Emailing POIs

[Ani92]

How long do you guys wait until emailing your POI? Has anyone emailed their POI when you've heard nothing from the school? Or are you planning on waiting till March?

[sjoh197]

I wouldn't email the POI at all.

 

If you are curious about the standing of your application... email the graduate advisor, or the admissions staff.

You could potentially aggravate your POI's if you bother them, especially if they don't know the answer.

[grad_wannabe]

Even if they know the answer, they're often obligated not to release information like that. The graduate schools tend to have very specific rules about that sort of thing. Don't ask your POI any questions at this point. 

[rising_star]

I would never email a POI to ask about an admissions decision. There was one school way back when I applied to PhD programs that took forever for anyone to hear. We're talking early March for acceptances. I was already visiting other programs and was kinda concerned that I hadn't gotten in. Well, a visiting speaker in my department happened to be friends with that POI and came up with the brilliant idea over drinks that ze and another prof from my dept should just call up my POI and ask about my application. I am forever grateful that the POI didn't answer the phone. Also, I got in and ended up going to work with that POI for my PhD. *shrug* Just be patient and wait.

[TXInstrument11]

I've emailed 4 POIs, two after the deadline, so I have quite a bit to share on this. Overall, I would (perhaps unhelpfully) say that it depends. I highlighted the main points to help cut my rambling. 

 

For the first POI I emailed, I realized only after I applied that app decisions were not made by division committee but by individual lab PIs. [This is not actually the case in all psych departments, though you should always mentions POIs in your statements if you can.] So, I went ahead and emailed her with my CV and a summary of my research interests that was more detailed than my SOP..........and was flat-out rejected within hours. At least it was quick, and she was nice about it. Since she took the time to read my attached docs and gave me a relatively descriptive response, including when interview dates would be sent out, I still benefited. If some of your potential programs have this setup, it may be better late than never if you're just a few days past the deadline. 

 

Then, I pretty much hit the panic button and blasted out similar research interest docs to two other POIs about a week before their program deadlines. One still hasn't made a peep after months (I emailed in December) and interviews for the program seem to have all been sent out at this point. Make of that what you will. It was a very highly-ranked program, so I could have blacklisted myself for the hastily-composed email, but it is equally likely I was just weeded out along the usual metrics.

 

The third POI I contacted responded back a day or two later with the world's shortest email (even for a professor!) telling me to go ahead and apply, but little beyond that. Discouraged by the rather subdued enthusiasm and due to a few technical hurdles I've had, I ended up applying after the deadline. Not an hour after submission of all app materials, I was notified on gradcafe that someone had receive an invite to interview, so I turned around and shot another email at this POI asking if they were still looking for students. Unless their prospective students failed to post on here, I am still betting this is the case because they're brand new at the university, so I'm still crossing my fingers. After being accepted to  one of my top choices (Illinois), I may risk it again by shooting them another email since I have much less to lose now. 

 

For the fourth POI, it was rolling admissions and about a week out from the initial deadline, so I emailed asking if he was looking for more students. He was very nice about it and offered to look for my application as he reviewed them. 

 

So, tl;dr - Emails to POIs are very appropriate and helpful in rolling admissions if you're on the fence about applying. More important, you MUST email your POIs if you have zero faculty backups at the university and/or individual faculty make the admissions decisions. That is my take away and would have been my plan of action for next year if I had been rejected everywhere. 

Edited February 4, 2015 by TXInstrument11

[Ani92]

Thanks you guys! I think I need to be a bit more patient and wait it out. NO MORE OVER-ANALYZING!!!