What makes someone a good "fit"?

[Yetanotherdegree]

I keep hearing about "fit" as an undefined quality that somehow makes the difference between in and out for doctoral applicants.

What is it? Perfectly aligned research interests? A sense that you'll do well with the community life, other students, faculty etc? Ontological perspective? Pixie dust?

I'm curious about what people think goes into "fit" that is somehow separate from finding an appropriate adviser and making the grade academically. Any insights?

[Body Politics]

Perfectly aligned research interests? A sense that you'll do well with the community life, other students, faculty etc? Ontological perspective? Pixie dust?

 

Yes. Sorry to be unhelpful, but I think it really is that multivalent.

[sacklunch]

I have been wrestling with this question a lot lately, while actually writing various SOPs. I think that I'm applying to programs that are good 'fits,' but I suppose it comes down to faculty and the general goal/aim of the program. Expressing that is an entirely different thing. Walking that line between specific/vague, while setting the tone of some sort of continuity with their research is very difficult.

[MBIGrad]

If you've been on a date, "good fit" should make sense.

[dr. t]

If you've been on a date, "good fit" should make sense.

 

... I should go to a party with a funny hat so that girls will steal it and then that will be an icebreaker?

 

(which is how I met my wife)

[marXian]

The worst part about "fit" is that it's the one thing that is basically totally out of your control. You can (and should) contact POIs in order to figure out if there's some mutual interest in working together--it is definitely in your control to apply to programs that seem to work best for your interests. But fit isn't always just about you and what you're interested in. It's also about the sorts of students that are already in the department, students your POI is already advising, students the dept. wants to admit, etc. If you're interested in x, and x is a very narrow field, but your POI has one or two students already studying x, he/she may not want to take you on simply because he/she doesn't want that many students working in the same relatively narrow field.

 

There are usually some political considerations with regard to what tracks get to take on how many students, if any, for a given year. There's only so much money. If NT and American Religions has 10 students each because they added 2 or 3 each last year but Islamic Studies and Theology only have 2 or 3 students each total, the department may want to focus on extending more offers to qualified students applying to those tracks in order to build them up. That doesn't mean that an NT or AR person has no shot at getting into a department like that; it just means that you need to do the research in order to figure out what the current department make up is, and what sorts of students were added to the department recently in order to try to increase your competitive edge.

 

Finding out what your POIs emerging interests are is a really good idea. If you'd be willing to do a project that falls in with those, I think it gives you a bit of an edge because your POI is probably going to be more excited about that kind of project.

[Yetanotherdegree]

If you've been on a date, "good fit" should make sense.

Well, considering that a lot of us will be applying to programs in places where we've never been, I don't think the analogy works.

And even if we were talking about dating, it is possible to name some of the variables at work in relationships that last...

[Yetanotherdegree]

fit isn't always just about you and what you're interested in. It's also about the sorts of students that are already in the department, students your POI is already advising, students the dept. wants to admit, etc.

 

There are usually some political considerations with regard to what tracks get to take on how many students, if any, for a given year. There's only so much money.

 

Finding out what your POIs emerging interests are is a really good idea. If you'd be willing to do a project that falls in with those, I think it gives you a bit of an edge because your POI is probably going to be more excited about that kind of project.

Thanks, Joel. As always, that's really good advice. A bit frustrating to consider that fit isn't always bout you and your interests/abilities, but important.

So I suppose that, as with most things, doing your homework is really important. Research, research, research doctoral applications.

You know, it's funny. I keep hearing from faculty and doctoral students here how the application process itself is like having another course in terms of effort and research. And yet there are a couple of people in my program who have already been through a round of doctoral applications and are telling us that this is just not true. But this is from people who didn't get in on their first try... Coincidence? Or not?

[MBIGrad]

Well, considering that a lot of us will be applying to programs in places where we've never been, I don't think the analogy works.

And even if we were talking about dating, it is possible to name some of the variables at work in relationships that last...

 

I can tell that some don't appreciate this metaphor; please don't feel obligated to make use of it. What I had in mind was this:

 

1. As with a date, you are trying to explore a closer relationship between a person (people), perhaps someone you don't know very well, or at all.

2. You are trying to put your best foot forward. You emphasize your strengths, and hide your weaknesses (although they will eventually emerge).

3. You are asking questions, questions like "Have I called/emailed too much? Or not enough? What did they mean when they said that?" Perhaps you even hear rumors (perhaps on GradCafe).

4. You are unsure, on some level, about yourself, but known you must muster the confidence to be bold and proactive; at the same time, you don't want to smother.

5. You talk to people who know said date/POI to see what they like, what they don't, what they're like.

 

While I appreciate the thoroughly insightful criticism, my metaphor was not designed to imply a simple, or obvious, answer to the question. However, I think that metaphor gives a good (or at least a different) perspective. The "point of pithy" is succinct apposition.

[Body Politics]

[sacklunch]

Well said! 

[Kuriakos]

You can't spell with fiction without fit.