Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS, MIT's famous "Course 6") is the single most competitive and most popular department at MIT, at both the undergraduate and graduate level. MIT is ranked #1 globally for Computer Science and Information Systems by QS, and EECS anchors the university's identity as much as any department can at an institution built around engineering. Whether you're applying as an undergraduate to Course 6-3 (Computer Science and Engineering) or Course 6-2 (EECS), or as a graduate applicant to the SM/PhD or Master of Engineering (MEng) programs, you are applying to the most oversubscribed department at one of the two or three most selective universities in the world.
This guide breaks down exactly what it takes: acceptance rate realities, cost, admission requirements, how to get in, English-test rules, and career outcomes specific to MIT Computer Science / EECS.
Acceptance Rate: What MIT Actually Publishes
MIT does not publish a department-specific acceptance rate for Computer Science/EECS at either level. Here is what is actually known, and how to interpret it honestly:
- MIT undergraduate (institute-wide): 4.6% for recent classes. MIT does not admit directly into a major — all first-years are admitted to MIT generally and declare a course (major) at the end of first year — so there is no separate "CS acceptance rate" at the undergraduate level. However, Course 6 (EECS) is consistently MIT's most-declared major, meaning the applicant pool self-selects heavily toward students with strong CS/EECS intentions, so the effective competitiveness for students planning to pursue Course 6 is, if anything, higher than the headline 4.6% would suggest, since so much of the admitted pool is competing for the same eventual concentration.
- MIT graduate EECS (SM/PhD): MIT's institute-wide graduate acceptance rate is around 9%, but this blends every department from EECS to literature, and EECS is widely understood — though not officially published — to be meaningfully more selective than that average given it is MIT's largest and most sought-after graduate department by application volume. Treat EECS graduate admission as single-digit percent, likely below the 9% institute average, without treating any more precise figure as an official MIT statistic.
- International undergraduate applicants specifically: MIT's own reporting shows roughly 6,900 international applicants competing for about 136 offers in a recent cycle — near 2% — a useful data point for how much tighter the international pool runs versus the 4.6% headline rate.
Bottom line: no official MIT source publishes a CS/EECS-specific number at either level. Applicants should treat Course 6 as MIT's most competitive path, likely tighter than the institute-wide averages, rather than banking on the headline 4.6%/9% figures applying evenly across departments.
Fees and Cost of Attendance
MIT charges a single tuition rate regardless of major or citizenship:
| Cost Item | Undergraduate (USD/year) | Graduate (USD/year) |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $66,720 | $66,720 |
| Living expenses | $25,620 | $42,297 |
| Total estimated cost of attendance | $92,760 | $109,017 |
For graduate Master of Engineering (MEng) students in EECS specifically, tuition follows the standard $66,720/year rate, though MEng is typically a one-year program layered onto an undergraduate EECS degree, so total cost is usually lower than a full two-year SM. Application fees are $75 for undergraduate and $90 for standard graduate programs, with fee waivers available for demonstrated financial hardship.
PhD students in EECS are essentially always fully funded (tuition, stipend, and health insurance), so the sticker cost above is largely moot for that track — it matters most for SM and MEng (master's-only) applicants who generally self-fund through savings, loans, or partial fellowships.
Admission Requirements
Undergraduate (Course 6-3 / 6-2, declared after first year):
- Common Application or Coalition Application
- MIT-specific short-answer questions and essays
- Secondary school transcript
- SAT or ACT scores — mandatory for all applicants, domestic and international (MIT reinstated standardized testing as a requirement)
- Two letters of recommendation (one math/science teacher, one humanities/language/social science teacher)
- School report and counselor recommendation
- English proficiency test scores (recommended, not mandatory, for non-native speakers)
- $75 application fee or fee waiver
Middle-50% SAT range for admitted students: 1520-1580; ACT: 34-36. There is no published minimum GPA, but MIT's holistic review expects the most rigorous available math/science curriculum with near-top grades.
Graduate (EECS SM/PhD or MEng):
- Online application via GradApply/GradSlate
- Unofficial transcripts from all institutions attended
- Three letters of recommendation
- Statement of Objectives / Personal Statement
- Updated CV/resume
- GRE: EECS does not use GRE scores at all in admissions — this is one of the clearest department-specific policies MIT publishes
- English proficiency test scores, required for most international applicants unless a waiver applies
- $90 application fee or fee waiver
EECS's graduate application deadline is typically December 1, with decisions released February-March.
How to Get In
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Undergraduate: the SAT/ACT is mandatory again — don't skip it. Unlike several peer schools that remain test-optional, MIT requires standardized testing from every applicant. A strong quantitative score (near the 1520-1580 middle-50% range) is a baseline expectation, not a differentiator, but a weak score is a real liability.
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Show "mind and hand" — not just theoretical interest. MIT's culture rewards students who build things: a documented independent project, a research contribution, a competitive hackathon result, or substantial open-source work signals fit with MIT's hands-on engineering ethos far more than grades alone.
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Graduate applicants: skip GRE prep entirely for EECS and redirect that time. Since EECS does not consider GRE scores, applicants sometimes waste real effort here; that time is far better spent strengthening the Statement of Objectives and securing specific, substantive letters of recommendation from people who supervised real technical work.
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Name specific faculty and research groups in your graduate Statement of Objectives. MIT EECS's admissions committees weigh research fit heavily, especially for PhD applicants — vague statements about "wanting to work on AI" read very differently from ones that reference specific labs, professors, and open research questions the applicant has engaged with.
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For MEng applicants (MIT undergrads pursuing the 5th-year master's), build your Course 6 record early. MEng admission draws heavily on an applicant's existing MIT undergraduate performance and thesis proposal, so strong course performance and an early relationship with a potential thesis advisor matter more than external credentials.
English Proficiency Requirement (IELTS/TOEFL)
MIT's testing policy differs meaningfully by level, and EECS follows the university-wide rules rather than setting its own (though graduate department minimums can supersede the general floor where published):
- Undergraduate: English test scores are not required at all — only "strongly recommended" for applicants who have used English for fewer than 5 years or don't use it at home/school. If submitted, MIT's published thresholds are IELTS minimum 7.0 (recommended 7.5) or TOEFL minimum 90 (recommended 100).
- Graduate (EECS and other departments): the Office of Graduate Education (OGE) sets a university-wide recommended floor of IELTS 7.0, TOEFL iBT 100, or Duolingo 135 — but explicitly states that department minimums override this floor where a department publishes a stricter one. PTE is not accepted for graduate admissions at MIT (unlike undergraduate, where it is accepted).
- Waiver: typically granted for applicants with a 3-4+ year undergraduate degree from an English-medium institution completed within the last 5 years, or native English speakers.
Given EECS's competitiveness and the volume of strong international applicants, meeting only the bare OGE floor (TOEFL 100/IELTS 7.0) is not a strategic risk to take without checking whether EECS itself publishes a stricter number for your specific program in the current cycle. For the complete breakdown across MIT's undergraduate and graduate tracks, see MIT IELTS requirements and MIT TOEFL requirements.
Career Outcomes
MIT does not break out outcomes data specifically for Course 6/EECS, but EECS graduates are consistently among MIT's highest earners and most recruited, so the university-wide figures likely understate EECS-specific outcomes:
- Undergraduate employment rate after 6 months: ~92%
- Undergraduate average starting salary: ~$118,100 (university-wide; EECS graduates in software engineering, hardware, and applied ML roles typically land above this blended figure)
- Graduate average starting salary: ~$173,132 (university-wide graduate figure)
- Top recruiters: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Bloomberg, Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company, Citadel and Citadel Securities, Accenture, Databricks, Meta, Goldman Sachs, and Two Sigma — a mix heavily weighted toward the exact companies that recruit most aggressively from EECS specifically
MIT's EECS department feeds directly into some of the most selective technical employers in the world (quant trading firms, top-tier AI labs, and FAANG-tier companies), and MIT's reputation in computer science and engineering specifically — reinforced by its #1 QS subject ranking in both Computer Science/Information Systems and Engineering/Technology — gives EECS graduates unusually strong leverage in recruiting relative to graduates of the same university in other fields.
FAQ
Does MIT publish a separate acceptance rate for Computer Science or EECS? No. MIT does not admit directly into a major at the undergraduate level, and does not publish department-level graduate acceptance rates. The best proxies are the 4.6% institute-wide undergraduate rate and the 9% institute-wide graduate rate, with EECS very likely more selective than both given it is MIT's most popular department.
Is the GRE required for MIT EECS graduate admissions? No. EECS explicitly does not use GRE scores in its admissions process, one of the few clearly department-specific policies MIT publishes. This differs from some other MIT departments (like EAPS), which do require it.
Do I need to declare Computer Science when I apply to MIT as an undergraduate? No. MIT admits students to the Institute as a whole; you declare your course (major), including Course 6-3 (Computer Science and Engineering) or 6-2 (EECS), at the end of your first year, after exploring MIT's flexible first-year curriculum.
What IELTS or TOEFL score do I need for MIT EECS graduate programs? The university-wide OGE floor is IELTS 7.0 or TOEFL 100, but always check whether EECS specifically publishes a stricter minimum for your cycle, since department minimums supersede the general recommendation.
How much does an MIT EECS graduate degree cost? Standard MIT graduate tuition is $66,720/year with an estimated total cost of attendance of $109,017/year. PhD students are essentially always fully funded; SM and MEng (master's-only) students generally self-fund.
Is MIT's SAT/ACT requirement different for EECS applicants? No — MIT applies the same standardized testing requirement to every undergraduate applicant regardless of intended major, since majors are declared after admission.