hellibor

Hi all, I just finished applying to 8 schools, for cultural PhD programs with fall 2015 entry. My advisor warned me against writing to professors. I'm currently at an elite institution, and she receives hundreds of emails--and claims that it can actually hurt your application to appear so "needy." But everything I've read on here completely contradicts that. So to sum it up, should I just stick with my strategy of not emailing, or should I backtrack and try and contact POIs? Thanks so much in advance for your help!