Admission Committee

[Platonist]

Hi all guys, I have 2 questions: 

 

1) Is the chairperson of the philosophy department most likely to be on the admission committee? 

 

2) In the statement of purpose, is it wise to mention the work of the specific professor whom you want to work with? What if that professor is not on the admission committee? Could it cause envy and have negative impacts on your admission? 

 

I have finished application, but am becoming concerned with these issues. Thanks.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Platonist

[Cottagecheeseman]

Hi all guys, I have 2 questions: 

 

1) Is the chairperson of the philosophy department most likely to be on the admission committee? 

 

2) In the statement of purpose, is it wise to mention the work of the specific professor whom you want to work with? What if that professor is not on the admission committee? Could it cause envy and have negative impacts on your admission? 

 

I have finished application, but am becoming concerned with these issues. Thanks.

Hey man, you seem really stressed all the time about your apps. Calm down, take a deep breath, this kind of stuff doesn't really matter. You know what really matters? Was your writing sample a good paper? Did you do well in your classes so that you have good letters? - you can't (probably) do anything about these things now, so don't worry. 

But to answer your two questions: 

 

1: No, it's depends on the school and the year. Typically it changes year to year. 

2: It's debatable. Some do, some don't. It probably won't hurt you unless those people are leaving, not taking students. I

 

[TheVineyard]

The department chair might be more likely to be a part of decision making, but they are not necessarily on the ad com. Schools all do it differently. 

As far mentioning profs, I have been told it is a good idea to show you have done your homework. Sometimes that means mentioning specific POIs, and sometimes that means just explaining why you fit with the program, explaining what you take to be the relevant faculty strengths (which can be done without naming specific profs), etc. If you didn't do any of this, then at least you didn't get any of it wrong!

Another thing. Once you get down to the nitty-gritty, ya know, final 20-30 people before the acceptances and waitlists are finalized, I have been told that many schools will send along your writing sample to someone else in the department, either a POI or someone with expertise in the area of your writing sample in order to get their opinion on it. So, listing POIs probably makes it more likely that one of them will end up checking something from your file out, for better or for worse.

Edited January 24, 2014 by TheVineyard