Should I contact POIs before starting the school?

[pikaStardust]

Hello to all! This might be a silly question to ask but I feel like I am in need of advice.

So here is the deal: Up until this day, I haven't made contact with a specific professor from the school that I am now planning to accept. In my SoP and during my interview, I believe I have quite clearly explained what my ambitions are and what I expect from grad school, etc. So I didn't feel the need to express myself further specifically to a professor. Although I haven't accepted it officially, I am in the verge of doing it and there are couple of professors whose research interests me in there, but I think talking with them face-to-face once I finally start will be a much effective way of discovering their research interests. I will also have the chance of doing rotations so I won't be selecting my adviser at the beginning of my PhD. However, I generally see a trend of contacting potential POIs before attending the school. Now I feel like I should do the same and send an e-mail to the professor about his research projects and future directions. I fear if I don't do that it may seem as a lack of interest towards the program. I am quite enthusiastic about my acceptance so I really want to avoid leaving a bad impression. On the other hand, I also fear that my e-mail may sound like any other generic question directed to the professors and give the impression that I am asking just for the sake of it. I obvioulsy want to avoid that too.

So what do you think? Should I start talking with professors or is it too weird to wait until I start?

Thanks in advance

[iphi]

I'm honestly not sure what you're asking. If you're accepting, write a letter to the professor saying that you are happy to accept the school's offer and excited to work with them in the future. Not sure why you think your email would be "generic" if you are already accepted.

[ANDS!]

They are asking if they should do an email meet-and-greet; I doubt it will matter much.  I'm surprised that the research areas of the instructors aren't already clearly defined; typically they will be with a list of papers.

 

For some disciplines, I'm really not sure what this gets a student.

[Andean Pat]

I would contact your intended POI, especially if you have questions. If it's just for saying "I'm happy to work with you", I would also contact him/her. However, I am not an expert in these matters, I have no clue on the diplomacy of POI-student contact, and I really do not care. I just go for it . If you are planning to accept, they want you there so I'd say it's great you have a more personal approach to someone, right?