General Requirements

If English is not commonly spoken in a MISTI country, then you should plan to invest the time and effort needed to learn that language; graduate students might be exempt depending on available opportunities. If you feel you already speak a language at the level shown in the table below, contact that country’s manager to confirm you meet the requirement.

Here are the language specific requirements for each country. 

If a country-specific course is available at MIT, then you should plan to invest time to enroll and learn about that country’s culture, history, and/or society; graduate students might be exempt depending on available opportunities. 

Here are the course specific requirements for each country.

All MISTI countries require 1-2 recommendations with your application, preferably from an MIT faculty member, so start developing relationships with potential recommenders now. Some countries also require you to complete a UROP before the internship starts or have prior internship experience, and you may need to complete a specific course(s) before starting an internship at some host companies or labs.

Here is more information about each country's specific requirements. 

We want you to experience your host country and culture as an informed, engaged participan—not a visitor. If you are accepted to any country program or placed in an internship, you must complete about 8-12 hours of training in the spring, which may include sessions on weekday evenings or day-long weekend retreats. You’ll learn how to adapt to the country’s culture, navigate the workplace, understand current events, and stay healthy and safe. 

There is no general language requirement for GTL in most MISTI programs. But you may be prioritized in placement if you’ve taken a language course relevant to that country, and some countries prioritize advanced speakers for specific placements.

There is no general course requirement for GTL in any MISTI country, but you may be prioritized for placement if you’ve taken a teaching-related course. 

Many MISTI programs require or prefer that you have teaching experience as a TA, education-related club participant, etc.

We want you to experience your host country and culture as an informed, engaged participant—not a visitor—and be prepared to share a mens et manus-style approach to learning. So if you’re accepted to any GTL program, you must complete about 5-10 hours of training prior to departure. You’ll learn how to adapt to the country’s culture, navigate the workplace, understand current events, and stay healthy and safe as well as build effective teaching skills.

We want you to experience your host country and culture as an informed, engaged participant—not a visitor. Before you study abroad, you must complete about 8-12 hours of training in the spring or fall, which may include sessions on weekday evenings or day-long weekend retreats. You’ll learn how to adapt to the country’s culture, navigate the university culture, understand current events, and stay healthy and safe. 

Some programs may require language proficiency. 

There is no general course requirement for study abroad in any MISTI country. 

All study abroad programs require 1-2 recommendations with your application, preferably from an MIT faculty member, so start developing relationships with potential recommenders now. Study abroad courses rarely count towards GIRs, HASS distributions, CI-H units, and CI-M units, so we recommend these are completed before studying abroad or an academic plan is made.

All accepted students must attend trainings on teaching as well as country-specific cultural sessions. 

There is no general language requirement for GSL in any MISTI country, but you may be prioritized for placement if you already know the language and/or culture. 

There is no general course requirement for GSL in any MISTI country. 

Students applying to the program are expected to have appropriate technical skills (app development or machine learning), strong interest or experience in entrepreneurship, and excellent communication skills. Teaching experience would be a plus.