- Joined
- Mar 15, 2010
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 0
Thanks I think that's a good answer.
However, I wonder if it will backfire if the other option (Y) seems to be more competitive than X.
I think it really just depends on why the POI is asking. In my advisor's case, they really just wanted to know whether the student was demonstrating similar interests in general; whether or not the other program was more or less competitive didn't factor in. I suppose other POI's may have different intentions in asking that question.
Students also choose programs for different reasons. Just because one program is more competitive on paper doesn't mean it will be the right fit for any particular student, and someone might choose the "less competitive" option for any number of reasons. So hopefully a POI isn't assuming a student will/won't come to a certain program solely based on the status of the other programs they are considering. It's certainly a complicated issue and it seems to me that reading too much into it (either by the student OR the professor) could be problematic.