Two questions about grad school applications

In our new "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

With deadlines coming up for graduate programs, I am wondering if I, in my academic statements, should include professors that I would like to work with. I have got conflicting advice on this, some say "do not name drop" other say "name drop! So long as you know that they align with your research interests."

Second, on my application, I have been told NOT to add the schools that I am applying to, i.e., applying to UCLA, do not add that I am also applying to x, y, or z schools so that it either 1. build some competition or urgency at the school you're applying too? 2. It makes them think, "Oh well, they will get into x school. They will choose us." I have also heard naming other schools is good because they are more likely to choose you; they can have some sort of vision as to who they are competing with. Again, these are all things I have heard, and I have no idea what to do...

The second thing (mentioning other schools one is applying to) seems weird and off-putting to me. Anyone can apply to the best programs around, so why think anything of it? As for "name-dropping" faculty one would like to work with, I'm not sure!

Do any readers have any helpful insights to share?

Comments

[Grad student]

Regarding the first question, I was always advised that you should include professors you would like to work with. It shows that you have researched the department and so are genuinely interested in attending, and it helps to make the case that you'll be a good fit for the department. Of course, there are more or less effective ways to do this. If any of the faculty members' work has informed your projects already in some significant way, or if you have concrete thoughts on a project that they could be a good mentor for, then that will be much more helpful than just "I want to work with X because they work on ethics." The latter looks a little lazy, and so I could imagine that potentially hurting your chances. But as long as there's some non-trivial connection you can draw that shows you've done more than just look at their "Areas of interest" on the department website, you should definitely name a few.

On the second question, I'm not sure. I was never told to do this, and I think some departments may worry that if you look like a better fit for another department on the list, then you won't want to attend there anyway. So I wouldn't do this personally, but others might disagree.

[PhD Candidate]

Re: first question, I agree with the poster above. You should NOT just list all of the professors who work in the same AOS as you. Rather, if you mention names, you should (i) mention more than one (it's very risky to go to grad school to work with only one person, I have seen multiple grad students get screwed over by this over the years) (ii) mention the particular area of their research that aligns with your more specific interests and (iii) make sure you are only listing active TT professors (i.e., not those who are not emeritus and not Teaching Professors who will not supervise research or postdocs)

Fun fact, I accidentally listed someone who literally was DEAD when I applied to a graduate program and I still got waitlisted there, so chances are these are not the kinds of things that will make or break you lol (but luckily I mentioned several living people, too!)

Re: second question: I assume you are talking about that weird part of many applications where it specifically asks you to list where else you are applying. For those wondering, this is part of many university's standard graduate school applications now and I've always found it very odd. I chose not to list other schools, and I see no benefit to listing them. It's also just a waste of time, and many admissions committees probably don't even look at that list because it's just boilerplate university stuff, not part of the application the adcom is actually interested in. I don't think it will ever help to do so.

[An Anon]

I've never been on the admissions side of the process so my opinion is worthless. But the only advantage I can conceive of in listing other programs you've applied to is that if the programs you list make good sense in light of your strength as a candidate and what you say your interests are, that might cause someone to see you as a serious applicant who has done their research and acquired a good sense of the field they're hoping to enter. I don't have any intuitions as to how much creating that impression would help you. And the downside of coming off as though you consider applying somewhere to be an accomplishment does seem significant.

[Joshua Paschal]

I explicitly mentioned the faculty I wanted to work with (three of them for every app) and specified what of their *research* I was interested in. I even mentioned specific articles by title, though I think that was overkill (I did read them, to be clear!). I did this for all of my applications. I recommend name-dropping like this consistently, as it is the best way to demonstrate fit (Which, usually, I have had admissions reps agree when I have asked about this over the years).

Mentioning other schools is the *bad* way to demonstrate fit and I would advise against it. You want to work with people, not schools. I have never heard of someone recommending mentioning other schools in a Statement of Purpose. Mentioning other schools comes off as "I looked at the specialty rankings!" It is much better if you mention *friends* if relevant, such as "I am interested in the work of van Inwagen, and I know O'Connor works on his work, and would like to further study the free will debate" (using Tim as an example, though I am definitely *not* a free will guy).

I have heard people say to avoid name-dropping, but usually this is a precaution, since you may get things wrong (like the above poster mentioning a dead prof!). I do not think this is a problem if you're doing your due diligence.

Show you understand! And if you end up being rejected, it might end up being for the best. One program which I did not go to would have ended up possibly messing me up, as the main person I wanted to work with was retiring! If you mention names, they might reject you for insider info (ex: "Oh, that prof isn't taking students anymore, might be better to put them lower on the waitlist and let them know" or something).

Admissions committees are, usually, looking for balance in interests across their cohorts. Name-dropping, if done right, can help that: "Oh, this person wants to work on X with Z, Z wants students, this works well!"

Best of luck with applications!

[another grad student]

There are lots of different kinds of people on admissions committees, and they are often looking for different kinds of things. But I do think that, on average, it's not actually a point in your favor to make it look like you have a super clear conception of what you want to work on and with whom. You come in as someone with a lot of learning and discovering to do, and many departments are looking for people who will take advantage of the resources in their department to do that learning and discovering.
So, if you are really excited about someone's research, go ahead and explain why -- that might make you look like someone who loves philosophy and knows how they want to use their department's resources. Otherwise, listing names probably won't help you and might hurt you, because it makes it look like you want to work with those people merely because you've put yourself in a box.
As for listing other departments -- I would definitely not do this unprompted, i.e. in a cover letter. Since it's not the norm, I think it would just jump out. But if they ask, no harm in answering.
By the way, here is a useful discussion of applying to (US) grad schools by Bernhard Nickel: https://blog.apaonline.org/2017/03/22/applying-to-graduate-school-in-the-united-states-some-suggestions/

[The Real SLAC Prof]

While perhaps name dropping can occasionally help, I do not advise doing so. I think the potential gains are slight or unlikely and the potential risks are high.

I participated in graduate admissions for almost 10 years, and I have seen the naming names strategy get people in the reject pile many times; I have never witnessed the naming of names be the reason someone was put in the acceptance pile (although certainly some people who named names were accepted, but the naming wasn't the reason for the acceptance).

I've witnessed at least four ways that this has gone wrong (I'm not saying admission committee members were right or wise in acting in these ways, but I have witnessed versions of each of these scenarios):

1. Applicant names someone who, despite appearing on the website, does not actually advise students.

2. Applicant names someone who does advise students but who currently has too many advisees and so is no longer taking new students.

3. Applicant names someone who is taking students, but several other strong candidates in the pool that cycle have also expressed a desire to work with the same professor.

4. Applicant names Professors A, B, and C, but not Professor D who works in the same or a closely aligned area. Professor D is the one who is called on to make the decision and feels offended at not being name-checked along with their colleagues.

Sure, an applicant could attempt to avoid these pitfalls by naming a bunch of professors in the department or maybe everyone in a few subfields, but then the applicant risks coming across as insincere.

Given that I've never seen name-checking actually move a candidate from the "maybe" pile to the "yes" pile and I have seen name-checking move multiple people from the "maybe" pile to the "no" pile, I don't think it is worth doing.

And, yeah, listing all the other places one is applying is just weird.

[grad student]

Surely the OP isn’t asking whether to list other schools they’re applying to in the SOP or a cover letter. It’s just that most (all?) schools ask about that in their online appplication.

[one more advice amid mixed advice]

Well, I agree with people who encourage name dropping, like Joshua above, and also agree with those who caution against it, like another graduate student. What I want to add is some data: out of top 30 students on our list, 29 have name dropped. Name dropping hasn't played a big role in the selection process, but it is becoming more or less standard (or at least very common) these days. So you should not be overly cautious and withhold from any namedropping, as long as you can do it right (heed the advice in this thread). You should not force yourself to name drop either, because it does not play any significant role in the process as I said.

[grad student]

when I applied, I got tons of conflicting advice about this in particular. so much conflicting advice, that on my 25 grad school applications I hedged; I mentioned profs in half of my applications and didn't mention profs in the other half. it had no effect on which places I did or didn't get in, as far as I am aware (I did equally well with both batches of the applications). I think my strategy was fine, and always-mentioning or never-mentioning would have also been fine.

more speculaitve: I get the sense that mentioning/not matters in only 2 real cases. 1: where you screw it up, list dead people, etc. and 2: where there isn't obvious fit between your areas of interest and the AOS of the faculty, and you're legitimately giving the committee useful information by listing people.