Made contact with a POI

[wardword]

Hi all,

 

I've browsed gradcafe (sort of obsessively) for months, but I've never made an account until now.

 

I sent an email to my POI mentioning my research. She sent an email back almost IMMEDIATELY (at about 11 PM, no less) asking a few questions about some terms and for some clarification of what I wanted to do. I waited until the next morning to compose my thoughts before answering with a clarification. She then responded pretty positively and said she would certainly be interested in my project and asked if I was applying.

I'm having trouble knowing if I am supposed to reply. She ended with a question, ("Are you applying to X?") but I'd feel silly just answering, "Yep, I'm applying, thanks for answering" and leaving it at that. Is there something else I am supposed to do here?

 

Finally, how common is contacting POIs in linguistics? I saw somewhere that it's actually not all that common in this field...

 

edit: typos

Edited September 13, 2013 by wardword

[Arezoo]

I had the same experience with a great professor who replied to me immediately, and encouraged me to apply, although she mentioned that it's a competitive school to apply. I've also had no replies from so many schools, and some even emphasized that the committee will decide which student will be accepted. No Canadian professor replied to me till now, even though they are literally persuading the students to find a supervisor before applying. All i can think of is that the process of accepting students in linguistics differ from other majors which fund students through their own projects, and there is no departmental funding available. comments will be appreciated 

[Arezoo]

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