Contacting Professor?

[coolgod]

It's mid-February and I've lost all hope regarding my Ph.D. applications, sent in 13, 10 of them are long shots, 0 accepts in total. Had an interview early January with UMich was suppose to hear back in a month. I have contacted my top choice UChicago professor before and it seemed very promising over email but I still have heard nothing back since I applied. Should I email these professors before I hear back? I want to end the uncertainty and possibly improve my odds of getting in at least 1 school.

[Jessiewicz]

I say do it. There is no harm in contacting professors to follow up, they get a lot of e-mails everyday and reminding them you are interested can only improve your chances. The same can be said for UMich about the interview since they did give you a timeline. Even if they can't give you a final decision they may be able to tell you when you can expect one. 

[coolgod]

Is there any potential downsides to emailing the professor directly. Will they see me as desperate (which I am) and be less likely to give you offer?

Edited February 17, 2017 by coolgod

[Jessiewicz]

On 2/17/2017 at 5:34 PM, coolgod said:

Is there any potential downsides to emailing the professor directly. Will they see me as desperate (which I am) and be less likely to give you offer?

I would hope they would not see it as desperation. You're a student who has already shown interest in the program but have yet to hear anything. This is late in the game and everyone is getting anxious about schools they haven't heard from. It might be different if you had not already reached out but you already have once. Professors look at a lot of applications, maybe in this case all you need is to remind them of your name