Professor of Interest and other stuff!

[mq1]

How can I choose a professor of interest? How can I have him be convinced that I am a student who should enter their program? I think I didn't get any acceptance in Fall 2013 because I never had any POI. 

Please tell me everything you know because I got seven flat-out rejections for Fall 2013. Now I do not want that to happen again in Spring 2014/Fall 2014. Also, If you have some general advice about application to linguistics or applied linguistics PhDs, please give me that advice. Can't wait to read all your responses.

The Rejected

Thanks

[pcjl]

I feel getting in touch with professors who specialise in your research interests plays an important part in getting accepted. This way, you can inquire whether the prospective programme focuses on the research you have in mind. Personally, I will email the professor a brief outline of my interests and then the research I hope to do and ask for their opinion.

 

As to getting rejected, I was rejected flat out by about a dozen places this time. More than half of those rejections were from earlier applications where I was still unaware that we can actually get in touch with individual professors. Luckily for me, I received a couple of offers later on, and for those applications, I tried to establish some correspondence with the faculty members.

 

Don't lose heart. Take this time to focus your research interests and find programmes which fit you. Hope this helps.

[goldheartmountaintop]

mq1, I highly doubt that you were rejected strictly because you didn't have POIs. I'm also not convinced that having POIs is what admissions committees care most about when they look through applications. Of course, fit with the department is important (and here is where it helps to have some POIs in mind), but it's also important to have a strong APPLICATION. That includes statement of interest, writing samples, letters of reference, grades, previous research/experiences, etc etc etc. These are what will convince people that you are a strong researcher with interesting questions, as well as the drive and ability to answer those questions.

 

Also, re: getting in touch with professors, I never contacted anyone either of the times I applied (last year applying to MA programs as an undergrad, and this year applying to PhD programs as an MA student), though I mentioned them in my statements to explain why I was applying to the schools in the first place. Both years I was accepted to very good schools. Also, if you look at previous threads (Fall 2012/Decisions 2012), you will see that some people didn't even mention any POIs in their statements, and were still accepted. 

 

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that, mq1, while having POIs in mind when you apply is a good thing, it's even better to have a good, strong application altogether. I would therefore suggest that you focus on strengthening every aspect of your application. I hope this helps. Good luck!!

 

[mq1]

Thanks guys

Now I know some new stuff I am going to be doing in my future applications. 

[Kwest]

Also, re: getting in touch with professors, I never contacted anyone either of the times I applied (last year applying to MA programs as an undergrad, and this year applying to PhD programs as an MA student), though I mentioned them in my statements to explain why I was applying to the schools in the first place. Both years I was accepted to very good schools. Also, if you look at previous threads (Fall 2012/Decisions 2012), you will see that some people didn't even mention any POIs in their statements, and were still accepted.

 

I wanted to duplicate goldheartmountaintop's advice/experience. I didn't contact any one directly and only spoke about them in my SOP and had a successful application round. It can be daunting to cold contact a POI, and I get the feeling that sometimes they don't always respond. Perhaps others can speak to this though, since I didn't try it out. I feel like it would be a different story all together if you meet these people at a conference or colloquium or even through current students....again, I'm not sure about this.

 

Anyway, I think the best first review step would be, as previously mentioned, to go over your application with a fine tooth comb to improve it overall. I've also read around on here that you may have some luck contacting the programs to see if they have any advice for improving your application.

[GeoLing]

I agree that having an overall strong application is key, but I believe that contacting potential POIs cannot hurt, and can be quite beneficial. I tried to contact POIs at every school I was looking at, and I feel like I learned a lot about the cultures and foci of the various programs by doing so. For example, I didn't get any responses from a couple of schools, which I took to mean that the faculty is either not interested in my research plans or too busy to reply to emails. I took this to be a bad sign, and saved myself the application fees for those schools. I could tell to some extent which POIs seemed most enthusiastic, and I focused on those applications. I ended up applying to 4 schools, three of which I had excited POIs fighting for me. The school that I applied to even though I didn't get any responses rejected me with just as little communication. I found out recently that the school would not have been a very good fit for me, so I wasted quite a bit of time and money. I was accepted to 2 of the other 3. The POI who was most communicative managed to secure me funding to fly to the school before I was officially accepted.

 

If you've got a stellar application otherwise, you definitely don't need a POI lined up. But if you're concerned at all about one aspect of your applications (I, for example, have a frightening undergraduate transcript/GPA), having someone willing to go to bat with you can compensate for other issues.

 

Best of luck in your future applications and academic endeavors!