Applying to MIT Early Action
MIT is your dream school, so you decide to apply there through Early Action. But should you also apply to another elite school via Early Decision to maximize your chances of acceptance? This strategy could risk having your dream ripped from your hands—if accepted to both MIT and your ED college, you'd be forced to decline MIT due to the binding nature of Early Decision. Or should you go all-in with MIT and potentially miss the chance to attend another selective school? This is a complicated choice many students face. Let's walk through how to navigate this decision strategically.
Understanding Early Decision Release Dates
One way around this dilemma is to apply to an Early Decision university that releases their decision after MIT releases their Early Action decision. Until you receive your ED decision, you can withdraw your application. Only once decisions are released are their outcomes binding.
For example, if MIT releases their decision on December 14, 2025, and Columbia releases theirs on December 15, 2025, upon hearing your decision from MIT, you can either:
Withdraw your Columbia application completely, or
Ask for it to be considered for the Regular Decision round
However, if you are accepted for Early Decision before MIT releases their decision, or if you let the school know you want to withdraw from the Early Decision round after they've formally released your acceptance, you'll need to reject MIT's offer, even if admitted.
Tier Analysis: When Your Second Choice Releases Before MIT
If your second-choice college has an ED release date before MIT's Early Action release date, what should you do?
First, note that MIT is a tier 1 college, one of only 6 in the U.S. None of the tier 1 colleges have Early Decision; they all have Restrictive Early Action, meaning if you apply to one tier 1 college early, you cannot apply to another one early. This means a dilemma between two tier 1 colleges won't occur.
If your dream school is MIT, and you're considering ED for a school like Cornell, carefully assess your chances at MIT. If you're a strong MIT candidate who has:
Completed many 2nd-year college math classes prior to senior year
Earned As in Physics C
Taken all core classes as AP classes
Achieved national placement in competitions
Published research
Made quantifiable improvements to your local community
Earned a 1500+ SAT score/35+ ACT score
Gained hands-on experience creating tangible products
Then applying ED to Cornell could do you a significant disservice.
Understanding the Selectivity Gap
The gap in achievement needed to get into a tier 1 college like MIT compared to a tier 1.75 college like Cornell is substantial. If you are a strong contender for MIT and apply to Cornell for ED (with their decision coming before MIT's), your chances of attending MIT are practically zero because you'll likely be accepted to Cornell and bound by the ED agreement. You could have comfortably applied to Cornell for Regular Decision instead.
In other words, if your application makes you a contender for a tier 1 college, then using that same application for Early Decision at less selective colleges (tiers 1.75, 2, or 3) gives you extremely high chances of admission to those schools. The stronger your MIT application, the lower your chances will be of ever attending MIT if you apply ED to less selective colleges with earlier release dates.
Strategic Options for Top-Tier Applicants
Only four colleges are selective enough compared to MIT that getting into MIT doesn't guarantee admission to these schools:
Columbia
UPenn
Duke
University of Chicago
If your desire to attend MIT is comparable to your interest in one of these four institutions, then applying to both for their early admissions rounds makes sense. However, if MIT is clearly your dream school and you're a strong candidate, you may need to accept the risk of missing an advantage at these four super-selective colleges.
Maximizing Your MIT Chances
To make the most of your MIT application:
Connect with MIT's admissions team: Ask thoughtful questions that demonstrate you're seriously considering how MIT's academic opportunities, social environment, and culture will shape your future. Show that you have a solid dream you'll never give up on and want to find the college that will best nurture it.
Engage with faculty: Contact MIT professors and discuss their research to evaluate fit, then share these conversations with the admissions team.
Be transparent about your decision process: After building rapport, mention how you were torn between applying ED elsewhere and EA to MIT, but chose to focus on MIT. This shows commitment that admissions officers may remember.
Demonstrate interest: Attend MIT tours and subscribe to their student newsletters.
Perfect your Maker Portfolio: Create a compelling showcase for the "maker" part of the application. MIT values hands-on creativity and problem-solving—this portfolio allows you to demonstrate these skills through technical projects.
Prepare for interviews: Think about a meaningful artifact you could bring to your interview that represents your interests and abilities.
Invest in your essays: Start working on MIT's supplemental essays early to ensure they're the very best writing you can produce.
By following these strategies, you can maximize your chances of admission while staying true to your dream of attending MIT.
MIT Interview Artifacts: What They Are and How to Use Them
An "artifact" in the MIT interview process refers to a physical item or creation that you bring to share during your alumni interview. MIT Educational Counselors (ECs) often encourage applicants to bring something they're proud of to share during the interview, serving as a conversation starter and making you more memorable to the interviewer.
Types of Artifacts You Can Bring
The artifact you choose should be meaningful to you and showcase your interests, skills, or accomplishments. Examples include:
A project you designed or built (like an engineering prototype or model)
A publication containing your writing (school newspaper, literary magazine)
A portfolio of your artwork or design work
A device, website, or app you've created
A research poster or abstract
Something you've manufactured or fabricated
A robot or electronic creation you've programmed
The artifact isn't mandatory, but it gives you something to connect over and helps you stand out from other interviewees. If you decide to bring something, ensure you're prepared to discuss it thoroughly.
Tips for Using Your Artifact Effectively
Choose something personally meaningful: Select an item that genuinely excites you and that you can speak about passionately.
Be prepared to present it: Being able to present and discuss your work is a crucial skill for college and beyond. Treat this as an opportunity to practice explaining your work clearly.
Explain both the process and outcome: Don't just show what you made—discuss your thinking process, challenges you overcame, and what you learned.
Consider your audience: Remember that your EC may not have expertise in your field of interest, so be prepared to explain your work in accessible terms (the "grandmother test")—can you explain your highly technical work in a way that someone outside your field will understand?
Practice your presentation: Rehearse explaining your artifact concisely, focusing on why it's important to you and what it demonstrates about your abilities and interests.
Don't overdo it: The artifact should enhance the conversation, not dominate it. A 3-5 minute explanation is sufficient.
Why Artifacts Matter in MIT Interviews
Bringing a meaningful artifact serves multiple purposes:
It demonstrates initiative and preparation
It provides concrete evidence of your interests and abilities
It makes you more memorable to the interviewer
It creates a natural, engaging conversation topic
It showcases skills that might not be apparent from your application
It helps break the ice and reduce interview anxiety
Remember that some MIT Educational Counselors specifically ask applicants to bring something personally important to their interview, like an object, so think ahead about what you might bring.
Creating Standout MIT Maker Portfolio Project Write-ups
The MIT Maker Portfolio allows you to showcase your technical creativity and hands-on projects. The write-up portion is crucial because it helps the admissions committee understand your thinking process, not just your final product.
Structure of Effective Project Write-ups
Project Overview: Begin with a clear, concise summary of what you created and why it matters.
Motivation and Inspiration: Explain what inspired you to undertake this project. Was it a personal need, a community issue, or pure curiosity?
Process Documentation: Detail your journey from concept to completion, including:
Initial planning and research
Design iterations and prototypes
Technical choices and their rationales
Challenges faced and how you overcame them
Timeline of development
Technical Details: Include specific information about:
Materials, tools, and technologies used
Engineering principles applied
Software, hardware, or scientific concepts involved
Measurements, specifications, or performance data
Collaborative Aspects: If others were involved, clearly delineate:
Who did what (be honest about your contributions)
How you worked together
What you learned from collaborating
Impact and Results: Describe the outcome of your project:
How does it work?
Who benefits from it?
What problem does it solve?
What metrics show its success?
Learning and Growth: Reflect on your personal development:
What new skills did you acquire?
How did you grow as a maker/thinker?
What would you do differently next time?
How has this project influenced your future goals?
Demonstrating Intelligence, Grit, and Uniqueness
To truly stand out and demonstrate intelligence, grit, and uniqueness in your write-up:
Intelligence
Show problem-solving methodology: Clearly describe each project and show your problem-solving process, not just the end result.
Explain technical choices: Don't just list what you used—explain why you chose specific approaches over alternatives.
Connect to broader concepts: Relate your work to scientific principles, engineering concepts, or computational theory.
Document iterations: Show how your thinking evolved throughout the project.
Grit
Highlight challenges explicitly: Provide a clear description highlighting the technical challenges you faced and how you overcame them.
Detail failed attempts: Don't shy away from discussing what didn't work—this shows persistence.
Quantify your effort: Note time invested, number of iterations, or materials used through multiple attempts.
Show resource constraints: Explain how you worked within limitations (budget, materials, time, skills).
Uniqueness
Emphasize original thinking: Personal projects often make more compelling maker portfolios because they help admissions officers get to know you better as an engineer. Did you come up with a solution to a problem you encountered? Was it something you pursued out of genuine interest?
Document innovative approaches: Highlight where you deviated from standard solutions.
Connect to personal interests: Show how the project reflects your unique perspective or passions.
Demonstrate interdisciplinary thinking: Combine concepts from different fields in novel ways.
Examples of Effective Project Narrative Elements
Here are specific elements that make project write-ups stand out:
Compelling opening: "After three classmates with mobility impairments struggled to navigate our school's aging facilities, I designed and built an affordable, portable ramp system that could be quickly deployed at entrances lacking accessibility features."
Challenge narrative: "The first prototype failed catastrophically when tested with a 200-pound load. Rather than abandoning the concept, I analyzed the stress points using FEA software, redesigned the support structure, and reinforced critical junctions with carbon fiber."
Technical insight: "I discovered that commercially available motor controllers couldn't handle the precise micropositioning required, so I designed my own PID control algorithm that reduced positioning error by 78% while maintaining rapid response times."
Resourcefulness: "With no budget for professional fabrication, I repurposed discarded appliance parts and 3D-printed custom fixtures using recycled filament, reducing material costs by over 90%."
Growth reflection: "This project taught me that engineering isn't just about technical solutions—it's about understanding human needs. I now approach every project by first interviewing potential users rather than jumping straight to design."
Media Attachments That Strengthen Your Write-up
Remember that you can include up to 20 media attachments. Take plenty of photos, diagrams, and/or videos to enhance your story. For any project with moving parts, be sure to include a video demonstration.
Effective media elements include:
Process photos showing evolution of your project
Sketches and design drawings
CAD models or schematics
Flowcharts of algorithms or systems
Data visualizations or test results
Short video demonstrations
Screenshots of code with key sections highlighted
Before/after comparisons
Final Tips for Standout Write-ups
Be authentic: Admission officers want to see the process to success and your motivations, not just the result.
Focus on quality over quantity: Select projects that you're most proud of and which showcase your technical skills, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. It is not necessary to include several projects if one or two of your best projects truly highlight your talent.
Tell a story: Frame your write-up as a narrative journey rather than a technical manual.
Connect to MIT's values: Research MIT's culture and values, and subtly demonstrate how your project aligns with them.
Be concise but thorough: The project write-up should be detailed but focused. Edit ruthlessly to keep readers engaged.
Highlight uniqueness: Over the years, students have used the Maker Portfolio to showcase diverse creations, from surfboards to solar cells, code to cosplay, prosthetics to particle accelerators - make sure to emphasize what makes your project different.
Proofread carefully: Technical precision in your writing reflects technical precision in your work.
By following these guidelines, you'll create project write-ups that not only document what you made but also powerfully demonstrate your intelligence, grit, creativity, and potential as a future MIT student.
When MIT releases their 2025-2026 admission essays, we will explain in detail how to tackle those.
We hope this article has given you much to ponder. If you are applying to MIT and need help exploring the complex calculus of their admissions process, schedule a complimentary consultation with an admissions expert today.
