bluebird1

Thanks everyone! The apps have been submitted, no emails have been sent. Cheers to playing the waiting game! @fuzzylogician Yeah, I reached out to a few POIs when I was trying to narrow down my list of potential schools back in October, but that was only because I had actual questions about their research. For most professors/departments, it seemed pretty straightforward from reading websites/CVs whether there was a good fit or not, so I didn't really have anything to ask in an email, especially since for all the schools I applied to, you are accepted to the department, not a specific profs lab.

I have all my materials together and have spent the last few weeks actually filling out grad school applications (!!!). Since I am submitting relatively close to the deadlines (most are due the 15th), I haven't been establishing any new contact with POIs since I don't want to come off as brown-nosing. I've mentioned 2-3 professors at each school in my SOP, which I figure provides the same motivation for them to pay attention to my application as an e-mail (I'm indicating interest in working on their research, plus having a few professors covers me in case one is on leave/retiring/out of funding/etc.). However, some applications (specifically UChicago and Yale) have a space to list my contact with professors. Does this mean they are expecting everyone who applies to contact them? At this point (1.5 weeks from the deadline), what am I even supposed to write to a POI in an e-mail, beyond "Hi, My name is X, I'm interested in Y and would love to work on your research in Y.1 and just wanted to let you know that I mentioned you in my SOP"? I feel like anything I write at this point will be taken as an attempt to "game" the system in some way, but at the same time, I'm worried that not listing any contact would indicate a lack of interest.