BE Application Assistance Program

The Biological Engineering (BE) Department is committed to advancing a respectful and caring community that enables all of our students to succeed at MIT. We are looking for applicants who bring a diversity of thought and experience to our student body, including students from groups underrepresented in STEM, students with non-traditional academic backgrounds, and students from academic institutions which have not historically sent many students to MIT. We recognize that applicants receive disparate degrees of support during the graduate admission process, and encourage applicants with less support to use the BE Application Assistance Program (BEAAP).

BEAAP is a volunteer-based, student-run program which provides assistance to BE applicants from underrepresented groups. Applicants are paired with a graduate student who can answer questions about BE and MIT, provide feedback on materials to create a stronger application, and guide applicants through the BE application process. BEAAP is supported by the BE Graduate Admissions Committee and the BE Graduate Student Board. BEAAP mentors are trained by a faculty member on the Graduate Admissions Committee on our admissions criteria and trained by the Communication Lab on providing feedback for application materials. This support is by no means a guarantee of admission as the MIT BE admissions process is completely separate from BEAAP. Participation in BEAAP is not considered by the Graduate Admissions Committee during application evaluation.

The BE Department is excited that you are considering us in your application process! The application to participate in BEAAP for the 2024 application cycle is now open. Please fill out this short form to apply. After we receive your application, we will contact you for more information and pair you with a volunteer graduate student mentor. Mentor pairing occurs on a rolling basis beginning in early October. You can email us with questions to beaap@mit.edu. For questions about the BE graduate program in general you can email the BE Academic Office.

Please note that BEAAP is purely volunteer-based: graduate students are offering their time to support prospective applicants, and this support is not considered as part of the admission process. BEAAP will accept requests until December 1 in order to provide assistance before the December 15 BE application deadline. We encourage applicants to connect with BEAAP early, as we may not be able to guarantee a mentor match late in the application season.

BEAAP is also excited to partner with the department to offer informational webinars about the BE PhD program and application process. These webinars are open to all (regardless of whether you apply to BEAAP or are matched with a mentor). At the webinars, current graduate students, faculty, and staff will present an overview of the BE PhD application process and answer participant questions. These webinars aim to address common questions and support applicants who may not need one-on-one mentorship. This year, webinars will be held on Thursday, September 26 from 2PM – 3:30PM ET and Monday, October 21 from 12:30PM – 2PM ET on Zoom. Please register here for the second webinar. Additionally, recordings from the webinars held in 2022 are available on the BE Graduate Students website.

Not sure if BE is the right fit for you, but still want support? If you are considering applying to other graduate programs at MIT (including Biology, Computational and Systems Biology, and Brain and Cognitive Sciences), check out this list of other Graduate Application Assistance Programs from the Office of Graduate Education.

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Statement of support

Ben Allsup
Nicholas Nolan
Biological Engineering Graduate Board Coordinators