The importance of emailing with different professors.

[Soheila]

Hi there.

I have already emailed many professors, graduate students and graduate offices but no professor reply me to encourage me to apply. Is it too important to get a positive email response or should we just apply and see what admission committee will decide?

[fuzzylogician]

Well, the fact that you haven't received any positive replies is not good news. It would suggest that you are mass-emailing professors (and others who shouldn't be emailed at all, like grad students and grad offices) and not actually doing your research and emailing those who would be a good fit. Professors are very good at detecting these emails and will not respond kindly, if they respond at all. If you do this, it would suggest that you might take a similar approach to applications and to your SOP, and if you did that then there is a decent chance that you'll spend a lot of money and end up with no acceptances and/or no funding. I'd suggest spending some time trying to understand why your current approach isn't working and fixing it. 

As for whether you need a professor to agree to take you on as a student before you apply, that depends on the field. In some fields it's customary to do so, while in others you don't usually contact the professors at all until after you're admitted. So having a positive interaction would have been great, but it could be that the lack thereof is ok and you could still apply and be successful, if you have a strong SOP, LORs, experience, etc. Without knowing more about your field and credentials, I can't say. 

[TakeruK]

Also, your sidebar says you are applying for programs to start in Fall 2017. These applications will be due around December 2016 / January 2017. I would think that it's far too early to be emailing professors right now. I'd wait until September or about 1 month after the Fall 2016 school year begins. The best time may depend on the field though. But I would doubt that many professors are thinking about the next round of applications at this point.

[CreamyDog69]

And honestly, in the biological sciences it is not necessary to email anyone. It's not a bad idea to email people who you would love to work with, but you won't be penalized for not doing it.