Contacting Professors

[BioBio]

So here's my story: I graduated this Spring from Gonzaga University with a 3.4 and B.S. in Biology with 158 semester credits (all electives in math, bio, and chem), my GRE scores were Q 89th V 76th AW 92nd, I have three independent research projects completed and a semester of research in a professor's lab, and a job in environmental regulation for the government. This past fall I applied to 9 ecology programs (3 MS, 6 PhD: SIO at UCSD, UCSC, Hawaii, Oregon, UW, Western Washington, UC Davis, UCSB, and CSU LB) and was rejected by all 9 without so much as an interview at any of them; these schools ranged from some of the best in their field to honestly pretty bad ones. Throughout the process I had sent out over 100 emails to professors explaining how our research interests were similar, a few ideas for my own future research, and briefly mentioned my qualifications. Out of all of these emails, 2 professors responded that they were accepting students. (One told me how great the program was and how hard it was to get in along with a laundry list of additional qualifications that he required, including computer programming and boat captaining experience and the other revealed that his website didn't accurately portray his interests that were more at a micro level.) So I began calling professors; all of them but two acted like I was some aspiring actor trying to get a role in a big movie and repeatedly told me how great their program is and how hard it is to get accepted and completely blew me off. Of the remaining two, one told me to email him in a few weeks as he would know if he had funding then (I did, he ignored repeated emails and then I couldn't get him on the phone again), and the other (a University of Washington prof) told me to wait until my application was approved by the school.

Here's where the situation came to a head: My application was approved by the University of Washington and I called the prof back. He told me to come to the school so we could meet. So I flew out to Seattle on a Tuesday night that week (huge plane ticket price) to meet with him. Wednesday morning I show up to his office ten minutes early just to be sure I'm on time and he shows up a full 27 minutes late. We meet for a grand total of 12 minutes. I give him my c.v. and a research proposal I had written specifically for research at his lab and he hardly looks at it. The next ten minutes are an ackward and forced question and answer session regarding "cool facts" about the organism he studies and finally our conversation slows. He smiles and tells me that he hopes I didn't come to Seattle (on a weekday, mid semester, with 2 days prior notice) just to see him. He then asks if I would like my research proposal back. He doesn't ask a single question about the research I've completed, any academics, or what I'd like to by getting my degree, and discussed nothing of working in his lab or any of his current research.

At this point, as I'm walking away from his office and thinking about the money I spent on the dress pants and shirt I'm wearing along with the last minute plane ticket, I just about throw in the towel. In one last effort, I email every professor I'd contacted before and this time quite a few respond, but only to tell me that they've already picked their students. So I'll be doing a field research oriented post-bac at UW this year racking up some more undergrad credits. Awesome.

Anyway, to those of you that got in, how did you contact your major professor and eventually get them to sponsor your application? It seems that everyone I contacted wouldn't give me the time of day and I wouldn't be surprised if my application didn't make it to a single prof's desk; I just feel pretty scammed by the whole process. (If I sound bitter, I'm sorry but it's because I am; this process sucked my life away for a solid 9 months just to end up out over a thousand dollars and throwing more money at a school next year).

[kyle_michaelson]

Decaf, I registered just so I could respond to your message. I feel for you, honestly I do. It seems that this is just the way things are in academia, and a meaningful conversation with a professor about his/her PhD program is, in most cases out of the question unless your adviser will speak on your behalf. I've contacted professors myself, and none of them have even acknowledged my existence. My GRE scores are only halfway decent with Q730 for engineering, but I'm publishing 4 times the required number of papers for my master's program in engineering at the University of Delaware, and I'm working under 3 distinguished chairs in an interdisciplinary project. I've also earned all A's or A-'s. Yet, it doesn't matter and I feel that I'll be in the same boat as you when I apply this coming Fall. Professors are avoiding my e-mails like I'm the plague, and it's frustrating to be honest. Good luck to you...I mean it with all my heart.

[anselmo1]

Ah, so I'm not the only one having problems with less than enthusiastic professors...

[evolve]

BioBio,

I am very sorry to hear about your experience. To be honest, I can't provide any insight. However, that is because it seems to me that you did everything right (although, I probably wouldn't have jumped on a last minute flight to Seattle--but that just speaks to your level of commitment to and enthusiasm for, pursuing graduate studies). When contacting professors, I did the exact same as you. That is to say, I outlined who I was, what I was interested in, and where I intended to go with it. I did have a good deal of "non-responders" but that was offset by a handful of thoughtful, in-depth replies.

Here is the email I sent to the prof under whom I'll be starting in the fall at UC Berkeley (with specific names excluded):

Hello Dr. XXX,

I am a senior at XXX University graduating in December with B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Zoology and a minor in Genetics. I am considering applying to UC Berkeley to pursue a PhD degree beginning in Fall 2010, and was wondering if you will be accepting new students at that time? I’ve read through many of the publications listed on your website, and find your group's work very exciting.

My own research interests overlap considerably with those topics being investigated in your lab. Broadly, I’m interested in molecular biological, physiological, and genetic/genomic approaches to assessing the status of natural marine populations in the context of anthropogenic environmental change, the implications of these studies for conservation, and in a more general sense, the interplay between an organism’s genes, metabolism, and the environment. As an undergraduate researcher at XXX I have been working under the guidance of XXX.

My research has been on the peptide hormone insulin-like growth factor-I and it’s utility as a putative growth biomarker in the hybrid striped bass, with implications for evaluating natural population health, as well as the optimization of aquaculture rearing protocols. I have attached a copy of my c.v. to this email for your convenience.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your response,

"Evolve"

I don't know if this will help at all, but I thought you may be interested in seeing it. If nothing else, perhaps you can take from it that you didn't specifically mess anything up, but rather had a run of bad luck (many labs are hard-pressed to fund new students lately) with the individuals you tried contacting. However, just because prof's aren't interested in you, combined with the fact that they are very busy, shouldn't preclude the necessity for sending a short reply to the tune of "I'm sorry, but I can't use you in my lab".

I wish you the best of luck in the future, and don't give up!

[iLikeTrees]

BioBio,

I am very sorry to hear about your experience. To be honest, I can't provide any insight. However, that is because it seems to me that you did everything right (although, I probably wouldn't have jumped on a last minute flight to Seattle--but that just speaks to your level of commitment to and enthusiasm for, pursuing graduate studies). When contacting professors, I did the exact same as you. That is to say, I outlined who I was, what I was interested in, and where I intended to go with it. I did have a good deal of "non-responders" but that was offset by a handful of thoughtful, in-depth replies.

Here is the email I sent to the prof under whom I'll be starting in the fall at UC Berkeley (with specific names excluded):

Hello Dr. XXX,

[...]

My letter & replies were pretty much the same as Evolve. The only big thing I added was one line asking for recommendations on other people & places I might want to check out since finding people & funding and been a little tight lately. It was a very different department (forestry), but one of the profs from UW actually sent me a great email suggesting about 5 places and people I should look at since he wasn't accepting students and didn't think anybody else there was accepting students with similar interests as mine. It can be really hit or miss.

I think almost all of the people I emailed, I had no connection to outside of research interests. I'll also mention that I typically emailed people a 2nd time if they didn't respond since emails honestly do get buried, especially if professors are out of the office for an extended period of time (vacation, fieldwork), etc. The 2nd email never seemed to annoy anybody (most appreciated a second chance), and while I had a high response rate, I'd say only about 50% were currently taking on grad students.

Some other rules of thumb, I'd heard from various people that might be of use for future applicants: Keep initial emails short; be polite, clear, and concise. Attach your resume and let that do the initial cheerleading for you rather than spending time pumping yourself up in the letter; follow up emails (Thank you for responding...) are good whether the response was favorable or not. If you've received a favorable reply from a professor expressing interest, make sure you keep up contact after an interview or the first big talk as your application is in review.

Sorry for your bad experience, BioBio & others, and maybe you did do everything right everything you could. I just thought these tips that I've heard from professors & recruiters in industry may be helpful in the future for others and hopefully you. :-)

[Vanderboy]

This has been very helpful for me as I will be applying to chemistry programs this year. There are a few people I would like to talk to about there work and whether they will be accepting new students before I apply.

In the past I have enquired with some professors knowing I wouldn't be applying for at least a year or two and most of them never responded. I think a lot of them honestly figure its best to let the admissions committee sort them all out and then meet the students when they come to an open house or whatever and see which best fit there needs. I know that's not very helpful to those of us that are still trying to get in but I think its how things shake down most places. That by no means should suggest that establishing a relationship with a professor at a prospective school is worthless, quite the opposite, it just doesn't seem to be how it works for most applicants.

[Hatem]

I was wondering when the best time to contact professors is?

If I am going to apply for fall 2011 and I will send out my applications on october 2011.Do you think it is reasonable to start contacting prof.on the the coming spring i.e. April 2010 or May 2010 to find out if they accept new grad students in their labs or not before makine my offical application?

[Serric]

I was wondering when the best time to contact professors is?

If I am going to apply for fall 2011 and I will send out my applications on october 2011.Do you think it is reasonable to start contacting prof.on the the coming spring i.e. April 2010 or May 2010 to find out if they accept new grad students in their labs or not before makine my offical application?

I would e-mail and ask if they're accepting graduate students before I dropped the money on an application fee. My rule of thumb was to make sure there were at least three professors I was interested in working with, and I made it a point to e-mail them before applying.

On the other hand, you never know. One of my friends applied here at UMich to work with a specific professor; the professor wasn't accepting students, but my friend convinced him to take him on.

[Hatem]

One of my friends applied here at UMich to work with a specific professor; the professor wasn't accepting students, but my friend convinced him to take him on.

That's impressive!

[bhmlurker]

Biobio:

Funding is super-tough right now for most profs, so PhD student slots aren't easy to come by even if you're a highly-qualified candidate. However, it was wrong what that UW prof did to you. If they want you the least they can do is to fly you and put you up in a hotel for a formal interview at their expense. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't end up in that UW prof's lab, because if this is how he treated you now, think of how he'll treat you when you're in his lab.

I want to echo comments from earlier posters: Keep your email short and concise. PIs often have a short attention span and can't read long paragraphs. Make sure you include your CV but keep your letter of intent email short and sweet. During my PhD, no matter if it was my own advisor, a committee member, or some other faculty member, if I email them a long explanation about something, all I get back is 'ok' or 'sound good, do it'. Half the time they're reading and replying to emails on their Blackberry during a seminar.

6 years ago I was in the same spot as many of you. Didn't think my GPA, GRE score, etc were good enough, got rejected by a bunch of univs, and ended up accepting an offer to a PhD program which required me to move from San Diego to Alabama. Never thought I'd be living in the South. I ended up with a really great advisor/mentor, had a enjoyable thesis project, defended this past April, met my wife here and got married. Bottom line: Life has a funny way of working itself out. Keep pursuing your dream!

Edited November 11, 2010 by bhmlurker