Students are admitted after the end of their junior year and must maintain a B average each term. The requirements are complex, but basically include six additional classes and a masters thesis. In addition to the MEng. program, the department offers a Course VI-A internship program. This is similar to the MEng. However, students in the program work on their theses while employed at a company in industry.
Students apply to the internship program during the spring of sophomore year.
In contrast to several other majors, Course VI has no required IAP classes. However, the 6.270 contest, an intensive month-long competition in autonomous robot design, is a popular and often oversubscribed IAP class. Course VI also has highly active undergraduate associations. The MIT chapter of Eta Kappa Nu, a national Electrical Engineering and Computer Science honor society, accepts juniors who have placed in the top fourth of their Course VI class and seniors who have placed in the top third of their class. The department also has a student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.