PHD Admits Without Contacting POI, Interview or Visit

[awells27]

Has anyone here been admitted, or know of someone who was admitted, to a PHD program in religion without contacting the POI in advance.  In other words, there are a couple programs to which I want to apply, and having been through the whole POI ordeal with other schools with varying but mostly positive results, I thought maybe I would just take my chances and rely on the strength of my application with the last two apps.  Do they always want to associate a name with a face?   

[MBIGrad]

You can always do a phone call; several POIs have suggested as much to me. Out of 12 schools, I am only visiting 4-6. I don't think the name-to-face is as important as the ability to, in your letter of intent, describe at least one project that is an exact fit for the school. This is made much easier by a visit, I am finding. But a phone call could do the same thing, provided you played your cards right. Where are you applying?

[sacklunch]

It happens all the time. I know quite a few people who had zero contact and were accepted. It's a crap shoot, as everyone says. It may help to contact them, but it may make no difference. Du was du willst, mate. 

[awells27]

You can always do a phone call; several POIs have suggested as much to me. Out of 12 schools, I am only visiting 4-6. I don't think the name-to-face is as important as the ability to, in your letter of intent, describe at least one project that is an exact fit for the school. This is made much easier by a visit, I am finding. But a phone call could do the same thing, provided you played your cards right. Where are you applying?

My second to last application is at Univ. of Michigan, definitely a long shot to study with Gabriele Boccaccini in Second Temple Judaism given the large number of apps.  This professor is so busy that I would rather just present in my SOP and writing sample my fit within the program.  I know my research focus matches, and I don't want to catch this guy on a bad day.  I appreciate everyone's advice here, as there seems to be compelling reasons to go in either direction.  

 

I contacted Marquette today and was told to go ahead and apply.  They said that, since my POI was not on the admissions committee, it was actually essential that I present my research proposal to him.  In this way, the committee would ask his advice for applicants in his particular emphasis.  It was implied that this advice was rather weighty.   

 

[RedDoor]

For American schools, it is quite alright to apply without contacting the professors there as they have varying amount of input on the admissions side (little to none typically). For the UK uni, it is highly recommended that you contact them before applying since your proposal is what matters most. The strength of your proposal gets you in the door there.

[Body Politics]

Admitted to University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology with zero contact with anyone. 

[newenglandshawn]

May I ask a question on here that I seem to be getting conflicting reports on? I am reading a lot about the importance of stating in one's SOP a clear explanation of a "project" that will align with the program to which one is applying. Is this to say that in the SOP one should clearly articulate what his/her dissertation will be about? 

 

There does, of course, seem to be a significant difference between the UK and American PhD process. I had heard - and had confirmed since I've been interacting with some POIs over in Britain - that when one applies to a program in the UK, you essentially need to have a very narrowed dissertation topic already in mind.

 

Here in the US, however, it is different - and, in fact, I have heard from one professor that the dissertation topic shouldn't even be considered until one is already in the program and can make his/her decision based on what meshes with your professor's knowledge base and interests.

 

But, again, I still keep reading people talking about how, when applying to American PhD programs, we should articulate how a "project" we are interested in aligns with the strengths and interests of a program or specific professor.

 

Am I missing something? 

Edited October 17, 2013 by newenglandshawn

[sacklunch]

You nailed it. The only exception may be Canadian schools, which seem to take a middle of the road approach (e.g. Toronto says to state your intended topic). This is precisely why American admissions are so difficult: you have to walk that fine line between being specific, letting them know you get it, while also being broad enough for them to "mold you." The best thing you can do is have your SOP ripped apart time and time again by a trusted professor. 

[marXian]

awells27: I was admitted to Northwestern without contacting anyone.

 

newenglandshawn: You're definitely right to be confused! Here's how it was explained to me: American schools are wary of anyone who has a very specific project in mind. Your SOP is not a dissertation prospectus. The primary reason is that US departments want to know that they're going to have a hand in shaping your thought in a significant way through course work, independent readings, preparing for exams, etc. If you're essentially ready to write the dissertation, they might feel as though you have nothing to gain from them. At the same time, if your interests are so broad that they're unsure how you would fit into the department, that's a problem as well. Both of these things vary from department to department. Your SOP needs to demonstrate a general direction/shape of your interests, without delving into the specifics of an argument that you're already planning on making.

[AbrasaxEos]

I didn't contact anyone at the schools I applied to - I knew a couple of the folks already from various YDS/SBL/AAR connections, but I didn't really do any type of formal emailing, calling, or visiting ahead of time.  I applied to six, had four acceptances, one waitlist, and one rejection.  I tend to think the "face with a name" advice is a bit overrated.  These people get tons of emails and meetings at SBL, etc. (and now being on the "inside" of two adcoms, I can tell you that few of them say in the process "Oh yes! this student emailed me a few months back, let's take a second look" - if your application is strong, it is strong).  The exception here would be if you were in some way unsure of whether the prof. was taking students, or if they still were working in the area you are interested in.  Sometimes an email asking eithe rof these things can save you some money applying to a school that is probably not going to accept you, no matter how amazing your application might be.

[diazalon]

Go ahead and apply. Top programs will decide who looks good on paper and give interviews. That is, if they need more than your application to make a decision, they will get in touch. UNC almost always admits someone sight-unseen, and most of the Yale admits in years past had little to no contact with their POI before the interview.

Edited October 17, 2013 by diazalon

[awells27]

Well, now I feel better about not contacting certain places.  I agree with what was said about having your advising professor tear apart your SOP a few times. Both my faculty advisers are on PHD committees for my seminary, and they believe its crucial they go over my SOP a few times to ensure it has the correct balance between specific emphasis and broad perspective.  They say the SOP is often a rite of passage into the next round of consideration.    

[Ubi charitas]

I think it really just depends on the program and on the POI. It might be helpful for some programs, but I think that most don't really care about being contacted ahead of time (I'm only talking about US schools, here). I've had multiple professors tell me that, while they don't mind being contacted by potential students, it does nothing whatsoever to increase that person's chances of getting in.

 

As others have mentioned, the most beneficial thing about contacting/meeting with POIs is that it will help you get a better idea of how to articulate your fit with the school when you write your SOP. If you're lucky, you might even get some advice about what to avoid saying or what you should emphasize in your SOP. Even if your POI likes you and wants you to get in, you have to remember that there are other people on the admissions committee, and you want to avoid saying anything in your SOP that might raise red flags in the eyes of other committee memers.

 

But, again, this is all a crap shoot. It really is. I got in at my top choice without ever visiting or contacting a single person at the school. My SOP was very basic, and I never revised it or asked anyone to look at it. Granted, this particular program had a very strict word limit, thus I wrote a completely different SOP from my other applications. For the rest of my applications, I revised my SOP several times and got lots of feedback. So, my take is that my writing sample and letters carried the most weight.

 

My point is that you can't stay awake all night wondering if you should/shouldn't visit a school, or if you should write a "broad" vs. "narrow" SOP, etc. Be as informed as you can be, but then at some point you just have to let it go. There's no way you can know all the "secrets" that you would need to know about getting into a specific program.