globalcitizen15

In my conversations with several PhD students/PhD graduates/professors, I hear repeatedly that he/she got in through a direct recommendation from his/her professor to a professor at the target school, he/she had a direct discussion with his/her intended advisor at the target school through someone who connected them, or each person who got in to the program has some sort of ties to some faculty member in the school. My serious question is - do people who don't have such connections get in? Are some schools known to be more about such connections? Also, for people who don't have such connections, what can they do to up the chance to getting themselves on the radar screen (assuming the person is a strong candidate) to the relevant faculty members? Thanks!

Thanks for your advice!

Hi, I am going to be applying to strategy programs and I would like to get some advice on which of the following two professors would be a more helpful reference: 1. A political science professor with whom I took 2 courses and got good grades; he is also the chair of the department from which I received a merit scholarship in grad school; the country he focuses on relates to my research interest 2. An economist with whom I took one econ course that focuses on the macro econ of a specific country; I got a good grade in his course as well Neither of them would really remember me It seems that the first one would likely have more "data points" to base his recommendation on, but econ seems more relevant than political science (although political science is a discipline that is relevant to strategy). I didn't do any research specifically for either professor unfortunately. Any thoughts? Thanks!