How to write to POI in an elegant way?

[surlefil]

Hi! I want to write to the professors I'd like to work with in the universities I'll apply for. I understand how this could be beneficial, but I find myself hesitating a lot when thinking what I would say. Do you talk about yourself? Do you send your resume? Do you say you want to work with them? Do you ask for advice with the SOP? Do you ask if you would be a good fit? I want to know how much I am supposed to ask or say to profit the fact that I'm writing to them but I definitely don't want to give a bad impression just for not knowing how this works.

Thanks in advance!

[brettmullga]

I am facing similar problems as I've already had one bad experience. Last year, I presented a paper at a conference hosted by a school I was interested in attending (call it university X). After receiving the acceptance, I emailed the POI from university X with my paper, expressed interest in their [low tier] graduate program, and invited the POI to hear my presentation. As I was interested in taking classes from and potentially being advised by this individual, I thought this was a good way to break the ice and demonstrate my competency. The POI responded quickly by thanking me and wishing me luck at the conference; however, they were not interested in my paper and would not attend the conference. I ended up making matters more awkward.

[geographyrocks]

For the record, if you search for previous posts, you'll find a lot of good advice.

What I suggest:

First, read papers from your POI.

If they have interests close to yours then email them. Tell them you're a prospective graduate student and describe your interests. Make sure that you mention research they've been working on and how it aligns with your interest. Be modest!

Then ask if they are taking on graduate students in the fall.

That should get a conversation started. If they say no, you know not to bother applying at the school or with that professor in mind.

Brettmullga: some POIs are jerks OR he doesn't take graduate students. Have you read his papers? It could be a lot of things including how you worded the email.

[surefire]

Hi! I want to write to the professors I'd like to work with in the universities I'll apply for. I understand how this could be beneficial, but I find myself hesitating a lot when thinking what I would say. Do you talk about yourself? Do you send your resume? Do you say you want to work with them? Do you ask for advice with the SOP? Do you ask if you would be a good fit? I want to know how much I am supposed to ask or say to profit the fact that I'm writing to them but I definitely don't want to give a bad impression just for not knowing how this works.

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi there surlefil!

 

I love this question because you ask about writing "elegantly", which I think is a splendid consideration and priority for e-mail correspondence and, ultimately, I feel that elegant writing (including propriety and a capacity to be CONCISE) will help you to get what you want from the correspondence.

 

When I see these requests, I usually begin by pointing people to the Female Science Professor blog post on the topic: http://science-professor.blogspot.ca/2011/10/writing-to-me-reprise.html

This is a great reference point as she provides various templates. One must consider the context (i.e. it is standard in science disciplines to secure the supervision, or prospective supervision, of a prof before applying, so that adds an additional imperative/thing that one needs to ask for that doesn't necessarily apply to you here). But, I think it's still very helpful to get the POI's POV to get a sense of what requests compel what responses!

 

I'd like to give you a few more pointers though, as I've actually recently attended a workshop on writing professional and academic e-mails - one thing that I've learned in my 2nd year of the PhD, it's infinitely preferable to ask or attend a workshop to figure out academic decorum rather than trying to figure it out the hard way through trial and error (there are plenty of lessons you'll have to learn this way, why not reduce the discomfort where possible?)

 

Anyway, pointers for you!

 

Before/while writing the e-mail, ask yourself:

1) What is the nature of my relationship with the recipient?

2) What is the nature of the request?

3) What are the cultural norms that the person may likely follow in his/her context in terms of the language used in e-mail messages? (When in doubt, be more formal than informal)

4) How does the e-mail reflect my own personal image?

5) Can I find this information out elsewhere?

It seems lame, but working these questions out for yourself will help you to formulate your expectations and will help you to write an e-mail where these expectations are stated clearly and concisely.

 

E-mail subject:

This should contain the purpose of the e-mail (Reference request OR Prospective student seeking information, or something). DO NOT just put "Good Afternoon :)" or something equivalent.

 

Opening:

When you are not acquainted with the recipient and it is an academic e-mail, open with your name, institutional affiliation and academic credentials.

 

Purpose:

You should have a request or purpose, this will make it much easier for the prof to respond. State your request/purpose. It might be that you are applying and are considering their program and you're interested in ascertaining "fit" or you're info-seeking. Be clear. Be formal, polite, and not presumptuous. Regarding presumptuousness: avoid imperatives ("I am grateful for the info that YOU WILL send me..."). Instead, hedge with "if" clauses: "I was wondering if you might be willing/able... at your convenience" Again, what you want them to be willing/able to do depends on your expectations and how you answer the questions I provided earlier. For you, I think, the request is for their consideration and possible insight, as you work to articulate prospective "fit". DON'T go pedantic or verbose here, it's possible to be excessively polite: "If you had any spare time at any point to send me the info I would be forever grateful and humbled by this act of kindness" = NO.

 

Background:

Provide just enough context and background to make your purpose/request justified and clear. Avoid being "wordy". This is a good space to briefly say why you contacted THEM and to show that you've done some re-con already. Show them that you've done some homework. Did a referee recommend them to you? Did you get a sense of their interests from their faculty page or a paper they've written recently? Say so, show them that you've gotten a sense of their interests, and then state your interests so that they can see the parallel. It should make sense to them why you're considering their program and - arguably more importantly at this stage of correspondence - why you contacted them. Then - again, depending on your purpose, ask some specific questions here (about research opportunity or insight on your prospective fit in the program given your interests - or, as geography rocks points out, you can ask them about their availability in taking students, which is a common and specific request). At this stage, I wouldn't recommend attaching a statement of interest or resume - instead, at this point, close this section by offering to give additional information at their request.

 

Close:

Reiterate the request/purpose. Thank them for their time and consideration/insight. Close with a "Regards" or "Sincerely" (I prefer the former), avoid "Cheers" on first correspondence, it's too familiar.

 

General tips:

-Be polite but efficient.

- Be formal and respectful but not overly differential, apologetic, or mechanical.

- Don't send a form letter. As mentioned in the background section, the prof should know why you contacted THEM specifically.

- Spell their name correctly, for goodness sake!

- Make it EASY for them to respond, even if the response is some variation of "no". It should be easy for them to say "I can help" or "I can't help". Specific requests/purpose with proof of recon ensures this.

- Think of the correspondence in stages. It's bad form to send a litany of possibly labour-intensive (or maybe vague) requests at once (I want assurances that I'm touching base with a relevant program/prof AND I want you to look at my resume AND I want help on my SOP...). First task is to establish the correspondence and express interest and show how that interest is valid. If the connection and interest is validated, the prof will let you know in a response and they'll probably state what they're willing to deal with next (this is why you offer to send them stuff or to elaborate on what you've provided already, that makes it easier for the prof to say "Sure, I'm taking students, send me that SOP" or something).

- Not that I think that you're likely to do this, but I frequently tell people who are trying to initiate correspondence with new POIs to avoid trying to deflate the awkwardness or stand out from the pack by being "clever" (while there is debate on this elsewhere, I think the sentiment mostly holds for the SOP as well, just FYI). I've tried to articulate the risk in attempting cleverness elsewhere, and I recently saw a blogpost that I think sums it up nicely, so I'm just going to indulge my own hobby-horse here for a second and shoe-horn in that reference: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/06/16/the-failure-state-of-clever/

 

Best of Luck to you! Sorry that I failed to take my own advice and formulate a concise response! HTH!

Edited July 16, 2014 by surefire

[perpetuavix]

It seems like most people don't contact professors in philosophy departments; it does seem like the norm in other disciplines, though. I'm sure there are prospective philosophy students who have sent emails to POIs and successfully gotten into that school, but there was substantial debate about whether or not you should specify names of POIs in your SOP, which is a much milder thing to do. Personally, I didn't contact anyone before applying (although I did specify POIs in all my SOPs). 

The advice I got on the matter was this: Only email someone who you would want to talk to even if weren't applying to their graduate school. You can email a professor with a question about something of theirs that you read or a conference presentation, but if you're emailing them just because you want to go to their school, they will probably know that. They also may not have any involvement in the admission process (this varies a lot by school, but the committee is often just a few professors), and even if you do have a positive interaction with them, it might not count for anything come admissions time. 

Surefire's point about being able to ask something specific is really important, though. Maybe the person you want to work with is close to retiring and you want to find out if they're planning to accept students (although how you would ask that politely is beyond me). I think that asking a professor at a prospective program for advice on your SOP or about your fit would be ill-advised; the onus is on you to find the answer to those questions, or at least ask your own advisors. But if you have a specific question that you need answered (that cannot be found on the department's website), then it might be worth emailing a professor. 

[TakeruK]

Surefire's point about being able to ask something specific is really important, though. Maybe the person you want to work with is close to retiring and you want to find out if they're planning to accept students (although how you would ask that politely is beyond me).

 

Even in my field where contacting POIs is more common, this is definitely still true--you need a reason to ask and this type of question is a perfectly fine reason. I agree with your other points too--it's up to the student to find out about SOP fit, not asking the POI on how to write their SOP!!

 

To answer this question though, this is how I phrased my emails:

 

Dear Prof X,

 

My name is TakeruK and I am a current MSc student at A, studying [MSc Topic] with Prof B. Before this, I was at University C where I studied [bSc topic] with Prof D. I am applying to PhD programs for Fall 2012 and I am interested in studying [Research Interest]* at [Prof X's school]. Are you planning on taking on new PhD students from the Fall 2012 incoming class?

 

Sincerely,

 

TakeruK

(*this part was personalized and I usually suggested a potential project idea based on my own interests and their papers/expertise)

 

That was my basic outline and I added some personalization where appropriate (for some profs, I had met them at conferences or whatever before). I keep these emails super short though--no more than 5 sentences for sure! I do not attach any application-like documents and do not even bring them up because I don't want to sound like I am trying to get them to evaluate/influence my admission/application at all.

 

My main goal with these emails is to make sure that this prof is someone that I could actually work with if I get accepted to the school. The usual response I got was "Thanks for contacting me; yes I would be very interested to work with a student in , please apply" and sometimes they clarify that they cannot influence the admission process. I don't even want them to influence the admission process, all I want is to make sure I have a research interest match at this school and that I won't sound silly on my SOP stating that I want to work with Prof X when everyone on admissions knows that Prof X is going to retire/leave the school/go on sabbatical/change research interests/have no funding etc. One important information I did get from one of the profs was that they told me they would not have any funding at all for the project so I would have to earn my stipend by TAing a lot until we write a grant for it. I felt that this was an important piece of information to know and it did influence my own decision at the end of the application period. 

Edited July 16, 2014 by TakeruK

[MattDest]

I would caution that philosophy programs usually vary quite significantly from other fields in terms of advisor/advisee relationships. It is not always the case that you suggest a project at the outset and find someone to work with right away. Because of this, I'm not sure it's worth the expended effort to reach out to every POI at every department. In some cases, they might not be on the ad com and may not even have a say in whether or not you are admitted. 

 

Personally, I would use the time to polish your writing sample and make the rest of your application excellent. 

[brettmullga]

Personally, I would use the time to polish your writing sample and make the rest of your application excellent. 

 

I have come to share this view as well.

[jjb919]

Some departments make a point of asking prospective applicants not to contact them until they are admitted (Chicago, for instance, mentions on their website that contacting professors and coming for a visit before being admitted is a waste of time; professors likely don't have time to meet with you, will not remember you, and your conversation will have no bearing on your application).

 

That being said, I did contact a POI whose work is very closely aligned with my research interests, and I happened to be in that part of the country on vacation anyway.  He was very receptive and we had a great 1.5 hour talk. He told me about the department, its philosophical approach, its pros and cons, the success of its graduates, his work, where my work could intersect, and so on.  It was a great experience, but it is not something I would say is par for the course or even widely appreciated by faculty. And when I have written to POIs, it has not been to ask for any kind of assistance with my application materials. The most I would ask is if they would be willing to meet and discuss more of the details of the department and if I would be a good fit there.

 

And as surefire mentioned above, if you can find the information elsewhere, don't contact the POI about it.  It makes it look like you haven't done your homework.

[generativeIR]

I just on a whim emailed a professor because (he is my main POI and) i noticed that he didn't teach any classes this last year.

 

All i said was "my name is so and so and am planning on applying to the dept this fall.  I just had a few questions if you have the time ...  I noticed that you did not offer any classes last year ... are going to be teaching 2015/16 or taking any new students?  I am curious because one of your grad students noticed i was reading one of your books and gave you a good review.  I'm interested in ... and planning on ...  thanks for your time, my name"

 

I'll post back here if i get a response, positive or negative.  I'm hoping it was polite yet informal, consice, and not requiring too much effort on his part.  I also feel like quoting some of Rousseau's First Discourse when navigating these totally necessary etiquette norms.

[surlefil]

Great advice, thank you all! I thought writing to every single POI was just usual because I read it somewhere in TGC, but now I see it's not so clear. I'm Latin American so I'm not familiar with the academic protocol in the US.

Anyway, writing to professors to ask if they'll be taking students it's important, especially when only few professors do research in you area of interest...

generativeIR, let us know when you get your answer!

[MorganFreemanlives]

Great advice, thank you all! I thought writing to every single POI was just usual because I read it somewhere in TGC, but now I see it's not so clear. I'm Latin American so I'm not familiar with the academic protocol in the US.

Anyway, writing to professors to ask if they'll be taking students it's important, especially when only few professors do research in you area of interest...

generativeIR, let us know when you get your answer!

i believe you but i hope you are right. my primary specialty (british idealism) as it is is quite rare, but once you look for POI by considering leiter's top 50  and decent ma programs(which excludes specialists in non graduate school universities, retired faculty, and low ranking places) i have only found two perfect fits, one at oxford and another at ryerson university canada. as the application season begins, i just might message the one at oxford on a few questions.

 

i have contacted faculty in my area who dont fit the criteria above but specialize in BI nonetheless and they have been very friendly. i think the reason its so different with POI at schools you apply to is that we fear giving a bad self image, when reputation (or so we fear) will affect what happens. what if the person who will read your writing sample happens to be the POI you incidentally got into an awkward conversation with?

[surlefil]

Well, if you're polite and ask the right questions (I started this topic to know precisely this), I don't see why that would give a bad self image.

[generativeIR]

I got a response this weekend.  My POI answered all questions and said other optimistic things.  I just decided on a whim and then consulted the forum afterwards.  So, I would not hesitate to contact your PsOI.  In any case, you've got nothing to lose.