Showing interest in a prof?

[nabh]

Hello everyone,

I am a newbie here and in a delicate situation. I am preparing my graduate applications for Fall 2009 and also started contacting prospective supervisors. I was able to schedule a phone conversation with one.

I can say from the talk that it was straightforward and positive because ind the end, he asked me when I would like to start and encourage me to send in my application as soon as possible.

The rule of this university is that graduate candidates will only be considered if they have a faculty committed to fund them. This prof is newly hired and our research profiles match well enough.

However, after that positive phone call getting in touch with him was difficult. I understand that he is extremely busy and so have not worked up the nerve to email him about some of my questions. I know how competitive the whole process can be and am at a loss. Does it ever happen that a prospective supervisor changes his/ her mind within a short time? How should I keep demonstrating my interest in working with him? Or am I just being paranoid?

I would really appreciate your inputs.

[solefolia]

I wouldn't worry that he changed his mind. Send him a few gentle reminders, or maybe give him a phone call again? I've had difficulty getting in contact with a prof I was supposed to be working with who lives on the other side of the country. I sent her a couple e-mails spaced apart several weeks, and when I still got no response, I called later one afternoon and left her a voicemail letting her know I had sent out some e-mails and if she could call me back (I called after hours because I didn't want to catch her if she was in the middle of something and this way she could call me back when it was convenient for her). The next day, I got an e-mail and she apologized because things had been busy and my e-mail got lost in the shuffle. Phone calls and voicemails are a lot less difficult to lose track of than an e-mail.

[nabh]

Thank you very much for your opinions. Seems like schedules at grad school are really random and crazy.

Here is another dilemma. my GPA was fine (3.7) up until the Winter semester this year. My family had some really bad things going on, to the point that I considered dropping out. Fortunately I managed to stay to graduate. The thing is, though, the pressure killed me and my GPA dropped to 3.2.

Now I want to prove that my marks are low just because I could not stay focused. But here figures speak more loudly than words, by that I mean I am trying to bring my GPA this semester back to the previous level. Right now, the professor keeps urging to send in the application. He seems to value my other strong points and assures me that grades (he only knows that my cumulate GPA is 3.5, not the disaster of last semester) are not as important as his backing.

I would like to be honest with him and to make my case more convincing to the committee (he is newly hired and I do not want both of us to look bad because of this 3.2 GPA). I am torn: should I tell him and ask for a delay until I receive my marks this terms (which I am trying hard to make high)? or should I not tell him at all and just write a cover letter to explain it to the committee?

Again thank you so much for your help.

[rising_star]

nabh, was your semester GPA a 3.2? Is your overall (cumulative) now a 3.5? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. I didn't have a 3.5 when I applied and had great success with not only applications but funding.

Even if you're concerned, these kinds of things are NOT what you want to be bringing up to a potential advisor before you even apply. It will seem like excuse-making and, if I read your post correctly, you really don't need to excuse anything. Things happen but that doesn't mean you should tell the world. It might make them think you're unable to handle the pressure of grad school, which ultimately would hurt--rather than help--your cause.

[nabh]

nabh, was your semester GPA a 3.2? Is your overall (cumulative) now a 3.5? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. I didn't have a 3.5 when I applied and had great success with not only applications but funding..

Thats exactly it. My winter semester 08 GPA is 3.2 and the overall is 3.5.

Thank you so much and just as you say I do not wish to quench my professor's enthusiasm by this factor. Now that I have read somewhere in this forum that I should not include any outstanding circumstance in my SOP, should I at least mention it in a cover letter, in case they demand from me an explanation? or should I just send the papers and see (again if they will not mind it, they wont ask so why would I want to draw their attention to anywhere near this area, right?)

[rising_star]

They aren't going to demand an explanation from you. I wouldn't address it in a cover letter either. Maybe one of your recommenders can talk about the difficulties you overcame in that semester or something. But I'm not even sure I'd do that. I never explained my GPA to anyone, even though it wasn't particularly close to a 3.5. I wouldn't draw attention to it.

[studyordie]

I am still applying to programs so I can't say I have success behind me as can Rising Star, but I've read and heard from proffs that a brief explanation of one sentence (maybe two) toward the beginning of a personal statement can help, especially a situation like your''s where there is a noticeable break from the norm. That's just my thought though.