Contacting potential advisors

[gurumaster8899]

is it important to contact professors in the department to which you are applying?

is it too early to contact them now if i am applying for fall 2010 Phd in chemical engineering (deadlines are in december)?

Can anyone give me tips or advice on what usually goes on...how long do these 'converations' last...do the professors usually respond...and what type of feedback do they usually give you??

thank you

[Stories]

It's not a bad idea, but it's not critical. I didn't contact many professors before I applied and I did fine in admissions. Ironically enough, the schools I contacted and had conversations with rejected me

[gurumaster8899]

is it ok to contact more than one professor in each department?

[jasper.milvain]

I agree with Stories. I didn't contact anyone and went 4/4. My department's superstar grad student didn't contact anyone and went 3/4. I know a handful of other people with similar results. On the other hand, I know people who have made excellent connections and greatly improved their chances by contacting supervisors. Going into my first term, I wish I knew my potential supervisor a bit better. So 'good idea, but not critical' matches my (admittedly limited) experience quite well.

I also know people who absolutely tanked their chances of admission by being rude during intial contacts. One asked how many hours of a potential supervisor's time he would get each week WHEN she was his supervisor. Very presumptuous, very demanding. Being rude to the department's admin workers can also be a kiss of death. Make sure to be faultlessly polite.

I think it probably is too early to contact people. Most professors will be enjoying their research terms right now, and may be avoiding thinking about fall 2009, let alone fall 2010. You want to be fresh in their minds when application evaluation time comes.

[cogneuroforfun]

I contacted 12 faculty members, so I can give the other side of it As long as you're polite and brief, asking if a faculty member is taking students is easy and can help a ton. At the very least it will get your name out there, and is a way to get some info about your potential advisors (did they respond quickly, were they enthusiastic, etc.). If they aren't taking students and they're your only good match at that school, you're wasting $50-$120 to apply. At the best, the faculty might email you back and ask about your research experience and other things, giving you an easy head start. At the very best, many professors (that I have asked, anyway) save the names of prospective grad students who email them and make a good impression so that they can be sure to ask for their application, even if it doesn't make it past the initial GPA/GRE cutoffs or something. Its an easy thing to do that can be a huge boost to your admission chances.

[Michelley262003]

I would advise you to contact them. It can never hurt to get your name out there. I applied to 10 schools. I made contact via phone with half of these schools. I got into half of them. The school I ended up choosing was the school I applied to first and with whom I had the most contact.

Applied: 10

Interviewed: 5

Accepted: 5

Going: University of Vermont

Program: Neuroscience (PhD)

[rogue]

I have a friend who is a professor at a relatively well-ranked psych program (not top 10, but top 25). He's been on multiple admissions committees, so I've been asking him for advice as I embark on the application process (even though we're in different fields). He told me that if an applicant had not bothered to make contact with professors in the program, he didn't seriously consider that person's application.

Obviously, take that with a grain of salt as he's just one person in one program. Still, it was enough to make me start reaching out to professors at my target schools. One of them was impressed enough to speak to the head of the committee on my behalf, so it can certainly be helpful even if it's not strictly necessary.

As for whether it's too early, I'm applying for fall 2010 as well. If you maintain occasional contact between now and the application deadline, it might have a bigger impact than just a brief exchange when the deadline rolls around.

[jthh]

Also, it may vary from dept to dept. The department that eventually accepted me specifically asks applicants not to contact faculty members because they are too busy to respond to the myriad inquiries they tend to get. Of the five schools I applied to, I had met faculty members (and in two cases, current PhD students) at four. Of those, I was accepted to three programs, though one said she didn't remember meeting me after I'd been accepted. I didn't contact them out of the blue -- I made a point of introducing myself at conferences.

[relentless]

Hi all,

I need to know when it is the high time to contact advisors/professors if I want to apply for fall 2010. What things I should focus in my mail? Will I have to inform my gre and toefl score to professors at the contact time?

Thanks in advance.

[jasper.milvain]

I certainly wouldn't lead with stats. Picture yourself as a professor. What would you care about? Probably someone's interest, their research plans, why they're interested in the program.

[glasscandie]

Just my two cents. I've been planning to apply for a fall 2010 entry for the whole time I've been an undergraduate, and recently decided to wait and apply for fall 2011 instead for personal reasons, but anyway - all the preparation I did was for fall 2010.

I started off by obviously narrowing my schools, then looking at researchers I was interested in working with (behavioral neuroscience/pharmacology is my focus), and reading all the papers I could. I started contacting researchers in early 2009 - most of them were happy to talk with me, and returned my e-mails promptly. At least 4 of the researchers I e-mailed invited me down to see their labs and to discuss my interests further. I just recently met with one about 2 weeks ago.

I think it's critical not just to get your name out there, but to make sure this researcher is really someone you'd want to work with. One of them had behavioral work listed on the Web site and in published papers, but when I got to the meeting his lab had changed focus to more molecular studies which isn't really my area of interest. One researcher told me he'd love to have me in his lab, but I'm just taking comments like that with a grain of salt lol

Bring a list of questions, make sure you've read their literature. I brought my CV with me (and had e-mailed it to them as well, in my initial contact e-mail) so they could see the research I'd been involved in, etc.