How do I indicate if a professor is interested in working with me?

[ekat97]

I reached out to a potential advisor about my research interests and my plan to apply at their university, who replied "I would be delighted to work with you, and this is something you can mention in your application materials." I'm totally lost and wondering how I'm meant to mention this in my application materials? Right now my SOP states something along the lines of "I'm interested in working with Dr. X," but should I add "who has agreed"? (obviously more eloquent than that?) 

[QWERTYMNB97]

On 11/14/2021 at 12:37 PM, ekat97 said:

I reached out to a potential advisor about my research interests and my plan to apply at their university, who replied "I would be delighted to work with you, and this is something you can mention in your application materials." I'm totally lost and wondering how I'm meant to mention this in my application materials? Right now my SOP states something along the lines of "I'm interested in working with Dr. X," but should I add "who has agreed"? (obviously more eloquent than that?) 

Hello! You might wanna say "During my graduate program, I would like to work with Dr. X who has been researching ABC. Under his/her guidance, I would like to explore blah blah (specific field)"

This way of being specific with what you wanna research under his/her guidance will create an impression that you are focused and has done enough homework (hope you did!) to know about him/her and their research.

[SocDevMum]

On 11/14/2021 at 12:37 PM, ekat97 said:

 who replied "I would be delighted to work with you, and this is something you can mention in your application materials."

You would want to specifically mention this PI and how their research is a good fit to yours in your personal statement/letter of intent/whatever it's called in your field. Typically this kind of information comes mid way through your statement, explaining what kind of research you see yourself doing, and how the faculty and university are a great fit for that. Note: PI may have agreed you should mention them, but that shouldn't be interpreted as full-throated approval.  You don't know who is will apply and how good their fit might be. This is your opportunity to expand on what you have already discussed and make a personal connection though your official personal statement in your application materials

[Sigaba]

I disagree slightly with @SocDevMum.  I would be reluctant to name names. Instead, I would make it clear how research interests align. I would make the argument that your research is a good fit to the university, to the program overall, and to a cluster of the program professors. (The key difference between this approach and SDM's centers around the definition of "fit." It's like "don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.")

Why the reluctance to name names in general? One simply does not know if a professor is telling every potential applicant "I would be delighted to work with you" while he's packing his office to take another job, if he's despised by his colleagues, if he has a reputation for having crappy rapport with graduate students, or if he simply doesn't have the political juice this season to get anyone admitted. (In your particular case, mentioning this professor by name would be the next to last, or even last, point I'd make.)

[SocDevMum]

1 hour ago, Sigaba said:

 I would be reluctant to name names.

This may be field-specific - in psychology, at least at the PhD level (and often also at the Masters level), we are required to list exactly which PI we are applying to work with and how we fit in with that exact lab. It is expected that applicants will have done the footwork in advance and not waste time and $$$ attempting to apply to PIs who are not taking applicants for that year. Also, PhD (and hopefully Masters!) applicants are highly encouraged to actively reach out to current and alumni lab members before submititng an application, to check for exactly those kinds of personality quirks or concerns.

Other fields may not want that much specificity

Edited November 21, 2021 by SocDevMum

[Sigaba]

18 hours ago, SocDevMum said:

This may be field-specific - in psychology, at least at the PhD level (and often also at the Masters level), we are required to list exactly which PI we are applying to work with and how we fit in with that exact lab. It is expected that applicants will have done the footwork in advance and not waste time and $$$ attempting to apply to PIs who are not taking applicants for that year. Also, PhD (and hopefully Masters!) applicants are highly encouraged to actively reach out to current and alumni lab members before submititng an application, to check for exactly those kinds of personality quirks or concerns.

Other fields may not want that much specificity

In the humanities, it may be field and program specific. (Also, in history, describing approaches to subject areas is a subtle way to name names.)