Hi this is my first post in Grad Cafe. I'm really glad I found this place and I hope I am not writing this in the wrong place.
A little about me: I'm a rising senior at a highly ranked public research university and I'll be applying this fall for Environmental Toxicology PhD programs this fall. In many programs' websites, it says I should directly contact the faculty I'd like to work with.
So here's where I'm at with the application process:
- I have a list of all the programs I'm interested in, there are about 11, and I am whittling it down/changing around which faculty I'm interested in working with. So, I am pretty much set on most of the faculty and am doing some more Googling on the other ones.
- I have a tentative resume and CV prepared. Still paraphrasing some stuff!
- I asked a bunch of people who are already in grad school when I should email the faculty, and they all gave me different answers - some said ASAP, some said a few weeks into the fall semester, some said anytime during the summer...I don't know what's going to work best for my situation.
Also, my parents are visiting this summer, and are willing/pushing me to visit different potential campuses in mid-July to talk to faculty. Would this be too early to see potential faculty? I feel like seeing the faculty that early has major benefits as well as some drawbacks.
I don't know if I'll be ready to discuss my specific research interests in mid-July and make the best impression I can make. I will be able to visit those campuses later, on my own, as well, aside from one, which is too far. It's just more convenient for me to have my parents drive me + they have a serious case of grad school application fever and think it's the only and best time for me to visit. It's because I'm taking the GRE just before they arrive and I wanna make sure I own that test and have been spending a bit more time studying for that than preparing other portions of my application.
When do you think I should email the professors? How knowledgeable/ready should I be when emailing them? (Like, would I be more prepared to email them after I begin writing my SOP, etc.) When do you think would be most convenient/leave a good impression for the typical faculty (if there is such a thing)?