Is Professor Contact Necessary for MEd?

[NoChance]

I can't seem to find any kind of consistency poking around. I'm thinking of reaching out to someone at HGSE because his research focus is very, very in line with what I want to do. I'm not sure what to say other than his research is my target area and a quote from a paper of his that happens to describe in a nutshell exactly what I'm most interested in. But I'm not sure if all of that would be inappropriate or if I'd come across as strange.

 

 

Likely, I assume, the profs just ignore queries from masters level applicants. What's the consensus?

[iphi]

You can do it, but I can't imagine it would improve your chances much aside from possible name recognition (if you're lucky) when they see a list of applicants. Still, not a bad idea - I mean, I don't think it can hurt.

[michigan girl]

I would only contact professors if you are planning to apply to doctoral programs. Otherwise, it's a waste of time to contact a professor if your only goal is a master's degree. The admissions process for master's programs are done by student affairs professionals. At the doctoral level, a committee of professors select candidates for admission.

[NoChance]

Thanks for the responses! I think I won't reach out them since it doesn't seem that it will really do too much for me. I just didn't want to hurt my chances by not being in contact with a prof. If it's not expected or helpful, then I guess I can skip it. 

[NoChance]

Well to confirm this, in the virtual chat session yesterday for IEP, they recommended that master's applicants not reach out to professors. Problem solved (thankfully before I reached out to anyone...). The chat session worked out well anyway since the professor I wanted to contact participated and answered a few of my questions directly.