Contacting Faculty Once Accepted

[commodork]

Hey everyone, I was fortunate enough to get word of my first acceptance this weekend (!) and want to begin contacting faculty. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to go about this once you're already accepted. When I contacted professors at schools I hadn't been admitted to, I basically just sent a brief note outlining my research interests, discussing how they overlapped with that PI's, and inquiring about openings. Is this still a good first approach, or should I modify it now that I am accepted? Should I send CV's or maybe raise some additional questions? Is it okay to reach out to multiple PI's at this stage or is this looked down upon? Any insight is appreciated. Thanks everyone, and good luck!

[kewz]

Maybe it's because I'm applying to a field that requires at least a year of rotations before choosing a thesis advisor, I don't see why there is a need to contact faculty after being accepted. What I'd do would simply be to give the program director a prompt thank-you reply and say that I'll let them know my decision as soon as I hear back from the other schools. 

[commodork]

Maybe it's because I'm applying to a field that requires at least a year of rotations before choosing a thesis advisor, I don't see why there is a need to contact faculty after being accepted. What I'd do would simply be to give the program director a prompt thank-you reply and say that I'll let them know my decision as soon as I hear back from the other schools. 

 

I was actually contacted by the director prior to receiving my official notice, and he encouraged me to reach out to faculty and even gave me a few names to look into. Might just be a difference in fields.  

[rising_star]

Well, you could ask them if there are openings in their lab for next year.

[TakeruK]

In my field, we usually do reach out to a few potential supervisors prior to starting and perhaps begin setting up some research projects. Even in programs where we don't select a thesis advisor right off the bat, we usually work with a few profs on mini projects before choosing a thesis project. 

 

So, for the most popular/busiest profs, they might only have a few slots open and waiting until September to approach them about working with them might mean that they are full by then. Almost everyone that comes into my program "locks in" one of their mini projects sometime between the visit weekend (after acceptance) and the start of the school year.

 

If your field is like this, I don't think you have to respond right away. But you should start seriously looking into a few profs that you want to work with (more deeply than you did when applying). Find out when there is a prospective students weekend (hopefully they will tell  you really soon). Then, reach out to the profs you like with the intention of meeting them at the visit weekend. This gives more of a "purpose" to your emails. Also, you want to meet these people in person, you'll learn way more about them and get more of their time in person than via email!

 

So, once you know about the visit weekend dates you can say something like,

 

"Dear Prof. X,

 

I am excited for the opportunity to begin my PhD at University Y this fall! I am interested in working with you on ZZZZ and I hope we will be able to meet on ABC day during the prospective student visit."

 

Or something like that  

 

If you have not emailed them ever before, then perhaps you want to inquire whether they are taking students for next year. If you have emailed them before and asked that, you can probably begin the email with something like "I'm excited to say that I received an offer from...." etc. 

 

The main idea is to let them know that you're in, and that you want to work with them, and that you want to meet them. This will allow you to e.g. set up a Skype call or whatever if it  turns out that they will be away during the prospective students weekend.