I've been serving on grad admissions committees at MIT for 5 years - in EECS and Media Lab

If you want to get into a PhD at a place like MIT, here's a thread with some advice based on my observations

1/13

1. Grades do matter, especially in courses that are important for your chosen field

2. Research matters, even more than grades

3. Publications matter, but letters of recommendation matter even more

4. Your statement of purpose should be the cherry on top of the cake

2/13
When I say grades matter, it doesn't mean that you need 100/100 or A+ in every course. It does mean that you are expected to have strong competence (close to straight A/A+/A-) in technical courses relevant to your field of interest

3/13
While grades show competence, a PhD is about research. So, the more your application demonstrates research potential, the higher your chances for acceptance. It's not about the number of papers (if any), but about the quality of research you pursue

4/13
This is why the best evaluation of research potential often comes from letters of recommendation (LoRs)

Letters shed light on technical competence, creativity, work ethic, & personal interaction. All of which are important for a successful PhD

5/13
How to choose your letter writers?

The best LoRs I've seen usually come from a faculty/research who publishes in highly selective venues

If you are in CS, you can use https://t.co/VB8Wh9MKKR to see what are considered the most selective CS venues (ignore rankings for now)

6/13
What about other LoRs? I would argue you need at least 1 from a research supervisor. Letters from industry internships seldom help (unless it's publishable research). You're better off getting a letter from a professor who taught you a relevant *technical* course you Aced

7/13
A great statement of purpose (1) shows clarity and depth of thought and (2) demonstrates alignment between your background and the PhD research you want to pursue. This is why it should be the cherry on top of the cake

8/13
SoP should highlight:
1- Area of interest (& possibly profs you want to work with)
2- Briefly: your academics (grades,honors,projects)
3- Your prior and ongoing research projects. For each proj, talk about motivation, your role & contribution, & outcome/status

9/13
What if you're not exactly sure of what your area of interest? Or if your prior research is not aligned with it?

If I'm being honest, this is where the final cutoff usually happens at very selective schools. There are three ways around it

10/13
1- If the application deadline is 3 months away, thoroughly read papers recently published in an area of interest
2- If you have more time, try your best to do research in that area
3- Do a Masters first

These can help you clarify your own purpose for pursuing research

11/13
What about GRE and TOEFL? I never personally looked at them. Anything they would tell about communication or technical skills should come out in the LoRs and SoP

12/13
Final thought: Admission decisions are hard because there are many amazingly qualified applicants. The process also varies quite a bit across schools. If you're an aspiring PhD, I hope this thread can help you help us admit you!

13/13
And if you're wondering, our admits come from various types of backgrounds. I can give my own research group as an example

https://t.co/pMQurb1AsH
And here's a video if you're interested in hearing the story of one of my superstar students @OsvyRodriguez

https://t.co/l6rI5QTCoT

More from Education

** Schools have been getting ready for this: a thread **

In many ways, I don't blame folks who tweet things like this. The media coverage of the schools situation in Covid-19 rarely talks about the quiet, day-in-day-out work that schools have been doing these past 9 months. 1/


Instead, the coverage focused on the dramatic, last minute policy announcements by the government, or of dramatic stories of school closures, often accompanied by photos of socially distanced classrooms that those of us in schools this past term know are from a fantasy land. 2/


If that's all you see & hear, it's no wonder that you may not know what has actually been happening in schools to meet the challenges. So, if you'd like a glimpse behind the curtain, then read on. For this is something of what teachers & schools leaders have been up to. 3/

It started last March with trying to meet the challenges of lockdown, being thrown into the deep end, with only a few days' notice, to try to learn to teach remotely during the first lockdown. 4/

https://t.co/S39EWuap3b


I wrote a policy document for our staff the weekend before our training as we anticipated what was to come, a document I shared freely & widely as the education community across the land started to reach out to one another for ideas and support. 5/
https://t.co/m1QsxlPaV4
Our top 15 tweets

A #prodmgmt thread 👇

https://t.co/Yv854Sd3P3


https://t.co/sXaMH1bZ9m


https://t.co/5X7bOTsS7m


https://t.co/w1y6LTtPS2

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"I really want to break into Product Management"

make products.

"If only someone would tell me how I can get a startup to notice me."

Make Products.

"I guess it's impossible and I'll never break into the industry."

MAKE PRODUCTS.

Courtesy of @edbrisson's wonderful thread on breaking into comics –
https://t.co/TgNblNSCBj – here is why the same applies to Product Management, too.


There is no better way of learning the craft of product, or proving your potential to employers, than just doing it.

You do not need anybody's permission. We don't have diplomas, nor doctorates. We can barely agree on a single standard of what a Product Manager is supposed to do.

But – there is at least one blindingly obvious industry consensus – a Product Manager makes Products.

And they don't need to be kept at the exact right temperature, given endless resource, or carefully protected in order to do this.

They find their own way.