Writing to POI - need help

[hnainani]

Hi,

I was thinking of write introductory email to POI before applying in the respective colleges. Is it recommended to reach out to the POIs so well in advance, if yes, then should the letter be more on the general lines or asking directly about being prospective student. Please help. I am new to all this.

[fuzzylogician]

The answer depends on the field and (to a lesser degree) the school you're applying to. In some field you absolutely have to have someone who would want to take you as an advisee before you apply, in some it might help but isn't required and/or might not be common, and some will straight up say not to contact them. 

If you do reach out, there are two kinds of inquiries you could in principle make. The first is a pretty generic "are you taking new students?" -- this one can be pretty short and to the point. Simply say you're an applicant in the coming cycle, interested in XYZ (related to the prof's research), and wondering if s/he is taking new students this year. The other is a more specific "would you be my advisor" (for fields that require that), and in that case you need to give more details about your research interests and why think this person is a good fit for you. The email shouldn't be too long, and I wouldn't send any attachments, but just describe what you do in a paragraph and explain why school X and advisor Y are options you are interested in. Offer to provide more information, and you can include a link to a website with links to papers and additional information, if you have one. 

[brown_eyed_girl]

As fuzzlogician says, there's a lot of variance by field and school. I would look at the websites of each school you're thinking of applying to and see if they give a guideline. For example, some of the places I applied said something along the lines of "We encourage you to contact professors in the Fall before applying" while others said nothing. If they don't say anything, you could also always call the administrative office of the department and ask what the policy is.

My mentors/letter writers recommended reaching out to potential advisers, but the responses I got back from POIs were very varied. In several cases they didn't have much to say, or stated that it was unnecessary to contact professors before applying. In a couple cases they were encouraging (one was so encouraging that she advised me to apply directly to PhD programs rather than the terminal MA program where she taught). Whether their replies were friendly or not seemed to have zero correlation on where I was accepted, so don't be intimidated if the person you most want to work with sends you a curt "I make it a policy not to talk with students before I receive applications" kind of email. 

The most useful cases were those in which I learned that POIs were not accepting students in the year I was applying for.  For that reason alone, I think it's always good to at least send out a brief email explaining that you admire their work, are interested in applying, and are wondering whether they are currently accepting new students. You definitely want to know that before you put the effort and money into applying! 

As for guidelines on what to write, I found this suggested template very helpful: 

http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/25/how-to-write-an-email-to-a-potential-ph-d-advisor/

[nevermind]

I've only reached out to two potential advisors so far because I feel quite strongly that their work overlaps with mine (it helps that I've read a significant amount of their work). I've used this general template (qualifications, aspirations, research interests, why them). It's yielded two responses, one positive (with a potential Skype interview), and one initially positive (but then never heard back from..chalking it up to professors being busy people). I don't attach a CV and I try to keep it short (and be respectful of their time). I think a lot of students tend to give an exhaustive account of all their accomplishments (which is what the application is for), when really--you just want to know about the program, the climate of the department, and try to network a little bit. Most professors won't say, "You're BRILLIANT, let me offer you admission right now!" and sometimes positive interactions are only that--just because a professor likes you doesn't mean you're put on the auto-admit track. It simply means you're putting yourself out there in a way that may help you in the future. 

My most recent email (to one of my top choices) looked like:

Dear Professor ____,

I recently completed a Master's degree in ____ from ____ . I am thinking of applying to ____ at ___ for a PhD. My research interests are [description], but mostly I work in [one-two sentences describing my research interests that are truly quite unique].

I've read a significant portion of your work on [sum up their work] and would love to work with you as a PhD student. As such, I want to know whether you will be taking on any students in the near future. I'm also interested in your current research interests on [another area where their work relates to mine]. I'm also interested to know about what you look for in the students you work with.

 

Thank you much for your time.

Sincerely,
____

 

[hnainani]

The answer depends on the field and (to a lesser degree) the school you're applying to. In some field you absolutely have to have someone who would want to take you as an advisee before you apply, in some it might help but isn't required and/or might not be common, and some will straight up say not to contact them. 

If you do reach out, there are two kinds of inquiries you could in principle make. The first is a pretty generic "are you taking new students?" -- this one can be pretty short and to the point. Simply say you're an applicant in the coming cycle, interested in XYZ (related to the prof's research), and wondering if s/he is taking new students this year. The other is a more specific "would you be my advisor" (for fields that require that), and in that case you need to give more details about your research interests and why think this person is a good fit for you. The email shouldn't be too long, and I wouldn't send any attachments, but just describe what you do in a paragraph and explain why school X and advisor Y are options you are interested in. Offer to provide more information, and you can include a link to a website with links to papers and additional information, if you have one. 

Thanks a lot for the reply. I am applying in the field of strategy and entrepreneurship and I believe I will need to pick specific professors for this, as not all universities give a PhD in this subject. Thank you again for helping with this.

[hnainani]

As fuzzlogician says, there's a lot of variance by field and school. I would look at the websites of each school you're thinking of applying to and see if they give a guideline. For example, some of the places I applied said something along the lines of "We encourage you to contact professors in the Fall before applying" while others said nothing. If they don't say anything, you could also always call the administrative office of the department and ask what the policy is.

My mentors/letter writers recommended reaching out to potential advisers, but the responses I got back from POIs were very varied. In several cases they didn't have much to say, or stated that it was unnecessary to contact professors before applying. In a couple cases they were encouraging (one was so encouraging that she advised me to apply directly to PhD programs rather than the terminal MA program where she taught). Whether their replies were friendly or not seemed to have zero correlation on where I was accepted, so don't be intimidated if the person you most want to work with sends you a curt "I make it a policy not to talk with students before I receive applications" kind of email. 

The most useful cases were those in which I learned that POIs were not accepting students in the year I was applying for.  For that reason alone, I think it's always good to at least send out a brief email explaining that you admire their work, are interested in applying, and are wondering whether they are currently accepting new students. You definitely want to know that before you put the effort and money into applying! 

As for guidelines on what to write, I found this suggested template very helpful: 

http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/25/how-to-write-an-email-to-a-potential-ph-d-advisor/

Oh this is great! The template is of great help. I will talk to my LoRs to get a better understanding on this for my field. Thanks a lot for this!

[hnainani]

I've only reached out to two potential advisors so far because I feel quite strongly that their work overlaps with mine (it helps that I've read a significant amount of their work). I've used this general template (qualifications, aspirations, research interests, why them). It's yielded two responses, one positive (with a potential Skype interview), and one initially positive (but then never heard back from..chalking it up to professors being busy people). I don't attach a CV and I try to keep it short (and be respectful of their time). I think a lot of students tend to give an exhaustive account of all their accomplishments (which is what the application is for), when really--you just want to know about the program, the climate of the department, and try to network a little bit. Most professors won't say, "You're BRILLIANT, let me offer you admission right now!" and sometimes positive interactions are only that--just because a professor likes you doesn't mean you're put on the auto-admit track. It simply means you're putting yourself out there in a way that may help you in the future. 

My most recent email (to one of my top choices) looked like:

Dear Professor ____,

I recently completed a Master's degree in ____ from ____ . I am thinking of applying to ____ at ___ for a PhD. My research interests are [description], but mostly I work in [one-two sentences describing my research interests that are truly quite unique].

I've read a significant portion of your work on [sum up their work] and would love to work with you as a PhD student. As such, I want to know whether you will be taking on any students in the near future. I'm also interested in your current research interests on [another area where their work relates to mine]. I'm also interested to know about what you look for in the students you work with.

 

Thank you much for your time.

Sincerely,
____

 

Thanks a lot tmt503, this looks like the exact brief I was looking for. I think I need to dig deep on the professors whose work match mine and write to them. This was really helpful, thanks again!