Best time to start contacting professors for potential advising?

[gomeperez]

If I want to apply for the Fall 2013 term, when should I start contacting profs?

[Usmivka]

I don't know your field, so this is generic: Preferably right now. Plenty of time for them to get back to you and not so late that your e-mail is lost in the milieu that comes with every other prospective writing at once. In my field, the adviser has often already picked their candidate by the time applications roll around, and if no faculty member is actively lobbying for your admission, it tends not to happen. Also see the threads about how to approach advisers, how to write the e-mail, when to write/call a second time, etc. Better minds than mine have given this a lot of thought and but lots of great advice here in the forum.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Usmivka