The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, universally known as MIT, is the world's preeminent institution for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — and one of the most influential universities in human history. Founded in 1861, MIT has been at the heart of virtually every major technological revolution of the past century, from the development of radar and the internet to the decoding of the human genome, the invention of GPS, and the early development of artificial intelligence.
MIT's campus stretches along the south bank of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, directly across from Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. The campus is a striking mix of architectural eras — from the Beaux-Arts domed buildings of the original Rogers Building to the bold, controversial designs of Frank Gehry's Stata Center and Steven Holl's Simmons Hall, both of which have become landmarks of contemporary architecture. The Great Dome, visible across the Charles from Boston, is MIT's most recognizable symbol and one of the great icons of American academic life.
MIT enrolls approximately 11,500 students — roughly 4,500 undergraduates and 7,000 graduate students — in five schools: Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Management (Sloan School of Management), and Science. The acceptance rate for undergraduate admission is approximately 4%, making MIT one of the most selective universities in the world. International students represent approximately 30% of the student body, drawn from over 150 countries.
MIT's research output is staggering. The university holds more than 4,000 U.S. patents — more than any other university in the world — and its researchers, faculty, and alumni have founded companies including Intel, Qualcomm, Bose, iRobot, Akamai, and Dropbox. MIT-related startups generate annual revenues of approximately $2 trillion and have created 3.3 million jobs worldwide. If MIT alumni formed their own nation, its economy would be the 11th largest in the world.
The university has produced 97 Nobel laureates (25 of them currently faculty), 58 National Medal of Science winners, 29 National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners, and 8 Fields Medal recipients. Alumni include Richard Feynman, Buzz Aldrin, Kofi Annan, I.M. Pei, William Barr, Cardi B (yes, she attended a campus event — but more seriously, Robert Noyce, inventor of the integrated circuit; Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web; Jonah Peretti, founder of BuzzFeed; and virtually every major figure in modern engineering and technology.
Cambridge and Boston form one of the world's greatest concentrations of intellectual capital, with MIT, Harvard, Boston University, Tufts, Northeastern, Dana-Farber, Massachusetts General Hospital, and dozens of other world-class institutions within a few square miles.
For families flying from New York, JFK and Newark airports are approximately 4 to 4.5 hours from MIT's Cambridge campus by luxury SUV — a scenic drive along I-95 through Connecticut and Rhode Island. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) is just 20–35 minutes from campus. Synergy Limousine provides comfortable, direct luxury SUV transfers from all New York-area airports to MIT's Cambridge campus, to any Boston or Cambridge address, or to multiple stops across New England. We also coordinate pickups at Boston Logan for international flights arriving direct.