Reaching out to POI before visit date

[stressbot3000]

Acceptable? Expected? What should the email look like? Should I ask the person out to coffee or ask to meet in his office? Professional emails fill me with anxiety and dread. 

[Musmatatus]

My visit forms included a space for me to indicate professors I'm interested in meeting---I think departments are contacting professors. You might check with the department first to see what they have planned, so you're not overlapping. 

[fireandice]

29 minutes ago, sugilite said:

My visit forms included a space for me to indicate professors I'm interested in meeting---I think departments are contacting professors. You might check with the department first to see what they have planned, so you're not overlapping. 

@sugilite Do you know what to expect out of these meetings or what sorts of things to be asking beyond the POI's current research? I'm wondering what's expected in these meetings and conversations..

 

@Warelin any insights from your experience?

[Warelin]

2 minutes ago, fireandice said:

@Warelin any insights from your experience?

I think this greatly varies depending on the university.

Some of the universities I visited had already taken note of the professors I had expressed interested in working with and had ensured that they had scheduled time for me to meet with them and discuss my interests. Some of the departments remembered very clearly who I was and what my interests were without having to look at their notes. These meetings were conversational in nature. The professors were really looking to hear more about your research and seeing how they best fit in within the scope of the project.

Some departments gave a more general agenda and it was up to the applicant to have scheduled time with any professors.

[trytostay]

I have a question! Maybe @emprof could speak to this if they have time? No pressure of course! 

A faculty member at a school I’m waitlisted at wants to have a Skype call. My mentor says to treat this like I’ve already been, or will be, accepted, and take this time to ask about the program, their interests, my interests, etc. Does anyone have advice on what to ask? From poking around here, I’ve seen a lot of examples about what to ask grad students, but not so much what to ask faculty members really. I’m not accepted, so I’d like to still be as prepared as possible. 

Edited February 24, 2019 by trytostay

[emprof]

39 minutes ago, trytostay said:

I have a question! Maybe @emprof could speak to this if they have time? No pressure of course! 

A faculty member at a school I’m waitlisted at wants to have a Skype call. My mentor says to treat this like I’ve already been, or will be, accepted, and take this time to ask about the program, their interests, my interests, etc. Does anyone have advice on what to ask? From poking around here, I’ve seen a lot of examples about what to ask grad students, but not so much what to ask faculty members really. I’m not accepted, so I’d like to still be as prepared as possible. 

Interesting! I've never heard of this practice for waitlisted students. Then again, my program doesn't use waitlists regularly, so I might be behind the curve. This definitely seems like a great sign!

I agree with your mentor that there's no difference between this conversation and the one you would have with the faculty member if you were visiting after being accepted. Since the faculty member is initiating the conversation, I would imagine that s/he/they will set the agenda for the call, at least initially, asking you to speak  about your interests, your PS, perhaps asking some specific questions about topics, theoretical approaches, or critical methodologies you engaged in your WS. I recommend being prepared to speak about how the faculty in your field in their program would be especially good fit for you. If you haven't already, do some poking around to find out about colloquia, working groups, or interdisciplinary initiatives that you might participate in. Asking questions about those will demonstrate your ambitions to expand your academic horizons and to contribute to the culture of the department/university, and shows that you've taken the time to learn about them. I think you can ask some practical questions about what kinds of mentorship faculty in the program typically provide. How do graduate students learn to prepare conference proposals, apply for fellowships, turn seminar papers into articles, organize conference panels, prepare for the job market? Do committees advise students individually about these matters, or are there any initiatives such as professionalization workshops or proseminars? You can also ask the faculty member broad questions such as, "What do you think makes your program a strong one for training graduate students in our field?" That gives him/her/them a chance to brag a little bit, but also will give you useful information about what the program prioritizes in graduate training and mentorship.

I would probably steer clear of nuts-and-bolts questions such as stipend amounts, health insurance, and other information related to your benefits package (though I think it would be fine to ask about support for conference attendance and/or work in different library archives, which are really questions about the academic program). Faculty members are often unclear on the details anyway (since they're usually handled by administrators), and it's probably safer to wait until you have the official acceptance in hand before you address these practicalities. 

Hope some of this is helpful! Happy to talk more either here or via PM if it could be useful. Good luck!

[jrockford27]

I'll share an anecdote. One of my campus visits was actually a "visitation weekend" where they invited all admitted students (and waitlist students too, I think) at the same time. It wasn't until I got there that I was told that if I'd wanted to meet with specific faculty that I should have arranged it ahead of time. Long story short, I barely met with any faculty at all, and none in my subfield. Also, I didn't go to that school.

All of this is to say that it can't hurt to send a BRIEF e-mail to a professor that you think it's really important that you talk to in order to make sure they're on your itinerary.

[trytostay]

@emprof Thanks so much! I don't think it is common, no, and I agree that it must be a good sign! That's why I'm hoping it goes well. 

[havemybloodchild]

@emprof thank you for this response! I’m thinking a lot of this would also apply to my interview at SMU