Contacting Professors at Ultra Competive Schools

[puffin444]

I have found some profs with research interests and projects which have seriously captured my interest;

I REALLY would want to work in these labs. Of course, with my luck, they happen to be at the most

competitive schools MIT/Stanford/Caltech/CMU.

Two questions:

1. Most people tell me that making contact with potential advisors is a good idea.

However, they say that the most competitive departments discourage this due to the

high number of applicants. The last thing I would want to do is annoy a potential advisor.

Does anyone here have experience with the culture of any of these departments? Should I

or should I not try to make contact?

2. My interests are deeply interdisciplinary, and some of these professors aren't listed as

CS faculty even as adjuncts. However, they have had a history of advising some CS grad students.

Would it be self-defeating then to mention such professors in the application? Would this confuse (or possibly anger) the

admissions committee? Is it possible instead that these departments have a philosophy of letting

some grad students pursue really novel CS projects that include people outside of the department?

[ktel]

When I was checking out Aero/Astro at MIT a little while ago I specifically remember them recommending that you contact professors before you apply. I would see if the department website says anything similar to that, but based on that I would recommend that you do make contact. The worst that can happen is you are ignored. It's not like the prof is going to blacklist you or anything. They're just not going to remember you or respond.

If you can clearly explain why a non-CS faculty member would be central to your research, then sure, maybe mention them. Otherwise I would stick to CS profs and then try to pursue a novel project once you're admitted.

[OH YEAH]

This is good advice on contacting professors: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

I wouldn't list non-CS or adjunct professors (or postdocs...) on your application. Most departments require that your thesis adviser be from the CS dept. That doesn't rule out working with others, but I'd focus on the essentials... if who you want to work with isn't in the CS dept, then something is wrong.

[timuralp]

Here's a sample of advice for prospective students looking to contact professors:

1. "I will not review any applications to Computer Science until you have been accepted into the program. At that point, we can explore common research interests".

2. "I only hire students who have been admitted to XXX. If you are interested in an RAship, you will first need to apply via XXX web site."

Some professors will encourage students to actually contact them, but you should look at their pages, see what (if any) advice is there and proceed accordingly. The advice I have gotten from a number of faculty members is not to contact anyone until after the admission decision has been made. My contention is that students who are applying to graduate school rarely know the specific area they are interested in (they might know it broadly, like Systems or AI) and often switch advisors after being accepted. In that light, consider schools that fit a number of interests with a number of faculty working your general area of interest.

Some typical responses:

1. "We’re always looking for good students and I encourage you to apply (although I should be clear that the admissions committee does their thing independent of me)"

2. "In general, we are always looking for great students in general (not necessarily specific to any projects), so I encourage you to consider applying to XXX"

Of course, some professors would also be eager to discuss their research with you, but don't expect that to be the norm.