HELP! Just got the meanest answer back from a prof!!

[melusine]

So.... Since everyone's been saying one should contact faculty members, I did.

I sent a v. polite email saying 1 or 2 things about myself, my interests, how it matches what the prof does and whether they would be intent on pursuing similar research in the future.

I got a very curt answer that went something like:

"At Y university on applies to a program. Not a professor."

Now, does that mean my chances at University Y are ruined????

Needless to say, I'm never contacting anyone again! (I just wish I could take back the 2 other emails I sent to other universities' faculty members)..

[acup313]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I don't think it ruins your chances at all. The Professor may not even be on the committee that selects the potential PhD students, and even if they are they clearly did not take the time to remember your name for later. Some Professors are just like that, they don't want to take the time to get to know you until you get in at their school. It wasn't a mistake to send e-mails to the other two professors, as most professors are rather nice and you will either get a polite e-mail encouraging your pursuits, no e-mail at all, or the magical but rare e-mail where they are excited about your interests and help you through the process. Don't let this one bad one get you down. Also make sure you keep your e-mails to professors short especially if you don't know them, most aren't too excited when someone they don't know expects them to read a 1,000 word e-mail.

[kahlan_amnell]

I wouldn't actually say that was particularly mean. The professor was probably just busy, and perhaps does not have much say in which students are accepted, and therefore doesn't want to spend time corresponding with students who aren't accepted yet. At worst you caught the professor in a bad mood. I don't think it hurts your chances at that university. Keep writing to professors, most of them are helpful to student considering applying to their programs.

[socialcomm]

Definitely not the friendliest prof, but I agree with the others, don't be too concerned. I wouldn't let it stop you from contacting other people. I'd just remember to make it more about YOU researching them/the school, than really promoting yourself.

[coyabean]

I'm going to disagree with the above. That was an azzhole-y thing to say. HOw do I judge azzhole-ness? By the net positive effect of responding versus the net negative of just ignoring the email. This communicated nothing. S/he knows you would know to apply to the school. They expended energy just to be mean.

Consider it a favor. You often don't know someone is an dungbutt until after you are enrolled. Still apply if you'd like but now you know to keep this person on your watch list.

Contacting profs is absolutely fine and expected. Don't let this person ruin it.

[cheesethunder]

that doesn't come off that mean to me........i got that from some profs its easy to interpret a short email as mean!

[johndiligent]

I got a few similar replies at first, though they weren't worded that curtly. Some of the profs I wrote to initially basically said, "Thanks for the e-mail, but I don't make the decision on who gets admitted, so if you get admitted, then we can talk." Which is fair.

And remember every application/grad school has its own procedure and admissions culture, so something that's perfectly acceptable, even necessary - like finding an advisor before applying - at one school can be completely taboo at another.

After I got a couple answers like that, I rephrased my exploratory e-mails so that it sounded less like I was angling for a commitment, and more like I was curious about their research and hoped we might have the chance to talk/work together if I am admitted. That angle seemed to go over better.

[Amanda]

Oh, I don't think that's so bad. I mean, the professor was certainly rude but depending on the individual and their time constraints maybe that's all they could spit out. I would say that you should just ignore it and continue contacting other professors.

I think professors are a little jaded to this whole process and know that a lot of students send out form letters trying to get in with someone. Maybe they were just having a bad day on top of this.

Myself, I have just been looking for professors who seem interesting and striking up conversations if I can. I think it's better to go a little slower and make a real connection rather than seem like you're out to get something and be cast aside altogether. Not that I think that's what you're doing though!

[LateAntique]

I think this was not the nicest email ever sent, but certainly not the meanest. I wrote an email awhile back to an Ivy professor and his very short email was only about all the other programs to which I should apply (none were on the same level). He answered none of the questions I actually asked.

Also, as to the above comment - professors, of course, have bad days. And I think they probably get a lot of emails around this time. Thus, I started contacting professors last spring and over the summer. I met with some last fall at an academic conference that I attend and some over the summer and throughout the fall of this year. It seems if you contact them in the 'off season', you will get a bit more of their time.

[joro]

I got a similar response back from a Professor. He explained that he can't choose students until after admissions, but he will be on the look out for my application if I get passed admissions. Unfortunately I didn't...haha.

[Ziz]

I had a reply that expressed the same idea but in a much nicer way. I think your prof could have been more polite.

Mine said something along hte lines of "I would certainly be interested in supervising a thesis on that topic, however whether a student is admitted has nothing to do with whether I am willing to take them on. However, you are welcome to indicate in your application that you have discussed your interests with me and I have agreed that this would be a good place to pursue them."

[Reinventing]

Translation:

Apply first, then maybe we'll talk.

Until you get in, it's nice that you're interested; but we both might be wasting our time. Thanks!

[Ziz]

So why is there so much emphasis put on contacting professors if they don't have any impact on the admissions decision? Is it just to determine fit?

[modernity]

So why is there so much emphasis put on contacting professors if they don't have any impact on the admissions decision? Is it just to determine fit?

Sometimes they are on the adcomms, and sometimes its just nice to be able to say in your SOP that you discussed your topics with that professor and they were interested so that the adcomm knows you went above and beyond just applying. I've also heard that some colleges require that you have someone in mind, that you've spoken to. Although... in other cases I think it has the potential to be useless depending on the school's policy and your particular field.

[Thanks4Downvoting]

Sometimes they are on the adcomms, and sometimes its just nice to be able to say in your SOP that you discussed your topics with that professor and they were interested so that the adcomm knows you went above and beyond just applying. I've also heard that some colleges require that you have someone in mind, that you've spoken to. Although... in other cases I think it has the potential to be useless depending on the school's policy and your particular field.

While he could have been much more polite, his response isn't all that rare unfortunately.

[rising_star]

So why is there so much emphasis put on contacting professors if they don't have any impact on the admissions decision? Is it just to determine fit?

For some programs, having contact with a professor is necessary. Other times, it's useful just to know if a person is taking new students. For example, my advisor is telling prospective students to find someone else they want to work with because he does not intend to take on any new students in this admissions cycle. The only way to know that would be to contact him. (For that matter, his current research isn't really mentioned on his website so contacting him would be the only way to know what kinds of grants he's trying to get funded now.)

Sometimes they are on the adcomms, and sometimes its just nice to be able to say in your SOP that you discussed your topics with that professor and they were interested so that the adcomm knows you went above and beyond just applying. I've also heard that some colleges require that you have someone in mind, that you've spoken to. Although... in other cases I think it has the potential to be useless depending on the school's policy and your particular field.

The program where I did my MA requires that students list the faculty they've been in communication with on their application. So in that case, contact is definitely necessary.

[melusine]

The program where I did my MA requires that students list the faculty they've been in communication with on their application. So in that case, contact is definitely necessary.

Ok.. this has been a very unlucky process for me so far: my top recommender disappeared (stopped returning my emails/calls), i have had to make three different versions of my writing sample because of two schools being completely schizophrenic about their formatting requirements regarding translation re: changing it last minute, (long story, but i have a sample which quotes from different languages and i need to make v specific changes for some schools), and now this...

I have written 3 profs so far. Only 1 has answered- the one mentioned above.

A few of my programs do have the "list the faculty" clause in the app forms. WHADDO I DO???

Am completely traumatized about it yet somehow the internets keep telling me I ought to try again..

I have a feeling this is also pretty late in the game and I don't want to bother profs when they're in the middle of giving/correcting midterms.

Do you think it's ok to just not contact anybody else at this point?

[Viva]

Ok.. this has been a very unlucky process for me so far: my top recommender disappeared (stopped returning my emails/calls), i have had to make three different versions of my writing sample because of two schools being completely schizophrenic about their formatting requirements regarding translation re: changing it last minute, (long story, but i have a sample which quotes from different languages and i need to make v specific changes for some schools), and now this...

I have written 3 profs so far. Only 1 has answered- the one mentioned above.

A few of my programs do have the "list the faculty" clause in the app forms. WHADDO I DO???

Am completely traumatized about it yet somehow the internets keep telling me I ought to try again..

I have a feeling this is also pretty late in the game and I don't want to bother profs when they're in the middle of giving/correcting midterms.

Do you think it's ok to just not contact anybody else at this point?

I also need to contact professors. I am going to try and contact the remaining professors on my list this weekend.

I suggest reading through the "prospective student" pages on the university website. Oftentimes, I found paragraphs that explicitly stated that an application would not be considered if faculty had not been contacted prior to submission and review. So read those pages over and see if that helps you decide whether or not to contact professors. In my field (biological sciences) it is pretty standard to contact professors to make sure they are accepting students and to see if they would be interested in having YOU in their lab. If there is no indication of what to do on the university website, I would err on the side of contacting the professor. It is good to establish a relationship so you have someone pulling for your application when its under review.

It is a little late in the game but you are not alone (I am playing the game late as well). As far as writing professors, keep your e-mail concise. Introduce yourself and include a specific sentence or two about their research and how it aligns with your interests. Ask them if they will be accepting any new students and thank them for their time. Its as simple as that. I have found all the professors I have contacted so far to be very helpful. And those that were not accepting students simply said just that. Those that were interested either gave me the green light to apply or wanted more information or a telephone interview.

Try not to be too disheartened by that first professor who responded to you. And if it has been over a week since you contacted the other two, send a follow up e-mail to check if they received your first e-mail. Some professors I have contacted take a day to respond others a week or two. It just depends on how busy they are.