Hints on applying for a TAship (at MIT)

by Michael Ernst (mernst@csail.mit.edu)
May, 2003

(Also see my advice on funding MEng study (for MIT students).)

Many students are eager to obtain a TA position: it provides excellent experience, it can be lots of fun, and it pays your tuition and a stipend.

Here are a few hints that should increase your likelihood of success with your TA application.

• Obtain a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. This is officially required only for M.Eng. students, not Ph.D. students, but all students should obtain one; not having one will hurt your chances.
• When you fill out the TA application form:
  • List multiple subjects. Competition is high, and if you pin your hopes on just one class, you are likely to be disappointed. Set your sights broadly, and consider all the courses that you would enjoy TAing, that you would do a good job at, or that would give you good experience.
  • Target specific subjects. Don't simply list every subject offered by the department. (No one will believe that you are equally excited about, and competent at, all of them; listing too many will cause you to be passed over even for the ones at which you might have done very well.) Graduate classes are almost always TAed by an advisee of the instructor, so don't bother to list graduate classes for which you don't have the inside track, for instance because they are offered by your advisor or you did exceptionally well in them.
  • List subjects in order of your preference (whether because of your interest or because you believe your chances are best). Faculty who are looking for additional TAs are sometimes provided a list of all the applicants who mentioned that subject as one of the applicant's first two or three choices.
• Contact (preferably in person, or failing that by email) to the faculty member who will be teaching each class you are interested in. (This should be multiple classes, of course.) The faculty member's preferences count for quite a bit. In 2003 there are about 300 applicants for about 100 TA positions; as enrollments continue to decline, this situation is not likely to change in the near future. If the instructor doesn't know who you are (and why you are uniquely qualified), there won't be any reason to choose you over any other candidate.
• If you are an MIT undergraduate (or M.Eng. student), it can be helpful to serve as a laboratory assistant (LA). Those who assign TA positions are positively impressed by a commitment to teaching, experience with teaching, and familiarity with the material. Furthermore, it is a good way to ensure that faculty who teach the course know who you are. However, it is not a panacea. In academic year 2004-2005, only one 6.170 TA in two semesters had previously been an LA.

You can get more teaching experience from a TA position in which you running a recitation section, rather than one where the duties are largely grading or assisting in a lab. Such are somewhat rare at MIT, where most recitation sections are taught by faculty. This is great for the students in the class, but less good for you if you want teaching experience. Here are some examples of classes in which TAs run recitations); if you know of additional examples to add to this list, please let me know.

• 6.821
• 6.840
• 6.005 (peviously 6.170)
• 6.001 (TAs run multiple weekly tutorials of 3-8 students)
• 6.033 (in rare cases, graduate students run recitations)

There are many other sources of advice about getting a TAship; for example, see the department's TA memo.

Back to Advice compiled by Michael Ernst.