FAQs

Applications from students who describe exceptional circumstances in their personal statement, or who demonstrate a marked progression of improving grades on their transcript, may be considered.

No. You must be a sophomore, junior, or non-graduating senior to be eligible to apply. To be considered a sophomore, must have 2 academic years of college coursework (not including college credit earned while in high school or its equivalent) by the start of the program. To be considered a non-graduating senior, you cannot graduate with your undergraduate degree prior to December 2023.

No. MSRP is only available to non-MIT undergraduate students.

No. We only accept applications from students studying at a home institution located in the US, including its territories.

International students enrolled full-time in a degree-granting program at a US institution located in the US or its territories are eligible to apply. However, the program does target domestic, underrepresented minorities. Students who will receive their bachelor’s degree at an institution located outside of the US and exchange students are NOT eligible to apply.

Please see eligibility and qualification requirements on our Eligibility page.

Once you are notified of admission into MSRP, you must respond by the date listed in your acceptance letter.

Students are notified of their acceptance into the program by March 31st.

• At least 1 of the 2 recommendations must be from faculty members from an institution where you have conducted research or taken classes.
• Applicants with prior research experience (whether at your home institution or elsewhere) are required to provide, at minimum, 1 letter of recommendation from a research supervisor. If you have conducted research under a faculty member, a letter from this individual would qualify as being from faculty and a research supervisor.
• If you have participated in MSRP previously, 1 letter must be from your MIT research mentor.
• All letters of recommendation are submitted online. When you provide information for your references on your application, they will automatically receive an email containing a link to answer questions and submit the letter of recommendation. Please ask your references to watch for this email, as it may get caught in their spam filter.
• You will be able to re-send the reference request link until the application deadline, even after you have submitted your application.

• Please visit the Interested Faculty Mentor Page to see a list of faculty interested in hosting a student this summer. This page is updated weekly through the application deadline, so check back frequently. Please note: This is not a comprehensive list of potential faculty mentors and you are not obligated to choose a faculty mentor from this list. Please conduct your own research into current MIT faculty for your top three research preferences using the department’s website, found here.
• MSRP works with faculty to place students in research groups once admitted to the program. The faculty you list does not affect your admissions decision. They are used to better understand your research interests, and for placement purposes should you be admitted. We ask that you do not contact faculty.
• Applicants should refrain from contacting faculty regarding admissions (this includes during the placement process). Doing so compromises and complicates our ability to complete admissions and equitably accommodate students.

• Essay questions
• Upload for Resume/CV and Unofficial Transcript
• Top three research preferences for department, faculty member, and research area (see the MSRP Faculty Mentors and Research Groups page).
• Two letters of recommendation (see additional FAQ's).

2025 Application Deadline: January 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST. It is to your advantage to submit your application early to ensure all requirements arrive in time.

The application is expected to open on November 1, 2024.  Please ensure you application is submitted by January 21, 2025.

No. All MSRP interns have an opportunity to interact with a number of MIT faculty, administrators, and graduate students. However, acceptance into MSRP does NOT guarantee admission into MIT for graduate school.

No. MSRP interns cannot take classes at MIT or elsewhere while participating in the program. MSRP is an intensive program, and research interns will spend the majority of their time in their research group as well as completing their MSRP deliverables and attending weekly MSRP events and activities.

MSRP General pairs interns with faculty researchers from all 5 MIT Schools and the Schwarzman College of Computing. Faculty from any department within those 5 Schools and College may opt to host an MSRP intern, with the exception of faculty who only hold appointments in Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, and Neuroscience, including Cognitive & Computational Neuroscience, who would host students through MSRP Biology/BCS rather than MSRP General. Apart from this exception, students may indicate an interest in working with any MIT faculty member from any department in their application. We do our best to place admitted applicants in their top choice or a closely related lab.

No. MSRP participants receive a weekly stipend, round trip travel, and university housing during the nine-week program. Although food costs are not completely covered, participants receive a food subsidy, and there are several program meals each week.

Students are required to participate on site for the entire duration of the program. If your final exams conflict with the program start date, you should arrange to take your exams earlier. Students at California institutions on the quarter system who are admitted may make arrangements to have their final exams proctored at MIT.

MSRP General is a nine-week program. The 2025 dates are June 9 - August 9, 2025. Students are expected to participate on site for the entire duration of the program.