Pictured: The courtyard of the Sidney-Pacific graduate residence during a snowstorm
PGSC convenes an Admissions Advisory Council, nicknamed GAGA (grads advising grad admissions) whose role is to provide the graduate student perspective to the Chair of Graduate Admissions and advise on improvements to the admissions process.
This PGSC standing committee was formed in Summer 2020 in response to the graduate students’ Strike for Black Lives Recommendations, in parallel to the addition of three graduate students to the admissions committee itself. GAGA spends late spring through early fall working on changes to the process used for selection of candidates; the three committee representatives take part in the process of choosing admitted students each winter.
All physics graduate students are welcome to join GAGA. If you are interested in being part of this committee, please contact physics-gsc-gaga at mit dot edu.
2024-2025 GAGA Session
Department collaborators:
- Matthew Evans (admissions chair)
- Sydney Miller (graduate administrative assistant)
- Jennifer Roesch (graduate administrative assistant)
About GAGA
Initiatives
Physics Graduate Application Assistance Program (PhysGAAP)
- A program that helps prospective students in the graduate application process
- Provides webinars, office hours, and one-on-one mentoring sessions
Participation in admissions outreach events to spread the word about the PhysGAAP program
Reworking the statement of purpose prompt to be more clear in its purpose, welcoming, and inclusion
Addition of an optional personal statement to the application
Updating MIT Physics department webpages for prospective applicants
Research conducted
Weekly meetings with the graduate admissions chair
Multiple in-depth question-and-answer sessions with the admissions chair to learn about the application and admissions process, as well as criteria considered
Analysis of past admissions data to inform our efforts
Surveying current faculty and graduate students to learn perceptions of criteria for graduate student success