Graduate Life

It is important to review the general environment as well as the academic setting before selecting a graduate school program.

Life on campus

Theater, music, visual arts, and dance contribute to an active artistic environment on campus in a cultural microcosm of the Boston-Cambridge community that surrounds it. Kresge Auditorium is often the scene of many of these events, as well as the forum for many well-known and sometimes controversial speakers. Scattered throughout the 135-acre campus are outdoor sculptures, contemporary monuments to a climate of intellectual freedom and expression. The Libraries, with 1.9 million volumes and 19,000 current journals and periodicals, are a major resource for graduate studies.

A wide range of intramural programs and club sports provide opportunities for graduate students and their families to enjoy the athletic and recreational facilities at MIT which are among the best in the nation. Available for use by the entire MIT community are: the Athletic Centers (with indoor tennis, squash and basketball courts, weightlifting and exercise rooms, and a 400-meter all weather track), swimming pool, sailing pavilion, boathouse, 20 acres of playing fields, and outdoor tennis courts. Intercollegiate matches and intramural programs offer team competition to participating graduate students on a regular basis.

Life in the Cambridge/Boston area

  • Public transportation
    • Extensive system of subways and buses that can take you anywhere within the city
    • Commuter rail system that extends to the local suburbs
    • It’s not necessary to own a car when living in Cambridge
  • Highly walkable
  • Lively sports culture
  • Surrounded by stimulating arts culture. Students have free access to:
    • Museum of Fine Arts
    • Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Bike-friendly
  • Proximity to exciting locations
    • New England skiing
    • New York City
  • City of great diversity

More information about life at MIT can be found here.