Standardized Test Requirements

Standardized tests are required for any freshman application to MIT. While your scores are only one component of your application, they are important, and you should make sure you're prepared for the testing process.

Testing Deadlines and Reporting Scores

In order to apply for freshman admission, you must take the required tests on or before the November test date for Early Action or the December test date for Regular Action.

Your scores must be reported to us officially from the testing agency; scores you list on your application and scores appearing on your school transcript will not be considered official. Our SAT and TOEFL code is 3514 and our ACT code is 1858.

We recommend that you list MIT as a school to receive your scores when you take the test. If you do not, please allow plenty of time for your scores to arrive at MIT. It takes at least 4 to 6 weeks for us to receive SAT scores. We only receive ACT scores once a month, therefore depending on when in that cycle they are requested, it may take over a month for us to receive them.

It is important that you register for tests with the same name as you have indicated on your application or MyMIT account. Your record and test scores will not be linked in our system if the names do not match.

You can get more information and register for the SAT tests online at www.collegeboard.com, for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) at www.ets.org/toefl, and for the ACT at www.act.org.

Testing Requirements

For native English speakers: We require the SAT Reasoning Test with the writing component or the ACT with the writing test. We do not prefer one over the other. In addition, we require two SAT Subject Tests: one in math (level 1 or 2), and one in science (physics, chemistry, or biology e/m). We do not have a preference as to which science you take or which level math you take.

While we do require the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT Plus Writing, we realize that some of you may also have taken older versions of these tests. In such circumstances, we will consider scores from each section of both the older and newer versions of the tests and use the highest score achieved in each section for our evaluation. This is also the case if you have taken the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT Plus Writing more than once. Since reporting multiple scores will not hurt you, we recommend that when you register to take tests, you ask for all of your scores to be reported to MIT.

For non-native English speakers: You have two options: 1) take the tests required for native English speakers (see above), or 2) you may take the TOEFL and two SAT Subject Tests, one in math (level 1 or 2) and one in science (physics, chemistry, or biology e/m).

If you have been using English for less than 5 years or do not speak English at home, we strongly suggest that you take the TOEFL.

When to take which tests

Obviously, it's vital that students take all tests on or before their testing deadline (November test date for Early Action and December test date for Regular Action). Beyond that, however, choose your test dates strategically! For example, if you will be completing high school physics, chemistry or biology before your senior year, it's very wise to take the appropriate SAT Subject Tests(s) right afterwards, in June, while the material is fresh in your mind.

Most applicants do take at least one science subject test during senior year, after completing only a portion of the given course; our Admissions Committee recognizes this and judges the scores accordingly. As a general rule, however, it's best to take a subject exam just after you've completed a whole course.

The content of your math courses should determine whether you take the Level 1 or the Level 2 Math test and when. (The two tests are weighed equally in the admissions decision.) Before you choose the dates for any of your tests, particularly the math test, be sure to get advice from your guidance counselor and your teachers.

Competitive Scores

For students we admitted in 2007, the middle 50% score range was between 670-770 for the SAT Reasoning Test Critical Reading and 720-800 for SAT Reasoning Test Math. We do not have cutoff scores for the SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Tests, as scores are evaluated within an applicant's context.

For the TOEFL exam, the institute minimum required score is 577 on the paper-based exam, 233 on the computer-based exam, and 90 on the internet-based exam.