Re-emailing POIs who did not reply

[loffire]

So using the advice found on the forum, I've emails almost all the POIs and got a good number of responses. I plan to email those who didn't reply again but how do I go about it. Do I just resend the e-mail and risk it going to spam, or do I edit the email to remind them they haven't replied?

Also, I got a reply where the POI was interested, but she also recommended that I look at a number of others from other schools to see if i'd be happier there. " I'm not trying to get rid of you, but I want you to be placed in the idea environment for you". Which is suuuuuper nice of her but how do I address that especially since the people she recommended are also people I've reached out to already? ????

[ResilientDreams]

1 hour ago, loffire said:

So using the advice found on the forum, I've emails almost all the POIs and got a good number of responses. I plan to email those who didn't reply again but how do I go about it. Do I just resend the e-mail and risk it going to spam, or do I edit the email to remind them they haven't replied?

Also, I got a reply where the POI was interested, but she also recommended that I look at a number of others from other schools to see if i'd be happier there. " I'm not trying to get rid of you, but I want you to be placed in the idea environment for you". Which is suuuuuper nice of her but how do I address that especially since the people she recommended are also people I've reached out to already? ????

You can edit the email and resend if you want. I only had one professor who didn't reply and I wasn't super interested in the school to begin with so I just took it off my list. In regards to the second part of your post, I would maybe take her advice to heart. Perhaps that program/POI isn't the best fit for you and the other ones she mentioned and that you already contacted are. If you really like this one POI, it sounds like you'll have to convince her that you're the right fit.

[PokePsych]

I never re-emailed people. I did apply however to schools I got no reply from the potential POI - which turned out to work fine because my nr. 1 POI did not reply initially, turned out way better than I expected during the interview, and now during my PhD POI has been more than great so far.

I also had people tell me to really apply to work with them and then never made it the interview. I would really not stress the emails too much except if someone says they're not taking students (then don't apply). 

And maybe this individual just wanted to help you. I often asked for other people with similar interests to apply to. Any prof will understand that you're not just gonna bet on one program, so they're usually happy to give recommendations (got some good names out if it tbh).

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

15 hours ago, loffire said:

Also, I got a reply where the POI was interested, but she also recommended that I look at a number of others from other schools to see if i'd be happier there. " I'm not trying to get rid of you, but I want you to be placed in the idea environment for you". Which is suuuuuper nice of her but how do I address that especially since the people she recommended are also people I've reached out to already? ????

This is only of the PIs that I have talked to, so take my experience with a grain of salt. I had a couple of PIs ask who else I was applying to, and one of them explicitly told me that he was asking because he wanted to ensure that I was knowledgable enough of the field that my PI list made sense. He suggested someone that was highly relevant but was not on my list, and I explained why I wasn't applying there. 

I had one other PI ask because she was genuinely encouraging me to apply to other people because there was not a high likelihood that she would accept me (although overall our research interests were aligned she was looking for someone with a particular background that isn't common in our field). 

Your response sounds more like the later, and I think you could courteously say that you have reached out to those PIs as well. It seems to me that she is suggesting that you have a great application, but there might not be a terrific fit. 

Best of luck! 

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

13 hours ago, Psygeek said:

I never re-emailed people. I did apply however to schools I got no reply from the potential POI - which turned out to work fine because my nr. 1 POI did not reply initially, turned out way better than I expected during the interview, and now during my PhD POI has been more than great so far.

Thanks for this great advice because you have been there! I have PIs who didn't respond, and I was still planning to apply anyway. Glad to hear that it doesn't always turn out poorly. 

[PsycUndergrad]

I wouldn’t worry if you didn’t get a response. Professors are busy and it’s easy to overlook an email. You can re-send if you want to or if you need to know if they’re accepting a student, but I don’t think it matters too much. 

I don’t think emailing is as big of a deal as people make it out to be, honestly. I emailed about half of my POIs, and it didn’t seem to affect my likelihood of getting interviews/acceptances. 

With the professor who suggested other potential advisors, it might be a good idea to listen. One of the most important factors in getting accepted is showing POIs that you are a good fit, and it doesn’t sound like she is convinced. It might not hurt to include her on your application, but I would list the others too. 

[loffire]

So just to update you guys, instead of bugging the faculty members again, I sought out the program coordinators/grad advisors to ask if they knew if the faculty members I was interested in working with were accepting grad students. I immediately got replies from POIs from one school, and the coordinator from another advised me on who were the faculty members who were accepting students and who weren't which was the more important question I needed answering (apart from feedback if they thought I was a good fit for their lab/program). Thanks for the input guys!