Responses from potential PIs

[ryanmor]

I've sent out a few emails to some potential research advisors at school's that are on my list.

My emails have been 2-3 short paragraphs.

Name, major at XXX Univ. Honors thesis work, mention my big REU internship this summer that is totally in my subfield.

General interests in that subfield.

A statement a question regarding the work their group does (what plant families do they prefer or where do their grad students do their field work)

I then end with the "are you accepting students next year" question.

Attach a cv.

So far I've gotten a response from every advisor I've emailed (5 for 5). Some have been very thorough (scroll down to read it all) type, one asked to talk with me on the phone (!!!), One was sounding kind of the standard cookie-cutter response, one was a few sentences with no mention of me having any more questions.

Now- where do I go from here? Should I continue the dialogue with those that seem receptive and start talking about what specific research questions I find interesting from their previous work? What about those who did not seem open for me to discuss ideas or answer questions that I have?

Thanks for the help.

[newms]

It's good that you are pro-active so early in the application season - you're applying for Fall 2012 right? I would definitely say that you should pursue the dialogue with the profs that replied to you, especially those that seem interested. You can ask about specific research questions, perhaps by following up with their email replies. I wouldn't be as eager to pursue a dialogue with those profs that only gave a cookie cutter response - perhaps they don't have the time at the moment to be looking at prospective students. However, if you did have a specific, relevant question that wasn't covered anywhere on their websites, then it might be worthwhile to ask them. Good luck with your application.