Contacting professors during admissions season

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

this appears to be such a controversial topic. My professors are strongly encouraging me to do this, but I remain hesitant. I feel that, if the particular professor does not receive this well, I could be immediately shut out of the admissions process. From what I understand some profs do not take kindly to being contacted during the admissions process even if they are being engaged in a professional and courteous manner (ie, the email is not fawning, a resume of accomplishments, or juvenile, but an intellectually mature and well-researched attempt to inquire about the research they have done and founded upon articles they have already written). Some immediately write it off as brown-nosing. Anybody have advice? My intuition is that if there is something to lose with this strategy, don't risk it, only put the hard effort into this if there is nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Edited September 13, 2014 by Nastasya_Filippovna

[Infinite Zest]

I could see this hurting you. After all, it may seem a bit disingenuous to send an email of this sort of email just a few months before applications are due. I could also see a candid email being misconstrued as an obsequious one.

 

On the other hand, I think an email like this sent at the right time can be incredibly valuable.

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

your thoughts precisely mirror my own. I feel that establishing a good rapport could do wonders, but the risks are substantial that at least some professors out of the list to which I'm applying could take umbrage at the contact. 

[The Pedanticist]

I think it depends on the type of program.  Some schools like Baylor add into the FAQ that you can contact professors whose work you are interested in.  While I recently read a forum where several other professors from different schools said they considered contact/visits before applications negatively.  In the absence of any clear statement on the subject it seems risky to email a professor without a great reason.  If you had a great reason to contact them, i.e. a serious question about their work as it relates to your thesis, than it might be extremely wise to contact them.  

[philosophia14]

I go back and forth. I didn't contact beforehand and when I did get accepted, I ended up having great meetings at the visit weekend. So I would venture that it has the possibility of hurting you and less of chance to help you...which is why I didn't end up contacting persons of interest.

[NathanKellen]

In talking with various professors I've never heard of this being a negative. I will ask around though.

[reixis]

I think it could hurt you depending on how you establish the contact. People often apply to programs because of someone in specific, and it would be a major disappointment to know that your POI is about to leave for a year or so after you’re in the program. So I guess it does no harm to ask about someone’s availability in the next few months. Also, many programs outside the US require you to establish a prior contact (one notable example is ANU).

 

About brown-nosing effects, I don’t deny that this is a possibility, but again, I think it varies according to how you contact your POI. Honestly, if I were someone’s POI, I wouldn’t take a polite prior contact on the negative side. In fact, I think it is an opportunity to know better about that person beforehand, but that is just me. For what it’s worth, many graduate programs in my country see this prior contact as an advantage for the candidate because it demonstrates his or her interests in the program. But things may be different in the US given academic cultural differences. 

[surlefil]

What about writing to a professor to ask if he or she thinks you would be a good fit? Would it be wrong to talk a little about what you did and what you want to do and ask for their opinion?

[philosophia14]

I don't think it's a bad thing to inquire if they are currently taking graduate students--but I have a feeling that that would be a good question to ask the Graduate Director first and then if they defer the question, to the professor themself. The Grad Director is your point of contact to the department, so most things should go through them.

[The Pedanticist]

Anyone know if it's different when applying to universities in the UK? 

[overoverover]

Anyone know if it's different when applying to universities in the UK? 

To my knowledge, it's expected that you are in contact with POIs in the UK, but that's secondhand info.