Namedropping in SOP

[SheldonCopper]

Hi all,

I want to know if applicants should put the name of the professors whom I want to work with. Though I have a bit clear image of an area I want to work with, I can't decide who would be the best fit. Of course research topic is important, but working style and personality also matter and clearly there is no way to find these until you enter the program. However, many people seem to drop names of the professors. I wonder how graduate admission committee view this. Will there be more chance if applicants drop the name? Or it doesn't matter?

[cyberwulf]

Drop names or don't, it probably doesn't matter. I guess I would lean slightly against doing it, since you do run the risk of looking uninformed if the given professor isn't really active, etc.

The basic idea is that if you're not confident talking about the research that individual faculty members are doing, you probably shouldn't be spending a lot of space on it in the SOP.