Too early for this?

[noodles.galaznik]

Don't worry, this isn't going to be one of those "what are my chances, pleeez tell me!" posts.

Basically, what I'm wondering is if it's too early to contact POIs at the schools I've chosen. I'm interested in the link between ancient DNA and diet and modern day health, ethnicity and identity among native groups. I did my background in anthropology and history (double major) and in undergrad I did independent research on genetics, morphology and health, and my senior year I did an honors thesis on ancient diet. I'm currently working on my MA in sociology and I'm examining DNA from a sociological standpoint. I wasn't too super worried until I started really stalking program and lab websites, and I found that a lot of the grad students that are focusing in molecular anthropology (my main interest) either have had undergrad majors in biology, genetics, zoology, etc. or, have at least minored in one of those areas. I didn't do either. I took some introductory classes in undergrad and I'm auditing some genetics courses this upcoming year. I have taken a lot of statistics courses and my thesis is quantitative in nature, so that's a small plus. My background is pretty lacking in biology/genetics, and I'm afraid that might hurt my chances quite a bit.

What it boils down to is I have about 3 months where I have a significant amount of spare time to do extra readings and prep to improve my background. Once the fall semester begins, I'm going to be swamped with classes, research, and working on my thesis so I can finish it in time to graduate next May. At that point, grad school applications will still be important, but they'll be moving to the back burner. I wanted to contact profs I'm interested in working with and basically just express interest in the program, tell them a little bit about my background, what I'm interested in, and ask if I have a place in molecular anthropology and what kinds things I can do to improve my background so that I would be a strong candidate. Competition is intense, and I want to start early and make sure I do everything I can to improve my chances of admission.

Is contacting POIs about this now a good idea? Or an absolutely terrible idea?

[TropicalCharlie]

For the fall 2013 app season, it's not too early to contact POI's. Generally, summer is a good time to do so as most professors have a lighter or zero course load. Don't be surprised if you don't hear back right away since some may be on vacation or away conducting field work. Some will simply ask you to get in touch with them at a later time due to undetermined funding. From personal experience, I actually contacted many POI's back in March for my app season and was really well received by all. Good luck!

[noodles.galaznik]

Thanks! I'm going to work on getting in touch with people by the end of this week. I had just heard so many people say to wait and make contacts around September.

[TakeruK]

Personally, I would wait until September because most people aren't in "2013-2014" mode yet! I feel like this time of year, people are still arranging for the 2012 grad students to come -- i.e. current students helping new ones find a place to live, some are arriving early, visa paperwork being sorted out, and the 2012 students are looking to line up their first research positions / rotations and so on. Also, I found that these conversations/contacts are pretty short, it will be a couple of exchanged emails or a 20 minute skype call. Then they won't hear from you again for another ~7 months -- to me, it makes more sense to wait until the Fall when people start thinking about Fall 2013.

But there was a good point raised about people having more free time now. Maybe a good compromise would be to wait until closer to the end of summer?

It probably won't make a big difference, but just saying what I thought about while considering this last year!

[noodles.galaznik]

UPDATE: I emailed both profs, and I got incredibly kind, enthusiastic and awesome responses from both. I have a phone date with one scheduled for next week, and I've been emailing back and forth with the other. Too soon to say, but at this moment, things look pretty good.