Want to get into a PhD program at MIT? Note these tips from their professor

It’s a dream of professionals and students alike to study at MIT. The institution is a hub of research and innovation and one of the top universities of the world. It needs no introduction and is an institution where many dream to study one day.

Assuming you are reading this article, you also aspire to learn one day at MIT. Fadel Adib, who is an Assoc. Professor at MIT has been on the graduate admissions committee for the last 5 years and in a Twitter thread, he shared his findings regarding what you need to make the cut for the MIT admission. Let’s go through the thread by first analyzing the core requirements:

Starting off, you need to ensure that you have great grades in the subjects you are interested in studying further as a core field. Research and publications will show how much grip you have on the subject and recommendation letters will show how well you work with professors and in a team. Statement of Purpose is of course the cherry on top of the cake.

But, something worth noting about grades!

Quality of research matters a lot in PhD admissions:

Therefore your research potential is evaluated heavily based on the letter of recommendations received.

Now, who should write the letter of recommendation?

Letter of recommendations from industry professionals seldom help:

So how should you craft your statement of purpose?

It should highlight:

Here is how the final cutoff happens, when you aren’t sure about your research:

Here’s how you can navigate around this problem:

Now, what about GRE and TOEFL scores?

And finally, if you don’t make the cut, don’t sweat it because these decisions are really hard as the professor notes in conclusion:

Which one of these tips did you find most helpful?