How To Apply

Special Instructions for applying to the MIT Microbiology Graduate Program.

Application System Opens: October 1st

Application Deadline: December 1st

All completed applications will be reviewed and invitations to interview will be sent mid-January. Interviews are required to be considered for admission to the program:

2025 Open House Interview Day Dates:

Micro Open House I: Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Micro Open House II: Tuesday, February 25, 2025

MIT Microbiology Graduate Admissions Statement

March 26, 2020

In response to the challenges of teaching, learning, and assessing academic performance during the global COVID-19 pandemic, MIT has adopted the following principle: MIT’s admissions committees and offices for graduate and professional schools will take the significant disruptions of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 into account when reviewing students’ transcripts and other admissions materials as part of their regular practice of performing individualized, holistic reviews of each applicant. In particular, as we review applications now and in the future, we will respect decisions regarding the adoption of Pass/No Record (or Credit/No Credit or Pass/Fail) and other grading options during the unprecedented period of COVID-19 disruptions, whether those decisions were made by institutions or by individual students. We also expect that the individual experiences of applicants will richly inform applications and, as such, they will be considered with the entirety of a student’s record. Ultimately, even in these challenging times, our goal remains to form graduate student cohorts that are collectively excellent and composed of outstanding individuals who will challenge and support one another. Questions or concerns about this statement should be directed microbiology@mit.edu.

Admissions Instructions

Please note: The GRE is no longer required.

Email will be the primary method of contacting you, please do not change your email address once you have submitted your application as this will result in a record mismatch.

If you encounter technical issues with this application system, please email gradadmissions@mit.edu

Application Deadline: December 1st. For fullest consideration, it is in your best interest to complete all parts of the application including applicable data entry fields, and attaching the required transcript(s), language test score documents, all evaluation letters, and the application fee, by or before the deadline of December 1st. Incomplete applications may not be reviewed.

The scanned and attached copies of your transcript(s), (and IELTS, if applicable), are considered unofficial, but are sufficient for review purposes. Official documents will be required before a positive admissions decision can be made. If you are invited to interview, mail one copy of your transcript from each school you list in your application to the address below.

Three letters of recommendation (if you are presently in school, at least two must be academic recommendations). We require that all recommendations be submitted electronically, using this system. Use Evaluations and then Letter Status to ask for electronic recommendations and to check whether recommendations have arrived. If letters are missing, you must e-mail your recommenders the instructions shown in Letter Status.

Please note: You will be provided instructions and a link to email to each of your recommenders that they use to upload their letter. Each recommender will have a link unique to that individual — do not copy the same link to all your recommenders.

You can check the status of your application (complete or missing materials) online by logging into your application.

When a drop-down menu is provided for input fields, please use them as much as possible. Because your information needs to be transmitted to multiple databases, if an item is manually input instead of selected from the drop-down menu, and it causes a mismatch, that can prevent the application from being transmitted. For example: When indicating your major, if you do not see your major included in the drop down menu, choose the closest major from the list provided. You can always provide information specific to your major in your personal statement.

Academic Transcript: Please attach a PDF of your transcript(s) to your online application. Invitations to interview will be sent sometime mid-January. If you are invited to interview, please have one (1) official copy of your transcript from each school you list in your application mailed as soon as possible to the Microbiology Office and IELTS (if applicable) electronically sent to MIT Admissions. Transcripts must either be received in envelopes sealed by the institution or sent by the Registrar’s Office of you school to microbiology@mit.edu to be considered official. If your school does not grade on the 4.0 scale, please include the maximum/minimum numeric grade scale in your application.

MIT Microbiology Graduate Program
Building 68-120C
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

The Subjects Taken Page is

l only if you have attached a PDF of your transcript. Attaching your transcript is strongly preferred for the completion of your application. If no transcript has been attached, this page must be filled in to complete your application and you must follow up with an official transcript sent to the address indicated on the Overview/Help page. Please complete the subjects taken in the following order: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, Engineering/Other Sciences.

Additional Requirements for International Students Only

English language proficiency test scores are required of all applicants whose primary language is not English. Test scores must be from within the past two years. Registration information is available at ielts.org or ets.org

IELTS or IELTS Indicator: Minimum score required: 7
TOEFL and TOEFL at Home: Minimum PBT score 600, Minimum iBT score 100

Please have your TOEFL or IELTS scores to:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Office of Graduate Admissions Room 3-103
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139

Please arrange to take the IELTS/TOEFL exam with sufficient time to include your exam score by the application deadline.

Information about Language Proficiency Waivers:

If you meet any of the requirements below you will receive an automatic waiver of the English proficiency exam requirement within the online application.

Students who have received instruction in English in their primary and secondary schools,
Students who have been in the United States for four years or longer,
or have received a degree from an English-speaking institution

Invitations to interview are emailed approximately mid-January. In-person interviews are required of all prospective students to be admitted to the program. Official documents are required before a positive admissions decision will be made. If you are invited to interview, please have one (1) official copy of your transcript from each school you list in your application mailed as soon as possible to the Microbiology Office and have your official language scores if applicable), electronically sent to MIT Admissions. Transcripts must be received in envelopes sealed by the institution to be considered official.

Please address questions about MIT Microbiology Graduate Program and the application process to microbiology@mit.edu .

You can find more information about MIT graduate admissions in general here.

Application Fee Waiver

Eligibility

US citizens and US permanent residents may request a graduate application fee waiver if they meet one of the criteria below:

- Demonstrated financial hardship in the past year
- Participated in select MIT programs in the past 5 years
- Participated in select fellowship and pathway programs in the past 3 years
- Connected with an MIT representative at select academic and professional conferences or other recruitment event in the past year
- Served as a current or former member of the United States Armed Forces

International applicants may request a graduate application fee waiver if they meet one of the criteria below:

Attending a college or university in the U.S. at the time of the waiver request
Participated in select MIT programs in the past 5 years*

How to Request a Fee Waiver

Please visit the Office of Graduate Education website to review the criteria and submit a fee waiver request:

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