Is MIT academically harder than Notre Dame?

For most undergraduates, MIT is likely to feel academically harder because nearly every student completes a substantial math, science, and engineering-based General Institute Requirements curriculum, and many classes rely on frequent, demanding problem sets, labs, and fast cumulative material. The intensity is especially pronounced for students who do not enjoy quantitative work or who need more time to absorb technical concepts.

MIT tends to suit students who actively want an environment where rigorous STEM work is the center of campus life. Even students majoring outside engineering encounter a strong technical foundation, and collaboration is common because assignments can be difficult to complete alone. MIT also has well-known academic supports and grading policies intended to help students adjust, but those do not make the underlying coursework easy.

Notre Dame is rigorous, particularly in engineering, science, business, and pre-health paths, but its overall academic experience is broader and more dependent on a student’s college and major. Its Core Curriculum includes philosophy, theology, writing, social science, arts, and other liberal-arts study alongside major requirements. A Notre Dame engineering student may have a very heavy schedule, while a student in a humanities field may face a workload centered more on extensive reading, writing, discussion, and research than technical problem sets.

The meaningful distinction is not that Notre Dame is easy; it is that MIT has a more universally technical and compressed academic baseline. Students who thrive on advanced math, science, and sustained quantitative problem-solving often find MIT’s pressure motivating. Students seeking a rigorous education with more room to shape the balance between STEM, humanities, and professional interests may find Notre Dame’s structure more manageable and appealing.