The role of the POI

[snozzberryjunkie]

Hi all! I'm new to the forum, and as I've been reading, I have a question: What exactly is the role of the Person Of Interest (POI)? My field is Arts/Humanities (Musicology), & I get the feeling that there is a big difference in the role of a POI in my field versus others. Or, perhaps I'm terribly ignorant of a vital facet of the application/decision making process for grad. schools. Can anyone speak to the role of a/some POI(s) in Musicology &/or related fields?

 

From the threads I've been reading, it appears that in many programs (mostly science/math) it's basically require that you to designate a POI, or someone you'd want to work with specifically. In fact, it seems that often times this is the go-to person for communications from the schools. However, the biggest area that I was unaware of was that the POI seems to play a very important role in whether or not you're accepted or rejected! Now, in retrospect, this makes sense to me for the science fields where you would be doing very specifc lab work with someone in their lab. Similarly, I know for my Music Performance colleagues, it's even more important. However, I wasn't/am not aware of it being such a big part of the process, if it as equally important in Musicology. Obviously, you look at who is where and doing what when you consider schools, but since Musicology professors don't really have studios or labs, I didn't think that taking on a graduate advisee was such a big deal in our field. Furthermore, in my experience with the graduate students during my undergraduate career, they really didn't have a singular advisor. Their committee was really the guiding force in their education.

 

So basically, since I've been rambling on, what's the role and/or importance of a POI in the application/decision making process in the Arts (Musicology)?

 

 

Edited April 7, 2014 by snozzberryjunkie

[ToomuchLes]

Excellent question! I dont mean to hijack your thread, snoozzberryjunkie, but would someone also elaborate on the role of a POI in the History Department at a large school; for example, UCLA. I've heard disparate reports that in larger universities POIs play a marginal role, while at small institutions they play a greater role in deciding candidates for graduate programs. 

[perpetuavix]

Your POI is someone that could possibly be the chair of your dissertation committee. It's pretty common to have one person who guides your dissertation process, and the committee is only involved at certain points (ie, you meet weekly with your advisor and send your committee work once a month/semester), but I guess it varies by school/department. 

In applying, it's a good idea to have more than one POI, just because you might not connect with one or more of your POIs when you actually need to select your dissertation chair. I included POIs in all my SOPs, which worked out for me but some people think you shouldn't name names (and also had success with that). There is a lot of talk about 'fit' in humanities grad school admissions. Schools want to accept students that they can support; if you expect to work in a field where professors don't have any experience, you probably won't be admitted. 

In math/science, it's pretty important to connect with people you could work with and encourage them to admit you. That doesn't seem to be the case in humanities. You might get a small boost if your POI is on the admissions committee or if you've made a real connection with your POI (ie. don't email them just to email them; have something substantive to say). I didn't contact any of my POIs and it worked out fine for me.