Emailing POIs

[eshaw93]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm gearing up to start emailing POIs to see if they are accepting students, and had a few questions...

 

1) When's a good time to send these emails out?

2) How much info should I share about myself? (just a quick intro, should I attach my cv, etc?)

3) Do I need to suggest I've looked at their research in great detail? 

4)...or is it ok to just quickly and concisely ask if they are accepting new students?

5)......or is part of the goal of these emails to begin networking, in which case they can be a little longer to express my background/interests/etc.? 

 

Thanks for much for the help. As you can see, I'm new to all of this : ) If anyone has any thoughts or can point me to some resources, I would be very thankful.

 

 

 

[Dedi]

1) I've found that the best time is late summer/early fall. Many professors are out during the summer and don't check their emails as often as during the school year.

2) You probably want to give a quick intro at the very least so they know the situation and why you are writing. Only attach a CV if the faculty website indicates to do so.

3)/4) Be concise, definitely. I had no idea how many emails these professors get every day when I first started emailing them. My top choice POI gets 500 emails a day. Have some knowledge of their work and connect how their work would overlap your interests, but do it very briefly.

5) Yes, but again, be precise. They can only spend so much time reading emails. They need to teach and do research, too (:

 

Overall, you have some liberty on how detailed you want your emails to be, but at a certain point.

[GeoDUDE!]

my answer from : 

 

 

 

Hello Professor A

 

I am currently an English student in the UK and want to continue to study X in graduate school. I am particularly interested in particular X, and think that because your work "specific paper" is related to specific X, I think that you and your department would be a great place for me to continue my studies. Are you taking on graduate students for Fall 2015? Attached is a copy of my CV.

 

Thank you for your time,

 

Peachpenumbra.

 

 

 

 

I used a very similar email to all my POIs and got a response from every single one. Even the ones that didnt take on graduate students, they referred me to someone else who they think I might be a good fit with. The email does a few things : 1) it states who you are and what you are interested in. 2) It shows you have at least read 1 thing of theirs and it relates to what you are interested in. 3)  It is very short and doesnt waste the professors time.

 

I would send 4 line emails and get back essays from them in a response. The CV attachment is important; If your CV is good or impressive they will be more likely to respond knowing you at least have a shot to get in. Many students who contact professors dont have a shot.

[eshaw93]

Thanks for the help. I'm fortunate to have a strong cv/background but I don't want to come off as arrogant, so I'm still not sure whether attaching my cv is appropriate. Any more thoughts on whether it's appropriate to include a CV would be very helpful, thanks : ) 

[GeoDUDE!]

Actually my CV was quite weak, and really only people who have weak CVs should send them so your intuition is right.

Edited July 9, 2014 by GeoDUDE!

[CogPsych2015]

I think attaching the CV really depends. I had a lot of overlapping research interests/projects with my POIs, but didn't want to go over every single one of them in the letter. So, I went into a little detail on his/her topics I was most interested in working on and just mentioned that I had experience with the other topics. If they cared about my other experience, the CV was there to go into more detail. 

 

One of the tips that I got (and I think it really helped) was to not sound too dry. It's really tempting to just say This is me, this is what you do, this is what I want to do, are you accepting students? That was my first draft and I asked one of the grad students I TA'd for to look at it. Her advice was basically to put a little more passion into it. While it isn't the Personal Statement or SOP, it doesn't have to be dry and monotonous. 

Edited July 9, 2014 by CogPsych2015

[Munashi]

I slapped my CV onto every POI email I sent.  In my case, I figured it would be handy since I have a sizable number of publications to put on there.  I tried not to be presumptuous about it, and probably said something along the lines of "if you are interested in learning more about me, I have attached my CV" (phrasing would've been shinier, but you get the idea.. this was also included in addition to some brief tidbits about my research interest and how it lined up with theirs).  I suppose I didn't want POIs to think I was assuming they had time to comb through my CV, so I left it as kind of a "if you want it, it's there. if not, please disregard" kind of thing.

 

I'm not sure it matters.  In the end, do whatever suits you best.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Munashi

[Gvh]

I slapped my CV onto every POI email I sent.  In my case, I figured it would be handy since I have a sizable number of publications to put on there.  I tried not to be presumptuous about it, and probably said something along the lines of "if you are interested in learning more about me, I have attached my CV" (phrasing would've been shinier, but you get the idea.. this was also included in addition to some brief tidbits about my research interest and how it lined up with theirs).  I suppose I didn't want POIs to think I was assuming they had time to comb through my CV, so I left it as kind of a "if you want it, it's there. if not, please disregard" kind of thing.

 

I'm not sure it matters.  In the end, do whatever suits you best.

 

I agree. At the end of the day, if a POI gets 500 emails a day and 20 of them are potential students, attaching an impressive CV would make you stand out in sea of faceless emails; like one of the above posters said, most people who email don't have a shot, but if you give them an easy way to determine whether you have a shot, wouldn't that make them more likely to remember you?

[CogPsych2015]

Just got an email back from one of my POIs:

 

"From looking at your CV it looks like you would be a great fit for the lab.  I’ve followed much of (Current PI 1) and (Current PI 2) work as we examine a lot of similar issues in decision-making.  It’s also nice to see that you have done some aging work as that is one interest of mine."

 

I didn't mention my current PIs in the actual email or my work on aging (not an area I want to really continue in), so there are definitely benefits to including it. 

Edited July 9, 2014 by CogPsych2015

[VulpesZerda]

Just had to remove a program because the POI isn't taking new students. So disappointing! I had a feeling he wasn't, so I actually just emailed the graduate secretary to check. She answered within 10 minutes and was very nice about it. 

[Gvh]

Just had to remove a program because the POI isn't taking new students. So disappointing! I had a feeling he wasn't, so I actually just emailed the graduate secretary to check. She answered within 10 minutes and was very nice about it. 

 

Do you think it's worth emailing the POI anyway? I've heard of a number of people who heard from their POIs last minute saying they were, in fact, taking students when they had said no the first time. If you don't email them, they have no way of knowing to contact you...emailing just the grad secretary probably wouldn't have same effect.

 

After all, is there anything to lose by asking?

Edited July 11, 2014 by Gvh

[VulpesZerda]

Do you think it's worth emailing the POI anyway? I've heard of a number of people who heard from their POIs last minute saying they were, in fact, taking students when they had said no the first time. If you don't email them, they have no way of knowing to contact you...emailing just the grad secretary probably wouldn't have same effect.

 

After all, is there anything to lose by asking?

 

I suppose there's nothing to lose by asking! However, in this case, the POI has a very convincing reason behind his not taking students...(I will PM you!)

[PsychGirl1]

I was told to always attach my CV and I did. I know some of the profs read them because they referenced it in their reply.

[VulpesZerda]

I live fairly close to my two best fitting programs. I really want to visit them in August before classes start. Should I wait until I get a response from that initial POI email to ask them about visiting? Or, should I maybe email a grad secretary and see what he/she says? OR...is it appropriate to mention a visit in my first email (I assume not but figured I'd ask)?

[Saman]

I emailed around 7 POI's about whether or not they are taking students this fall,  and I heard back from 5 of them replying in affirmative. They were very nice and polite, and asked me about my credentials in terms of GRE and Research exp.

 

P.S. I didn't attach my CV to the emails.

[TKYU]

If you already know your POI will be taking students in the upcoming year (as this is stated on the University website), should you still include that in your email? If not, what should you include in the email as a replacement? 

[PsychGirl1]

Don't email them if you know they're taking students... that's the whole point of the email.

[GeoDUDE!]

Don't email them if you know they're taking students... that's the whole point of the email.

 

To discuss research ideas, what the POI might want the student work on during the PhD. Perhaps there are other funding options, like departmental fellowships that the POI would be willing to help you get. Perhaps,  you have a question about one of your POIs paper.

 

There are probably more I'm missing.

[Dedi]

To discuss research ideas, what the POI might want the student work on during the PhD. Perhaps there are other funding options, like departmental fellowships that the POI would be willing to help you get. Perhaps,  you have a question about one of your POIs paper.

 

There are probably more I'm missing.

I think you covered most of it. It's good practice for networking, as well. It took me a while to write a decent email for POIs. It's a skill, I guess.

[PsychGirl1]

To discuss research ideas, what the POI might want the student work on during the PhD. Perhaps there are other funding options, like departmental fellowships that the POI would be willing to help you get. Perhaps,  you have a question about one of your POIs paper.

 

There are probably more I'm missing.

 

Potentially valid points depending on the situation. A few counterpoints to consider:

- I know a good number of psychology professors who hate receiving these emails. Many times, professors put that they are accepting new students on their websites specifically to avoid getting these emails. They'd really just prefer to see finalized applications than have to answer 30+ emails from people they might not want to interview based on their application.

- Particularly if you're applying to clinical psychology PhD- most applicants apply to 10-15 schools. Many programs receive 400-700 applications, and many POIs are overwhelmed with a large number of applicants per spot. You shouldn't be contacting your POI to work on department-specific fellowships at the application stage unless you are told otherwise by the program. That being said, if you're in a small field and applying to a program that gets a small number of applications, maybe this would make sense. (Or if the program specifically told you to do this). A department admin is probably a more appropriate person to approach about this at the application stage.

- Questions about a paper: this can be discussed on interview day... if you get an interview. In some subfields of Psychology, it's more likely you will get an interview than others, and maybe this type of email would make more sense. In Clinical Psych, it's such a crapshot and percentage game that it's not worth wasting your time (or your POI's time) on things like this before you're actually invited to an interview. That being said, I could see emailing to discuss the POI's future direction of research if it is unclear based on available information. Again, that can be something that is asked on interview day though.

 

My genuine advice is, don't send an email just to send an email. If you have a genuine concern, question, or issue- email. If you're trying to figure out a reason to email them just to impress them- don't. Particularly in clinical psych, I'm not as familiar with smaller subfields where perhaps these types of emails are more welcome.

 

With all advice, this is just my subjective opinion based on my experiences on both sides of the application process, and from what I've seen in multiple (clinical) psych labs at multiple schools. As always, you should listen to all advice and then make the best decision for you.

Edited September 1, 2014 by PsychGirl1

[Mandy P.]

Hello guys,

 

What should I do in case I'm trying to find the papers online but they are not available for free? Some articles alone are 40$!

[EastCoasting]

If there are absolutely no way to get them for free (check Google scholar if you haven't done so yet), you can always email the POI\lab manager and ask for a copy of the 2 articles you're most interested in.

Have you tried psycinfo from your school?

[Mandy P.]

Hi! I've tried everything, but I'm not in any school right now Thank you very much!

[TheMercySeat]

I found that asking about recent dissertations helps.

Also, I try to email them on weekdays, since weekend emails tend to accumulate and get lost in the shuffle.

[psych face]

Thanks for the help. I'm fortunate to have a strong cv/background but I don't want to come off as arrogant, so I'm still not sure whether attaching my cv is appropriate. Any more thoughts on whether it's appropriate to include a CV would be very helpful, thanks : ) 

 

Although, I once had a professor tell me that being arrogant was a prerequisite for graduate school. I don't know if he was joking.