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My experience applying to MATS 6.0
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Useful anecdotal reference for individuals considering applying to MATS or similar AI safety research fellowship programs, offering insider perspective on mentor priorities and interview dynamics.
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Summary
A first-person account of applying to the ML Alignment & Theory Scholars (MATS) 6.0 program, documenting 12 interview invitations and 5 acceptances. The post reveals what mentors prioritize in selection—particularly live research brainstorming and prior AI safety experience—over written application quality. Offers practical guidance for future applicants to competitive AI safety research training programs.
Key Points
- •Received 12 interview invitations and 5 acceptances from MATS 6.0, ultimately declining in favor of another opportunity.
- •Mentors heavily weighted candidates' ability to brainstorm research ideas live during interviews over polished written applications.
- •Prior hands-on AI safety research experience was a significant differentiator in the selection process.
- •Written application answers carried less weight than the author initially assumed, challenging common application intuitions.
- •Provides actionable observations for candidates preparing for MATS or similar competitive AI safety fellowship programs.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| MATS ML Alignment Theory Scholars program | Organization | 60.0 |
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My experience applying to MATS 6.0 — EA Forum
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by mic Jul 18 2024 6 min read 0 27
AI safety Building effective altruism Career choice Community experiences Research training programs Frontpage My experience applying to MATS 6.0 Application process Initial intake and mentor selection questions Follow-up questions Interviews Time spent Parting thoughts No comments The current cohort of the ML Alignment & Theory Scholars Program , MATS 6.0, had a unique application process and its broadest selection of mentors yet, with 40 mentors to apply to. I was invited to interview with twelve mentors and was accepted by five (which I later learned was an unusual number of interviews and offers in this cohort). Along the way, I challenged preconceptions I had about what AI safety research mentors look for in candidates, while becoming more familiar with various research areas.
In describing my experience with the application process, I hope this post is useful for anyone interested in applying to similar AI safety research programs or those involved in candidate evaluation. (Ultimately, I’ve decided to pursue another opportunity instead of MATS.) Note that I’ve written this relatively quickly and my experience may not be reflective of others.
Some updates I had from the interview process:
Brainstorming good research ideas is a major part of MATS interviews.
AI safety research experience matters a fair bit, especially experience relevant to a mentor’s research interests.
When I was rejected from prior rounds of MATS, I wondered whether I should have spent more time applying to more mentors. But a greater bottleneck was probably having more exciting AI safety research experience in my application.
Written answers to the mentor selection questions are less determinative than I previously thought of whether you get accepted.
It was pretty normal to receive a rejection email following an interview even when I felt I did reasonably well, given that each mentor could only accept a handful of candidates. After a while, I started to approach interviews with more equanimity.
I’ll divide the MATS application process into four phases, which I describe in more detail:
Initial intake
Mentor selection questions (with three waves of mentors)
Follow-up questions (optional)
Interviews (not all mentors)
Note that other mentors have a different process than what I experienced; for example, Neel Nanda commented:
For the avoidance of confusion, my MATS stream has a very different admissions process, that is heavily based on a work task and doesn't have interviews (and weights quite different things), see more details here: https://tinyurl.com/neel-mats-app
Application process
Initial intake and mentor selection questions
For those who aren’t familiar, the MATS S
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