Professors to list in SoP?

[sunshan]

Hi, everyone!

I'm just reading about various professors at different English PhD programs and figuring out which ones to list in my Statement of Purpose as profs I'm interested in working with. I was wondering, should I list only full professors or associate professors? Not assistant professors, right? Also, how many professors should I list in each of my statements of purpose?

Thanks!

[ProfLorax]

I can't answer all of your questions, but one of the professors I talked to said that assistant professors do not typically serve on dissertation committees (I'm not sure if this is a universal policy, but it makes sense to me that it would be). Because of that, I am sticking to professors and associate professors in my SoP.

Edited June 22, 2012 by proflorax

[TripWillis]

I don't think full/associate/assistant matters as much as whether you feel the person would be a good match for your studies or a good mentor for your dissertation. Let your interests guide you. Thinking about it from the vantage point of superiority/whether or not they are on the ad-comm will mess up the earnestness and flow of your SoP.

That said, you should obviously avoid listing adjuncts/visiting professors. And don't let listing professors take up too much of your word count. They are more interested in your profile than they're own. They already know what they do. Plus, it would be refreshing for them to hear you also talk about things like program structure, resources, unique service opportunities, etc.

One more thing: it's tough to say who serves on ad-comms period. At CUNY Graduate Center, some students sit on the committees, so obviously it's a bit of a crapshoot.

Edited June 22, 2012 by TripWillis

[Stately Plump]

I think I averaged mentioning two professors per statement. In some I might have mentioned three, but I really tried to avoid talking too much about them, like Trip said. I kept all that to one paragraph towards the bottom; the rest was more about my research interests and how I got there.

[Datatape]

There's also the fact to consider that Assistant Professors, particularly those who have been in the program for some time, may be promoted to Associate Professors in the time that you are progressing to your degree, and therefore would be able to serve on your committee. I would imagine that there are exceptions to every rule: one of my fellow M.A. students had the only Assistant Professor in the department serve as her thesis director because he was the best fit for what she was studying, while the other two members of her committee were full-ranked Professors.

[TakeruK]

I don't think it's necessary to worry about who would sit on your dissertation committee (~5 years from now?) when applying! Also, I don't think the reason to name profs in the SOP is to get the attention of the named prof on the ad-comm.

Instead, I always thought naming profs is to show that you've really thought about your own interests and how they match up to the program you're applying to. So that you're not just applying to their program without a plan in mind. 2-3 names should be sufficient -- with only 1, it runs the danger of sounding like you are closed minded about your future research path (and what if that prof isn't taking students / leaving / etc.) and too many will defeat the purpose of naming them (i.e. to sound like you have a clear plan for your research future).

I also made sure I always emailed (or at least tried to) the prof before putting his/her name on the SOP, just to make sure they are really interested in the topics their website says, and that they have time/funding to support me as a student in the future. You don't want to name profs that the adcomm knows are full or are planning to leave, etc.

So, I don't think the rank of the prof really matters. I guess the one concern is that you might be interested in working with an assistant prof who is up for tenure in 1-2 years but might be denied tenure (and then have to leave in the middle of your degree). Hopefully the prof will convey this subtly to you in some way via email (e.g. "I am not sure if I will be taking students on for the 2013-2014 school year" or something) but if you make sure there are at least 2-3 people you are interested in, then you should be okay. The point of the SOP is mostly to get into the school -- once in, you can choose your supervisor based on research interest, style, and their influence in the department and your field (less important but still somewhat important!).

[Stately Plump]

Instead, I always thought naming profs is to show that you've really thought about your own interests and how they match up to the program you're applying to. So that you're not just applying to their program without a plan in mind. 2-3 names should be sufficient -- with only 1, it runs the danger of sounding like you are closed minded about your future research path (and what if that prof isn't taking students / leaving / etc.) and too many will defeat the purpose of naming them (i.e. to sound like you have a clear plan for your research future).

I definitely agree. The purpose of mentioning profs at all is to try to draw some link between your interests and the strengths of the program.

Edited June 23, 2012 by Stately Plump

[Swagato]

This varies from department to department. I know, for example, that some departments at Chicago are just fine with having Asst. Profs. on dissertation committees. Besides, as others have said, you do not need to worry about who, exactly, will be on your committee because this will almost inevitably change by the time you get to that point. I would look more closely at departmental fit and list at least 2 people who are tenured and will likely be there, but don't go overboard with it.

[hazelbite]

I don't think it matters where they are on the department's ladder if you have a strong resonance with their work.

1) There are many ways to work with or benefit from a faculty member or other graduate students. You may want to take a class from them or TA for them or be advised by them or have them on a committee or join their colloquium. Maybe it would be helpful to "know what you want" from those relationships, but it's almost sure to change at some point (people leave, your own interests change, their interests change, etc.)

2) You never know who's going to be on the adcomm. I had a creative writing prof call me to tell me he loved my materials and fought for my app; I've never ever studied poetry or creative writing in my life. Point being, the match-ups of who you want to work with and who wants to work with you aren't always mutual, and a lecturer or whatever might be the one fighting for you on the adcomm.

3) That said, I think my answer to the argument of whether or not to mention faculty is yes, absolutely mention faculty. It seems impossible to figure out what a given department is all about without breaking it down into its individuals.

[hazelbite]

Oh, and as for the how many question, I would say mention as many as you are genuinely interested in or have closely read or think you'll have the opportunity to work closely with. In undergrad, I would say I worked closely with 5 professors, and became very close friends and felt like a colleague with 3. My SOPs were distributed about the same way.

That said, you should obviously avoid listing adjuncts/visiting professors. And don't let listing professors take up too much of your word count. They are more interested in your profile than they're own. They already know what they do. Plus, it would be refreshing for them to hear you also talk about things like program structure, resources, unique service opportunities, etc.

I sort of disagree with most of this, mainly because I think that little defines a department more clearly than who they choose to hire. Resources, yes, are obvious-- like if they have archives you want to use or whatever, mention it-- but I think one of the stumbling blocks and timesucks of the application process is (or at least was for me) trying to figure out a specific department's philosophy or vibe, etc., as those are really hard to understand from the outside. Those might be a waste of wordcount.

[TripWillis]

Oh, and as for the how many question, I would say mention as many as you are genuinely interested in or have closely read or think you'll have the opportunity to work closely with. In undergrad, I would say I worked closely with 5 professors, and became very close friends and felt like a colleague with 3. My SOPs were distributed about the same way.

I sort of disagree with most of this, mainly because I think that little defines a department more clearly than who they choose to hire. Resources, yes, are obvious-- like if they have archives you want to use or whatever, mention it-- but I think one of the stumbling blocks and timesucks of the application process is (or at least was for me) trying to figure out a specific department's philosophy or vibe, etc., as those are really hard to understand from the outside. Those might be a waste of wordcount.

Oh, I don't want to be unclear. I think it's fruitless to guess at a department's overall philosophy, as if many of them even had one! Sure, there are some which have pretty distinct reputations, but you're not going to work with the entire department anyway. What I'm trying to say is that if you're going to talk about a professor, talk about them in the context of your own interests and objectives. It would be a waste of word count to fill up your SoP with a. fawning language; b. summary of their work that you are into; or c. endless description of faculty work. I'm just saying that the SoP is a chance for them to get to know you, not themselves.

When I mention "program structure, service opportunities, resources" etc. I'm talking about the following:

-Program structure -- does the fellowship or program stipulate that students must receive a wide breadth of literary knowledge? Are there comps? Is there a periodization requirement? Do classes on the course offerings list focus more on special topics or on times and genres? Is there a special focus on literature pedagogy (as there is at UMass Amherst, part of why I applied there)? Much of this is evident from the department's admissions page. Though it is not as important as faculty, I think it's pretty important.

-Service opportunities -- what is the teaching situation? Do students serve on ad-coms? Is there are a Graduate Student Organization or union? Does the college hold a conference? Are there interdisciplinarity committees or interdepartmental offerings? Is there an in-house journal at which one can RA? Knowing all the things you are expected to and are able to do at a university besides go to classes is pretty crucial. It'll show you're prepared and able to self-start outside a classroom.

You already covered resources.

Edited June 26, 2012 by TripWillis

[hazelbite]

Yes! Listen to this guy, 2013ers.

[TripWillis]

Yes! Listen to this guy, 2013ers.

Also listen to Ms. Harvard over here.

[bigrelief]

I didn't shy away from naming assistant professors in my SOPs, but I did try to include at least one full professor in each. Besides the problem of assistant profs being potentially denied tenure during your degree, there's the chance that they've ALREADY been denied tenure (or applied for other jobs, or are generally regarded as temporary by the department) and that you haven't discerned that from the website. If you hang your SOP on a professor whom the adcomm knows is definitely leaving, you suddenly don't seem as good a fit. You could avoid this problem by making email contact with each professor you plan to name ahead of time (as suggested above) but I was actively discouraged from doing this by one of my advisors, who thought you had a greater chance of annoying your POIs than actually impressing/gaining useful information from them.