Did I cross the line in regards to contacting a potential supervisor?

[HYHY02]

So I'm going to try to make this as short as possible....

 

Anyways, I was very interested in a specific research field for my masters, so at a school here in Canada, I got into contact with a professor at a university early in the application process (usually for a research degree, you must secure a supervisor before you're officially admitted, as was the case here). He's relatively a new professor, so when I first got into contact with him, he said he didn't know if he'd have the available funds to take on another student. This was in October of last year, and we kept emailing back and fourth (usually me starting it off by asking if he had a better idea in regards to his funding), over the next 8 months. The application deadline ended in June, and it was then that he finally told me he could not take on another student for the upcoming year. I was disappointed, but I completely understood.

 

I then enrolled into a different masters program that I applied to. However, because I'm so intersted in doing this specific work that the said professor was doing, I emailed him again in August (I was comtemplating of dropping out of my masters to pursue this exact type of research) and it was here where I don't know if I maybe crossed the figurative line when it comes to talking with potential supervisors. I asked him if he had any positions for the winter term (starting January 2014). In this email however, I kind of went into a full paragraph explaining how I'm sorry for the continuous emailing, but that I really want to get involved in this type of research, I explained what I found interesting in the articles he published etc. blah blah (probably came off as a little to desperate), and then I ended off the email asking if he would be accepting PhD applicants in the next couple of years, and if he would consider someone like me with a different background (although similar field) that I would want to apply then. I really wanted to work on this type of work at this university, then move to a lab in the States for my PhD to continue this work. Problem now is that the work I'm doing in a masters is quite different, so if I was to move into the field for a PhD, there would be no continued transition, but I'd be entering a new field. The fact that he just dismissed my masters application, and that I then asked him if I could potentially be a PhD student at minimum two years down the line, I don't know if that would make me come off as neurotic or even oddly hell bent on working with this one person. It's not the person per se, but the research, but I can only imagine this email left a sour taste in his mouth. Not to mention he didn't reply, I emailed him again a few weeks after no response, and again no response. Have I shot myself in the foot in regards to ever working with this professor in the future?

Edited September 17, 2013 by HYHY02

[Lisa44201]

I'm not sure that he dismissed your Master's app - if there's no funding, there's no funding. I was fine with your narrative until that last e-mail. I think at this point you should probably back off. The first month or two of the semester is really busy - he may just be swamped. I'm not sure you've shot yourself in the foot, but I wouldn't contact him again. You could always try to apply and see what happens.

[HYHY02]

I'm not sure that he dismissed your Master's app - if there's no funding, there's no funding. I was fine with your narrative until that last e-mail. I think at this point you should probably back off. The first month or two of the semester is really busy - he may just be swamped. I'm not sure you've shot yourself in the foot, but I wouldn't contact him again. You could always try to apply and see what happens.

 

Agreed. I'm definitely not emailing again for a couple years, if ever again. I just hope that if I do end up wanting to apply to his lab for a PhD, I hope he forgets my name by that time!

Edited September 17, 2013 by HYHY02

[fuzzylogician]

Don't email again right now because you simply don't have anything relevant to say and the conversation will go nowhere fast. It doesn't sound like you necessarily crossed any lines but you are headed there. Don't. At the end of the day, there aren't too many working on any particular problem and you'll end up meeting the same people over and over again -- they'll judge your papers, they will ask you questions when you give talks, and they may eventually hire you, so don't alienate any of them. 

 

The good news is, you were not rejected before -- no funding means just that and nothing else. And, changing fields between a Masters and a PhD is not all that hard (it's probably one of the best times to do it), so just keep your interests alive and think about how you could take the most from the Masters that could be applied in the PhD and maybe also think of a narrative that either ties the two together or explains how and why you are going from one to the other. 

[Sigaba]

MOO, things went off the rails for you last October when you established a pattern of leading off email exchanges by asking about funding. I think you'd have been better served by leaving that issue aside and just focused on topics centering around your research interests and his work.

What's done is done. Focus on the here and now. By the time you go through the application process again, you will have a different perspective and more skills.

In the event you feel like beating yourself up, look for threads on this BB in which graduate students reflect on their own miscues.

[HYHY02]

Thanks for the opinions.

 

Not sure I'm overthinking it now, but would it be odd if I decided to apply again for a PhD in his lab a couple of years down the line? I'm hoping he won't remember my name tbh...

[fuzzylogician]

Thanks for the opinions.

 

Not sure I'm overthinking it now, but would it be odd if I decided to apply again for a PhD in his lab a couple of years down the line? I'm hoping he won't remember my name tbh...

 

I bet he'll remember, you don't get that many interactions with over-zealous students. But -- if two years down the line you reestablish contact and this time keep it professional, you can probably salvage the relationship even if you did cross the line now. Really, the best thing you can do now is back off and do a good job in your current degree.