How much weight do individual profs have re phd acceptances?

[Macrina]

Can having a prof who wants to work with you get you in? I know it can't hurt, but I'm just wondering if, assuming you're a known quantity, having someone on the faculty who wants to work with you is the difference between an acceptance and a rejection?

I'm asking out of curiosity. Someone in my current program commented that without a pre-arranged advisor, you don't stand a chance. True? Or false?

Edited January 11, 2014 by Macrina

[sacklunch]

These kinds of things vary so much from department to department. Some departments it's more or less, as you said, one professor may get to select someone in his/her subfield. Other schools it's up to the entire department and may end up being "who do we all hate the least?" Still other instances arise when Prof. X (heh) got a student last year, so Prof. Y gets a student this year (or other political issues that are unknown to applicants). There are simply too many variables and as you have no doubt heard, too many different stories from accepted students to generalize. But, in short, a 'pre-arranged adviser' is nonsense. There are plenty of doctoral students who had no formal contact with their prospective adviser(s) or their department. What is done is done, mate. Sit back and enjoy the ride/nightmare with the rest of us poor bastards.

[MBIGrad]

At Yale, each professor (I'm not sure whether level matters) is afforded one recommendation, and out of those they cut the list and submit it to the grad school. At Princeton, professors of an area confer and submit two finalists, one or two of which are selected. This only applies to Ancient Mediterranean Religions faculty, as these are those with whom I've spoken. From what I've heard, and of course none of us probably truly "know," the 'pre-arranged adviser' is indeed nonsense, as per furtivemode. However, I do think that having someone on the faculty who could see themselves advising one's research through dissertation would be requisite.

[Macrina]

These kinds of things vary so much from department to department. Some departments it's more or less, as you said, one professor may get to select someone in his/her subfield. Other schools it's up to the entire department and may end up being "who do we all hate the least?" Still other instances arise when Prof. X (heh) got a student last year, so Prof. Y gets a student this year (or other political issues that are unknown to applicants). There are simply too many variables and as you have no doubt heard, too many different stories from accepted students to generalize. But, in short, a 'pre-arranged adviser' is nonsense. There are plenty of doctoral students who had no formal contact with their prospective adviser(s) or their department. What is done is done, mate. Sit back and enjoy the ride/nightmare with the rest of us poor bastards.

Thanks. I'm not applying for a year, so I get to sit back and watch and learn.but I am planning on applying both in-house and elsewhere, so that's reassuring.

Furtivemode, are you at a place that prefers internal applicants? Because that's the kind of  program my friend was talking about. They figure they don't have a chance

Edited January 15, 2014 by fuzzylogician
edited for privacy at OP's request. --fuzzy