When should I contact my POI?

[Josh J.]

Okay, so I was admitted to the Vanderbilt MTS program today. The thing is, when I started out on the application process I didn't really know what I was doing, and so I did not contact my POI before or after submitting my application.

So, how long should I wait? And what do I even say? He obviously knows something about me since he is on the adcomm and I stated in my SOP that I wanted to work with him.

Any thoughts?

[indefiniteintegral]

Okay, so I was admitted to the Vanderbilt MTS program today. The thing is, when I started out on the application process I didn't really know what I was doing, and so I did not contact my POI before or after submitting my application.

So, how long should I wait? And what do I even say? He obviously knows something about me since he is on the adcomm and I stated in my SOP that I wanted to work with him.

Any thoughts?

Congrats! I'm of the mind to contact and contact away!

[Samahito]

I got an unofficial acceptance email from my POI, and so emailed her back within a few hours to let her know of my excitement and gratitude. After emailing back and forth for a few weeks, I'm glad I did because it'll transfer into priority consideration for assistanceships.

[11Q13]

Congrats! You could send them an email now, just a couple sentences saying you're excited to come to Vanderbilt and to work with them. Or, you could just wait until you get there and introduce yourself in person. There are quite a lot of Master's level students and the degree is only 2-3 years so there's not the same presupposition that you'll get to know one another really well like there is for doctoral students.

[Yetanotherdegree]

Congratulations. I don't think you need to contact your POI until you get there. You're enrolling in a two year basic masters program, not an advanced degree. You don't need a specific POI to potentially advise on a dissertation or even to supervise a thesis in September for you. If you're really excited, send off a quick introductory email and let them know how excited you are about the program and their courses. That's all you need to do. They'll have plenty of time to get to know you once classes start. If you have specific and relevant questions that need answering now, then by all means, ask. But if it's just to connect, then that can wait until September.

[religiousstudiesscholar]

I got an unofficial acceptance email from my POI, and so emailed her back within a few hours to let her know of my excitement and gratitude. After emailing back and forth for a few weeks, I'm glad I did because it'll transfer into priority consideration for assistanceships.

Samahito,

 

Are you interested in working with Steve Berkwitz at MSU?

[Samahito]

Religiousstudiesscholar,

 

Dr. Berkwitz was definitely one of the professors I was excited to work with, but alas I decided to accept admission at CU Boulder to work with with Dr. Gayley. It was a really really tough call. 

[sacklunch]

I would wait, unless you want to get started on some of his/her work early on. Regardless you might email them just to let them know your enthusiastic about working together.