CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Admissions Counselors Blog

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of the most prestigious engineering schools in the country and, according to the Princeton Review, one of the toughest to get into.

MIT's mission statement reads as follows: "The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century."

Undergraduate admission to MIT is based on "academic potential, strong personal qualifications, and outstanding interests, activities, and achievements." Potential graduate students are judged based on "previous performance and professional promise by the department in which they wish register." In short, you have to bring your A-game if you're looking to attend this particular university. Out the 12, 445 students who applied in 2007, only 1,553 were invited to enroll.

Established in 1861 by natural scientist, William Barton Rogers, MIT didn't officially open its doors until 1865. Situated on 168 acres of land along the Charles River in Cambridge, MIT becameco-ed in 1870 when Ellen Swallow Richards enrolled as the first female undergraduate student.

With both classic and ultra-modern architecture, MIT is an aesthetically pleasing, though intimate campus.

Should you meet all the criteria for acceptance, you'd better have deep pockets, a great financial aid package, or loads of scholarships. Tuition for out of state students is
$34,750 per year. That's $150 more than Cornell.