so my english teacher is helping us with college essays, and she said that we should try to namedrop specific professors. i visted cornell and loved it, but it was over spring break and i didn’t have time to meet professors. should i still mention that i want to study under professor X, or should i just not bring them up at all?
I mentioned a professor, a lab, and specific classes I wanted to take. I hadn’t met him, hadn’t seen the lab, and had never looked in on a class. I was accepted.
I think it’s less about doing it and more about how you do it. If you throw a professor’s name in that you could have found during a two minute Google search, the officers are going to be able to tell.
The point is to convince them that you have done your research and know exactly how you-- as opposed to someone else-- would take the best opportunity of the education that their school, and only their school, can offer. If it’s not a professor that you are absolutely desperate to meet and contribute to the research of, and can convincingly convey that, than consider skipping the mention. If you can, more power to you.
Good luck!
My kid did in a couple cases. Just that she was interested in learning more about a specific prof’s research in area X. She didn’t go on and on, but mentioned it. They don’t expect you to know EXACTLY how you will take advantage of the school’s resources. In fact, sounding too prescriptive could turn them off (don’t want to come across as rigid). But mentioning a class, a facility, a prof whose research interests you, a club or two that sounds exciting – all can help. They want to know that you researched the school and have reasons beyond “small class sizes”. 
Also – a big point of the essay is for them to judge how likely you are to come. It is lovely to think they want the student who will get the most out of the school. They do want that – but even more they want to get a feeling for whether accepting you will help or hurt their yield. A student who didn’t research the school isn’t as likely to attend if accepted.