Who contacted the profs that they wanted to work with?

[Dubya]

...before you applied, of course. I've heard various views on the topic. I contacted professors at 4 of the 7 places I applied.

[zygomatic]

I contacted potential profs at my top choices. Don't know if this helps really or not. They say it does, but if depts are getting hundreds of apps and even half contact profs, I think most would forget. They are busy with classes, advisees, thesis committees, etc.

Course I could be wrong. Otherwise I'll be sad about how positive mine were. I think I may be getting a bit negative from the wait. Thank goodness Feb is half over!!

[crofty]

I contacted a prof from just about every school I applied to. Most wrote something supportive, but vague back. One prof (very helpfully) informed me that he was leaving that school and moving to University X. Do I think this was a useful endeavor on my part? That's tough to say . . . The first school I was accepted to is one of the few schools where the prof never wrote me back - and it looks like he would be my advisor there after all.

[Tonights]

I only contacted profs at a few places out of nine, and that was because I went on an insane road trip and I tried to meet with people whose interests I really matched with. I only would up having one really great informal interview, but here's hoping it will have made an impression. The professor I met with was really, really interested in my work and told me that my field is one that the school is working on developing into its own specific program track, so maybe it'll work in my favor!

I did however speak to all of my potential directors of graduate studies to inquire as to how much weight they'd place on the quantitative GRE, and I met with some of them during the road trip to ask questions about the process and the department.

[crofty]

Tonights - whoa! That's seriously impressive and far braver than my attempts at contact. I only sent an email. I was too nervous to even attempt an off-hours phone call to their office where I'd be forced to leave a voicemail. Good for you - I'm sure it will pay off.

[IvyHope]

I only contacted profs at a few places out of nine, and that was because I went on an insane road trip and I tried to meet with people whose interests I really matched with. I only would up having one really great informal interview, but here's hoping it will have made an impression. The professor I met with was really, really interested in my work and told me that my field is one that the school is working on developing into its own specific program track, so maybe it'll work in my favor!

I did however speak to all of my potential directors of graduate studies to inquire as to how much weight they'd place on the quantitative GRE, and I met with some of them during the road trip to ask questions about the process and the department.

Ugh! How cool is that? I bet that was a blast- I'd love to take time and just get in the car and go, so your method here seems really awesome to me. Way to go.

[Tonights]

It was truly gratifying. I was with a friend of mine who is applying to history programs, and we just felt a lot better about applying to places we'd been instead of faceless imagined institutions, I suppose.

The unfortunate bit was that we had to do the entire Eastern seaboard in three days. We drove about 1,500 miles. By the third day I practically had bedsores from being in the car and I was definitely not on the top of my game interview-wise, so I decided against poking my head into my top choice, because I think any impression I could have made at that point would have been been negative. After that much time on the road and visiting half a dozen schools already, I pretty much looked like I'd been freebasing cocaine. Unfortunately, I did visit the campus, and that made me want to go there even more! :?

I also attended a class at one of the schools I visited, but sadly it was a day where people were giving presentations, so I didn't exactly get to wow anyone with my intellect (or say a word the entire time, actually) so I just tried to look as intellectual as possible.

[miratrix]

Good for you! I only contacted profs at 3 out of 7 because they were local enough to visit, I didn't see the point of emailing them if I couldn't meet in person. At one school I'm really glad I did, at one school I think it helped me informationally but won't help me to get in, and at one school I would actually say it was a disaster. Haven't heard back from any of those schools yet, but I have strong expectations based on the meetings: probable acceptance, probable acceptance without funding, probable rejection.

[zhukora]

I contacted the very top professor I wanted to work with (I didn't apply to many schools), but I never heard back from her. I was a little disappointed, but I did discover later from RateMyProfessors that she is generally considered very disorganized. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it would explain why I never heard back. :roll:

[erudite crudite]

I asked my undergrad advisor about this early in the application process and he told me to absolutely contact possible advisors. Even if they didn't respond, there might be a chance of name recognition or a snippet in my email that they would remember when making decisions.

I identified the faculty member that most closely matched my research interests from each school and sent a short email introducing myself, hinting on my background, and asking them if they were accepting students for Fall 2009 admissions. I received word back from all but one, several even replied within the hour! I ended up emailing a few faculty back and forth for about a month and even got a chance to have an informal interview with one of the profs before I even applied. Two called my undergrad advisor to get the scoop on me. So far I've gotten two acceptances and an interview at my top choice and I think contacting them definitely helped in the process.

[Fritzie]

I contacted several profs before I sent out applications, and I'm glad I did - one's info was completely outdated, she's now working in a completely different area, on a completely different continent, so my chances would have been zero; one's taking an extended leave of absence starting in 2010 to do fieldwork; and one's retiring. So I saved myself a lot of money, if nothing else. And I did end up having some very nice, interesting, detailed email exchanges with a couple profs I contacted about my MA thesis and research interests, so I'm hopeful that I might have helped my chances at least a little bit. Fingers crossed!

[new to anthro]

I applied to three schools only and I only contacted a prof at one. She was very responsive and I got her to allow me to sit in on a couple of her classes this past fall term and met with her in her office hours to disucss the program and my interests for half an hour. But when I returned to sit in on her class the next week, she didn't remember me at all! And there were several other potential applicants auditing the same class, too. I haven't heard but I will soon apparently--doesn't look good.

[miratrix]

Wow, that program draws dedicated applicants! Good luck, I'm sure it couldn't have hurt and may have helped put a face to your name when she read your application.

[Diospyros]

You know, I applied to eight schools, got into three, and the three that accepted me were the schools where I had contacted someone. That can't be purely coincidence.

[Shelby]

Yeah, I agree with the above post. It is not coincidence because the schools where I had regular contact with my potential adviser are the ones I got accepted into as well. In fact, when I was visiting one of them, all of the professors in the department knew I had been in contact with my potential adviser since the summer, and they complimented me for it. I think even if you send one e-mail just to introduce yourself and say that you're interested in working with someone, even if they don't respond (though that's usually a bad sign if they don't), it puts you an inch ahead of another applicant. Name recognition, that's the key.

[miratrix]

At one school I'm really glad I did, at one school I think it helped me informationally but won't help me to get in, and at one school I would actually say it was a disaster. Haven't heard back from any of those schools yet, but I have strong expectations based on the meetings: probable acceptance, probable acceptance without funding, probable rejection.

Okay so ironically enough...at the school where I thought it helped a lot, I was accepted but with insufficient funding (state school budget crunch, yay); at the school where I don't think it helped or hurt, I've heard nothing, and assume that means I'm at worst rejected and at best unfunded; at the school where I thought it was a horrible disaster and I shouldn't have gone, I was accepted with good funding and am getting excited about probably attending, despite still waiting on news from two others. My bad feeling about the conversation at that school was basically due to the prof having a very straightforward, businesslike demeanor that can be intimidating, which I realized from visiting last weekend after being accepted and talking to current students. So...goes to show how little we can assume, I guess!

[Fritzie]

I don't know if it helped me or not, honestly. Beyond helping me avoid wasting money applying to schools where there actually wasn't anyone I could work with, so I would have had zero chance of getting in (see my earlier post). I know it's a good idea, but at this point, I can't see how it helped me at all yet. I've been accepted to one program, where I wrote to a guy who never responded (but who was assigned to be my first-year advisor, according to the letter from the dept). And I had a couple very nice, detailed, lengthy email exchanges with profs at two schools that I really would like to attend, and I've still not heard anything - am assuming the worst at this point (rejected or unfunded, which are basically the same thing....).

So, yeah, this whole thing is completely screwing with my head at this point.......

[columbian85]

...before you applied, of course. I've heard various views on the topic. I contacted professors at 4 of the 7 places I applied.

I have good anecdotal evidence of this. Of the 9 PhD programs I applied to, I only visited 3. Of those 3, I was only accepted by 1.5 (one offered me unfunded MS admissions) and waitlisted by the third until I was ultimately rejected. The other 6 summarily rejected me.

The PhD program which took me on with full funding was the only one for which I actually contacted a professor I wanted to work with, and met with him. It was only students and admins I met at the other two schools. This program by the way was the strongest by most any metric of all the schools I applied to.

So, I'm seeing a definitely strong correlation between "Talked to Professors", "Visited the Department" and one's results. Quite surprising. Now I wish I hadn't spent so much money applying to so many schools...

[riss287]

For my two cents, and to throw a curve to the results, the ONLY school that i did not contact a professor or have any contact with secretaries, anything, was the ONLY school at which I was accepted.

[monkeydentity]

n = 1

:wink:

[zygomatic]

n = 1

:wink:

Congrats on CUNY

[monkeydentity]

Congrats on CUNY

thanks!

i'm kinda glad my "safety schools" didn't accept me last year, I'm quite pleased to go into NYCEP 1 year later instead.

[poetaguerrera]

i contacted professors at every department i applied to..visited some, emailed some, and called some...

[poetaguerrera]

For my two cents, and to throw a curve to the results, the ONLY school that i did not contact a professor or have any contact with secretaries, anything, was the ONLY school at which I was accepted.

it's kind of a double-edged sword....having choices...im afraid i'll pick the wrong one =/

[soychailatte]

I contacted the profs I wanted to work with and had meetings with them to discuss my research. I think it is very important to make that connection.