A Question about the application process

[Maxx]

I hope that some of you who may be experienced PhD students or faculty members may know the answer of this question.

Let's say my file is being reviewed by the ad com. Regardless or whether I have explicitly indicated it or not, it is blatant from my research interest that I am seeking a certain Professor A to be my supervisor eventually, but Professor A is not a member of the ad com. Would the ad com pass my file to Professor A to ask for an opinion? Is there a common practice regarding this or does it just varies from school to school?

I ask this because the choice of words in my SOP may differ a little bit if my audience is likely to be experts yet not exactly in the same functional and/or geographical focus as mine.

thanks!

[anthropologygeek]

Max- depends on school and department. Most have committees who weed out the auto nos and then pass it along to the desired prof

[Penelope Higgins]

I have served on grad admissions at two institutions. In one case the committee made all the decisions; in the other each subfield handled its own set of candidates. In either case, you can be confident that someone on the committee will be perfectly proficient in understanding and evaluating your research statement. Your choice of words should be an effort to situate your research interests in the broader subfield in which you want to work.

[Maxx]

Thanks Penelope. I have been waiting for your advice!