2026 Application Details
- FREE TO APPLY
- Application is opens in October 17 – December 15. Link to Slideroom application is below.
Who should apply?
High school students now in grade 11 with a permanent family address in the US who:
- Love and excel at math and science,
but have no prior experience (or very little) in 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 collaborative community aimed at empowering young women and other students who are underserved in engineering, including students who:
- Attend a high school with limited access to STEM classes and activities
- Will potentially be the first family member to attend college
- Have no family members with science or engineering degrees
- Come from low socioeconomic means, which may be indicated by qualifiying for free/reduced school lunch
- Have otherwise been discouraged from pursuing their interest in STEM because of their background or who they are.
We strongly encourage applications from students who are African American, Hispanic, or Native American; however, all applicants will be reviewed equitably, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
Accepted students must be able to participate in all WTP required activities for the full four weeks.
Admissions Criteria
We expect to select up to twenty participants for WTP-ME from an applicant pool of the top 11th grade math and science students able to attend a four week residential program at MIT. In 2024 we received 320 applications for the 20 WTP-ME spots.
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.
The primary criteria for acceptance are a strong curiosity about engineering and a demonstrated ability to excel in math and science. Students should be able to handle college-level material at a rapid pace, but should not have completed prior coursework or summer programs in the WTP curriculum.
Physics and calculus are not prerequisites (we realize that in many school systems students do not take these courses until Grade 12) but students should be taking the most advanced math and science classes available in their grade level at their high school. Having taken physics of any level (including AP C) does not constitute too much experience.
We encourage students to apply who are not yet certain about their future college majors, who may have felt discouraged from participation in STEM activities, and who would like to explore engineering to determine whether pursuing future studies in engineering might be of interest.
Acceptance decisions are based on several criteria:
- Your responses in an online application which includes multiple choice and short answer questions as well as three personal essays.
- High school grades (predominantly A’s, especially in math and science). Applicants should be taking the most advanced classes in science and math appropriate for their grade level at their schools.
- Teacher References: Online Forms completed by one math and one science teacher. See our Guidelines for Teacher References for more details.
- We request standardized test scores in the application to provide additional information on your academic preparedness, but they are not a requirement. See the FAQ on standardized tests.
It has come to our attention that there is inaccurate information about how WTP selects students on other websites not affiliated with WTP. Unfortunately, WTP has no way to take down or correct this wrong and misleading information. Please Do NOT believe anything about WTP admissions criteria and our selection process that you read on other websites. For the correct information read this page and our FAQ or email your question directly to WTP if you do not find the answer there.