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SOP Puzzle


quantwanabe

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i think it would be good to mention a specific prof or two in your sop to show that you actually know something about their department. however i wouldn't mention more than a sentence or two. some profs might be leaving the department or something else.

 

 

Avoid names, unless you really know what you are doing. Some professors may go on leave of absence/sabbatical, move to a different university, hate graduate students (or have too many) or simply no be interested in your area anymore. Unless you have insider information (e.g. from current PhD students or through your professors who know X) that Prof. X is alive, not moving and seeking students in area Y, you are better off avoid names altogether. Just focus on 'overall' quality of the department in a particular area of your interest (Labour, Macro, Development, IO etc). You can evaluate department's strengths from econphd's field rankings as well as surveying recent working papers (and stated interests) of different professors on the Dept. website.

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In my earliest draft of my SOP, I mentioned professors' names at each university to which I was applying. One of my professors urged me to remove the names. His reasoning was something along the lines of, "If I am on the committee, and you did not mention my name, I am offended. If I am on the committee and you did mention my name, I think you are trying to manipulate me." Having been on several admissions committees in the past, I would say that his reaction is probably shared by other (but not necessarily all) professors.

 

Thus, I second Cassin's suggestion that you proceed with caution, though for different reasons. Definitely mention the fields you are interested in pursuing, though. From what I hear, this is the most important information contained in one's statement of purpose.

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well, in my SOP, I actually did mention names. It was just one sentence, but all I said was "Professor A's research, Professor B's research, Prof C.....research are all areas of research I would like to assist with/research on my own". It's not really kissing ***, and I really find it hard to believe that professors are that immature where they would be so offended if you don't mention their name that they would consider rejecting you for it. But hey, I have no experience with adcoms, so I could very well be wrong in my assumptions.
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and I really find it hard to believe that professors are that immature where they would be so offended if you don't mention their name that they would consider rejecting you for it. But hey, I have no experience with adcoms, so I could very well be wrong in my assumptions.

 

I don't think that it would be a conscious decision on their part "Oh, this kid is clearly a brat since they didn't mention me in their SOP" but rather a sort of unconscious feeling of being passed over or whatever. The human brain/thought process works in pretty crazy ways...

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If you're willing to really do your homework, I think it can be useful to mention names. By "do your homework," I mean checking through all of the faculty's personal websites, looking at their recently published and working papers, and seeing who is advising the current grads on the market. This way you can target a few faculty members who are working on stuff you're really interested in and also work with grad students.
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