How necessary is mentioning a POI in your statement?

[LazarusRises]

Hey all, 

I didn't really start using this forum until like a week ago--that's on me, it's a great resource. I notice a lot of people saying their POI, which I assume to be Professor of Interest, was the one to reach out to them with an acceptance offer. I applied to 3 schools and only really had a professor contact at one of them, with whom I did an informal interview but who I didn't mention in my statement as I wasn't aware that was the thing to do.

What I'm hoping is that this is mostly standard for PhD programs, since PhD candidates will be doing research directly with a professor. I'm applying to professional masters' programs, so hopefully it's less of an issue. Is that right, or did I bone myself by not mentioning specific professors in my statements? 

Thanks in advance!

[taacc]

I would say it depends on what kind of master's program you're applying to. There are some MA/MS programs that are still research oriented, in which case it wouldn't hurt to be able to say you specifically want to work on xx projects with xx person. I think this is especially the case if the master's degree is funded in any way. Also, I think people tend to skip the instructions that the program gives for its own application because of how generic it sounds, but the instructions do give you a sense of what they're looking for generally. So I would double-check if the program/application website said anything about including who you want to work with in your statement. Otherwise, for more professional or applied master's degrees, it's probably fine to not talk about specific faculty.

Edited February 11, 2020 by taacc

[LazarusRises]

Just now, taacc said:

I would say it depends on what kind of master's program you're applying to. There are some MA/MS programs that are still research oriented, in which case it wouldn't hurt to be able to say you specifically want to work on xx projects with xx person. I think this is especially the case if the master's degree is funded in any way. Also, I think people tend to skip the instructions that the program gives for its own application because of how generic it sounds, but the instructions do give you a sense of what they're looking for generally. So I would double-check if the program/application website said anything about including who you want to work with in your statement. Otherwise, for more professional or applied master's degrees, it's probably fine to not talk about specific faculty.

I carefully read over all of the application instructions & suggestions and that wasn't on there. I've applied to a Masters of Environmental Management program and two Masters of Development Practice programs, all focused on renewable energy & sustainable development--definitely not research-focused, though it might be a component. Sounds like I'm ok, which I pretty much knew anyway... the jitters just got the best of me. 

Thanks for your response

[Gatech_ST]

For many schools, it is the POI/lab that make the final decisions. Sometimes during the application will explicitly ask you to point the top 3 professors you are most interested in. I personally always mention at least 3 and how they fit into my interest. 

Do not restrict yourself to one professor or mention many, concise list of 2-4 should be good  

 

Good luck!