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So I'm in a bit of a panic--I've talked to a few professors from my undergrad and scoured this forum on the topic (primarily this thread )  and decided I wasn't going to email POIs at my various schools. I didn't have any urgent questions that could only be answered by faculty, and from what I had managed to gather it wouldn't make a difference. BUT last week, I spoke to a junior faculty at the university I work at and she said I absolutely needed to email professors in advance and that should start doing so right now. So, three questions: 

 

1. Do I need to?!

2. Is it going to look weird because it's so late? 

3. What do I ask/write that will be both effective and respectful of professor's time? 

 

Help! Have you all been emailing professors? Why/why not?

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Hi strategicallyessential,

 

I'm not sure whether it's too late or not, BUT I e-mailed a few faculty in August/September and I found it really helpful. The e-mail I sent was a very brief summary of my background and research interests, and included a sentence showing how our interests are related. I also asked if that professor frequently works with graduate students and, if admitted, what opportunities I might have to collaborate with them (I can't remember my exact wording, but something like that).

 

All of the professors I e-mailed replied, and I found their responses helpful for two reasons:

 

1) some of them confirmed that our research interests are a good fit and encouraged me to apply, but said they wait until after admissions decisions are sent to talk to students at length. Although they probably won't remember my name come admissions time, I can be fairly confident that they'll probably be around for a few more years (not retiring or considering a move), and are vaguely interested in my work.

2) others responded with a lot of really helpful guidance, pointing me in the direction of research centers, other faculty, and other programs I should also consider applying to. They also gave me a better idea of their current research, and as a result, I had an easier time tailoring my SOPs.

 

Based on my own experience, I'd encourage you to send out a few e-mails. What can it really hurt?

 

Also, does the faculty member you mentioned teach sociology? I've gotten mixed feedback about contacting departments as well, but (from my very limited experience), I've noticed that my friends/professors in anthropology tend to emphasize it a little more.

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It's not too late at all, but I would try to email them this week or the next at the latest. Two weeks from now it will start to be a little late.

I am emailing professors now and I am getting very encouraging responses. What I write depends on what they write on their websites. If they don't say anything I present myself and my research interest, tell them why I am interested in their work and ask them whether they will be taking students. If they already say they are taking students I just present myself etc. and I let them know I will be applying. 

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     I sent emails to all of my POI's (History), and got responses from almost all of them, including some really good advice in a couple of cases. My email was pretty straightforward like Anonymona's. I specifically asked if the professor if would be available to advise a student like me for the coming semester, and I'm glad I did because a few actually told me that they are retiring at the end of this year. I imagine you'd hate to go on and on in your statement of purpose about how Professor X is the reason you're applying to a school when he won't be teaching there, or anywhere, in 6 months.

     Sending out a few letters to at least the professors who interest you most can save you a lot of headache.

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Thanks for asking this, and thanks to all of you for replying. Basically, this thread has made me decide to suck it up today, send out emails and get it over with so I don't have to keep worrying about it, and worrying whether it is too late. 

 

I knew I was supposed to be doing this, but got talked out of it by older "mentors" when I asked how to do it appropriately. They didn't think it was necessary, so I didn't contact anyone. Since talking to graduate coordinators at the schools I'm applying, I have been told that it's not only a good idea, but that professors actually expect it. I have been really getting anxious and haven't sent anything out yet because I still haven't gotten the advice from professors for how to approach it. I've read a ton of threads here on how to do it, but I keep feeling increasingly intimidated and think I'm going to screw it up. I might, but I'd rather have someone reject me because we aren't a good fit rather than because I didn't show initiative. 

 

 

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I second cedarmusings...I had emailed one professor already, but mostly because an advisor at my school encouraged me (I really want to work with the person I emailed, but I was unsure if emailing was a good idea), but after reading this thread today, I finally emailed three potential faculty members I really want to work with. 

 

My mentors gave me very contradictory advice, which was what prevented me from communicating with anyone.

 

Is it really expected though? That's kind of terrifying. 

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I did not email any POI before I was accepted to my current program.

 

I did, however, talk to the graduate director and one other professor on the phone before I was accepted.

 

I think its just important to be in contact with the program you want to get into. It helps them put a person behind the profile you sent to them.

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The fields students (and faculty) are in are very important here. In lab or site-based fields (hard sciences, psychology, anthropology, etc.), you often need to be accepted into a research group. This is almost unheard of in sociology, where students are accepted by a department and not a particular faculty member, yet I have gotten at least one email from a prospective student every day this week (and a couple phone calls).

 

As I think is evidenced by my contributions here, I try to be helpful and want to do what I can to help students who are applying, but I see these emails as an intrusion on my time and have grown increasingly terse in responding to them over the years. This is, in part, because I have also realized that they don't make a difference. The years that I'm on the committee, no one brings up these emails or these students in conversation. The years that I'm not, I don't share a list of these students with anyone. I guarantee that the utility of these emails for sociology students are grossly overstated on this forum.  

 

That said, as I lay out in the post linked above and as is highlighted above, there are specific reasons to email faculty and more effective ways to do it. If you are concerned someone might retire or if you would like to know if someone is going to continue working in the area, it's easy enough to shoot off a brief email saying that you're thinking of applying and that you're interested in the work that they did in a particular publication and wondered if they planned to continue working in the area and/or what their current or future projects are. That is entirely different than the emails that most students send, though, which tend to ask what the chances of getting in are or provide a long introduction with no apparent rationale or ask me to review a selection of materials or end with the vague and impossible to answer, particularly briefly, "Is there anything else I should know about the department?" question. If these are the emails that you're sending, please think twice. They're wasting your time and the faculty members'.

 

Finally, don't underestimate the utility of contacting students. Students are busy, too, but they have a sense of the pulse of the department. They can't tell you your chances and it's not fair to ask them to read your materials - and please don't send out a batch email to every student, as they'll know and be annoyed - but students can tell you lots of things about which faculty seem to be taking students or what it's like to work with X or on Y in a particular department. 

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Thank you all for your very useful and prompt responses. For what it's worth, the faculty member I was speaking to is in anthro...thanks for clarifying the difference! It puts her urgency into perspective and reeeeaaally helps take the edge off the panic. 

 

Faculty, thank you for reiterating that again--that was always my sense, and it's useful to hear again. Anonymona and Applemiu, thank you for the specifics of what you've been doing! I'll probably email a few people this week to check in about the projects they're pursuing, but won't do more than that. 

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The fields students (and faculty) are in are very important here. In lab or site-based fields (hard sciences, psychology, anthropology, etc.), you often need to be accepted into a research group. This is almost unheard of in sociology, where students are accepted by a department and not a particular faculty member, yet I have gotten at least one email from a prospective student every day this week (and a couple phone calls).

 

As I think is evidenced by my contributions here, I try to be helpful and want to do what I can to help students who are applying, but I see these emails as an intrusion on my time and have grown increasingly terse in responding to them over the years. This is, in part, because I have also realized that they don't make a difference. The years that I'm on the committee, no one brings up these emails or these students in conversation. The years that I'm not, I don't share a list of these students with anyone. I guarantee that the utility of these emails for sociology students are grossly overstated on this forum.  

 

That said, as I lay out in the post linked above and as is highlighted above, there are specific reasons to email faculty and more effective ways to do it. If you are concerned someone might retire or if you would like to know if someone is going to continue working in the area, it's easy enough to shoot off a brief email saying that you're thinking of applying and that you're interested in the work that they did in a particular publication and wondered if they planned to continue working in the area and/or what their current or future projects are. That is entirely different than the emails that most students send, though, which tend to ask what the chances of getting in are or provide a long introduction with no apparent rationale or ask me to review a selection of materials or end with the vague and impossible to answer, particularly briefly, "Is there anything else I should know about the department?" question. If these are the emails that you're sending, please think twice. They're wasting your time and the faculty members'.

 

Finally, don't underestimate the utility of contacting students. Students are busy, too, but they have a sense of the pulse of the department. They can't tell you your chances and it's not fair to ask them to read your materials - and please don't send out a batch email to every student, as they'll know and be annoyed - but students can tell you lots of things about which faculty seem to be taking students or what it's like to work with X or on Y in a particular department. 

Thanks for this useful perspective. I haven't even thought to contact any current students at the programs I'm interested in. I think my last email was about two paragraphs, most of which was explaining why I was interested in what I want to do. Perhaps it was too long! Anyway, thanks for the advice. 

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  • 3 months later...

 

I knew I was supposed to be doing this, but got talked out of it by older "mentors" when I asked how to do it appropriately. 

 

I can't figure out how to edit old posts, but I just reread this thread and found my use of quotations to sound sarcastic, which I certainly did not intend. These professors have not accepted an official role of mentorship, but I unofficially consider them to be so. Probably an unnecessary clarification here, but I feel terrible for any misunderstandings anyway.

Edited by cedarmusings
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