Contacting POI

[hippyscientist]

Hi there,

I last emailed my POI to let him know that my application had been submitted. That was mid october, and he said he'd make a decision in a few weeks. I have yet to hear anything but I don't want to annoy him by sending an email if it's not the done thing (I'd like to phone but international rates/time difference make that unviable). I've recently had some exam results back and they've been excellent (top of my year), I've found I really enjoy theoretical applications more than experimental (one of the concerns he raised when he met me was that my research focus seems like it could go more towards experimental, but I'd never had exposure to theoretical and now I love it). I wondered whether it would be okay to send an email along the lines of outlining my success here and my new interest in theoretical in order to spark the conversation again?

 

Edited November 25, 2015 by piglet33

[rising_star]

Did you apply for spring 2016 or fall 2016? If the latter, I wouldn't contact your POI yet. If you really want your exam results in your application, you could contact the graduate program administrator about updating your application and then find a way to include them somewhere. 

[hippyscientist]

It was fall, so I will heed your advice. I'm one of those people who's very very organised, and I expect others to be too. It's taking me a while to get into an academic's mindset!! 

Thank you for your reply.

[rising_star]

I wouldn't say not having replied yet is a sign of being disorganized. Most adcoms haven't even started meeting yet (I'm guessing the deadline for applications is probably December 1 or later) so it's difficult for any POI to be in contact with anything about your status. Patience is key here, as is keeping in mind that dealing with applications is one small part of a professor's job. The rest of the job is ongoing as current students still have needs (you have to teach them, grade their work, write exams, hold office hours) and there are research-related tasks to be done too (applying for funding, getting actual research done, writing it up, submitting it to journals, etc.). While applicants are really focused on their applications, they really don't rise to the forefront just yet for faculty (or even for current grad students).

[hippyscientist]

Thanks for your insight, I understand this and sit on many boards at my current university liaising with staff and students alike but it's difficult to keep everything in perspective at times. As a related question, how frequent are applicant communications with POIs? On these boards it seems like a constant conversation over a period of months, and at other times it seems like an email here and there over the application process is more standard. I definitely fall in the second camp!

[rising_star]

Mine was only ever a few emails here and there. I didn't have sustained conversations with any POIs until after I'd been admitted with funding. I'm honestly not sure that the sustained conversations are really and truly necessary, especially since they have the potential to become aggravating or a burden to the POI rather easily. As a faculty member, I get way more emails than I can really give a good response to at the time so a lot of things get pushed until I have time to write more than a two minute reply, even if they're things I'm interested in or want to do.

[amolang]

It's Thanksgiving, man. I think further contacts would give a negative impression in this season if you are applying for fall. Just allow some time. A pot won't boil if you check up on it every other minute.