Is Brown or MIT More Selective for Undergraduate Admission?

MIT is typically more difficult to gain admission to than Brown for undergraduate applicants, although both are among the most selective universities in the country.

The applicant pools differ in an important way. At MIT, strong grades and rigorous coursework are only a starting point; competitive applicants commonly show substantial preparation in calculus, laboratory science, coding, research, engineering, or other quantitative work. A student can be outstanding in the humanities, but MIT still needs evidence that they will thrive in its science- and technology-intensive curriculum.

Brown’s Open Curriculum attracts students with many kinds of academic interests, including arts, social sciences, humanities, public policy, and interdisciplinary study alongside STEM. Its review still expects exceptional academic achievement, but there is more room for an applicant whose defining strengths are writing, community engagement, creative work, or a distinctive intellectual combination rather than advanced technical specialization.

Neither should be treated as a likely admission based on strong grades alone. MIT may be the tougher reach in a head-to-head comparison, particularly for applicants without a deeply developed quantitative profile; Brown remains a very high reach for virtually every applicant.