Contacting POI?

[IcedCoffeeCat]

If this is in the wrong area, I'm sorry guys! I'm new, and not sure where exactly to place this.

 

Moving on, I was curious if anyone knew how/when to go about contacting your POI? (And if anyone could give me a nod and assure me that POI is basically the person you want as your adviser during your time in graduate school, that would be great.) Not to sound like I'm making excuses, but I have terrible anxiety when contacting new people, mostly because I'm afraid I'll say one wrong thing and then get shut down forever. 

 

So if you guys have tips, would you mind sharing them? Or even your own experiences! I would really appreciate it.

[Dedi]

Here are some things I've learned about contacting POIs forr the first time:

Of course, you want to first introduce yourself, but in a very brief manner (e.g., Hello, my name is Dedi and I am an undergraduate student at X university).

Explain why you are writing to them (e.g., I am writing to you because I am interested in your research).

Explain your research interests (very briefly) and how this professor's interests overlap yours.

Finally, ask them if they are taking in graduate students for the 2015-2016 year.

 

Some professors want you to send a CV with the email (I've seen that with a couple professors). Do follow their directions.

 

As for when, I've been contacting POIs since my second year of undergrad. I don't recommend it. Even third year is still a grey area to most professors (but I've established a couple good professional relationships during that time, even if they didn't know if they were going to be accepting students). I haven't had as much luck going into my fourth year.

[IcedCoffeeCat]

Thank you so much for your help so far!

 

If they don't really have instructions on how to contact the faculty, do I need to send the CV, unless she specifically asks for it?

 

I am entering my fourth year of undergrad and will be applying this upcoming term, so I don't need to worry about it being too early. (At least, I hope not.)

[Dedi]

Thank you so much for your help so far!

 

If they don't really have instructions on how to contact the faculty, do I need to send the CV, unless she specifically asks for it?

 

I am entering my fourth year of undergrad and will be applying this upcoming term, so I don't need to worry about it being too early. (At least, I hope not.)

 

I don't usually send the CV unless the professor asks for it specifically.

[bsharpe269]

I've heard really mixed into on this... My advisor told me that when students do this, he just gets annoyed.

[IcedCoffeeCat]

@Dedi Thank you again for all your help!

 

I'm going to assume that the above format is still acceptable if the program specifically asks you to email them before applying.

 

@bsharpe269 Did he mention why? I don't see why people would be annoyed that someone wants to attend their school and study under them. Seems like a little pat on the back to me.

[Gvh]

I've heard really mixed into on this... My advisor told me that when students do this, he just gets annoyed.

 

I've heard mixed opinions on this too. But I've decided I'd rather "mildly annoy" a POI and find out if s/he's taking students rather than spend countless hours + $100 putting together a App/SOP for a lab that isn't taking students.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Gvh