How to Contact Professors

[geigwm6]

This might sound like a dumb question, but how does one go about contacting potential professors that they'd be interested in working with?

Thank you!

Will

[a piece of bread]

to begin with, it is not a dumb question. i am also curious about this issue. i do not know exactly what your problem is but I suffer from the lack of appropriate phrasing in emails that i wrote to professors. i don't want to say something silly.

what i do is introducing myself, telling something about my background, then asking my questions.

i think they do not like muddled and long mails. i received many very short mails which do not reply most questions in it :?

[StrangeLight]

i started off telling them that i was planning to apply to their school's program in the fall. told them where i got my BA and the primary faculty member i worked with on my undergrad thesis. wrote 2 sentences max about my general research interests. one sentence about place and time period and general themes, and maybe one sentence about a dissertation topic. then asked if they were taking on new graduate students in the fall or if they were planning on going on leave any time. ended the email saying if they wished to discuss my research ideas in further detail to email or phone me. the whole exchange wasn't more than 5 sentences.

i only had two instances where professors did not reply to my initial email. many wanted to talk to me by phone, and a few forwarded my email to their colleagues in their department who then contacted me themselves.

keep the intro brief and let them decide if they want to follow up with you. give them a short idea of your research interests beyond "modern german history" but don't bombard them with a dissertation proposal. that discussion can wait for follow-up emails or phone conversations.

good luck!

edit: also, don't ask them any questions that you could find the answer to on the department's website. bad form. i wrote to one professor and asked some specific questions about his work, whether or not he was taking on grad students, etc. he told me he was going on leave for a year and a half, which is code for "if you say you want to work with me you won't get in this year," and then he copied and pasted information from the department website about their program, which i hadn't even asked him for. it felt like an auto-response.

[reallywantcolumbia]

While I agree with StrangeLight, I would keep it shorter. The template I went by was, broadly,

"Hi......

got your email address from ................................ and am applying to ............................ Saw your interests in .............................

I am interested in .......................................... and ...................................... with a focus on....................................... In particular, the question that fascinated me is .......................... As someone with obvious expertise in................................, I was wondering if you had any advice/thoughts on this topic.............................

[suitably polite ending thanking them for their time]

[name]

BA..................

"

If I had actually read something of their work, I would put in a paragraph after the "email address" talking about how their work influenced mine. Then I would go into the next para about my interests.

My advice: keep the first email as short as possible -- while having something in there that will hook a prof's attention. After you get a response, you can elaborate on your interests/background/their leave patterns etc.

best of luck!

[misterpat]

Be brief and thankful. Make a comment that shows that you've enjoyed their work, but don't go overboard with ass-kissing. I think some students treat professors as demi-gods, and that the professors' resultant discomfort sometimes leads to what the student considers a coarse reply.

Oh, and remember how you were told in high school that there was no such thing as a stupid question? There absolutely are stupid questions, and try to avoid asking them. As noted above, anything in the FAQs or elsewhere on the department's site qualifies as a stupid question. Remember that any e-mails you exchange with the professor may be kept in your application file.

[RedPotato]

I'd be nervous to contact potential advisors too, but to follow up on this:

I think some students treat professors as demi-gods, and that the professors' resultant discomfort sometimes leads to what the student considers a coarse reply.

Professors are people too. They were once your age. They do normal things... like buying food at the grocery store, and even going to the bathroom :wink: Be poilte, and dont start with "Hey, waz up, dude?" But remember, they are people too.

[zombiecaptain]

Contacting professors had me totally traumatized last year, but I honestly think it is crucial. I wrote to at least one professor at each university I applied to and got into 6 top 10 schools for US. The only thing I can say is be yourself!!! I don't think writing a stiff form letter gets you anywhere. I was surprised to find many of these scholars I looked up to were so down to earth and had a wonderful sense of humor. Yes, it's somewhat of a business e-mail, but hopefully if you stay in this field, you'll be making a new friend as you obviously can't work with all of the people you contact. I would approach it that way. That being said, only contact a professor if you know their work and there is a strong intellectual connection. If you wrote a thesis about ancient Rome and a potential student kept e-mailing you about 19th cen. L.A. you would ignore the e-mail too. Good luck!

[jz83]

Since at most there are 3-5 Latin American historians at any given school I felt ok writing all of them with a brief personal introduction and then a bit about my research interests and undergraduate work. I told them I'd be applying to the program and (since I live on the East coast and I'm applying to all E Coast schools) that I'd be interested in meeting up if they had time. I managed to have lunch with profs at both UVA and UMD and receive friendly responses from folks at NYU.

[TMNT]

Looking for some help on this as well. I've drafted pretty basic explanation of my current research and what I'm interested in looking into research wise for the PhD, but I'm not really sure how much to explain my specific interest in working with this or that professor and this or that university. There are only so many places (realistically 10, maybe 15) that have the resources to really do a worthwhile PhD in my field so its not like I can say I'm very interested in your particular program out of the 200 other places because...

Additionally, with some of the faculty I am emailing I am very familiar with their work, while others are younger and haven't published a lot so I don't have much to say. In these cases my interest in the program comes from the dept/university strength in my area more so than the specific faculty member. Yes I have talked to my advisor about this, I'm just looking for some more feedback from people closer to the game while I craft these messages. How would you all suggest approaching some of these issues in my emails?

[misterpat]

Additionally, with some of the faculty I am emailing I am very familiar with their work, while others are younger and haven't published a lot so I don't have much to say. In these cases my interest in the program comes from the dept/university strength in my area more so than the specific faculty member. Yes I have talked to my advisor about this, I'm just looking for some more feedback from people closer to the game while I craft these messages. How would you all suggest approaching some of these issues in my emails?

When you don't have much to say because you haven't read many of their publications, ask if they're going on research leave or doing anything that would preclude them from taking on new graduate students next year. It's a good question to ask anyway.

[mastermind1886]

I too was scared to contact professors in history programs. What helped me actually do it - and I'm grateful that I did and have been - was to think that they're probably getting tons of similar emails from prospective students. So it can become (or at least I convinced myself of this) win win: if your field is a bad fit for them, they'll say so and will either suggest others or forget about your existence; if your field is a good fit, then you have someone in your court when you do apply. Or the midline: if they're interested but unable to advise, you haven't really lost much; if they want more information, you have a great opportunity to build a more consequential relationship before applications are read; if they don't respond, chances are they won't remember you.

In any case: of the few professors I have contacted so far, all but one has expressed an interest in my material, offered substantial (like two pages) advice, asked to hear more about my project, and encouraged me to apply. The one who didn't offer positive feedback as explicitly (she did still offer some advice) is simply not going to be on campus when I will be, which is very helpful to know as well. So you really have nothing to lose, and TONS to gain.

I wrote the following:

-introduction (name, college, major, year, hoping to apply, etc.)

-BRIEF summary of interests - like 2 sentences

-BRIEF mention of their interests, and inquiry as to their availability on campus to potentially advise or advice on some content-related topic

-closing (if you'd like to know more, email or phone, etc.)

and write thank you notes if you get real substantial replies! They don't have to offer that kind of stuff, so showing your appreciation for the time they took to offer assistance will not go unnoticed.

[vtstevie]

My question is, when is too early to contact professors?

I'm in the final semester of my MA (passed comps, writing thesis) and am not applying to a PHD for next year, but am applying this coming fall. I've been thinking very hard about PHD programs lately and am itching to send out some e-mails to professors, but don't want to be premature. Would I be?

[Iknownothing]

Others may have different advice, but I would wait. If you jump the gun, they may forget who you are by the time they are reviewing applications.

I compiled my list of possible schools over the summer, then in the early fall I began contacting professors I wanted to work with. Based on their replies, I narrowed down my schools. After their initial replies, I made sure to follow up with a thank-you email (making sure to continue the same email thread so they could refer back to previous emails). Once I turned in my application, I sent out another email letting them know that I submitted my application (again, using the same thread) and made sure to tell them that if they had any questions regarding my application, to please feel free to contact me.

So far, the two school that I've been accepted to started out with an initial email and then evolved into phone conversations - always a good sign!

Good Luck!

[sidiosquiere]

This being my second time applying to schools, my perspective on contacting professors has changed. I think that contacting professors is important in order to know whether or not they are accepting students, not necessarily because it will put you in a better position for admission. I contacted professors at Berkeley and UCLA, and actually met them at a conference last November (and had lunch with one of them!), but both schools flat out rejected me. The schools that I did not contact accepted me - Michigan, UCSD and UIUC. So, I don't know. Maybe my social skills are really bad, but I don't think that contacting professors helps that much in terms of admission.

[The Dudester]

This being my second time applying to schools, my perspective on contacting professors has changed. I think that contacting professors is important in order to know whether or not they are accepting students, not necessarily because it will put you in a better position for admission. I contacted professors at Berkeley and UCLA, and actually met them at a conference last November (and had lunch with one of them!), but both schools flat out rejected me. The schools that I did not contact accepted me - Michigan, UCSD and UIUC. So, I don't know. Maybe my social skills are really bad, but I don't think that contacting professors helps that much in terms of admission.

I don't think it is an exact science, but it can't hurt to make an impression. Furthermore, it can help you find out if the teach is retiring/on leave/not taking students/an asshole before you apply. It definitely isn't a guarantee, but it works.

[TransnationalHistory]

This being my second time applying to schools, my perspective on contacting professors has changed. I think that contacting professors is important in order to know whether or not they are accepting students, not necessarily because it will put you in a better position for admission. I contacted professors at Berkeley and UCLA, and actually met them at a conference last November (and had lunch with one of them!), but both schools flat out rejected me. The schools that I did not contact accepted me - Michigan, UCSD and UIUC. So, I don't know. Maybe my social skills are really bad, but I don't think that contacting professors helps that much in terms of admission.

I think this might be true...I think it makes sense if you really can't tell if you're a fit or not, but you definitely do not have to contact any professor. I did not contact any of my programs beforehand except U Chicago because I was unsure as to whether I'd fit better in the African or Atlantic World field....the places I got in/waitlisted I didn't contact at all. You have to remember that at most schools, three faculty read your application when deciding whether you make the cut. Usually at least one will be in your field, but it's quite possible the three that read your application won't be anyone you've identified as a potential adviser. And in the end, I get the impression that professors take applicants with specializations that interest them. The process of applying to grad school is expensive and takes a lot of time...I think it's assumed that anyone who applies to grad school, with strong essays and LORs, is serious. You don't need to contact future PAs to prove that. Just my opinion though.

[HumbabaRed]

My biggest problem is always what to put as the subject of the email.

[qbtacoma]

My biggest problem is always what to put as the subject of the email.

I often put "Hello from a potential applicant" - stiff, perhaps, but serviceable.

I'd wait until late summer to contact folks. That way you still have plenty of time to get back to them with more questions later if you have any and if the exchange went (very) well, and you also have enough time to research better potential fits. It is near enough to application season they will remember you. Plus, I know I procrastinated a lot on doing application things, so setting a goal of emailing all my POIs by THIS date helped me.