Key Program elements 

High school students now in grade 11 who:

• love and excel at math and science, but have no prior experience (or very little) in mechanical engineering

• would like to experience hands-on activities where they design and build engineering projects

• enjoy problem solving and collaborative learning

• want to focus for 4 summer weeks exclusively on learning about mechanical engineering in an intense academic environment

WTP is a women-focused program aimed at empowering students from groups that are historically underrepresented in engineering.

We strongly encourage students from the following backgrounds to apply:

• Underrepresented in science and engineering, such as African American, Hispanic, or Native American

• Underserved, defined as coming from low socioeconomic means, which may be indicated by qualifiying for free/reduced school lunch

• Potentially the first family member to attend college

• Absence of science or engineering degrees in family

• Coming from a rural or predominantly minority high school with limited access to STEM classes and activities

**Accepted students must be able to participate in all WTP required activities for the full four weeks.

June 29 - 30

• WTP summer session begins with weekend Orientation activities at MIT.  Students will have required activities at MIT on weekdays, including some evenings and weekend activities, for the four weeks WTP is in session. They should not have any other significant time commitments during that time.

• Daily classes will occur Mon - Fri from approximatly 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM, with occasional evening hours.  We are planning some weekend academic field trips and social outings.  

July 26

• Final day of WTP.

• Housing will be provided through the morning of July 27, when students will depart MIT  

• WTP Application for 2024 will be released here in late November. Submission deadline is Jan 15.

• The Mechanical Engineering track of WTP is planned to be a residential program for summer 2024, with housing provided for the duration of the program in the MIT dorms. 

• Applying to WTP is completely FREE. No decision has been made yet whether there will be a fee to attend WTP, as there was in the pre-pandemic years. If a fee is charged, we will offer financial aid to accepted students who would not otherwise be able to attend.

• The Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) track of the Women's Technology Program will be taking a hiatus so will not be offered in the summer of 2024. 

• All WTP applicants must live in the U.S. year round (your permanent family home address is in the U.S.). See the FAQ about residency for more details.

• If you have questions, please check the FAQ before contacting WTP.

IMPORTANT: 

Reference forms due January 22, 2024. 

Please check the program's website for updates: https://web.mit.edu/wtp/calendar.html 

* Forms:

• Short answer questions about your previous coursework, activities, prior experience, and any standardized tests you have taken.

• There are also 3 essay questions: each essay must be a minimum of 275 words, a maximum of about 330 words (2000 characters).

* Attachments (3):
1) High School Transcript - Grades 9 through 10 : Upload a .pdf of your high school transcript for Grades 9-10. This can be an UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT or Report Card. The size limit is 10MB. It must contain your full name, your school name, and if possible the school address. The document must be in English.

• Many online Grade Reports do not meet these criteria, so you may have to request an unofficial transcript from your school registrar. Do not send us links to your online transcripts; we will not be able to access them.

2) High School Transcript - Grade 11 Fall Report : Upload a .pdf showing your Grade 11 fall grades (this can be one quarter, or the full fall semester, depending on what is available). This can be an UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT or Report Card, but it must contain your full name, your school name, and if possible the school address. The document must be in English. The size limit is 10MB.

• The report must show your course grades for at least the first fall quarter of Grade 11 -- NOT just list courses you are taking. If the Grade 9-10 report you previously uploaded also contains your fall semester Grade 11 course grades, please upload it a second time as the Grade 11 Fall Report (Attachment #2).

• If you do not yet have a fall junior year Grade Report, or if it does yet have grades for your fall courses, please instead upload a .pdf note as Attachment #2 (you cannot leave this attachment slot empty). The note should say you do not yet have the fall grade report. As soon as your Grade 11 report becomes available, email it to wtp-app@mit.edu so we can add it to your submitted application.

• Once you submit the first quarter grades you have completed this requirement.  Please DO NOT send us any additional Grade 11 updates after submitting your application unless you have significant changes in course grades (such as going from a B to an A, or from an A to a B in a science or math class).

3) Score Reports - Test Score Documents: Please upload your score reports for all the tests you listed in the Test Scores Form question. Note that WTP cannot get score reports directly from the College Board or ACT or follow links to your score reports.

• Students who have not taken ANY of these tests may still apply to WTP. If you have no score reports, instead upload a .pdf note to the Score Reports Attachment saying you have not taken any of these tests (you cannot leave this attachment slot empty).

• Your score reports can be scanned from paper or captured from online screen shots. NOTE that your FULL NAME MUST BE VISIBLE on the pages or screen shot with your scores. Here are some examples of score reports we accept for PSAT, SAT, ACT.

• If possible, please combine all of your score reports into one .pdf document. . Size limit: 10MB. If you are unable to merge all of your scores into one document we have provided two additional score report attachment sites in the application.

• If you cannot combine your score reports into one .pdf, we have two additional attachment slots in the application where you can upload them.

• If after submitting your WTP application you receive additional test score reports with significantly improved scores, you may email them to wtp-app@mit.edu until March 1 and we will add them to your application.

*Teacher Reference Forms Completed Online: (1 Math Teacher and 1 Science Teacher)

We ask your Teaches to COMPLETE AN ONLINE FORM inside the WTP Application with specific evaluation questions and a place where they can write or upload a letter of recommendation for you.

• Teachers have until January 22 to complete these Reference Forms. We will continue to accept References submitted after this date (until March 1), but it will delay evaluating your application.

• To give your teachers a preview of what to expect, please send them the link to this Guidelines for Teacher References when you ask them to serve as a WTP Reference. If they agree, add them as a Reference to your application; they should then receive an email invitation to complete an online form (they must complete the form in one session).

• If your teachers do not receive the email, have them check their spam file, and also make sure the email you listed for them in your application is correct (no typos). If your teachers still cannot find the email, visit the SlideRoom Applicant Help Center References Help link.

• The Math and Science Teachers will answer questions about your class performance and teamwork. If you are not sure which math and science teachers to ask, read the answer to this question on our FAQ page.

• DO NOT ask a Computer Science Teacher to be a Reference. We find information from a science teacher who teaches classes in physics, biology, or chemistry (or is a science team or robotics team coach) or from a math teacher who teaches algebra, pre-calculus, geometry, calculus, or statistics (or is a math team coach) much more useful for WTP admissions decisions.

Confirmations and Completing your Application

When you submit your WTP application through SlideRoom you will see a brief pop up confirmation. However, your application is NOT complete until we receive both of your Teacher References and have your fall Grade 11 transcript (only send your transcript to us if you did not upload it to Attachments).

It is the applicant's responsibility to make sure their application is complete by taking the steps below. WTP does not send out email messages confirming that your application is submitted or complete.

Please do not contact us to add information about awards, competitions, or other activities you have been doing since you submitted your application in January. We do not include updates like this in your WTP application.

To Complete Your Application:

1) Check the status of your Teacher References by logging into SlideRoom -- you can do this even after submitting your application. Click on the word "Completed" in the left column. Talk to your Teachers if they have not completed the online forms, make sure they received the Reference request email. You can check and correct their email addresses, and resend the email reminder to your teacher yourself within SlideRoom even after you submit your part of the application.

If your Teachers have not submitted their References by the Teacher Reference deadline of January 22, please ask them to do so as soon as possible in order to complete your application to WTP. We will accept References after that date, but it delays evaluation of your application. If your teachers cannot find the email, contact SlideRoom directly for technical support at the Help Center link.

2) If you did not have any fall Grade 11 course grades yet when you submitted your application, you MUST EMAIL your fall Grade 11 report as soon as it becomes available to wtp-app@mit.edu. Your application is NOT COMPLETE until we have this information. Once you submit the first quarter grades you have completed this requirement.

Please DO NOT send us any additional Grade 11 updates unless you have significant changes in course grades (such as going from a B to an A, or from an A to a B in a science or math class).

3) If you receive additional test scores with significant score changes after submitting your application, email your score report or screen shot as an attachment to wtp-app@mit.edu and we will add them to your application ONLY until March 1 (we will not accept them after that). NOTE that your FULL NAME MUST BE VISIBLE on the pages or screen shot with your scores. Size limit: 10MB.

WTP 2024 Admissions Decisions will be sent in late April.

If you have additional questions about appying to WTP, we suggest you check the Frequently Asked Questions page for answers before contacting their office by email at wtp@mit.edu.