New Student- Advisor never responds

[areyno13]

So I'm starting at the University of Waterloo in the fall. My advisor is a very busy man on sabbatical and has been since I applied and will be until December. Now shortly after applying and getting my acceptance his email response time was slow but I still got a response. I'd have to say since March or so I've sent 6 emails with no response. The one time he did respond in that time period I was coming up to look for housing and asked if he'd be free to meet, he said he'd check his calendar when he was in the office but I got no response after that. 

 

I just don't know what to do, the secretary has been helping me out with the logistical questions but I've been trying to ask him about the projects he has (he said I have my pick or them but I'd like more info on a couple before I decide) to no avail. I just don't know what to do. I'm an international student so calling would be difficult but not impossible, another new hiccup is that it's now summer break so I'm sure he's even more impossible to reach.

 

This might not be a big deal and could be normal but it's causing me a lot of stress and I'm just worried about this whole situation and what it means for the couple of years ahead, though to be honest I'd rather have a non responsive advisor than one who won't talk to me because I have an irrational fear  that he hates me. 

 

Help?

[Jay's Brain]

Hey,

 

I'm from Canada and will be going to a Canadian school in Ontario (not sure if that's even relevant, but at least it'll mean we'll be the same graduate cohort entering this Fall). I think you may want to try contacting some of his graduate students. Ask them what his schedule/agenda looks like for the upcoming months (if he's scheduled to talk to them or be around on campus, etc). You may also get some insight on what kind of advisor he has been. Perhaps, like you said, being that he is on sabbatical, he just isn't responding promptly. It makes sense. Professors on sabbatical use it to catch up on their own research or do other non-academic things. 

Your first few months may be a bit of a nuisance, and as a incoming graduate student, I realize your need to get everything prepared and planned out (especially being an international student). But don't be anxious! I'm sure he'll be in touch with you soon! He wouldn't have accepted you if he knew he couldn't handle having a new student.

 

Best of luck with your first year!

[Chiqui74]

The story of my life!  I don't know what to tell you, I'm on the same boat minus the sabbatical.

[TakeruK]

In addition to what Jay's Brain said, Canadian Masters programs don't usually require that much supervisor interaction in the first few months. In fact, it's far better for him to be on sabbatical this fall than it would be if it was during your second year! 

 

I think you really just need to have two important conversations with him this summer, maybe around August. First, you need to talk to him in depth about the projects and learn more so you can start doing reading and pick your topic. Second, you should talk to him about course planning. Because he will be away for your first semester, maybe you want to overload on courses a little bit at first, and then do less courses and more research later.

 

Note: In most Canadian MSc programs, while you start tinkering with research and doing a lot of background reading in your first year, I find that you actually don't start your research in earnest until the first summer. The first two semesters (Sept-April) is mostly spent on courses, adjusting to graduate school, learning to manage your time as a TA, and getting a start on research by trying a few things / reading a lot. For me, when I started research full time in the first summer, I found that I made way more progress in May (the first month) than I did all year, and that I had to redo most of the things I did earlier. But that's okay--you don't learn if you don't screw up.

[areyno13]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll get in contact with one of his students. I'll see if I can contact him in August right before I get there, the semester doesn't start until September 14th so I've got a bit of time before I have to pick classes.

[The Wayfarer]

One I've the biggest things I've discovered in graduate school is that in choosing your advisor it is as much a personality match as it is an academic match. For example, a lot of my colleagues take issue with my advisor's lack of timely responses. I, however, typically don't have an issue with this because I make sure that when I contact her I do so only for things I can't handle myself. I found that a lot of faculty members tend to respond to things only if they feel like you haven't exhausted all other resources. Not necessarily agreeing with their behavior but just seems to be the way things are.