MIT admits 721 early action applicants to the Class of 2029
Early action acceptance rate increases from 5.3% to 6.0%
On Dec. 17, MIT admitted 721 early action applicants to the Class of 2029 out of 12,053 students, which is an acceptance rate of 6.0%. 7,486 applicants were deferred, 3,039 were rejected, and 807 withdrew their applications. The number of early action applicants had a slight decline from 12,563 last year to 12,053 this year, equivalent to a 4.1% decrease.
The Class of 2029 early action acceptance rate is an increase from the previous year, as the Class of 2028 had an early action acceptance rate of 5.3%. The number of accepted students through early action also increased, from 661 in the Class of 2028 to 721 in the Class of 2029. MIT also admitted 100 students through the QuestBridge program, a significant increase from 56 in the prior application cycle. This number has been confirmed with Stu Schmill ’86, Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services.
For the Class of 2029, MIT Admissions increased targeted recruitment to reach more students from underrepresented backgrounds. “Given the results of the process last year, the first since the Supreme Court decision banning race-conscious admissions, we expanded our outreach program, especially in targeted ways,” Schmill said in a written statement to The Tech.
In his blog article published on Aug. 21, 2024, Schmill noted that the Class of 2028 had a significantly lower proportion of students from “historically underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds” compared to the average for the classes of 2024-2027. Besides MIT Admissions’ participation in the Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network and QuestBridge, MIT Admissions also increased the number of high school visits and program attendance across the country.
Unlike previous application cycles, this year’s application had a new essay prompt asking students to write about a time when they did “something different than what was expected” in their educational journey. This question replaced the prompt that asked students to “describe the world you come from,” and “how has that world shaped your dream and aspirations.” According to Schmill, the reason for introducing this new essay prompt was wanting to “learn as much as we can about a student’s background and context.”
The Tech had the opportunity to interview students who were recently admitted to MIT’s Class of 2029.
Shelly Yang from Reno, Nevada, was surprised when she saw confetti on the screen. “I was not expecting that at all,” Yang said. “I ended up crying, which is ironic because I was like ‘I’m not going to cry.’”
Aprameya Tripathy from Princeton, New Jersey, started reloading the application portal 10 minutes before 6:28 p.m. to check for an update, and recorded his reaction with his parents in the room. “Four minutes earlier at 6:24 p.m., I saw something that said ‘there is an update to your admission,’” Tripathy said. “As soon as I opened it, I just said, ‘Oh my God,’ and I screamed.”
Overall, the interviewed students enjoyed MIT’s unique application and essay prompts; while other peer institutions like Harvard and Stanford use the Common Application, MIT does not use the Common Application. “I really liked the ‘what do you do for fun’ essay,” Rohan Dhillon from Seattle said. “I think it’s great to know whether students do something for fun because I feel like everyone should and everyone does.”
Joshua Placides from Rockland, Maine, appreciated the MIT application activities section for its conciseness, as the section is limited to at most four activities. The Common Application accepts up to 10 activities. “I was caught off guard, but in the long run it is better because it captures a better image instead of surrounded by noise,” Placides said. “Why would I want to include this one extracurricular for say extracurricular number 10 that I barely even do or care about?”
Although admits have until May 1, 2025, to commit to MIT, all expressed interest in attending MIT because of MIT’s academics and research opportunities as well as the community. Luna Avolio, a prospective Course 18 major from Goleta, California, looks forward to the classes at MIT, some of which she saw on Open Courseware. Avolio said, “All the MIT professors that I’ve seen there [OCW] have been so cool and the classes look like so much fun.”
Vishal Surya, a prospective pre-med student from Katy, Texas, is excited about the life science research that happens at MIT, in particular the Broad Institute and Whitehead Institute. “Being part of an atmosphere where a lot of academic excellence is being cultivated is something that excites me a lot,” Surya said.
The MIT regular action deadline was Jan. 6, and the decision release date for deferred and regular decision applicants is Mar. 14, 2025.