Word:
LyX (the graphical frontend to LaTeX):
For those who wish to write their theses in LyX, you can use this complete example as a template. Keep the organization of the document the same, edit "cover.tex" by hand, and otherwise replace the template content with your own. Then you will have a complete document, formatted per MIT's regulations.
LaTeX:
Or you can just write Latex code using any text editor. I recommend taking advantage of the command \newcommand{command}{definition}. This allows you to save time on some commonly used definitions. See examples at here, or run:
> git clone https://github.com/lilulu/latex-style.git
In particular, the mitthesis.cls file (link here) is what I used for my MS thesis. You should not need to update anything and use it directly.