How much influence do professors have in the process?

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I have been corresponding with a prospective advisor at my first-choice school and she has responded very positively and has told me that I am one of the stronger applicants. However she also mentioned that she is not on the admissions committee and that while she is able to make recommendations, seemed to insinuate that she does not have the final say in who gets admitted. I would think, since graduate study is so highly specialized, that if a professor made it clear the students he or she wants admitted, the admissions committee would have to go along with it. Is this incorrect? How much pull do professors really have?

[kittkat]

It really depends on the school and the professor. Is the person you have been in contact with a full tenured professor (superstar in the field or a professor that doesn't really bring in much grant $$)? Does he/she have grant money that can fund you rather than relying on the department to fund you? There are a lot of variables. Sometimes if a professor already has quite a few students, the department might want to give the space ($$ for a student) to a new professor (on a tenured track) so they can get their lab up and running etc. It also really depends on who is on the committee (believe me, sometimes there is animosity between faculty members -- they all think that they "deserve" the space. Also what is the track record of the professor? Have they had a bunch of students before that did not finish or quit (I personally witnessed this before....a faculty member was a jerk and their students quit...needless to say they haven't gotten a new grad student in a l-o-n-g time)? Basically, if the professor can fund you themselves, you get in. But.....every department is different. What field?

[jetlag]

that is a good question and one I've been wondering about myself.

kittkat, you mentioned some interesting factors affecting the ability of professors to influence decisions. some of those things are hard to gauge though, unless you know somebody who's a grad student in the department who can tell you about track records of certain profs.

so far i have 2 tenured profs in 2 different schools who seem interested in taking me. both of them will graduate some students so they'll each have at least one space open in their labs. other profs i have contacted were more lukewarm in their responses, and some never replied back. so i'm really hoping for those 2 to be really influential in admission decision.

i'm in biochem by the way.

[kittkat]

Hi Jetlag,

I can see where it would be somewhat difficult to find out this information. I have been pretty fortunate finding out these kinds of things. I've been to many conferences and have talked to a lot of graduate students from the programs I have been applying to. I also know a lot of graduate students in my field (cog neuroscience/Human Factors Engineering) because have a Master's degree (okay...not quite yet...I'm defending in 2 months). I'm sure your potential prof's have funding money (especially since you're in bio chem). Let's face it, there is just more funding to be had in the hard sciences. Where have you applied? You can always send me a private message if you don't want to say on the forum. It feels a little weird laying out all the schools on the forum (who knows who is lurking). The waiting is already driving me crazy. It isn't that I don't think I will get in anywhere (I know I'll get in to a few schools), it is just that I'm impatient! I can't stand not knowing where I will be in 6 months!!!!!

[jetlag]

I know how you feel. I applied to 4 schools but my only hope is pretty much in U of Arizona. The other 3 are not exactly Ivy league, they're roughly in the top 20 and 30s for my field, but still they accept less than 2% of their international applicants every year, so chances are super slim for me. My former boss is gonna be a newly hired faculty at UC irvine but I doubt she'll have much of an influence on the decision since she hasnt even started assuming her position. In Arizona I have corresponded with one professor who is my 1st choice advisor because I'm very familiar with his work, our research interests match really well and he's responded positively. I personally see us as a perfect match but who knows what the admission committee thinks. I get really nervous when I think about it. This is my 2nd time applying and if I dont get in this time I'm not sure if I will apply to grad school again, ever. It might be time to move on, get a master's degree instead, get a job, etc, etc.

Hey, best of luck with the thesis defense.

You seem to have prepared yourself well for a PhD program so I'm sure you'll get into some of your top choices.