interest in specific professor's research -- how to communicate it?

Transfer Students
1

Hi everyone,

I’m working on my Penn supplement for transfer admission. The question is about how I will pursue my academic and intellectual interests at Penn. There are several faculty members whose classes suit my interests very well and/or whose research interests are basically the same as mine. There is in particular a faculty member who does research that suits my interests exactly (a perfect combination of interests), but they don’t teach any classes that are part of the major I discuss.

How is it appropriate to express my interest in working with the faculty member? Should I say that I am interested in the research of Professor A because B, and I would love to build on my past research/experience with C through program D??? Sorry for all the variables there, just trying to make it generic. Basically, I want to know whether it’s okay to say that I would seek out a specific research opportunity with the professor, and if that’s not okay, then what the best way to include this info in essay is.

If anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated! Thanks!

P.S. I mentioned on multiple freshman apps to schools that I wanted to research with specific professors, and I got into those schools. Wasn’t a problem then, but I’m not sure about transfer admission.

2

I’d suggest including a few different profs so that you convey interest in a broad area rather than a narrow one and so that you increase the likelihood that at least one or two would be staying on and working with students.

3

Good thinking. I have mentioned about four, but only one for research. Do you mean that I should mention maybe two for research instead of one? That’s a good idea, and it won’t be difficult either – I was already going to write about a different prof until I found this other one. I can mention both