Admitted Student Profile
GPA (Unweighted)
3.90–4.00 (unweighted)
SAT Range (Middle 50%)
1570–1590
ERW: 770–790 · Math: 800
ACT Range (Middle 50%)
35–36
Acceptance Rate
~3.9%
📌 MIT is test-required. Nearly all admitted students score 800 on SAT Math or 36 on ACT Math.
The Official Prompt
Pleasure Activity
"Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it."
MIT uses this prompt to find the human behind the test scores. Admissions wants to see what you do when no one is grading you. The best answers reveal genuine joy — odd hobbies, niche obsessions, or unexpected creative outlets that show depth of character.
The #1 Failure Mode
Most Common Mistake
Using a STEM activity that's also on your resume. MIT already knows you code or do robotics. This prompt is asking what you do for yourself, not your application.
Weak vs. Strong: Score Benchmarks
⚠️ Weak (~55/100)
"I love competitive programming. Solving complex algorithmic problems brings me immense satisfaction and I do it every day in my free time. It has helped me grow as a problem solver and engineer."
✓ Strong (~89/100)
"I spend Sunday mornings reading about the history of measurement — how humans decided what a kilogram was, why the meter was once tied to the Earth's circumference. Nobody assigned this. I just genuinely cannot stop thinking about how civilization agreed on the units that hold physics together."