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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was founded in 1861 primarily as a technological institute. It was established to equip its students with the necessary knowledge and expertise to harness the rapid advancement of technology and Science. The college today is well established as one of the leading universities in the USA and the world for cutting-edge research in the fields of technology, engineering, physical and biological science. Many alumni from the institute have gone on to win Nobel prizes and other prestigious international awards and have held illustrious positions in various fields. Although MIT has always been in the spotlight for being one of the best colleges to pursue a degree in engineering, a lesser known fact is that the Department of Economics at MIT has been slated to be the best incubating ground for economists in the world. So how did this university that was started with an objective to provide the best education in engineering and technology end up being on the top ranked colleges for Economics? And what you can do to be a part of this? Read on!

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History of the Department of Economics

The history of the Department of Economics dates back to the time when the third president of MIT, Francis Walker, who was a Solider in the civil war and an eminent economist, and who directed the 1870 census, introduced undergraduate studies in Economics at MIT. Over the years many economists and members of faculty helped to preserve and enhance the role of the economics Department at MIT. The Department added graduate studies to its programs and the Doctoral program in 1941. The MIT Department of Economics played a significant role in shaping the trends of thoughts after the Second World War and expanded significantly during this period. In 1950 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened the School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences and the Department of Economics was one of the leading Departments of the school to Study in United States of America

Research at Department of Economics

The research conducted at the MIT, Department of Economics, is world renowned and has led to four Nobel prizes for members of its faculty - A feat that's hard to parallel for most Universities. At the heart of MIT's success as an institute leading the research in Economics is the facilities that are available for research students and faculty. The MIT Ph.D. program is one of the most prestigious and most elite post-doctoral programs in the field of economics. Every year the Department selects only 25 candidates out of an estimated 800 applicants. The Ph.D. program at MIT is a five-year program. The students normally spend the first two years in doing coursework and the subsequent three years in dissertation and research. The graduate students get to work in collaboration with the faculty to learn how to conduct research in both theoretical projects and empirical fields. Apart from the normal course work, the students are also required to take part in field workshops, field lunches, and seminars

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Applying For Undergraduate and Graduate Studies

In order to qualify for applying for undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at MIT, a candidate must have an excellent cgpa score as well as a SAT score of 700 and above. Students applying for the graduate program will need to take the GRE subject test in Economics. International students also need to submit TOEFL Test score. MIT requires a minimum of 90 in the internet based test score and a minimum of 577 in the paper based test score. Admission to MIT is highly competitive. Every year MIT accepts only 150 students from 4000 applications it receives from international students.

MIT recommends that the best way to ensure one's application has a high probability of being accepted is to start preparing in high school itself. The subjects one chooses at the high school level play a pivotal role as does one's extracurricular activities, essays, and references. MIT recommends taking up extracurricular activities that challenge and delight the student. MIT also has a specially designed free online course for high school students to help them enrich their education the OCW highlights for high school program.

For more information on pursuing economics as a subject at MIT for undergraduate or graduate studies, do get in touch with Global Tree, the premier overseas education consultancy in India.