<p>I'm a student of physics at ETH Zurich and I'm planning to attend an american university as a visiting student next fall. MIT is an option. How can I organizate it? Is there a special application and do I have to do any tests? Is the "admission" as a visiting student competitive?
Thank you :)</p>
<p>I found this page in the MIT Policies and Procedures guide online, which may be helpful. It seems to say that you can apply for this if you have been invited to do research by an MIT department, but I do not have experience with this and there may be other circumstances. (I know, for instance, that MIT took a number of students from New Orleans area schools as Visiting Students after Hurricane Katrina last month.) The International Students Office handles all applications for Visiting Student status.</p>
<p>MIT seems to be special, or at least different compared with other US-institutions. This Visiting Student System is very effective...How is it possible to get an invitation? By publishing excellent research? Or by contacting professors from MIT?</p>
<p>swissnerd somewhere on the site you can find a program about being a "special student" at MIT, which is basically an exchange student. You need to go through a special application process.</p>