"Professors" in SOP?

[Coffee Candy]

Even if I want to work with associate, assitant professors, will it be of no use if I mention them in my SOP?

Is it true that associate, assitant professors don't have that much influence on the decision of the committee?

Edited July 27, 2011 by Coffee Candy

[rising_star]

This varies. In my department, there are assistant, associate, and full professors that are all on the admissions committee and I highly doubt the assistant profs would do it if their opinions weren't valued.

[runonsentence]

Also, my advice is to be sure you're familiar with the politics of the institution you're applying to if you start dropping specific names in your SoP. If you're not familiar with these dynamics, it might be best not to use names.

$0.02

[ajumpingpenguin]

I think that mentioning individuals you'd like to work with, regardless of whether they are part of the admissions committee or not, could be a good way of showing "fit".

[dimanche0829]

This can be a little tricky, but I agree with runonsentence. Also, you might want to take necessary steps to ensure that the professor you are interested in working with will actually be around to work with you. This can be hard since unexpected circumstances may arise at any time, but you don't want to go on and on about Professor Jones' research, if Professor Jones is planning a lengthy sabbatical.

[hungryhungryhipster]

It varies by school. For example, at my university the only real difference between an associate professor and a full professor is a couple thousand a year, so most don't even bother working towards full professorship.

[jendoly]

In all of my SoPs, I made sure to mention 2-3 professors whose work I was particularly interested in. Often, at least at my school, that's how they know how to direct professors to read certain applications to see if they're interested in you. New professor or full professor aside, if the professor has funding, they can have an influence on whether or not you're made an offer.