MIT Resume Template: The Format MIT Teaches, 6 Examples
By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published · Updated
7 min read
There is no single MIT resume template for undergraduates: MIT's career office tells students to start from a blank page and follow a plain, one-page format. The one constraint: it is a format, not a file, and two MIT offices publish exact rules for it. MIT Career Advising and Professional Development says "Resume templates become increasingly difficult to edit with time, so it's best to start with a blank page and look at sample resumes (pdf)". Below are the rules from MIT's resume guide, the UPOP student guidelines and the Sloan MFin template, plus six complete resumes written in that style. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.
Resumes that say "Ivy League template" or "MIT template" are mostly a font and a margin. The skill is in the content, which is why the file is the easy part.
The MIT format, on one example
Here is an undergraduate internship resume that follows the MIT office's and UPOP's published rules: MIT first, spelled out, anticipated graduation date, one page, bullets that start with different action verbs.
Entry level: MIT undergraduate internship resume (131 words)
Maya Chen Cambridge, MA | maya.chen@mit.edu | linkedin.com/in/mayachen
Education Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering | Anticipated Graduation: May 2027 | GPA: 4.6/5.0 Relevant coursework: Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Design and Manufacturing, Statistics
Experience Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fluids Laboratory, Cambridge, MA | September 2025 to present - Built a test rig for pipe flow measurement using 3D-printed parts, reducing setup time from 40 minutes to 15 - Collected and analyzed 200 pressure readings in Python and presented trends to the research group Engineering Intern, Harbor Pumps, Boston, MA | June to August 2025 - Redesigned a valve housing in CAD to remove two machining steps, cutting part cost by $3.40 per unit
Skills SolidWorks, Python, MATLAB, 3D printing, technical writing | Language: Mandarin (fluent)
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What MIT's career office says to do
MIT's resume guide lists five steps. The ones that shape the layout:
- Use the position description to decide what to include. It says to build a resume "that targets a specific position or employer".
- Pick a standard format. "Use a conservative font no smaller than 10pt and leave at least half inch margins on all sides." One page, "unless you have extensive experience or an advanced degree".
- Describe experiences with specificity and strong action verbs. "Start descriptions with a strong action verb like built, managed, developed, wrote, etc." No first person.
- Record accomplishments, not just responsibilities. "Quantify if you can."
- Revise carefully. Even a perfect resume "is worthless if you forget to include your contact information."
That is the whole template. It describes a restrained page where the content does the work.
What UPOP adds
The MIT Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program publishes a one-page set of guidelines for students applying to internships. The specifics:
- Margins and font: "Use 1/2" - 1" margins and keep document to one page." Choose one font for the whole document, an easy-to-read one such as Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri.
- Education: "List MIT first", spelled out as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bachelor of Science. Include your GPA only "if it is strong" and with the scale.
- Bullets: "Use bullets and PAR statements (Problem + Action + Result) and begin each bullet with a different, impactful action verb."
- Avoid: MIT course codes, acronyms such as UROP and EECS, headshots, over-formatting and personal details such as birthdate or marital status.
- File: submit a PDF once final, "with your name in the PDF title".
A PAR bullet is worth practicing, because it is the part of the MIT style that most students skip. A before and after:
Entry level: PAR bullet rewritten, before and after (36 words)
Before - Responsible for testing a heat exchanger prototype
After (Problem, Action, Result) - Found that the prototype overheated under load; redesigned the fin spacing in CAD and retested, lowering peak temperature by 9 degrees Celsius
The Sloan MFin layout
MIT Sloan's Career Development Office publishes a stricter template for the Master of Finance resume database. Its requirements sheet sets out four checks: contact information, the school and degree names written exactly, three sections in a fixed order, and a format of "1 page, Times New Roman 10pt, circle bullets".
The three required sections are Education, Experience and Additional Information, with an optional fourth, Research Experience or Leadership, above Additional Information. Margins are 0.5 inch top and bottom and 0.65 inch left and right. The name is in "bolded capital letters". If you are not in that program, you do not need the exact layout, but it shows how plain a good MIT-style page is.
Mid level: Sloan MFin layout, plain-text version (103 words)
FIRST LAST (555) 555-0100 | student.email@mit.edu
EDUCATION MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT | Cambridge, MA Candidate for Master of Finance, February 2027 | 2026 to Present Bachelor of Business Administration, summa cum laude, University of Texas at Dallas | 2022
EXPERIENCE Riverstone Capital | Dallas, TX Equity Research Analyst | July 2022 to June 2025 - Built a discounted cash flow model for 14 mid-cap industrial companies, adopted as the team's standard template - Wrote 22 company notes read by the portfolio manager and revised price targets on three names
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Technical: Python, SQL, Bloomberg Terminal, Excel (advanced) | Languages: Spanish (fluent)
Three more examples in the MIT style
First-year student, no MIT GPA yet
MIT says first-year undergraduates are graded Pass or No Record in their first semester, so the GPA line can be left as not applicable until an official GPA exists.
Entry level: First-year student, summer job search (83 words)
Education Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Anticipated Graduation: May 2029 | GPA: N/A (first year)
Experience Camp Counselor, Northfield Youth Camp, Hartford, CT | June to August 2025 - Led a group of 12 ten-year-olds through daily projects and wrote an end-of-summer report for every family - Taught a one-week introduction to robotics with a $200 equipment budget
Leadership Treasurer, high school robotics club, 2024 to 2025: managed a $2,500 budget and ordered all parts
Research-focused resume
Mid level: Research-focused undergraduate resume (60 words)
Research Experience Undergraduate Researcher, Computational Biology Group, Cambridge, MA | January 2025 to present - Cleaned and aligned 1.2 million sequencing reads for a project on gene expression; wrote the pipeline in Python - Presented a poster on early results at the department's undergraduate research symposium
Selected Coursework Introduction to Computational Biology, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Organic Chemistry
Skills and activities section
Entry level: Skills and leadership section (45 words)
Skills Technical: Python, C++, Git, Arduino, MATLAB | Language: Hindi (conversational)
Leadership and Activities - Captain, MIT club robotics team, 2025 to present: led a team of 11 through three regional competitions - Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP), 2025: completed the professional development program
What to change for a non-MIT version
If you are not an MIT student, keep the principles and swap the names. Your school name goes first. Use your own university's career office guide for its specifics. Harvard's career office, for example, publishes its own templates, which our Harvard resume template page walks through. A quiet, consistent design from every student makes the content easy to compare.
For the plain, ATS-safe option, the simple resume examples. If you are early in your studies, our college freshman resume guide and relevant coursework page show what to put in the sections.
Frequently asked questions
Does MIT have an official resume template?
For undergraduates, MIT's career office advises starting from a blank page and following its guidelines, not a downloadable template. MIT Sloan publishes an exact template for the Master of Finance resume database. Other programs and offices give their own rules, so check the one that applies to your degree.
What font and margins does an MIT resume use?
MIT's career office recommends a conservative font no smaller than 10 point and margins of at least half an inch. UPOP gives the same range of half an inch to one inch. The Sloan MFin template sets Times New Roman 10 point with specific margins, but other students can choose another plain font.
How long should an MIT-style resume be?
One page. MIT's career office says to stick to one page "unless you have extensive experience or an advanced degree". UPOP also asks for one page in its internship guidelines. If you have a longer record, move the weaker items to your master copy and keep only what fits the job.
Should I put my GPA on an MIT-style resume?
Only if it is strong, and with the scale shown, as in 4.6/5.0. UPOP says to include your GPA "if it is strong". First-year MIT students can mark the line not applicable until they have an official GPA. If your GPA is low, use the space for coursework or projects.
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