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Posted (edited)

Hi, I also posted this question in College Confidential, I would like to hear as many opinions as possible. Thanks!

I am doing BS in electrical engineering (top 10 school), and am applying for a PhD now. I tried to email one prof I really interested to work with at the university I'm applying to (also top 10). In the email I told the prof I'm really interested in the prof's research, and it matches my research interest well. I also gave an url to my resume, and asked if the prof plans to take new students.

A few weeks later, the prof replied. Prof said that Prof plans to take students, and told me that my preparation/background suits "very well" to research in the group, and will read my app closely. And Prof told me: "hope we have a chance to talk more soon after the admission process is complete".

I have some uncertainties in interpreting what Prof means by that. My question is:

1. is this the usual "Thanks for your interest, best of luck in your application" type of response?

2. what could possibly Prof mean by "after the process is complete"? does it mean after I submit my app Prof wants to talk more with me?

So I submitted my app already, and would like to reply Prof's email to let Prof know about it and would like to ask a few other relevant things.

Any specific advice on how should I proceed from here, such that I dont annoy the prof?

Thanks very much for the response smile.gif

Edited by ichaparadise
Posted

I would say that this is much more than a typical "Thanks for your interest, best of luck in your application" type of response. Exactly what it means for your admission status depends on how this department does admissions, how senior this professor is in the department and possibly also the amount of research money the prof has. I have a couple friends in biology PhD programs who have gotten email responses like this, and in each case they have at least gotten interviews with those programs (although with EE you probably wouldn't have interviews, correct?)

If it were me responding to this email, I would keep my response brief. The last thing this prof wants to do is to spend half his/her afternoon responding to 100 questions, especially if they didn't invite you to ask any. Instead, I would reiterate your interest in his/her work, confirm your interest in speaking more in the future, and let her/him know that you have submitted your application. If you have read or are reading any of this prof's papers, you might work that into your response if it wasn't in your initial email. In my opinion, the more specific you can be without writing a 1000 word response, the better.

Posted

Thank for your insight. Yeah, in EE there is no interview. For now, I'll just let the prof know that I already submitted the application, and indicated Prof's name in the SoP, so it will be properly directed to the prof.

In addition, I also might ask something like this, since I couldn't find the info in Prof's website:

"Do you mind to briefly tell me about your (near) future research projects or directions please?"

Is it okay or rude to ask the Prof his future research directions?

Thanks for the reply :)

Posted

It's not rude or anything, but it's not the right time. I would wait for the professor to ask you if you have any questions or after you get an offer of admission. <-- that is what I think "process is complete" means. I resonate with your eagerness to want to continue the conversation and talk more with the professor, but I would hold off so that you don't annoy them or come off as needy. You've done all that you could and I'm sure you've probably submitted one hell of an application. The ball is in their court now. Good luck!

Posted (edited)

Is it okay or rude to ask the Prof his future research directions?

Does not seem rude to me. But do it later, after you have got an offer, as Hello :) has said.

Edited by Strangefox

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