How do I know which faculty member is my POI?

[applyingtopsych]

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How do I know which faculty member is my POI? I had to list 3 faculty members on my application.

 

[apumic]

Then all 3 are your POIs. A POI is simply a professor of interest, someone you hope to study with. At most schools, you should have more than 1 (2-3 is probably a good number), since if one ends up unable to accept a student (e.g., ends up leaving the university, funding falls through, etc.), the other can be a sort of backup. Additionally, if you have several POIs (who are good matches) at a given school, it probably shows that the dept as a whole is oriented toward areas of study you would find interesting and/or benefit from.

 

[Ollie123]

Then all 3 are your POIs. A POI is simply a professor of interest, someone you hope to study with. At most schools, you should have more than 1 (2-3 is probably a good number), since if one ends up unable to accept a student (e.g., ends up leaving the university, funding falls through, etc.), the other can be a sort of backup. Additionally, if you have several POIs (who are good matches) at a given school, it probably shows that the dept as a whole is oriented toward areas of study you would find interesting and/or benefit from.

I have to disagree with this, I think it really depends on how specific your research interests are. I think unless its a large department, if you have more than 1-2 POIs you probably need to narrow down your research focus a bit. Obviously if it works out, great (I had a similar situation at my current institution), but I think you'll find very few schools with multiple faculty who are experts in say...drug use expectancies. I think by the time you get to #3 or beyond, chances are you're looking at labs you are at best a questionable fit for...which doesn't bode well for success or happiness in most cases. It would be crazy to not apply to a school just because there was only one faculty member in your research area if they really are a good fit.

Remember, you really are applying to faculty members more than the school.

 

[psychanxiety]

I agree with Ollie- if you're lucky enough to find a program that has a focus on your specific interest, then hooray! You have lots of people to apply for. Otherwise, just 1-2 in a department. One person even told me that you are also appealing to a professor's ego, so if you mention everyone in the department then no one will feel loved.

I have a similar problem with one of my interviews...so I'll be studying up on everyone's work just in case. You can also politely mention if there is one researcher who is a better fit than others.

 

[Marissa4usa]

I have a similar question. For my interview I was asked to list 3 professors I would interview with. I'm having a real problem with this because there is only one professor at this department that has my interest. I could probably list a second person which would already be a stretch but ...3 ???
Should I just give them 3 names and explain my preferences at the interview?
Should I just list 1 or 2 professors and disregard their request?
Or should I Iist 3 professors but mention that I really think that my interests only match with one person?

 

[RileyG]

For my interview I was asked to list 3 professors I would interview with.

is this for univ of mississippi? i interviewed there last year and was asked to list 3 profs I wanted to interview with. i listed my POI (obv), the DCT, and one other faculty member for no good reason other than they wanted 3 profs. At the end of the interview day, they had all the interviewees rank the profs they wanted to work with. I found it really helpful to have one-on-one time with the DCT even though our research interests weren't similar at all. Good luck!

 

[Marissa4usa]

Well, they tell me to list the people I want to interview with but then they basically say: these are the faculty that are interested in interviewing people. and those are all professors who want to accept students to in their lab. and there really is only one that has my interest.

 

[RileyG]

think of it like this...at most interviews, you will interview with your POI plus profs other than your POI. at this school, you get to choose who those other profs are. interviewing with them does not imply that you have any interest in working with them. many schools have a committee that make the decisions on who gets in, so you will want to impress other profs in addition to your POI.

 

[DrDancer]

oddly enough, i was never asked about a POI on my applications. i have interviews scheduled at 3/6 schools i applied to, and only 1 of the schools notified me who i would be interviewing with (happens to be the 1 school i had a POI for, and she's not interviewing me). any opinions on this - does it even make a difference? this process is so anxiety-provoking, i find myself questioning everything. 😳

 

[FranklinR]

oddly enough, i was never asked about a POI on my applications. i have interviews scheduled at 3/6 schools i applied to, and only 1 of the schools notified me who i would be interviewing with (happens to be the 1 school i had a POI for, and she's not interviewing me). any opinions on this - does it even make a difference? this process is so anxiety-provoking, i find myself questioning everything. 😳

It is far more anxiety-provoking than is necessary, I think. The schools really provide very little information.

Are you applying to PhD or PsyD programs? Some PhD programs admit by committee, not by professor, and for PsyD program a match between one professor and a student is less important.

 

[cara susanna]

Okay, for the OP's original question--for me, they scheduled my interviews with the people I mentioned, so I knew that they were my POIs.

 

[lucyguard]

One of my schools asked me to rank FOUR professors. I included my POI, the DCT (whose research I find interesting) and other 2 professors whose research I would like to learn more about but are not necessarily topics I would dedicate my career to.

 

[DrDancer]

It is far more anxiety-provoking than is necessary, I think. The schools really provide very little information.

Are you applying to PhD or PsyD programs? Some PhD programs admit by committee, not by professor, and for PsyD program a match between one professor and a student is less important.

SO glad i'm not the only one to find this whole thing so troublesome.
i'm applying to all psy.d. programs, so i guess the individual matching is less of a big deal?