Contacting prospective advisors

[Schillel]

I have been advised by professors in my department not to compile a list of programs to apply to before I take the GRE (late summer). But I have heard a lot about prospectives contacting faculty and departments and I understand the advantages of this approach. I am torn, I don't know whether this means that I should not contact them and waste their time or if it's even necessary. Has anyone not done this and still been successful in the application process?

[Minnesotan]

People get in without having contacted professors ahead of time, but most people who have served on admissions committees tell you that it's good to have someone fighting for you during their meetings. If you are able to make a personal or professional connection with one of your professors, I think it will only help you.

[maa]

There is no harm of contacting with professors, if you do it right way. Some professors explicitly forbids to write to them about admission. It's better not to do that. Otherwise, you should contact the professors from your field of interests. I suggest not to ask them to help you admit; rather ask them if they would take new students next year so that you would apply(of course after explaining your interests which must match with theirs). Moreover, people say that communication should start well before admission process starts so that professors can understand that you are genuinely interested. Some professors may reply you while some may not. Dont worry, they will consider your application, if they are willing to take new students. Some of the professors I contacted did not respond instantly, but they wrote to me later asking if I am still interested.

[rising_star]

You can easily wait until September to start contacting professors. There are several advantages to waiting: 1) your research interests will likely be better formulated; 2) they will have a better idea of how many students they have; 3) you'll be contacting closer to applying so they may be more likely to remember your name; 4) more likely to know what the funding situation might be. Also, many American profs are paid for working 9 months a year, not 12, so I consider it somewhat unfair to ask them to do school duties when they aren't getting paid (but that's just me).

Personally, I didn't contact any profs until September or October and it worked out just fine for me.

[luvalicious]

I didn't contact any professors at any time during the process - in fact, I didn't communicate much with anyone at any program, for various reasons - and I got in everywhere I applied, so it is certainly not necessary. On the other hand, I think that it can be helpful for both the reasons mentioned above, and also because it can help you weed out programs that don't fit you.

[Minnesotan]

it can help you weed out programs that don't fit you.

Good point. I had one professor get back to me, telling me they were cutting his program next fall. I would have had to work in a completely different field, in the unlikely situation that I was still accepted.

[Nofia]

contacting profs can also be a good idea because once you know more about them you can tweak your SOP as needed. One of the prospective advisors I emailed (at the school I'm now planning to attend) actually offered really helpful suggestions for my SOP (I had sent this along with my emails)!

[gracieh]

I suggest contacting professors. But first, do some research on their areas of study, list of major publications, and classes that they teach. You can send a brief email stating your area of interest and background and ask if they believe that you would be a good fit for their specific program. You have nothing to lose and all to gain by initiating contact.