Contacting Faculty Prior to Application Submission

[nir1241]

Hello,

Im currently in the process of applying to biology PhD programs (top ten programs specifically) and was wondering if it would help to contact potential faculty I would like to work with in the next few weeks. Ive read online that contacting faculty with very thoughtful emails expressing interest in their work can work in your favor when it comes to admissions because some faculty members may be able to advocate on your behalf during the application review process. Ive also heard from some grad students that sending these emails can come across as presumptuous and overconfident. 

Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) with this?

Thanks!

[rising_star]

You might want to contact them to see if they have space/funding in their lab. Some science programs require students to enter into a specific lab, rather than doing rotations. So, if you email and find out that the lab(s) you're interested in can't take you, you might be able to save yourself some money on the application fee.