Responsibilities of the Accepting School

[chelsea_soccer]

So, I wasn't sure where to post this question exactly, but this forum seems as good as any. Basically, I am wondering what responsibilities schools that accept an applicant have toward that applicant. Specifically, I am curious if they would accept an applicant without having a professor in the applicants interest area. I understand there may be differences between an MA program and a PhD program, but here's my basic situation:

I applied and was accepted with a full funding fellowship to an MA program. Since it's an MA program and I specified on my statement of purpose which professor I thought most shared my interests, I didn't think to contact the specific professor I wanted to work with.  When the graduate adviser spoke briefly with me about why I should go to his school he mentioned that I would most likely be working with that professor. Since then, I inadvertently became friends with a current MA student in that program who thinks that the professor I'm hoping to work with is due for sabbatical this year or next year. Would the school accept me if this is the case? And if so, will they feel obligated to find a suitable replacement for me to work with or am I on my own? It's a fairly small program and I think that the professor there whose interests would be the next closest to my own are not very close at all so I'm kind of worried. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks

 

[mmm35]

Speaking as a soon-to-be PhD student, it depends on the school. I actually got into a very tip top school with a fellowship that I hadn't done much research on (I desperately wanted to go to one specific school but felt I should apply to back-ups). I then visited to look into the program and quickly realized that no one there did anything even close to what I was interested in. One professor even told me that my interests were not worth working on because he only did work that would get him published in Science or Nature. The weird thing is that I laid out my interests pretty extensively in my SOP and mentioned the research there that I found most interesting (which they were no longer really working on).

The whole experience was totally bizarre and I left thinking no one had even read my SOP which was odd for a school accepting less than 10% of applicants. One guy actually told me that it sounded like I shouldn't come there unless I was very flexible.

So I think that some schools don't pay any attention to your interests and only admit you on the merits of your application. Did you ask that specific professor if he/she will be around next year? I think it is totally fair to ask.

I am sure however, that they will make sure you have an advisor and that you will have some say in who it is. Are there other people there that you'd want to work with? I also don't think they would say that you might work with that professor if he wasn't going to be there next year. But I'd ask more questions before making any decisions.

[sciencegal]

There's a professor in our department who I think is going on sabbatical "next year" every year. He talks about it and then doesn't do it for whatever reasons (obligations, etc). While well intentioned, the information you received may not be accurate. It's definitely fair to ask the professor if they will be willing, interested, and available to be advisor for 2 years. Also - another scenario, depending on the prof - one of our profs, when she goes on sabbatical she still mentors her students, she just doesn't teach classes or have any official responsibilities to the school (committees, etc). Some profs do go out of state, country etc so it does vary.

[DariaIRL]

+1 sciencegal

[mudlark]

Another +1 to sciencegal. A lot of schools don't worry so much about making sure the perfect person is around for their MA students, because MA students often don't have super strong commitments to specific topics, and their interests often change. I know tons of people who started their MA as a Shakespearean and ended it doing graphic novels, or started as a theory geek and ended up doing the 18th century.

The question that you really need to get answered is not the general one in your title, however. It's "Are you, my intended supervisor, going to be present and willing to supervise me?" And that's something only that prof can answer.