MIT Admissions Round-up (Class of 2026)
Keeping tradition alive, MIT announced their admissions results on Pi Day (March 14th) and it was another record-breaking year. Between Early and Regular Action rounds, 33,796 students applied and 1,337 were offered admission, for an overall acceptance rate of 3.96%. It’s a little difficult to further parse out MIT’s numbers at this time, as the university deferred a whopping 9,489 applicants (out of 14,781) from the Early Round. Chris Peterson, Director of Special Projects at MIT Admissions + Student Financial Services, had this to say about that surprising figure:
As a matter of philosophy, we have typically preferred to defer, rather than deny, a majority of our early applicants, because we want to make the most informed decision we can; the disruptions of the pandemic have only increased our inclination in this regard.
Additional Stats
697 students were accepted in the Early Action round, for an EA acceptance rate of 4.7%. This low figure is an outlier among peer colleges, who typically see Early round rates closer to 10%.
While the total number of applicants this cycle is significantly higher than the pre-pandemic average of about 20,000, it’s only about 2% higher than last year. Peer schools such as the Ivies, however, saw a second spike in applicants even after the staggering numbers from the 2020-21 cycle.
The Class of 2026 will be the last (for now) cohort to apply test-optional. MIT made this announcement on March 28th, two weeks after releasing their admissions results. MIT representative Stu Schmill stated, “We believe a [testing] requirement is more equitable and transparent than a test-optional policy.”
That’s all for now, but check back in a couple of months for more stats about the class of 2026, as MIT is always quite generous with their data.
