Graduate Admissions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

All applications for the SM and PhD programs must be submitted online by December 15, 2025 for Fall 2026 admission. Students are admitted as degree candidates only for September. Apply online at https://gradapply.mit.edu/polisci. 

The admissions committee will not review late or incomplete applications.

The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required for all SM and PhD applicants. 

The institution code is 3514.

English Language Proficiency Test Requirement

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology requires all international applicants to demonstrate a minimum English language proficiency needed to succeed in graduate school. International applicants will be required to submit English Language Proficiency (ELP) test scores in order to complete their MIT graduate application(s). More information about this requirement can be found here.

Some international applicants may qualify for an automatic exemption from the ELP test requirement. For more information about test exemptions and eligibility, please visit ELP test exemptions page.
 

Special Instructions

In your Statement of Objectives, please be sure to discuss the research questions you would like to pursue in your graduate studies. We also require a personal statement of 250-500 words. You should use the personal statement to address how your background and life experiences (including cultural, geographical, financial, and educational opportunities and challenges) have shaped your academic career and your decision to pursue a graduate degree in political science. The personal statement is distinct from the statement of objectives in that it should focus on your personal journey to graduate school rather than your proposed academic plans.
 
Please submit two other documents, both in .pdf format: a copy of your resume and a writing sample. The writing sample should be no more than 50 pages in length and is used to assess your conceptual thinking and analytical skills. Therefore, please submit a writing sample that best represents your potential to conduct graduate-level research, such as a research paper or a portion of an undergraduate or master’s thesis. Writing samples are welcome from any discipline and do not need to be from a political science course.

Academic Transcripts

All applicants are required to scan and upload official transcripts with their applications. Accepted applicants will be required to provide a sealed official transcript from each school attended. Any discrepancy between the scanned and official transcript may result in a withdrawal of our offer of admission.

If you participated in a study abroad program and your coursework/credits are reflected on your home institution's official transcript, you do not need to list this or send an official transcript from that program.

If you attended a community college or university from which you did not receive a degree and transferred those credits to an institution from which you received a degree (for which you are submitting an official transcript) you do not need to list the community college/university or provide an official transcript.

Letters of Recommendation

We advise you to request letters of recommendation as soon as possible from individuals who can best evaluate your scholarly potential as a graduate student in political science. We ask that all recommendations be submitted electronically, using the online system. Use Letters of Recommendation and then Letter Status to ask for electronic recommendations and to check whether recommendations have arrived. You must e-mail your recommenders the instructions shown in Letter Status.

You may address additional questions about Political Science graduate programs and the application process to twarog@mit.edu  or dsgall@mit.edu .

Political Science Applicant Mentorship Program (PS AMP)

The Political Science Application Mentorship Program (PS AMP) is a student-run and student-initiated initiative that helps PhD applicants prepare strong applications. Participants are paired with graduate student mentors who can answer questions about MIT Political Science, share insights about the program, and provide guidance on application materials.

Participation is voluntary and does not affect the admissions process. To join, please complete the sign-up form and refer to the MIT PoliSci Application Mentorship Program (PS AMP) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or contact mit.ps.amp@gmail.com with any questions.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until December 1, 2025, ahead of the department’s December 15 deadline. For the best chance of being matched with a mentor, we recommend signing up in October.

Privacy Policy

MIT is committed to protecting the individual privacy of applicants and students by restricting the use of all collected information as specified by Institute policies. In accordance with these policies, the information in your application may be used by MIT officials only for appropriate administrative and research purposes.

This site uses cookies to maintain a session identifier while you are actively using the site, but does not use cookies for any other purpose. The software we use to process credit card payments uses secure encryption technology (SSL) to reduce the possibility of theft, manipulation, and other alteration of information that you provide to us.

Any changes to our policy will be posted on this page.