Building a Relationship with School important for acceptance? If so how?

[jcusack1]

I am a senior in college and I am interest in two specific schools, ranked 58 & 64 on US news. I heard from one of my current professors you are supposed to build a relationship with the faculty before applying. But how? Do I send them a random email saying I like their research and have a couple of interesting potential research topics? Will they even respond?

 

I am lost here and do not really understand academia culture.

[MknMomNPopProud]

Was your professor in the economics department? Econ is distinct in that it is generally not considered acceptable to contact departments. In other fields ingratiating yourself may work, but in econ it may be seen as cloying. They will probably not respond to your cold-call message.

 

But if you were ever see a research opportunity posted on one of these schools' websites, jump on it!

[tm_member]

I am a senior in college and I am interest in two specific schools, ranked 58 & 64 on US news. I heard from one of my current professors you are supposed to build a relationship with the faculty before applying. But how? Do I send them a random email saying I like their research and have a couple of interesting potential research topics? Will they even respond?

 

I am lost here and do not really understand academia culture.

 

That's definitely unusual advice in Econ. Generally, the faculty you need to ingratiate yourself with would be the one's at your own school, so that they write you great letters of recommendation.

[fakeo]

Turning this question around a little bit, what do you think about the importance of getting familiar with each department unilaterally? I mean not by contacting them, but by reading their papers, getting familiar with the names of some people there, etc. I mean obviously, this is desirable, but is it worth spending a relatively large amount of time on it?

 

To be more precise, if I apply to 20 schools, should I substantially personalize my SOP for all schools? Or is this something that might be omitted for some schools (such as low-ranked ones)? I mean there are like 2-3 schools I could write a very good SOP for, but for my other choices, it'd be kind of hard to personalize it credibly. I don't think many people are very familiar with more than a few of schools (if that) in great depth. But maybe it's just me.

[Food4Thought]

I am a very strong proponent of being knowledgeable of the faculty at each department. That is one of the best ways of thinking of potential advisors who might best suit your interests. I don't think it is really required to read a lot of their work. If a professor's work really interests you, I would read a few papers to get a better idea. That being said, if you are applying to a school because you want to study econometrics, you do not have to be knowledgeable about the game theorists in the department.

[thuswindburn]

Turning this question around a little bit, what do you think about the importance of getting familiar with each department unilaterally? I mean not by contacting them, but by reading their papers, getting familiar with the names of some people there, etc. I mean obviously, this is desirable, but is it worth spending a relatively large amount of time on it?

 

To be more precise, if I apply to 20 schools, should I substantially personalize my SOP for all schools? Or is this something that might be omitted for some schools (such as low-ranked ones)? I mean there are like 2-3 schools I could write a very good SOP for, but for my other choices, it'd be kind of hard to personalize it credibly. I don't think many people are very familiar with more than a few of schools (if that) in great depth. But maybe it's just me.

 

I think that there's quite a bit of disagreement on this subject. Assuming you are applying to departments that heavily match your research interests, I can't see tailoring your SOP being terribly necessary. When I was applying this last cycle I was told to be careful name dropping in SOPs due to the fact that:

 

1. People can leave at anytime (to some degree)

2. Said faculty may no longer be active (although this is more on whether or not you did the appropriate amount of homework before writing the paragraph)

3. The adcom in the department may potentially have a problem with the person you mention. You never know what office politics are like and the adcom may take it out on you.

 

But you can also make arguments as to why you should mention a potential advisor.

[Insti]

Turning this question around a little bit, what do you think about the importance of getting familiar with each department unilaterally? I mean not by contacting them, but by reading their papers, getting familiar with the names of some people there, etc. I mean obviously, this is desirable, but is it worth spending a relatively large amount of time on it?

 

To be more precise, if I apply to 20 schools, should I substantially personalize my SOP for all schools? Or is this something that might be omitted for some schools (such as low-ranked ones)? I mean there are like 2-3 schools I could write a very good SOP for, but for my other choices, it'd be kind of hard to personalize it credibly. I don't think many people are very familiar with more than a few of schools (if that) in great depth. But maybe it's just me.

 

 

I would not do that if I were you. With higher ranked schools adcoms are not as worried that people might turn down their offers, but with lower ranked ones this is a real concern. If you apply to schools which are distinctly lower ranked than most of your other targets then given that you have a good profile the adcom will be worried you will turn down a potential offer. Hence they may never make one. This is why it is important for you to show clear interest in the program. I know for a fact some schools read my SoP and knew what my interests were before making a decision.

[fakeo]

Interesting, so I guess what you're saying here is that the SOPs should be tailored to the extent that if I'm interested in fields A and B, but field B is completely nonexistent at a specific department, then in my SOP for that department I should emphasize my interest in field A, and downplay or omit my interest in field B. Well this is oversimplified, but basically I should show that my research interests fit well with theirs. On the other hand, you're suggesting that I avoid going into more detail such as name dropping and so on.

 

If a department has a lot of active people in a particular field, then I can avoid pitfalls #1 and #2 that thuswindburn mentioned. But I can never be sure about #3. I suppose mentioning that I like the research of certain recent graduates (implying name dropping) of a particular program also carries with it the same risk, especially #3, right?

 

Anyways, thanks a lot for the replies for all three of you!

[Shalom Ichthys]

I dropped the name of either the Department Head or the research director, or put it simply, someone who has power, so as to increase my odds of admission, and then tailor-making my research interests based on them. Not sure if it works out well with you.

[publicaffairsny]

I dropped the name of either the Department Head or the research director, or put it simply, someone who has power, so as to increase my odds of admission, and then tailor-making my research interests based on them. Not sure if it works out well with you.

 

That doesn't seem like a very genuine approach. You should have genuine research interests demonstrated by previous research experience, imho.

[tm_member]

I dropped the name of either the Department Head or the research director, or put it simply, someone who has power, so as to increase my odds of admission, and then tailor-making my research interests based on them. Not sure if it works out well with you.

 

That is not just deceptive but foolhardy. Your profile will definitely not be read by anyone with "power".

[Humanomics]

I am a senior in college and I am interest in two specific schools, ranked 58 & 64 on US news. I heard from one of my current professors you are supposed to build a relationship with the faculty before applying. But how? Do I send them a random email saying I like their research and have a couple of interesting potential research topics? Will they even respond?

 

I am lost here and do not really understand academia culture.

 

Is the person who gave this advice an older faculty at a lower ranked school? Ph.D. admissions and the job market used to work like this, but does not anymore given the size of the applicant markets. If you want to start a research discussion with faculty you're interested in, that's fine. It is not a requirement and only in the minority of cases will result in such a positive impression that the professor lobbies for your admission to the program.

[chrishacker]

Well, if it is just for admission, it's not necessary or encouraged. But if you are really interested in one's work, it's fine to contact them to get more info. Maybe that helps in application and maybe not (in most circumstances).

 

Anyway, are we really ready to start to think that economists are no longer clever enough to see whether you talk to him for application or for real interest?

 

For Shalom Ichthys's case: I seem to do the same (but not exactly in the same way...I just see whether there are experiemental&behavioral /game theory guys and if there are, I read their paper and state that I am interested in their work) in my econ (master) application and I add some stat programs as well. In my stat application I just admit that I know nothing about current stat research and I am curious about stat problems met in my research project. Now I am in a stat program. Hope that helps.

Edited August 21, 2014 by chrishacker

[PhDPlease]

I dropped the name of either the Department Head or the research director, or put it simply, someone who has power, so as to increase my odds of admission, and then tailor-making my research interests based on them. Not sure if it works out well with you.

 

Aside from the fact that this seems a bit dishonest, I don't think it's very logical. You don't know if the Department Head or the research director is even going to read your statement, or if some other faculty member will read it. Also whomever is reading personal statements will likely want to have a class that is distributed across whatever fields the school offers, rather than a class where all students area in the field of the Department Head or director. Likely the Department Head or director is very busy and can only advise a limited # of grad students, and thus would be happy to admit some who are interested in working with other faculty.

[Insti]

The Department Head or the Director of Graduate studies will most likely not view your application, especially if you are an international student. Applications are given to people who can assess your profile in the best possible way. For example, if you are from Asia they will give your application to someone who graduated from a university in the same country or goes there frequently as a visiting scholar or on conferences.

 

 

One of my professors actually approached me and told me he was the one to make the recommendation on my profile. He does not have any of the above titles and he is not even in the same field! He was just the most familiar with the educational system of the places I have graduated.

 

 

 

Also, one more data point - misleading people or lying on your applications is not only immoral and wrong but it is grounds for kicking you out of the program. Think twice before you do it. On the other hand, of course it is perfectly fine to say "I am interested in the work of professor X and Y" if you have looked at their papers and are genuinely interested.

[Shalom Ichthys]

That doesn't seem like a very genuine approach. You should have genuine research interests demonstrated by previous research experience, imho.

 

Well, were I have some previous research experience to begin with :)

Anyway, having something solid to mention is always better than none.