Contacting professors during admissions season?

[The Pedanticist]

Is it a good idea to e-mail professors who I might be interested in working with before applying to their programs?  The only reason I ask is that in philosophy, the other field I'm applying in, it is sometimes viewed extremely negatively.  

 

[lyrehc]

In Comm contacting professors you would be interested in working with is recommended.  

[The Pedanticist]

I thought so.  Just wanted to make sure, because in philosophy it can seemingly get you blacklisted.  

[CommPhD20]

Just make sure you have something to say - and that you don't have too much to say. I don't want to paralyze you with fear or anything, but don't make the content of your email something that is transparently "I want to see if I can get you to remember my name." Have some presumption; am I a good fit here? Will you be advising students next year? And keep your requests brief - no need to open up a philosophical bag of worms that they won't have the time to respond to.

[autumn]

I've seen threads/comments about how long you wait for a professor to respond before you send a follow-up.

 

My concern is that if they don't respond within 24-48 hours, they likely won't. Is that true with POI emails or do they really just need a longer turnaround time?

[lyrehc]

When I contacted the professor where I'm attending it took him about a week to reply.  I don't know how that reflects across programs.  I contacted someone else in the same department who never responded, but from my interactions with her now that I'm here I think it may have been her email filter because anytime I've sent something to her from a offcampus email I've not gotten replies.

[autumn]

That gives me hope. I emailed two faculty in one program; one responded in 2 hours and the other still hasn't responded. I don't mind if they take a while; I understand that they're busy. I just worry they won't ever respond. 

 

This process is so fun 

[The Pedanticist]

One got back to me in less than 4 minutes.  

[autumn]

One got back to me in less than 4 minutes.  

 

Wow. Was their response helpful? Is it your top choice POI?

[CommPhD20]

I would also mention that it is not necessary to do this, especially if you are not on the science end of the communication spectrum. The school I ultimately chose was one of just a couple schools for which I did not reach out to a professor beforehand (and it actually was one on the science end of that spectrum). This practice is most necessary in STEM fields where you are sometimes less a student of the program than you are of the PI. 

[lyrehc]

It isn't *necessary* but I argue that it is *important.*  I am not in the "science" end of the communication spectrum - lab-based experiments leave me cold.  But having established a good rapport with a professor on faculty in my program is a major reason, IMO, that I was admitted with full funding.

[autumn]

It isn't *necessary* but I argue that it is *important.*  I am not in the "science" end of the communication spectrum - lab-based experiments leave me cold.  But having established a good rapport with a professor on faculty in my program is a major reason, IMO, that I was admitted with full funding.

 

If you don't mind me asking, how did you establish rapport? The faculty who have responded thus far have been polite and discussed the spots in their departments but there's no rapport. I feel like if I ask them about their work, it comes off as disingenuous since I'm also asking about the possibility of accepting students this cycle. Additionally, I don't really have a lot of questions about the programs because I did my research ahead of time. 

 

I'm struggling with this aspect and I'm probably not the only one. Would you share your experiences?

Edited September 19, 2014 by lesleyautumn

[lyrehc]

I actually have my emails saved from when I was exploring programs so I'll paste what I used that worked (with identifying information removed).  You want to personalize the message to whatever the faculty person has on his or her page and look at articles he or she have published.  I received good responses to both queries, but ultimately only applied to one of the programs.  However, by corresponding with the professors I had a excellent feel for how well the program would meet my needs.

 

 

Dear XXXXXXX,

 

Hi.  XXXXXX gave me your name when I sent her some questions about the XXXX Department of Communication.  She suggested that your area of research interest may lie along a similar path to mine.

 

To give you my background, I have received a [degrees listed].  My research interest is in [three sentence summary of research interest and question I am interested in exploring]. 

 

I see on your faculty profile that one of your areas of academic interest relates to [shared interest area].  Do you feel that my interests fall in line with yours?  Will you be available to advise new students in the Fall of 2013?

 

Thank you for your help.

 

 

 

Dear Dr. XXX

My undergraduate degree is in [xxx - outside discipline so also explain how it can relate to communication].  I also took a directed readings course as part of my Master’s degree in [xxxxx] that focused on communication.

 

Your graduate handbook clearly states the importance of applying to the correct program.  The PhD is my goal.  I read your article in [name of journal] about and it relates to my interest [explain]. Based on your research interest in [xxxxx] do you think there might be opportunities for me to work with you if admitted to your program?

 

There are four PhD programs in the U.S. that I know of which appear to match my research interests the best.  Of those programs, the one at [xxx] is the one that I find myself most attracted to, for two reasons.  First, the research areas within your department fit best within the framework I use.  [Explain framework]. The other reason is that my husband is from [xxx] and he would love the opportunity to return home.

 

Thank you for your assistance.

 

I hope this helps.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[VioletAyame]

I'm on the social science side of the spectrum and I'd say the practice of contacting POIs before applying is quite common. Although we don't necessarily "belong" t a particular professor when we start, you do need to make sure there are people (people, preferably more than one) there you can work with, which I think still holds true for the critical/cultural side. In that regard, contacting POIs can help you 1. clarify your POIs' current projects and interests since the stuff on their website is not always updated in a timely manner; 2. they can refer you to other people in the program or even outside the program whose interests can also fit/fit better with yours (this does not always happen, do not count on it); 3. make sure they're not leaving or on sabbatical next year (it's not disastrous if they're on sabbatical your first year, but it shouldn't be a surprise); and 4. create that rapport lyrehc was talking about. I have to say though, in my own experiences, this rapport building is the exception rather than the norm. It's more likely that you'll get a polite, friendly email encourging you to apply and sometimes point you to certain resources the department has for prospective applicants. There's nothing good or bad in this I think - it depends on whom you contact and their personality, working style, availabiity, etc. at the moment. Time-wise it's the same - depending from your POIs. Some reply right away even at odd hours; some take a few days to a week or so; some you never hear back from again. I think you can definitely try sending the email again after a week or so, gently asking if they got the first one since you were worried that it didn't reach them for some reason. But I've had POIs who didn't respond even after the 2nd email (I left them alone after that ); some were helpful and asked to talk to me over the phone; some just replied with 1-2 lines; some contacted me after they got my app. So really, it varies. It's part of the process and in retrospect you'll see it's not that big of a deal to the extent that it can make or break your application.

[The Pedanticist]

At the very least, I cannot imagine that contacting POI's would hurt your application.  

[CommPhD20]

The examples from lyrehc are good.

 

Fun fact: one of these emails sent to a professor at School A was returned with, among other things, the suggestion that I also look at Schools B and C. I'm at School B now, despite having not given School B a great deal of thought before that email exchange.

[jujubea]

I've seen threads/comments about how long you wait for a professor to respond before you send a follow-up.

 

My concern is that if they don't respond within 24-48 hours, they likely won't. Is that true with POI emails or do they really just need a longer turnaround time?

 

No way! 

I had a professor email me back two weeks later - profusely apologizing for how long it took her to get back to me. She simply had a busy week, but was genuinely excited to communicate, and now I'm going to the campus for a visit!

 

I've had everything from within a few minutes, to a few weeks later.