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anonymousegmat
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Likeminded researchers / SOP / politics 05 May 2008, 12:03
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I've found a professor at a well known school whose research interests are on the same topic as mine (although slightly different direction). This is a big deal, since there are almost no people doing this kind of research (in business at least). This school also has another well known researcher working on topics that are interesting to me, but I am not currently working on.

My question is how to address this in my SOP? Would mentioning these professors by name potentially piss off the person reading my application? I know politics, factions, and petty ego drama is a big deal in academia. Just wondering how to get these points across tastefully without stepping on any toes.
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bauble
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Likeminded researchers / SOP / politics 06 May 2008, 12:53
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My take is that including prof's names doesn't help you much. Profs are smart people. They'll certainly figure out the research fit from your SoP without the names attached to them. Also, most profs have a bunch of work in progress that isn't anywhere on their public profile, so by attaching names you might be unnecessarily excluding names of people who actually share your interests.
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hobbit
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Likeminded researchers / SOP / politics 09 May 2008, 18:08
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just mentioning names won't do much good - but this seems like a good fit - and this will do wonders to your app. you can state your research interests and highlight the similarities or overlap. better still, you can read 2-3 recent papers of that professor and build something on that in your SOP. I did this in all my SOPs. one was succesful. the key is be specific enough to show the fit, but not too specific so it narrows down your opportunities and mobility within the target department.

also - why not contacting this professor before applying? maybe even meet him (or her). this can do even more wonders to your app if this meeting does the correct impression, and mutual interest is established. a friend of mine was very proactive this year in that respect, and eventually had to decline interview invite from one HSW because she was accepted another.

I hope this helps.
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Likeminded researchers / SOP / politics 12 May 2008, 06:40
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hobbit
also - why not contacting this professor before applying? maybe even meet him (or her). this can do even more wonders to your app if this meeting does the correct impression, and mutual interest is established. a friend of mine was very proactive this year in that respect, and eventually had to decline interview invite from one HSW because she was accepted another.
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I agree on that. In fact, I'd go further and say that you definitely should contact that professor before writing the SOP and sending it along with your application. If the guy/gal is nice, chances are he/she will be contacted (informally) by people screening/evaluating application (colleagues), and he/she'll then have the opportunity to say "yeah, this applicant wrote me an email a couple months back. he seemed very interested". Otherwise, you'll at least get a vague sense as to what this person is like, by the time it takes him/her to respond, how he/she answers, and so on. I applied to 5 schools a few years back and sent emails to professors in each of those schools. Professors from 4 of those schools answered to my email, and I found 3 of those responses nice and encouraging. I got 3 offers; guess from which schools. At some point I don't think this is a pure coincidence.

Another point that can't be overlooked if that faculty mobility is high even among tenured professors, so you might get a scoop such as "I'm actually leaving this school at the end of next year". Needless to say, that's a pretty useful piece of info for a prospective student.
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Likeminded researchers / SOP / politics 15 May 2008, 13:16
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cabro57
Another point that can't be overlooked if that faculty mobility is high even among tenured professors, so you might get a scoop such as "I'm actually leaving this school at the end of next year". Needless to say, that's a pretty useful piece of info for a prospective student.
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A prof told me that after I accepted the offer.. :roll: And it was "I'm actually leaving this school in 2 months' time...." Jaw dropped, heart sunk.
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Likeminded researchers / SOP / politics 22 May 2008, 12:17
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hobbit


also - why not contacting this professor before applying? maybe even meet him (or her). this can do even more wonders to your app if this meeting does the correct impression, and mutual interest is established. a friend of mine was very proactive this year in that respect, and eventually had to decline interview invite from one HSW because she was accepted another.

I hope this helps.
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hobbit

i absolutely planned on contacting him. like i said, there are very few folks who are integrating this particular line of research into marketing... even though i am interested in this topic for a different reason than he is, the overlap is there.

i am not applying to programs until fall 2009... i planned on emailing him winter 2008. part of the reason is I wanted to have something very educated to say to him; even though i have some testable hypotheses i am still very much learning about this topic, when the theory applies etc... so I wanted to read more of the literature to make sure my ideas make good sense first. Also, I wanted to give myself some time to read some of the citations he references as well...

cabro -

three offers is pretty incredible, no? anyway, i planned on contacting a professor from each school i apply to --- basically the professor i contact is the one whom i envisioned as my committee chair. i really plan on only applying to schools where there is some fit.... so it should be easy to start a dialogue with these folks...

really the only thing i have going for me to get me in a PhD program is my research, which, if you would have asked me six months ago i would have said was the last reason why i wanted to get a PhD... now it is the primary one.hopefully the professors who have similar interests are on selection comittees or have some power in their departments.
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