POI doesn't answer email after admission

[gabriele]

Hi! I've contacted a professor before applying to graduate program X (my top choice), asking about positions in his group, the response was prompt and positive. Now I've been admitted and he was assigned as my faculty contact by the department. I sent him another email asking generic questions regarding his group, like how research projects are assigned, how a student is followed in his group etc.. I contacted hiim because I'm trying to decide between different schools and want to have some interaction with potential advisors before deciding.

I sent this email 6 days ago and still no response.

I really want to go to this school with this professor, if I can't work with him I'm not sure I'd want to go there. I've also other very good choices.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

What should I do? Write another email? Waiting some more time?

[emmm]

Maybe you should contact the DGS and ask if they can help put you in contact with this POI. I have had the experience of not being able to contact PIs and needing to go through administrative assistants. These people CAN be too busy to follow their emails!

Edited February 12, 2012 by emmm

[gabriele]

Maybe you should contact the DGS and ask if they can help put you in contact with this POI. I have had the experience of not being able to contact PIs and needing to go through administrative assistants. These people CAN be too busy to follow their emails!

Thank you for your advice! But what DGS stands for?

[CarlieE]

DGS...Dean of the Grad school?? Just a guess...

I would give it a few more days though... My POI responds to emails but since I've been accepted, they aren't always as prompt. I mean, the whole process of reading apps, admitting people, interviews etc also takes time of out of their day (and they still have their current students, UG and grad and all their other commitments), that perhaps they have to catch up. It probably is not as harrowing a process on them as it is on us, but maybe now that you're IN, your POI is relieved that he/she got the student they wanted but now they have to catch up on other work. Since you don't have specific, urgent questions, he/she may answer them when they have more time..

I assume you begin in the Fall.. and there are still several months ahead... (I know, I am eager to begin too)

Edited February 12, 2012 by anthroDork

[icthere]

Thank you for your advice! But what DGS stands for?

Hey,

I guess DGS stands for the Director of Graduate Studies. I am in a somewhat similar situation, except that my POI answered my first couple of emails and even told me that she has given my name as the "sponsoring faculty" to increase my chances of getting departmental financial aid. But, she has not answered my last email which I sent about a week ago.

I, personally, don't feel good about contacting the DGS. It's like you are telling on the professor!!! But, I may be wrong. Maybe contacting the POI's students would not be a bad idea. They might be able to provide you with some valuable "inside" info.

[msafiri]

6 days really isn't that long...

[unitname]

I would wait a few more days.

[emmm]

When we need to schedule our rotations, we are told to try contacting the PIs directly, but we are also told to contact the departmental administrator if we do not hear back. Apparently, this is very common, and does NOT mean that people don't want to talk with us. Everyone I have had to schedule appts with this way has been very gracious. They realize we won't know the best way to contact them (when it's not their direct email). Also, I had a PI go "missing" when they're working on grants, and had to contact another prof to track him down in person and ask him to contact me (this was an unusual situation and not a method I recommend -- I was lucky in that I was chatting with a personal friend of both profs and she offered to set this up for me). I mean it when I say these are busy people. If he was communicating with you before you were admitted, I have no doubt he'd still be interested in talking with you.

Of course, consider how urgently you need to speak to someone before deciding you can't wait any longer. If you do decide it is urgent, there are tactful ways of going about it -- it needn't be like "tattling" on the professor.

Edited February 12, 2012 by emmm

[cyberwulf]

Profs get a *lot* of emails on a daily basis. Particularly if they've got other things (eg. grant deadlines) on their minds, a single email can slip out of sight and mind pretty quickly. I would suggest you send a quick follow-up email to the POI, so that if they have forgotten it will jog their memory. If there's still no response, as others suggested you might consider emailing a relevant administrator.

[ksalt]

You could try leaving a voicemail on their office phone to remind them about your email. (I was in a similar situation and this worked for me). It's likely that they get many, many email a day (as others said), and they simply forgot about it.

[gabriele]

Thank you all for the support! I feel better knowing that this is a common situation (and this usually doesn't mean a lack of interest). I'll wait for few days and then send a remainder or try to contact him by other ways (such as phone or administration).

[quantitative]

I'm having a similar issue although a bit more stressful. I attempted to contact my POI at one school while applying and got no response. I've been admitted with full funding and still have heard nothing from him after sending a brief refresher email. I know some people are bad at answering emails, but this is just frustrating as he would be the best advisor for me at the school.

Ideas besides leaving voicemails? We've never even corresponded, so I feel weird about it.

[CarlieE]

I'm having a similar issue although a bit more stressful. I attempted to contact my POI at one school while applying and got no response. I've been admitted with full funding and still have heard nothing from him after sending a brief refresher email. I know some people are bad at answering emails, but this is just frustrating as he would be the best advisor for me at the school.

Ideas besides leaving voicemails? We've never even corresponded, so I feel weird about it.

Perhaps your POI is not an email person? I'm horrible with phone calls and I hate voice mails so I am awful at responding to phone calls and much prefer email or texting.

[quantitative]

Perhaps your POI is not an email person? I'm horrible with phone calls and I hate voice mails so I am awful at responding to phone calls and much prefer email or texting.

Solved. Thanks.

[AldonSmith]

Also, the past few weeks have been NSF proposal deadlines for many departments. During these weeks schools basically come to a halt as they prepare proposals. Your professor (or any of ours) could simply have been swamped with securing as much money as possible....for us?

[gexinhmily]

I am in the same situation. Now I've been admitted and he was assigned as my supervisor, but recently he does not reply to me. My question is is there any chances he break his promise and does not admit me?

[CarlieE]

I am in the same situation. Now I've been admitted and he was assigned as my supervisor, but recently he does not reply to me. My question is is there any chances he break his promise and does not admit me?

If you have gotten a letter of acceptance via email or post, and you've accepted it officially, then they can't back out unless there've been some serious errors made... what sort of "promise" did you receive?

[gexinhmily]

If you have gotten a letter of acceptance via email or post, and you've accepted it officially, then they can't back out unless there've been some serious errors made... what sort of "promise" did you receive?

It is said that We are very pleased to offer you admission to the Doctor of Philosophy program in XX, for the academic session to commence September 2012.

The following faculty member wishes to supervise your Ph.D. studies and will provide the graduate student assistantship component of your

financial support in my e-mail and I have accepted the offer in my application system.

Are there any problems?

[CarlieE]

Congratulations! It sounds like you're admitted! Your POI not responding right away probably just means he's busy... if you are looking for confirmation or have questions about the program, you might email the graduate office or the program coordinator.

Edited February 23, 2012 by anthroDork

[CarlieE]

gexinhmily - Congratulations! It sounds like you're admitted! Your POI not responding right away probably just means he's busy... if you are looking for confirmation or have questions about the program, you might email the graduate office or the program coordinator.