How did you approach your POI for the first time?

[FreeRadical]

I'm surprised at the amount of people on Grad Cafe who were in communication with their professors of interest during the application process. If that's you, how did you approach him/her for the first time? How did you develop the relationship?

Edited March 7, 2014 by FreeRadical

[Methylmadness]

I had professors at my current program who gave me suggestions of people that might be a good fit for me. I emailed them, making sure to mention my current professors, with whom they have worked with closely. I ended up going and chatting in person before I submitted my applications and it was really useful. It is good when they can put a face to a name. Because I mentioned that specific POI in my statement, he also got to read my application so I wasn't just another applicant at that point.

[epikid2014]

I was contacted by a researcher at Harvard who read my application and wanted me to work in his lab. It's how I got notified of my admission in January for SM2 - and definitely takes the pressure off of finding someone whose research interests match mine!