Women's Technology Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Summer 2020 - WTP Cancelled
Summer 2021 - Plans Currently Uncertain
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MIT did not allow any on campus K-12 student programs in summer 2020, and WTP was cancelled.
If you are interested in WTP for summer 2021, please check this website in November 2020. We hope by then to know if the program will take place (perhaps in a remote/virtual format).
We suggest you also explore our Resources page where we list additional ways to learn about engineering.
About the Women's Technology Program
Our goal: to spark high school girls' interest in the future study of engineering and computer science.
View this YouTube video to learn more about WTP!
The
MIT Women's Technology Program (WTP) is a rigorous four-week summer academic
and residential experience where high school students explore
engineering through hands-on classes, labs, and team-based projects in
the summer after 11th grade.
We especially encourage students to apply who will be the first family member to attend college, who come from high schools with limited access to STEM classes and activities, or who are from backgrounds historically underrepresented in STEM such as African American, Hispanic, or Native American.
Students attend WTP in either:
Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)
or
Mechanical Engineering (ME).
Please explore our web site by clicking on the links to the left. The Application page has details about who should apply and how to apply. Calendar contains program dates and deadlines. Please check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page before contacting us by email.
WTP is designed for students who are excited about learning, have demonstrated their ability to excel at math and science in their high school classes, and who have no prior background (or very little) in engineering or computer science.
We accept students for whom our curriculum will be a new experience. The WTP-EECS computer science class is an introductory class designed for students with no prior programming background; we do not accept students to the EECS track who have already covered our CS curriculum. The WTP-ME curriculum focuses on the engineering design process as used in mechanical engineering, so if you have taken an engineering class or had extensive experience with engineering design, you will not be considered for the ME curriculum track. Please refer to our FAQ questions on prior experience for more details.
MIT graduate students design and teach the classes, assisted by MIT undergraduate students who also live in the dorm with the high school students. The daily required schedule includes classes, labs, homework, and social time with other WTP students, including field trips and other activities on weekends.
WTP is not a "summer camp" but an intense academic experience; however, WTP classes do not earn academic credit from MIT. If you are an athlete, note that you will NOT have access to any MIT or other athletic facilities during the 4 weeks you are at WTP. See our FAQ about sports and contact us by email with any additional questions before you apply to WTP.
We will select up to sixty participants (a maximum of 40 for EECS and 20 for ME) from a nationwide applicant pool of the top 11th grade math and science students. We historically receive 600-700 applications each year.
We encourage students to apply who are not yet certain about their future college majors, who may have felt discouraged from STEM activities, and who would like to explore engineering and computer science to determine whether these fields might be of interest.
NOTE: WTP is not connected in any way to MIT undergraduate admissions. WTP has very different acceptance criteria than MIT. Acceptance or non-acceptance to WTP has no bearing whatsoever on a student's chances of future acceptance by MIT.