Since my previous thread on PhD admissions has been widely shared, I've gotten a number of questions. So, I'd like to make few clarifications, esp that some elements of my previous tweet felt discouraging, whereas my goal is to increase transparency & access to information

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For some people, it sounded like you need a perfect GPA with a letter from a Turning awardee to get into a Ph.D. program. Let me start by saying that is certainly not the case

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"Grades matter" should be understood as the opposite of common advice I've seen that grades don't matter. Also, reviewers look for trends & read SoP's to see if a student wants to clarify. Plus, research is more important than grades & can easily overshadow it

3/12

Since research potential matters more than grades, students sometimes think that you *must* have a publication. This is also not true. This is where letters of recommendation can really help fill in the gap

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LoRs is probably where my previous thread was least clear. I can't emphasize this enough: the best LoRs come from people who can vouch for a student's research abilities because they have supervised them. This matters more than who the letter writer is

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So, my advice there is to find references who can talk about research (in academia or industry). The second best type of letters come from course instructors. Letters about industry experience can help if it's directly related to the field

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At the same time, I've seen that letters from research supervisors who publish in high-quality venues increase odds. So, if possible, try to identify opportunities inside or outside of your school with folks you can work with who do such research

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There are a number of such opportunities (though not enough). In fact, I first came to MIT from half-way across the world as a paid intern, and that opened doors for me. I like to pay it forward and have such opportunities in my lab each year

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Other examples are MIT's MSRP program which I shared yesterday. In some countries, students do paid research internships in industry or other schools. These are good opportunities, and a number of my colleagues @justinesherry & @vj_chidambaram often share them

9/12

It seems my SoP advice was clear, so I will just re-emphasize again here that the SoP is important.

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Why am I sharing this?

Many years ago, I was an undergrad and I had no idea how the system works and what should I optimize for. By sharing, I hope to increase transparency & access to information & help students plan early, rather than be anxious about every detail

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Finally, when Fall admissions are around the corner, I will try to share more advice on how to prepare an application packet as well as point to excellent advice from colleagues who do the same

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