Looking into Potential Advisers

[A Finicky Bean]

All,

I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere (if it has feel free to point me in the right direction and I'll read any archived information there), but I wanted to put this out there as I am starting the application season.

I know that I have to (should) contact potential advisers in the programs to which I am applying. Do any of you have any advice/tips/suggestions/warnings on how to begin correspondence? Is email the best? Phone? There are two campuses which are near to where I currently live, but I cannot travel to the other campuses for in-person meetings (at least not until I am accepted...if that would be the case). I already know the contacts, so that is not an issue: it is just starting the whole communication at which I falter.

Thanks, so much, for your time and advice in this matter! I am so nervous and I've hardly begun the process!

[runonsentence]

Hello there,

I think that email usually works best when reaching out, at least at first. Some on the boards have had phone conversations with POI (persons of interest), but that usually happens after sending out a feeler email, I believe.

Here are a couple of topics I found on the most recent pages in this forum, but this is by no means comprehensive:

[A Finicky Bean]

Hello there,

I think that email usually works best when reaching out, at least at first. Some on the boards have had phone conversations with POI (persons of interest), but that usually happens after sending out a feeler email, I believe.

Here are a couple of topics I found on the most recent pages in this forum, but this is by no means comprehensive:

Thank you so much, runonsentence!!