ways have you done something different than what was expected in your educational journey? (225 words)

This essay prompt is a new addition to MIT’s application for the 2024-25 cycle. As you brainstorm, we’d encourage you to work backward. First, identify what was expected of you in your educational journey, whether those expectations came from yourself, parents/guardians, teachers, or simply your school’s curriculum structure. Did your parents expect you to follow a specific pathway? Did a teacher tell you that a certain AP course would be too much for you? Have your educational or career goals been taken less seriously—or received less encouragement—because of your race, gender, or other aspect of your identity? Did you undertake an independent personal or research project? Have you gone above and beyond the required/expected curriculum at your school?

For example, perhaps you took classes over the summer during your freshman and sophomores years so that you’d have space in your schedule for dual enrollment or college courses as a junior or senior. Perhaps you wanted to attend a particular summer program or research experience, and spent the school year working part-time to save up enough money to go. Or, maybe you had to work hard to get an independent study on a special topic added to your schedule, or took an AP course not offered through your school via an alternate pathway.

Essentially, MIT wants to see how you’ve gone above and beyond what is available to or expected of you.

MIT Supplemental Essays – Prompt #5

How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it? (225 words)

Note this prompt’s new wording: How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect ? Can you think of a time when you felt surprisingly overwhelmed? When something out-of-the-ordinary occurred? When you were caught off guard? Basically, MIT is trying to discover how you deal with unforeseen setbacks, and the important thing to keep in mind is that the challenge/story itself is  less important  than what it reveals about your character and personality.

Of course, some teens have faced more challenges than others, potentially related to an illness or medical emergency, frequent moving, socioeconomic situation, natural disaster, or learning disability, to name a few. However, you don’t have to have faced a significant challenge to write a compelling essay (and even if you have faced a significant challenge, you don’t have to write about it if you’re not comfortable doing so). Writing about a common topic like getting cut from a sports team, struggling in a particular advanced course, or facing an obstacle within a group project or extracurricular activity is perfectly fine. Any story told in an emotionally compelling, honest, and connective manner can resonate with an admissions reader. The bottom line here is that there are no trite topics, only trite answers.

Given the 225-word limit, your essay needs to be extremely tight and polished. Accordingly, getting this one precisely right will involve a round or two of revision, ideally with some insight/feedback from a trusted adult or peer in the process.

Some tips to keep in mind include:

• Firstly, make sure you share what you were feeling and experiencing. This piece should demonstrate openness and vulnerability.
• Additionally, you don’t need to be a superhero in the story. You can just be an ordinary human trying their best to learn how to navigate a challenging world.
• Don’t feel boxed into one particular structure for this essay. The most common is 1) introducing the problem 2) explaining your internal and external decision-making in response to the problem 3) revealing the resolution to the problem and what you learned along the way.
• Lastly, don’t be afraid that your “problem” might sound “trite” in comparison to those of others. This essay is about you. Y our job is to make sure that your response to the problem shows your maturity and resilience in an authentic way. That matters far more than the original challenge itself.

How important are the MIT supplemental essays?

There are 8 factors that MIT considers to be “very important” to their evaluation process. They are: rigor of secondary school record, class rank, GPA, standardized test scores, recommendations, extracurricular activities, and most relevant to this blog—the MIT supplemental essays.

Moreover, character/personal qualities are the only factor that is “very important” to the MIT admissions committee. Of course, part of how they assess your character and personal qualities is through what they read in your essays.

Want personalized assistance with your MIT supplemental essays?

In conclusion, if you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your MIT supplemental essays, we encourage you to get a quote  today.

Looking for more writing-related resources? Consider checking out the following:

• Common App Essay Prompts
• 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples
• College Application Essay Topics to Avoid
• How to Quickly Format Your Common App Essay
• Should I Complete Optional College Essays?
• How to Brainstorm a College Essay
• 25 Inspiring College Essay Topics
• “Why This College?” Essay Examples
• How to Write the Community Essay
• College Essay

Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).

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How to Write the MIT Supplemental Essays 2024–2025

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a research institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a city just outside Boston. With a 4.8% acceptance rate for the Class of 2027, an average SAT score of 1550, and an average ACT score of 35, MIT is one of the most challenging universities to gain acceptance to in the world. But MIT admissions officers are emphatic that they “admit people, not numbers.” In this blog post, you’ll learn how to write the supplemental essays in a way that demonstrates your individual personality beyond test scores and grades so that you can stand out among the other applicants and get into MIT .

MIT does not use the Common App or the Universal College Application, instead utilizing its own application platform. As a result, there is no Common App essay to submit to MIT, but instead a series of MIT-specific shorter essays. This often stresses out potential applicants already writing supplemental essays and a Common App. It just seems like a lot of extra time to write another 4 essays just for MIT! But this blog post will give you the tools you need to complete the MIT essays efficiently, without too much extra time and effort, but with appropriate thoughtfulness and detail. As their admissions website says, “You should certainly be thoughtful about your essays, but if you’re thinking too much—spending a lot of time stressing or strategizing about what makes you ‘look best,’ as opposed to the answers that are honest and easy—you’re doing it wrong.

MIT’s 2024-2025 Prompts

Short answer essay questions , tell us more about why this field of study at mit appeals to you. (100 words or fewer), we know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it. (150 words or fewer), while some reach their goals following well-trodden paths, others blaze their own trails achieving the unexpected. in what ways have you done something different than what was expected in your educational journey (225 words or fewer), mit brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together. (225 words or fewer), how did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect what did you learn from it (225 words or fewer), no application can meet the needs of every individual. if there is significant information that you were not able to include elsewhere in the application, you may include it here. (many students will leave this section blank—and that’s okay.) (300 words or fewer), we’ll review your essay.

Receive edits in as little as 24 hours

General Tips

Should i recycle my essays.

For all of these essays, particularly given that MIT does not use the Common App, recycling answers is an effective method of saving time without sacrificing thoughtfulness. If you’ve already crafted an excellent response to another college’s supplemental essay about community, then either of the two community-focused prompts in the MIT application (prompts 3 and 4) could draw from this response.

Conversely, if you complete your MIT application before completing any other applications, be sure to return to them when crafting essays for other schools.

When should I not recycle my essays?

The only type of essay question that you should never recycle any part of is an institution-specific question, such as the “Why this school?” question or any other question that refers specifically to the relevant institution.

That said, bear in mind that some essay responses benefit from specific reference to the school to which you’re applying, even if the school is not referenced in the prompt. For instance, in the “Describe your community” question for MIT, some students may wish to explain how their community influenced their decision to apply to MIT. If you recycle your answer to this question and refer to another school in the original essay, be sure to take that section out! The ability to recycle essays for another application should not be a deterrent from personalizing an application to a specific school, but it is something to bear in mind.

Can MIT see my Common App?

No. The information you put in your Common App will not be visible to your MIT readers.

In addition, while much of the MIT application replicates the Common App, there are still notable differences. If there is information you feel was missed out on in the MIT application that is in your Common App, be sure to include this information either in the content of your essays or in the Additional Information section of the MIT supplemental essay section.

MIT’s Short Answer Essay Questions

By asking this question , the MIT admissions officers seek to understand what motivates you to pursue your academic passions. Even if your choice of field of study does not fully square up with courses or programs you have engaged with while in high school, you should be able to draw on some previous experience, however minor, when responding to this prompt. Showing how you have responded to your interest in this field of study in the past will strengthen your argument that you’ll be able to successfully spend the next four years interested in it.

You may also want to discuss your future career plans in this essay response. This discussion can be brief, given that your essay must be 100 words or fewer. Including a clause about how you chose your major “as an aspiring biochemical engineer,” or your “goal to become an entrepreneur in the mobile banking sector” motivates your academic intentions will demonstrate that you are forward-thinking and thoughtful about your future career path. 

And remember: you don’t have to be certain about your future career path, you can just offer up a few possibilities, or, conversely, express how your great interest in a particular field gives you confidence that you will discover an enriching career within that field as well. As long as you’re genuine and specific, and demonstrate excitement for your field of study, you’ll be golden.

This prompt asks you to describe what you do for fun, within the context of the many demands the average high school student faces in their life. Remember, this essay is not the place to describe your familial obligations or mention the club you joined because it fits your academic interests. Even though these activities demand much of your time and may often be enjoyable, they are still dictated by outside forces. This essay also isn’t the place to talk about anything you’ve mentioned substantively elsewhere in your MIT application.

Instead, this essay is the place to talk about what you do when you’ve got some spare time and no one is making demands upon you. Do you find yourself heading over to the piano, or watching your favorite sports team? Do you enjoy board games with your family, play video games with your friends, or take your dog on a long, long walk? These are all fairly standard ways of having unstructured fun, so they may resonate with you. If they don’t, though, or you can think of other activities, then you may be in luck: uniqueness is your friend.

As long as you’re being authentic, then describing a unique activity will make your MIT application much more memorable. Maybe you don’t have a dog, but a pet lizard. Maybe your favorite sport isn’t soccer or basketball, but kickboxing or curling. Or perhaps your family makes up their own rules for board games, or you record your video game sessions to upload with commentary to YouTube. Whatever it is that you do to have fun, be as specific as possible, searching for details that will highlight your personality. Whether your hobby seems “impressive” or “boring,” your essay should communicate the joy you take in it.

This essay prompt gives you the opportunity to share your uniqueness with the reader. If your educational journey looks different from the norm, then here is your chance to explain why that is and how that shaped you. Note that “you” are the agent of this sentence. In other words, if there is something different about your educational journey that you had zero agency in, then it might not fit into this prompt. However, you likely had agency in your reaction to this obstacle, opportunity, or other difference in your education journey. Therefore, you can focus your essay on that reaction.

The prompt gives you room to describe multiple ways you have done something outside the norm. Although this essay can only extend to 225 words, you should feel empowered to write about multiple unique aspects or choices you have made in your educational journey. Make sure that you are specific in your answer. Consider the following questions:

• What decisions did you make?
• What motivated these decisions?
• What was the outcome of these decisions?
• What did you learn from this experience? What are your regrets, if any?
• How will this experience impact you going forward?

After answering these questions for yourself, you should have enough substantive material to fill your essay. Remember to be detailed, precise, and genuine in your response!

This prompt permits you to think both big and small about your relationship with people in your life. Remember, it’s important to describe in this essay how you interact with people who are different from you. This can include people within your own community!

If you have ever participated in community service, this essay is a great place to explain what you did and how it impacted your community. If you have never participated in formal community service, though, don’t worry! Community contributions can be as big as fighting world hunger or as small as sitting next to the lonely person in the lunchroom. Or maybe you’ve contributed to your ecological community, such as by picking up litter or planting flowers in your town. Maybe you’ve contributed to your political community by attending protests or raising awareness about local issues.

Even if you’ve participated in formal community service, if you’ve discussed it elsewhere in your MIT application in detail, then you may want to avoid being repetitive. MIT asks this question to get a sense of how you will act as a part of the MIT community . Demonstrating how you move through communities in your life currently will give the reader a glimpse into the person you will be at MIT. Regardless, be sure to only focus on one interaction or way of collaborating, in order to stick to the prompt and write with specificity.

This prompt seeks to understand who you are when you aren’t your best, or how you’ve overcome a low point in your life. As the prompt indicates, you can be as personal as you feel comfortable, but it’s generally good practice in a college essay to engage in some vulnerability. Vulnerability not only demonstrates your humanity but also draws a more authentic picture of you as a person and student in the world.

This essay, like the others on the MIT application, presents an excellent opportunity for thoughtful essay recycling. If you are writing essays for other schools in addition to MIT, it is highly likely that at least some of the topics of the essay prompts overlap between the different essays you are writing. 

The “facing a challenge”-type question is a particularly common essay topic. Many students also choose this topic for their Common App essay, and given that MIT does not accept the Common App, you may want to thoughtfully recycle your Common App essay for this MIT essay prompt. Even though it is a much shorter essay, you may be able to take a paragraph from your Common App essay and reuse it for this one. At a minimum, you could reuse the ideas you’ve already thought through to inform this essay.

For many applicants looking back at their applications, something seems missing. If there was a drop in your grades during sophomore year and nowhere else in your application did you have the opportunity to explain this situation (although the third prompt might be a good opportunity), this essay is your chance.

If you faced a significant hardship in your personal life, perhaps you want to explore that hardship here. Or if you faced a financial or other barrier to participating in certain extracurricular activities (for instance, you were accepted into a selective academic summer camp but couldn’t afford to attend), then you may wish to provide those details in this essay. Make sure to only discuss these topics if you have not yet addressed them in another section of your application.

The above are just a few of the many examples of topics you could write about in this essay. Before beginning your draft, think about your application as a whole. Does it truly show you as you are? As a student, classmate, friend, and family member? If so, then remember, this prompt is optional. But if not, you’ll want to provide details here. “Details” is a key word. You’ll need to be specific for the admissions team, who doesn’t necessarily know you very well, so they can fully understand the situation you choose to describe. Once again, be genuine and specific, and this essay has the potential to strengthen your application.

If you need help polishing up your MIT supplemental essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.

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