Too late to contact Professors?

[bluejay123]

Hi everyone,

 

So I've been reading and re-reading all the threads on contacting professors before applying to graduate schools...and I'm really concerned about whether it's too late to email any of them or even if I should be emailing them at all at this stage.

 

From what I've heard, there are some great benefits to contacting professors in the departments you're interested in (are they still working on the same research project? are they taking students this year?) but I also wonder if you guys think that it's wise to email one professor when you're applying to top-tier umbrella programmes as there will be a vast number of professors that you would like to work with. It's just, I've been debating whether and which one professor I'd like to make contact with (and not just bombard about 6 people in the same area...) that I'm afraid I've missed the window and will seem like I simply want to fill out the "list the profs you've made contact with" section of the application.

 

Sorry for the ramblings, I'm not at all familiar with the US graduate school system and any advice would be much appreciated!

[gliaful]

When is your application deadline for the program that is asking for profs you've contacted?

I think "list the profs you've made contact with" sounds like a required question, or at least makes you feel like it's something you're supposed to do. If you still want to do it, I think you can. I understand that you don't want your attempt to connect to be seen as a superficial means of strengthening your application -- but I'm not sure profs (well, maybe the cynical ones) will see it that way. You could write an email about anything and it would count as having made contact with them. If you really want to get away from making the wrong impression, you could ask a specific question about their research rather than ask anything logistical and transparent (do you have the space/time/money/desire to support a grad student?)

 

It doesn't matter if you contact one professor or six. The prof you email isn't aware of whomever else you choose to email.

 

Alternatively, you could contact current grad students who are in labs of interest. They may be more candid.

 

None of my schools requested/suggested that I contact profs, and although I know it's a good thing to do so, I didn't contact anyone other than program coordinators/administrators. I asked those people questions while I was filling out applications and writing essays specifically so I could send nice "thank you for helping me!" emails when I finally submitted my stuff. I don't think it counts for much to be on great terms with a program coordinator, but who knows?

[bsharpe269]

Honestly, I would just not stress about this. Alot of applications ask that question but my PI has told me multiple times that if you have a solid application and mention specific people in your SOP then they will see your application. He finds it annoying to get emails from prospective students unless they actually ahve a genuine question about the program. If you actually have a question then you can contact professors to ask but otherwise, I would not contact just for the sake of contacting.

 

You really dont need to ask whether a professor is still working on a specific project or not in my opinion. I mean look at a number of his applications from the last 10 or years. Are they in line with what you want to do? Can you see youreself building off of it or doing related stuff? If you are only interested in a professor related to 1 specific project tha tthey have done some work on then they probably arent a good fit anyway.

 

I would just not stress...work on your applicaitons, and if you have a genuine question then feel free to email them to ask.

[Ragneo]

my PI has told me multiple times that if you have a solid application and mention specific people in your SOP then they will see your application. He finds it annoying to get emails from prospective students unless they actually ahve a genuine question about the program. If you actually have a question then you can contact professors to ask but otherwise, I would not contact just for the sake of contacting.

 

Yes. This. Professors are busy people and having all those extra little e-mails gets REALLY annoying. Like bsharpe said, trust your application: if you're a good fit, you will get your interview, and that's when you should start asking the questions you may have.

[blinchik]

Just to add a different opinion - a lot of the programs that I am applying to have either stated that faculty contact/approval is a requirement for admission or have provided a spot like the one mentioned above where you are supposed to list the names of professors that you have contacted. In those cases, I think faculty contact is a very good idea, even at this stage in your application process. Furthermore, both of my faculty mentors have said that while it is not required to contact faculty members unless otherwise specified, it can't hurt, and often can help differentiate you from other applicants. I can see how some professors could be annoyed by the emails, but I don't see how you could know whether someone is taking students otherwise, especially when program and lab websites are often not updated for years. My experience with contacting faculty has led to me saving money and time by not applying to a program where all of my prospective PIs were not taking students and has allowed me to build a good rapport with some faculty. That being said, I can see the rationale for not contacting faculty as well - I would discuss this with your mentor(s) (if any) and go from there.

[shadowclaw]

I agree with blinchik in that there are definitely instances when contacting a professor is necessary. Of the schools that I am applying to, most of them specifically require a commitment from a faculty member to advise you in order to be admitted, and instruct prospective students to contact faculty members. Some other schools do not have this requirement, but state somewhere (a FAQ section, e-mail confirmation after applying, etc) that it's a really good idea to contact faculty members to learn about their research and let them know that you are interested. I believe there is only one school on my list that didn't say either way.

 

So it might be a good idea to check out the program websites to see if they suggest it. If the application has that box to list professors you've been in contact with, that's a sure sign that you should be doing just that.

[Soldier of Love]

It seems that it varies between programs. I'm applying to Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and they all require/strongly recommend contacting faculty before applying. I'm only applying to programs in which the professor I'm interested in has shown interest on my CV and suggested me to apply (6 programs in total). This can be extremely helpful as some faculty can have some influence on the admission process. After all, they are the people that will be working with the admitted students. Again, I'm speaking based on my experience in applying to Ecology programs.

 

Now regarding your question whether it is too late...  I got responses from two professors just yesterday and they were really positive about my profile/research experience and recommended me to apply to their programs, and the deadline is on the 15th.

 

In the end, I recommend looking at the guidelines for applicants in your programs of interest and seeing if they recommend prior contact with PI's. If so, definitely go for it as it will help your application a lot.

[Soldier of Love]

Yes. This. Professors are busy people and having all those extra little e-mails gets REALLY annoying. Like bsharpe said, trust your application: if you're a good fit, you will get your interview, and that's when you should start asking the questions you may have.

 

Just another different opinion here, again based on my experience in Ecology programs. I once emailed one professor at 11:55pm on a Saturday discussing research interests and got a very enthusiastic response 10 minutes later... I think there are exceptions, and I would think professors like to know who the really interested and dedicated applicants are, and most sound like they liked to hear about my research and interests, specially when it matches theirs.

[biotechie]

Just another opinion to add to the list: 

I'm a current biomedical sciences PhD student going to my favorite school that I interviewed at... and I contacted no POIs prior to being asked to interview. I had to state professors who were doing work I was interested in, but I was not required to contact them. In one instance, the professor I mentioned in an application reached out to me to learn more about my interests and background, but that was normal protocol for professors from that school who were interested in having a new student. It ended up being a sort of pre-interview.

 

That said, if your application requires you to contact professors, you should do so. For a December 1 deadline, it is too late, especially with the Thanksgiving Holiday coming up this week. For a January 1 deadline, you might be able to make it work. If it doesn't, you aren't required to, and then it is really up to you.

 

Edit: From your list I applied to both WUSTL (Immunology) and University of Utah (Molecular Bio) in 2013. I didn't get an interview at WashU, but I got one at University of Utah, which I turned down. I didn't even mention professors I was interested in working under, there, but I got called back within days of my application!

[poweredbycoldfusion]

I've been told, in biomedical PhD programs, that it's not the norm to contact profs before hand because you have to do rotations anyway/they're accepting you into a program, not a single lab, ect. This is one way in which biomedical programs are very different from other grad program, btw, because my engineering grad student friends wanted to know why I hadn't contacted professors.

[Crucial BBQ]

I will second that it seems to vary by program.  I have called a few programs of interest and was told that it may help your application but that ultimately it is not required for admissions.  One program, however, specifically stated that it is an absolute must.   The way it was explained to me by one person in admissions was that a prof might agree to advise a handful of students but that ultimately it was up to the adcoms to decide on the one or two applications to admit.  The prof's have no idea what the applicant pool looks like, so it is not really fair for one prof to tell the adcoms to admit that one applicant solely because that one applicant just happened to contact that prof.  

 

It was also explained to me that it is a way for students to familiarize themselves with the program, to see what types of research are being done.  The bottom line being that a stellar applicant will be rejected if no one in the program is doing research in their area of interests. 

 

And finally I was told that contacting profs was the best way to see if they are still there and still doing research.  Sometimes profs are still listed as faculty even though they have long since retired.  Some prof's could be on sabbatical, and of course keeping personal bios and websites up-to-date is obviously not a part of their jobs.  

 

If there are six profs in the program you are interested in, I would contact all six.  Whether you ask them if they are taking on students or not is up to you.  

Edited November 27, 2014 by Crucial BBQ

[Applemiu]

I started contacting profs at the end of October, worried it was too late. They have been all very kind, and I have kept sending emails to today. Sometimes you decide to add a school to your list at the last minute. In my opinion it is not necessary but it is a good idea. 

[bluejay123]

Ahh sorry I took so long to reply! Thanks everyone for all the advice, it was really useful to hear differing experiences and actually kept me from generally stressing out about my applications. I decided to contact some professors and leave others if the programme had a large pool of faculty I was interested in and just mentioned them in my SOP instead. Good luck to everyone still working through applications