Person of Interest says not to contact..but has outdated info?

[crunchygum]

For one of the schools I am applying, the professor I would ideally like to work with has on their personal page that they will be accepting students for the fall of 2011. They also explicitly state not to contact them with questions from potential applicants.

I am curious if he will be accepting students next fall, but also don't want to bother him. THere is another in the department I could work with, but the fit is not as good, so I don't know if it is worth double checking for 2012 and bothering him or not.

[Sigaba]

[He/she] also explicitly state not to contact [him/her] with questions from potential applicants.

crunchy--

Think of ways you can get the information you want while also following the instructions provided by the POI.

[yubby]

i think you should make a fake email account and email them with it

can't really hurt i dont htink...just make sure you don't sign it with your real name

[Sigaba]

i think you should make a fake email account and email them with it

can't really hurt i dont htink...just make sure you don't sign it with your real name

Yeah, there's no better way to get off to a good start with a POI than with a little deception.

Or--

• How about calling the POI's department and asking members of the administrative staff?
  
• How about calling the DGS and asking what she knows about the POI's plans?
  
• How about finding out the names of some of the POI's graduate students who are ABDs and giving them a call?
  

[gradschoolguru]

If the POI explicitly states that he/she does not want to receive emails from prospective students, emailing him/her could start a potential relationship off on the wrong foot.

Great idea, Sigaba: "How about finding out the names of some of the POI's graduate students who are ABDs and giving them a call?" or send them an email. Current grad students usually know a lot about their advisor's future plans and whether or not he/she is looking for a new student.

[Mr. Tea]

Here's another important question: If this POI tells you not to contact, doesn't update info on his site, and gets pissed at you for asking, how much is it worth entering into a 5+ year professional relationship with him?

Opinions will diverge, and I know it can be intimidating when you've had zero contact and are excited at the possibility of working with someone whose work you respect, but my opinion is that you should send a quick email saying that you noticed on his site that he was accepting students last year and wanted to check and see if he is also accepting students this year as well (this serves a second function as a non-critical way to remind him to update the site).

[pheonixx]

I would suggest contacting the secretary. One of the professors I had wanted to work with didn't have an updated website and wasn't responding to my emails so I called the secretary. She said she was going to send out reminders to all the faculty to have an updated website and his information was updated the next day.

In another case, a professor said she was taking a new student on her website but wasn't listed in the group of faculty accepting students. I called the secretary and she informed me that there was a change in funding and the professor was no longer taking students for next year.

So sometimes the secretary will know, sometimes they won't but it can't hurt to call. Saved me $60.

Edited November 23, 2011 by pheonixx

[lewin]

If you choose to email the professor, definitely start out with something like, "I saw on your website that you took students for 2011-12 but I did not see updated information for this application year. I hope I'm not intruding by emailing but...."

[Sigaba]

Here's another important question: If this POI tells you not to contact, doesn't update info on his site, and gets pissed at you for asking, how much is it worth entering into a 5+ year professional relationship with him?

Opinions will diverge, and I know it can be intimidating when you've had zero contact and are excited at the possibility of working with someone whose work you respect, but my opinion is that you should send a quick email saying that you noticed on his site that he was accepting students last year and wanted to check and see if he is also accepting students this year as well (this serves a second function as a non-critical way to remind him to update the site).

Mr. Tea--

I appreciate and respect your point of view. However, I do have a concern.

Specifically, what happens if applicant goes this route and the POI reads the querying email but does not reply and then the applicant contacts the POIs department and gets the answer he/she could have gotten all along? From the POI's point of view, the silence could mean "no harm, no foul," or "+1 for showing initiative," or "PNG/FTFSI" or something else.

But how would the applicant know to interpret the silence? Would the resulting uncertainty--on top of all the other anxieties that come during an application season--be worth the risk?

[Mr. Tea]

Calling the administrative staff first is a fantastic idea. If that attempt is unsuccessful, then I would say that in my opinion yes it is definitely worth the risk. My advice would be to assume silence as a neutral response and not take it personally. If the silence is a negative response then the POI is probably going to be a pain in the ass to work with. I don't imagine that many successful academic careers start with a faculty mentor who is a complete jerk and can't try to understand the applicant's reasonable point of view.

Mr. Tea--

I appreciate and respect your point of view. However, I do have a concern.

Specifically, what happens if applicant goes this route and the POI reads the querying email but does not reply and then the applicant contacts the POIs department and gets the answer he/she could have gotten all along? From the POI's point of view, the silence could mean "no harm, no foul," or "+1 for showing initiative," or "PNG/FTFSI" or something else.

But how would the applicant know to interpret the silence? Would the resulting uncertainty--on top of all the other anxieties that come during an application season--be worth the risk?