Prof. suggested to apply to program, how should I take it? how to follow up?

[xxtraloud]

I sent my usual email to a PI with my CV and he replied with a one line saying "i will be taking one student, based on your backbround and interests i think you should apply".

How do i take this? I will apply for sure but i was hoping to make a more personal contact. This person is the director of the research center at a notorious university on the west coast. I am thinking about replying and asking for a phone conversation and that I plan on visit in the Fall.

I am nervous about this phone chat as I am not sure how not to sound banal and ask abvious questions.

any suggestion from people with similar experiences

[SP123]

I think you should next contact the Professor when you have submitted your application (by replying to the mail in which he recommended you to apply). That way, the Professor would have the opportunity to clarify any doubts regarding your interests and capabilities. The Professor may be less willing to talk to a prospective student who may not even apply to his university at the end. Once your application is in, and he has evaluated your application, he will be much willing to talk to you if he thinks that you can be a potentially good fit.

[TakeruK]

I think if you do not need any more information from this prof before applying, then you should do as the above person said and just send a response back once you have submitted an application.

Sometimes profs will give a more personal response but it's probably not a good idea to force a phone conversation onto a prof. If they wanted to speak with you, they would have asked to. I don't think further communication with this prof before your application is going to be helpful.

It was a good thing you sent out the original email though, so you should mention that you are interested in working with this prof on your SOP. I think it's important to talk to any prof you plan to mention in your SOP before submitting an application!

[juilletmercredi]

I agree with the latter comment; there's no reason for a phone conversation at this point. You haven't even applied. There may be an opportunity for that later if you are invited for an interview or during the deliberations process, but at this point I would let it be professor-initiated.

Phone calls right now are for questions that aren't answered on the website and cannot be answered over email, which are rare, I think.