missgawain

Thank you, outofredink ! That was very helpful, especially since one of your fields is the same as my own. I have already started my SoP and am giving it all of my attention as well as having it read over by many professors at my current undergrad program. I wasn't intending for these proposed e-mails to take the place of a great SoP, recs, and writing sample. I just thought perhaps it would be good to get my name into consideration before the apps started rolling in. But, like you, I didn't know if prospective professors would find that appealing in a student or simply annoying! Please let me know how your applications fare, I am especially interested to learn about UPenn (a program I would very much like to attend).

Hmm... I just read through 7 pages of the thread on contacting professors but it didn't say anything about contacting prospective English professors as a bad thing! :/ The most that was discussed is the proper way to go about writing and responding to e-mails as well as the fact that every field is different. But nothing specific about English. I'll have another look through some more threads. My current undergrad English professor got excited when I mentioned that I was going to try and make contact with prospective advisors, etc. She nodded quite emphatically and seemed to think it a great idea -- but now I'm confused!

Hi all, I'm beginning my application process for English PhD programs (applying Fall 2011 for Fall 2012) and am curious about how others have gone about cultivating relationships with professors in prospective programs? I was thinking that I would contact via e-mail the professors whose work I admire and aspire to learn from. Is e-mail too informal? This seems like a crucial step to acceptance and, once admitted, success in the program. I'm worried about messing it up, which is why I'm looking for answers this far in advance. What is polite to talk about in an e-mail in order to form a respectable professor-student relationship? Questions about their work or the program? I feel that maybe asking questions about the program wouldn't be good because the professor could turn around and tell me to look at the website (I have practically memorized all of the websites). I'm sure I'll look back at this post in a year and laugh at how ridiculous I'm being, but for now..... All answers are appreciated