The MIT THINK Scholars Program invites U.S. high school students (individually or in 2-person teams) to submit a written proposal for a novel science, technology, or engineering project. Finalists get an all-expenses-paid trip to MIT, weekly mentorship from MIT students, and up to $1,000 in funding (per project/team) to actually build their proposed project between February and June. For the 2025-2026 cycle, applications opened November 1, 2025 and closed January 1, 2026, with semifinalists announced January 30, 2026 and finalists in February 2026. That cycle drew a record 1,042 applications, of which 29 advanced to semifinalist and 5 were selected as finalists; the finalist count varies year to year with the size of the applicant pool.
Eligibility
DemographicsOpen to full-time high school students with permanent U.S. residency (citizenship not required, but U.S. citizens living abroad are not eligible); one proposal per student per year, individual or 2-person team; free to enter. Finalist count varies by year based on applicant pool and proposal quality -- 5 finalists were selected for the 2025-26 cycle (from a record 1,042 applications); treat 'up to 6' figures found elsewhere as historical, not guaranteed.
Applying
Up to $1,000 in project-implementation funding per finalist project (team of 1-2), plus a fully-funded 4-day MIT trip and a semester of mentorship (non-cash value not included in this figure).