Made a mistake. Please advise a way out!!!

[iCyborg]

Hi all,

I am facing a very very weird situation.

I emailed many professors for RA since the early of March when I receive the Illinois admission. I got no reply. So I thought everything is over for me with Illinois, and I should do a last try. So I email like 10 professor during yesterday evening (stupid huh!!!). Unfortunately (or fortunately), 5 of them asked me to arrange an interview. I don't know why this thing is happening to me. (

Now I choose one professor to talk, and what should I tell the others?

I know I made a terrible mistake emailing multiple professors.

Please advise me a way out for my case.

Thank you so much.

Edited March 31, 2010 by iCyborg

[dant.gwyrdd]

How do you know the professor you select to interview with with take you in as his RA? And on that note--what's wrong with interviewing with all of them, telling them what you did and then picking one? Why is this a terrible mistake again?

[iCyborg]

I said it's a mistake because I was advised to contact professors one by one. But since it the last try, I emailed multiple prof. I am scared that this will somehow make them hate me.

[ilikemoney]

Just be up front. You'll be fine. I would suggest losing the freak-out attitude -- that will turn them all off a lot more than the multiple emails. Who advised you? The Department or a little birdy?

[liszt85]

SAme advice as the others.

Schedule interviews with them at different times so that you can attend all the interviews. Mention that you have also contacted a few other professors since this was your final attempt and I'm sure they will understand and appreciate your honesty. Nothing wrong with attending multiple interviews!

[Pierre]

Can't do anything but agree with the above posts. If you just tell them the situation there should be no harm done. I would say that this is in some ways similar to a student applying to more than one school and then choosing amongst those that he/she receives an offer from. Or even applying for multiple jobs at the same time (even though then you probably won't tell the different companies about each other, thus hurting the analogy) - my point is that you rarely put all your eggs in one basket and hope for the best. Again, just tell them the situation (without freaking out about it) and you should be fine.

Good luck !

[Lantern]

Yep, I agree with the above posters, but to add to that: It should be absolutely no problem. It's just like applying to several schools. One school isn't going to look down on you because you applied to other schools, they know that's what you do - it's all about giving yourself options. It's the same with finding a professor. It's always wise to choose a school with more than one professor you'd like to work with, just incase your main advisor decides to leave. Plus you may find that some you get along with and some you don't.

During one of my school visits, I arranged to meet with two different professors. They were not the least bit upset. In fact, when I finished meeting with the first professor, he called the second one, walked me to a different building across campus where the second professor's office was, introduced me to the second, and asked me to stop by again after meeting with him. I'm sure not all professors are so accomodating, but it is not something they can be upset about.

Do you think each one of them is only meeting with you? Of course not, they're interviewing multiple students, so you have the right to interview multiple professors! Good luck.

[ootg]

Don't worry too much about it. You have been admitted to the school, and it is alright to "shop around" for a potential supervisor, although you should have already done your homework to see who researches in topics you are interested in. All the best on landing an RA-ship then!

[iCyborg]

Thank you so much folks. Your comments are very useful.

I was honest with all the professors, by emailing them the truth. Some of them were not happy and cancel the talk, some are ok and schedule the interviews. The good thing is they are very frank, they said what they thought. And I am very happy with that. Somehow, they all know I contacted whom and mention that in the email they sent. So the lesson learnt is never do what I have done (contacting multiple profs at the same time), and always be honest.

I have another question, the prof accept to support me implied that I will receive department minimum stipend. Unfortunately, he did not mention the exact amount. Does anyone have any idea what probably is my stipend at Illinois?

[Lantern]

I have another question, the prof accept to support me implied that I will receive department minimum stipend. Unfortunately, he did not mention the exact amount. Does anyone have any idea what probably is my stipend at Illinois?

Ask the professor. Funding is an important part of any decision, and no one can deny this. Just ask for a rough estimate.

[jeanne]

I have another question, the prof accept to support me implied that I will receive department minimum stipend. Unfortunately, he did not mention the exact amount. Does anyone have any idea what probably is my stipend at Illinois?

I'm accepted to the College of Education. The stipend for 25% is about $7,500 (with a master's, 9 months). It's slightly less if you don't have a masters. If you get a 50% stipend, it's double that. I'm assuming it would be the same for a different college because they're unionized. The 25% is the minimum you need to get tuition covered.

[iCyborg]

Thanks for your information.

I've got off the phone with my potential advisor. He I will be receiving the stipend of 18 500/year, which is the "minimum department stipend". I think it is a quite fine amount, I don't know why it is "minimum", because I saw some other guys getting less than that. I did not know if it is 9 or 2 month, so I asked him whether I can take an internship or another job during the summer. He said yes I can have a summer appointment. So I guess it's 9 months.

[jeanne]

Thanks for your information.

I've got off the phone with my potential advisor. He I will be receiving the stipend of 18 500/year, which is the "minimum department stipend". I think it is a quite fine amount, I don't know why it is "minimum", because I saw some other guys getting less than that. I did not know if it is 9 or 2 month, so I asked him whether I can take an internship or another job during the summer. He said yes I can have a summer appointment. So I guess it's 9 months.

Aw man, you're making me jealous! Want to share?