Reach Out to Professors After Application

[wltklry]

Hello all,

 

The application period is over for most of us. Good luck to all!

 

I have a terrible undergrad gpa(~2.5) and a not-bad M.Sc. gpa(~3.5). My

application will be discarded if there is a hard gpa cut off. I was lucky

to visit 3 rock star professors in my field, now they know me in person.

Should I reach out the professors and inform them about my application?

Does anyone have similar experience?

 

thank you for your time.

 

[dvfire]

Well I am in the same boat.  I submitted my apps to the schools but I didn't contact POI beforehand (though I did research on their background).  After submitting the apps, regarding contacting POI, I initially felt awkward but my mom urged me to do it, for the sole purpose that the profs might have some sort of impression on me.  Even if they have no say on the selection committee, who knows, maybe if it comes down to two people equally qualified this email could be the tie-breaker.  I even sent Christmas cards to them after the emails.  Regarding the emails, only one prof replied, telling me that he has no say in the selection process but wished me good luck.  That was it.  I guess we have nothing to lose if we sent out the emails.  And as for the Christmas cards, I don't think the profs are going to be annoyed receiving a Christmas from someone? 

[ratlab]

Sending them Christmas cards was extremely unprofessional, particularly if you didn't personally know them.

Edited December 18, 2013 by ratlab

[Jungshin]

Unless you were Barack Obama or Stephen Harper, you should not be sending Christmas cards to professional acquaintances.

 

And I personally would not say anything to these rock stars. The most they can practically do for you is keep you updated on whether offers or interviews were sent out, which you can do on the internet anyway.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Jungshin

[VioletAyame]

I believe there are a few old threads discussing this topic at length. You should check them out!

 

Edited December 19, 2013 by VioletAyame

[ereissoup]

Unless you were Barack Obama or Stephen Harper, you should not be sending Christmas cards to professional acquaintances.

 

And I personally would not say anything to these rock stars. The most they can practically do for you is keep you updated on whether offers or interviews were sent out, which you can do on the internet anyway.

 

I slightly disagree. I'm close friends with a professor (outside of my own school or field) and he regularly gets Christmas cards and thank you notes from his undergrads and advisees (moreover he seems to greatly appreciate them). I guess these things are very context-dependant. 

[wltklry]

VioletAyame thanks for the link!

[Guest |||]

Sending them Christmas cards was extremely unprofessional, particularly if you didn't personally know them.

 

 

Maybe so, but I'd think nothing of it aside nervous undergrad trying to make a good impression

[Canis]

unless of course you were a professor who was atheist, jewish, hindu, etc...

 

*crossingfingers* these were generic 'holiday' cards - but even then pretty questionable.

[Guest |||]

unless of course you were a professor who was atheist, jewish, hindu, etc...

 

*crossingfingers* these were generic 'holiday' cards - but even then pretty questionable.

 

 

Someone that sensitive rejecting you, probably counts as a dodged bullet.

Edited December 31, 2013 by |||

[Canis]

Someone that sensitive rejecting you, probably counts as a dodged bullet.

 

I totally agree. But, have you met academics? In my experience there's a good chance any given professor will be extraordinarily picky, sensitive, quirky, and will apply all of their personal inclinations and pet peeves to their expectations of students. Prob doesn't matter in Comp Sci, the OPs major, but for social science or other fields an act suggesting such a lack of ability to imagine the world from someone else's experience, and a failure to consider cultural context - that would probably be taken pretty seriously as an indication of whether they're suited for the field or whether you want to work with them for 6 years.

 

Personally, if a student did that I find it very sweet.  But I know faculty who wouldn't - especially atheists who are sometimes more dogmatic (and offended by things like that) than the religious faculty!

[Guest |||]

lack of ability to imagine the world from someone else's experience

 

All that from giving a card that might say "Happy whatever does not happen to be your religion"

[Canis]

All that from giving a card that might say "Happy whatever does not happen to be your religion"

 

I suppose not being able to see how that might offend someone is itself also an example of a lack of ability to imagine the world from someone else's experience.

 

If Richard Dawkins was your POI, would you send him a Christmas Card without considering the consequences? Point is just that one never knows how someone else feels about religion or politics that might seem 'normal' or without much meaning to you.

[Guest |||]

I suppose not being able to see how that might offend someone is itself also an example of a lack of ability to imagine the world from someone else's experience.

 

I don't understand, why draw such exaggerations.

 

It was never the case that I couldn't see or imagine the world from someone else's perspective but rather to point out how ridiculous the statement is - You sent me a greeting card that does not fit in with my personal beliefs, therfore, you as an individual "lack the ability to imagine the world from someone else's experience".

 

Whatever happened to realizing that someone is just trying to send you an expression of appreciation or well-wishes.  That after the "Merry Christmas", "Happy Kwanzaa" or "Seasons Greetings", is the intent or sometimes even explicit wording "I wish and hope you are doing well!".

 

Could someone be offended by this?  Of course, but really, then jumping to the conclusion "Because you sent me this card, you obviously cannot view the world from anyone elses perspective other than your own", what is to be said of this kind of person?

 

 

If Richard Dawkins was your POI, would you send him a Christmas Card without considering the consequences? Point is just that one never knows how someone else feels about religion or politics that might seem 'normal' or without much meaning to you.

 

 

The same Richard Dawkins who tweeted Merry Christmas on Christmas day and spoke "I am perfectly happy on Christmas day to say Merry Christmas to everybody... I might sing Christmas carols - once I was privileged to be invited to Kings College, Cambridge, for their Christmas carols and loved it."

Yes if I wanted to send Richard Dawkings a Christmas card I would.  Not because I am religious, or because he is religious, but because he understands the intention of the act rather than the literal writing on the card.  That by handing him this piece of paper, I am not attempting to undermine him, or am ignorant of his athiest beliefs, but rather that we can set aside these points and realize this is a simple gesture of well-wishing. 

 

If instead he jumped to the conclusion that "How dare you give me this festive card, this goes to show your complete inability to see the world through my eyes", he would have misunderstood the entire point of the act, and quite frankly, what is to then be said of such a response or mentality? 

Edited January 1, 2014 by |||

[Canis]

We don't disagree here. As I noted above "In my experience there's a good chance any given professor will be extraordinarily picky, sensitive, quirky, and will apply all of their personal inclinations and pet peeves to their expectations of students."

 

The question is, where do you draw the line? Do you send Dawkins a "happy holiday" card? Or do you send him a Knights of Columbus "Keep Christ in Christmas" card? Or a Hanukkah card? Or a Kwanza card? Clearly not the latter three, and the former is less clearly ok, but probably tolerable. Either way, as noted above by others as well - the appropriate thing is probably to steer clear of such specific cards and send a 'thank you' card, or even a new year's card. You're much less likely to get on a crazy professors bad side by participating in the Hegemony of Gratitude and Gregorian Calendars than such a specific holiday.

 

And as I noted above, in Computer Science it might not matter unless they turn out to be a dogmatic atheist who not only dislikes Christmas but the pre-christian traditions it's based on. Of course, you could do lots of research on the person first and try to guess whether they will react like Dawkins - but probably safer, for future students looking for advice, to avoid the potentially religious holidays with Professors they don't know at all and from whom they're hoping to get an offer of admission.

[m-ttl]

I suppose not being able to see how that might offend someone is itself also an example of a lack of ability to imagine the world from someone else's experience.

 

If Richard Dawkins was your POI, would you send him a Christmas Card without considering the consequences? Point is just that one never knows how someone else feels about religion or politics that might seem 'normal' or without much meaning to you.

 

The real question is -- who on earth would want Richard Dawkins (they stole my honey because I didn't follow TSA rules waaah waaah) as a POI? Richard Dawkins is grating at best and a complete nuisance for anyone who wants to comport themselves respectfully and like an adult when it comes to a-thiesm at worst. 

 

....Sure, a New Year's card is more appropriate, but frankly I would never want to work extensively with someone who feels that their atheism oppresses them in any meaningful way or who can't stop and realize that people often share their own cultural/religious experiences as a sign of good will towards others. Someone who is so petty as to think that was intentionally meaning to offend them...well, would you want to work with them anyways? Overreacting so poorly over a christmas card seems laughable. It's a minor social faux pas, not a major offense. 

 

If something like this is what gets you on a "crazy" professors bad side, aren't you doing yourself a favor? 

 

I don't think this will harm the anyone that much. If it does, I would put it more on the line of over-eager... 

 

As for the initial question in the thread, I'm avoiding doing it with any place whose deadline is coming up... I'm concerned it will look like I didn't plan well. 

Edited January 2, 2014 by m-ttl