Emailing POIs

[DarwinAG]

Hey. I know that asking POIs if they're taking students is the perfect excuse to introduce yourself. But what if their website states they are taking students. What other appropriate topic or inquiries can you make to introduce yourself?

[kaister]

Ask about what research they're currently working on. Ask for copies of their publications. Anything research related would be appropriate.

[PsychGirl1]

I generally wouldn't email them unless I had a genuine question. Usually they list that on the website so that they aren't bombarded by prospective students, and some professors don't like being emailed ahead of time. The main thing to know is that they're taking a student. If you genuinely like their research, apply, and they will review your application come December.

[mandarin.orange]

A few similar threads about this from the past week:

- I was the only one who replied to it, but included links I thought were useful for how to draft such an email, and discussed expectations.

- Interesting discussion about this for Sociology. I said "Yes, definitely!" while other posters more familiar with the discipline made a good case for why it's not essential.

I think contacting ahead of time is more common (and recommended) in the sciences. If there is someone specific you want to work with, I think an email's a really good idea to find out if they're even able to take students the next year. Could save you time and trouble if they're not. But if there's a variety of faculty you could work with, perhaps it's not so crucial.

[lewin]

Ask about what research they're currently working on. Ask for copies of their publications. Anything research related would be appropriate.

Careful. Don't ask for anything you can find online (including psycinfo) or you'll look lazy, dumb, or inconsiderate.

Edited October 1, 2012 by lewin00

[DarwinAG]

Thanks Lewin. I was hoping to hear from you. Any thoughts onwhat else I can ask for?

[stereopticons]

What I've been doing is if it says on the website that they are taking students, I only email them if it also says "interested graduate students should contact me" or something like that. If it doesn't say that, I assume they put it on the website BECAUSE they didn't want to be bothered with emails and don't email them, unless there is some valid, pressing question that only they can answer. Sure, you may lose the opportunity to introduce yourself, but if you annoy them when you do it, I'm not sure how that helps.

[lewin]

I lean towards what stereopticons says too.

But if you want to email, you could forego asking for anything: "Hi, I'm an undergraduate at X and interested in your work on Y, particularly [insert your own twist on Y]. I did my honours thesis on [Z]. I saw on your website that you're taking students in the fall and I plan to apply, so I'm just writing to introduce myself. Hope to hear from you in a few months!"

^^It's hard to argue that's too intrusive, assuming there aren't explicit instructions to avoid emailing somewhere.

For example, "I'm interested in your work on system justification theory. I did my honours thesis on motivated stereotyping of African Americans, so I'm particularly interested in how ethnic stereotypes might perpetuate economic differences between groups."

[kaister]

I agree with all of the above. I'm not contacting a few because all the info I want is listed on their websites. However, there are those cases where they don't have a complete website or they list their research interests but not current projects. I have found sometimes that's valuable to ask (if it's not deducible from their most current publications) because they may have a project they're just starting on that can be a perfect match for you or goes in a different direction that you were hoping for.