2022-23 MIT Transfer Acceptance Rate, Requirements, and Application Deadline

December 1, 2022

One of the most difficult schools to gain admission to in the entire world, MIT even denies many students who bring perfect credentials to the table. After all, the school rejects 24 students for every 1 that it accepts. If you found yourself in the former category as a high schooler, but still wish to pursue your dream of gaining acceptance into MIT, then the transfer process may be appealing to you. The following blog will reveal the MIT transfer acceptance rate as well other essential pieces of information like the MIT transfer deadline, the requirements/checklist for applicants, the MIT transfer decision date and much more.

MIT Transfer Acceptance Rate

Below we present the most current available MIT transfer acceptance rate as well as historical data.

In the fall of 2021, there were 1,437 transfer applicants and 24 individuals were accepted. This means that the MIT transfer acceptance rate is 1.7%. If we break this down by gender, the acceptance rates are as follows:

Male transfer applicants: 1.6%
Female transfer applicants: 1.9%

When trying to get the complete picture on how difficult it is to transfer into a given school, it is important to also look at historical data. Many schools have wild fluctuations in transfer acceptance rate from year to year. As you can see, the MIT transfer acceptance rate has indeed been somewhat variable in recent years, ranging from 1.8% to 4.2%.

Historical transfer rates are as follows:

Year	Acceptance Rate
2020	3.1%
2019	3.1%
2018	4.2%
2017	4.1%

MIT Transfer Deadline

The university offers both a fall and spring transfer option. The MIT transfer deadline for fall applicants is March 15. Spring applicants have a deadline of October 15.

MIT Transfer Requirements

The MIT transfer requirements are as follows:

Completed MIT Transfer Application
Final high school transcripts
College transcripts
SAT or ACT scores (required)
School Official Report
Two letters of recommendation

Students who have the best chance to gain admission to MIT have done the following:

Completed two or more college terms.
Earned exceptional grades in their first year at a community college or 4-year university.
Have completed at least college-level calculus and calculus-based physics.
We recommend checking out this page for further info on major-specific coursework you will want to complete to enhance your chances of acceptance.

MIT Transfer GPA

The minimum GPA required to be considered as a transfer applicant at MIT is 3.5. However, in our experience, you will need a GPA of 3.9 or above to be a truly competitive applicant to MIT.

MIT Transfer Writing Supplement

All transfer applicants must respond to the following four essay prompts. There are other optional prompts about cultural identity, barriers to educational access, or additional info.

How does MIT align with your goals (e.g., academic, personal, career, extracurricular, etc.)?* 225 words or fewer
Please discuss why you are considering transferring from your current college or university.* 225 words or fewer
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.* 225 words or fewer
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?* 225 words or fewer

MIT Transfer Decision Date?

The MIT transfer decision date is in mid-November for spring applicants and early May for fall applicants.

Final Thoughts – MIT University Transfer Acceptance Rate

MIT usually draws between 35-50 applicants for spring term and accepts between 0-5 individuals. Fall term often sees 400-500 applicants of which they ultimately accept 15-20. Of course, as previously documented, that number sharply increased last cycle. This may be partially attributable to the temporary test-optional policy the school adopted at the onset of the pandemic. Now that MIT again requires SAT or ACT scores, we would expect the number of transfer hopefuls to drop from its 2021 high.

MIT makes clear that they accept students from all kinds of colleges. They state that transfer applicants “come from all over the world and from many different educational backgrounds. You should choose a college that will offer rigorous academic coursework, but, more importantly, that will also provide academic and extracurricular opportunities in your areas of interest. In other words, you should choose a college that will be a good fit for you.”

If you are looking for information on how to apply to MIT as a first year student, you may find the following blogs to be of interest:

Those searching for application info on other colleges may wish to visit our Dataverse pages:

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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).