Waterloo supervisor problem

[Bleu]

Hi everybody,

I have applied to PhD CS at UWaterloo, among a couple of other Canadian schools. Since I have not got any status changes since the date of application submission, I contacted them, and they said: " ... Your file has been reviewed and approved for circulation. At this time, a supervisor has not been found. There has been no decision regarding your application. We do not have a set date on which decisions are made ..." Now my question is that should I contact potential supervisors again at this time? I had contacted a few before the deadline, and some said they were not going to take any new students, some did not answered. Do you have any suggestions?

[newms]

I would say that it might be worth it. I spoke with a prof from Waterloo when I was looking at schools to apply and he told me that the way it works at Waterloo is that they circulate applications around and if a prof wants you then you get in, if not, then you don't. This prof made a point of telling me to let him know when I applied since many times, profs miss applications they might be interested in. So it might be worthwhile to remind profs that you had been in contact with before that you had applied. Good luck!

Edited April 4, 2011 by newms

[Bleu]

Thanks for your answer. They have a group called CrySP, which I am very interested in, but in the group page and member pages, they have clearly mentioned that they do not like to be contacted directly, and the only way should be sending an email to some specific group email address. I have seen a couple of other professors in other universities who have explicitly said they do not like to be contacted directly. Do you have any solutions for these cases? Waterloo is one of my top choices specially because of their strong DB and security groups (at least in Canada)

[newms]

Thanks for your answer. They have a group called CrySP, which I am very interested in, but in the group page and member pages, they have clearly mentioned that they do not like to be contacted directly, and the only way should be sending an email to some specific group email address. I have seen a couple of other professors in other universities who have explicitly said they do not like to be contacted directly. Do you have any solutions for these cases? Waterloo is one of my top choices specially because of their strong DB and security groups (at least in Canada)

You're welcome. Were you able to contact the prof from this group before applying? If so, I'd try contacting them again. If not, I'd send an email to the address they specified. If they say they don't want to be contacted directly then generally it's not a good idea to do so out of the blue.

[Bleu]

You're welcome. Were you able to contact the prof from this group before applying? If so, I'd try contacting them again. If not, I'd send an email to the address they specified. If they say they don't want to be contacted directly then generally it's not a good idea to do so out of the blue.

Yes I contacted them but got no answer. I think it's a good idea to contact them again, and remind them of my new status there.

[kraus]

I am in a similar situation albeit at a different university in Canada. I emailed the department asking about the status of my application and got two replies. One said the faculty is reviewing files over the next few weeks and I will be contacted if anyone is interested. The other email said that there is no supervisor available for my file yet and they will continue to hold my file in case a faculty shows interest. So I don't actually know what to believe between the two emails (which were received less than a day apart from each other and from different email addresses). Since they say there is no supervisor for my file yet and are holding onto my file, should I contact faculty that I got in touch with before the application process? I didn't hear back from the professors I got in touch with before the application process. What do you suggest? Should I wait or send emails to those faculty I am interested in? Thanks

Edited April 4, 2011 by kraus

[Bleu]

I am in a similar situation albeit at a different university in Canada. I emailed the department asking about the status of my application and got two replies. One said the faculty is reviewing files over the next few weeks and I will be contacted if anyone is interested. The other email said that there is no supervisor available for my file yet and they will continue to hold my file in case a faculty shows interest. So I don't actually know what to believe between the two emails (which were received less than a day apart from each other and from different email addresses). Since they say there is no supervisor for my file yet and are holding onto my file, should I contact faculty that I got in touch with before the application process? I didn't hear back from the professors I got in touch with before the application process. What do you suggest? Should I wait or send emails to those faculty I am interested in? Thanks

I contacted the grad coordinator again, and asked her about contacting potential supervisors. Here's her response:

"You may if you wish or you can let it keep circulating. It is up to you. This may help generate some interest."

So, I think it's better to contact professors again, because there isn't anything to lose!

[kraus]

I contacted the grad coordinator again, and asked her about contacting potential supervisors. Here's her response:

"You may if you wish or you can let it keep circulating. It is up to you. This may help generate some interest."

So, I think it's better to contact professors again, because there isn't anything to lose!

True. Should the email be any different than if you would contact them at the beginning of the process (if I was contacting new faculty)? What about those I had contacted already? I mean I would give my background and ask them about their research/available positions in their group, but since I am emailing them so late, would I have to add anything else?

Edited April 4, 2011 by kraus

[Bleu]

True. Should the email be any different than if you would contact them at the beginning of the process (if I was contacting new faculty)? What about those I had contacted already? I mean I would give my background and ask them about their research/available positions in their group, but since I am emailing them so late, would I have to add anything else?

In my opinion, if you are contacting a new professor whom you have not contacted before, write a cover letter, and attach your resume, also asking for his/her open positions. Don't forget to remind them that you have officially applied, since if they feel you are only evaluating your chances for admission, they will be unlikely to respond. In case of professors you have contacted before, send them your updated resume, and tell them about your new status there. It's possible that they have forgotten to review your application.

[csKid]

Is there a need to be worried the people I mentioned in my Application didn't contact me. I'm also in same situation as poster. I didn't even know that I had to contact the POIs before I applied.

[Bleu]

Is there a need to be worried the people I mentioned in my Application didn't contact me. I'm also in same situation as poster. I didn't even know that I had to contact the POIs before I applied.

In fact, for some universities like Toronto, or maybe UBC, there's no need to contact professors before the deadline. They have admission committees who are in charge of admitting or rejecting, and in such schools professors usually don't respond to email inquiries from prospective students. But in some others which are more professor oriented than committee oriented, like Waterloo, McGill, Alberta, or Queen's, it's better to contact your POIs before the deadline. These are the universities which ask for the name of potential supervisors in their application forms. As I have experienced, if some professor is interested in taking a student, he/she kinda contacts the student to know more about their research interests, characteristics, .... This not however a fixed rule and highly depends on the university and POI.