applying to multiple professors when only one is a match

[applyingtograd]

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Most schools request that you apply to work with at least two professors. What should I do if only one professors at a school is a match? Should I just pick one more and apply to them? I am worried that trying to connect my interests to theirs will make my personal statement a little vague and not as well written as it otherwise could be.

 

[roubs]

Most schools request that you apply to work with at least two professors. What should I do if only one professors at a school is a match? Should I just pick one more and apply to them? I am worried that trying to connect my interests to theirs will make my personal statement a little vague and not as well written as it otherwise could be.

Develop an interest 🙂 I'm only half-joking, it depends if you have like 3+ years in the area of one person who is adult and the other person studies only infant attachment. That would be a difficult situation, but in most cases I think there are more connections to be made than people typically see.

Also check to see if there is another faculty who allows his grad students to wander the pasture a bit and explore areas more tangentially related to the main lab focus, sometimes a more established mentor won't have as much of a laser-like focus on publishing volumes in one specific area. The best way to assess this would be to look at the dissertations that have come out of the lab if they are available, or the faculty's publications with students. Then you can apply to that lab with having an interest in area X but wanting to spin it off with area Y where you have more background/experience.

 

[deadmau5]

I would make the most of the application and mention at least two or three. You never know... sometimes your ONLY choice might end up not bothering to take students.

I've had the case where someone who I didn't even mention called me as well, however, it may have been suggested by the graduate director (I was in his lab at the time).

 

[mixolyd]

Most schools request that you apply to work with at least two professors. What should I do if only one professors at a school is a match? Should I just pick one more and apply to them? I am worried that trying to connect my interests to theirs will make my personal statement a little vague and not as well written as it otherwise could be.

Most programs? Are you sure? I have not run into that