:show_git_badge: true .. include:: ../_people.rst .. _grad_admissions: ================================= Graduate Admissions Committee ================================= - |CalebHarada| `Caleb Harada `__, Written 01/09/26. Since the 2025 admissions cycle, the faculty have invited current senior grad students to participate in the grad admissions process. Currently, this entails participating in the interview stage and final decision making of admissions. **Grad reps for the Admissions Committee must have already passed their Qual.** Graduate admissions is generally a months-long process with many steps. Faculty are responsible for the first two stages of the review process, which involve an initial triage (long list) followed by a secondary review (short list). The short list of 20-30 candidates proceed to the interview stage. This is where the grad reps come in. Faculty typically seek 4-5 grad reps per cycle, who will each participate in 4-6 interviews. Each 30-minute interview consists of one grad rep, one faculty member from the "core" committee, and one additional faculty member (typically the candidate's potential advisor). A list of pre-selected interview questions and evaluation criteria will be distributed to the interview team beforehand. The faculty chair of the Admissions Committee will also provide you with detailed guidelines and expectations prior to your first interview. .. important:: - You must pass your Qual in order to participate in grad admissions. - Due to the relatively high workload of this role, your primary research advisor will need to "sign off" before you can participate. - Due to the sensitive nature of grad admissions, you will be required to read and sign a code of conduct to participate. Some Considerations -------------------- Grad Admissions Rep is a unique role that comes with a lot of responsibility. You should anticipate this being a significant time commitment during the first 1-2 weeks of spring semester (prep work, writing summaries, sitting in on faculty meetings, and conducting the actual interviews can add up quickly). Your involvement has real influence on final admissions decisions, so it is important to take your obligations seriously and exercise due diligence in upholding fairness, integrity, etc. That said, grad admissions can be an enjoyable and very rewarding learning experience! For example, seeing the inner workings of faculty committee meetings first hand can be quite enlightening. You also have the chance to be on the "other side" of an interview, and to use your creativity and past experience to make the process a little less intimidating for the candidate. Seeing how selection committees function and debate internally also gives you great insight into how to better prepare your next postdoc or job application.