The politics behind PhD admissions?

[TheMercySeat]

Is it really a thing?

Discuss.

I'll go first: it wierds me out when applicants are introduced as so-and-so's student. I want to me known for what *I* accomplished, not for who I paid thousands upon thousands of dollars to sit in a classroom with.

Does who candidate Y studied with really negate the fact that candidate Z has a master's degree and a gazillion presentations and publications, while candidate Y is still finishing up his or her bachelors degree with virtually no research experience and exposure to a hot shot professor? I keep seeing people conforming to the latter profile on interview days, which is bizarre because I thought successful PhD applicants were expected to have professional research experience (pubs and presentations).

Edited February 23, 2015 by TheMercySeat

[PsychandPhilo]

Easy Answer: YES.

 

Longer Answer:

 

Politics and networking plays a role in PhD admissions just like any other occupation in the professional world. If you worked with someone well-known and in your subfield, you have a bit of a benefit getting into programs. This is part of the reasons students from bigger universities have better chances than a student who went to a small liberal arts college. If your POI knows your mentor and respects the work he/she does, then the POI is more likely to take your applciation seriously and give it stronger consideration.

 

Politics isn't everything though. Your general intellect and experience conducting research are also gonna play major roles in your admission, as well as interviews and such. The logic is not "I am a student of someone well-known, therefore I get in wherever I want". But if there are two strong students, and one of them is from a more well known college/department, then that will work in their favor.

 

As far as the presentations and publications go, don't assume those are always strongly respected. A student with less research experience, but engaged in independent self-run meaningful research, can sometimes be rated more highly than a student who was maybe X author on a paper and really only helped collect a little bit of data and did not engage in any of the substantial work. Presentations typically indicate you had a larger role, but there's always exceptions.

 

There's no magic formula for getting in, but politics does play a role. Remember, however, that what you know about an applicant might not reflect everything the POI knows or that is on his/her CV.

Edited February 23, 2015 by PsychandPhilo

[spunky]

from  Wallace Stanley Sayre:

 

"Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."

 

after become acquainted with this corollary of what is commonly known as Sayre's Law i think i just stopped caring about academic politics altogether

[TheMercySeat]

Soooooo weird!!!

The acceptance rate of some institutions with rockstar professors suggests that they'll take any undergrad applicant with a pulse (ASU comes to mind, which accepts 80% of applicants).

I did it all wrong by going to an UG institution with a more strigent acceptance rate

Edited February 23, 2015 by TheMercySeat

[spunky]

Soooooo weird!!!

The acceptance rate of some institutions with rockstar professors suggests that they'll take any undergrad applicant with a pulse (ASU comes to mind, which accepts 80% of applicants).

I did it all wrong by going to an UG institution with a more strigent acceptance rate

 

omg, and everybody gets funding as well? like i do know of quite a few programs who willingly accept anyone as long as they're willing to pay from their own pocket. 

[TheMercySeat]

omg, and everybody gets funding as well? like i do know of quite a few programs who willingly accept anyone as long as they're willing to pay from their own pocket.

Ohhh!!!

I phrased this wrong

I meant to that ASU accepts any high school graduate applicant into their undergraduate program who has a pulse, as evidenced by ASU's 80% acceptance rate for high school graduates seeking entry into undergraduate studies.

[spunky]

Ohhh!!!

I phrased this wrong

I meant to that ASU accepts any high school graduate applicant into their undergraduate program who has a pulse, as evidenced by ASU's 80% acceptance rate for high school graduates seeking entry into undergraduate studies.

 

 

OH, well that changes things. but it sorta makes sense though... have you watched the Ivory Tower  documentary?  a few of the things they say are a little bit "out there" but one where they hit the nail on the head is when they make the case of the "for-profit" university model that is becoming so pervasive across North America. the crux of the issue is that unless you're part of a "brandname" university (e.g. Harvard, Standford, Yale, etc.) it makes economic sense for other universities to accept as many undergraduate students as they can as long as they come with a bag full of money to dump in the university... cue in the student debt crisis now.