Film and Media Studies

[greenpointgrad]

I am applying to Ph.D. and M.A.programs in Film and Media Studies this fall and am confused by the contradictory information I've received about contacting professors in this field. For those of you who are current grad students, do you feel that contacting or not contacting helped/hurt you in the admissions process? To fellow applicants, what sort of advice have you received?

I have 2 years of coursework ahead of me, and as such, I'm not sure if it even makes sense to contact potential advisers at this point. Not to mention that efforts to contact profs this late in the game may seem rushed and last-minute, as my first deadlines are only weeks away (Dec 1).

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, and best of luck to everyone.

[Anastasya]

I am applying to media studies programs as well, and have had the same concerns. I emailed the graduate advisers at a couple schools, and after exchanging a few emails, they directed me to specific professors. When I emailed the professors they said that they generally never respond to applicants, because they get far too many emails each year. Lucky for me, I had a specific question that she felt deserved answering. I got the impression that in general, emails from applicants are a little annoying.

This was at one of the big schools, though, so maybe it would work better at some of the less popular programs.

[Dr._Robotnik's_Shadow]

It's a good idea to contact professors. Other than making you look like you are serious and devoted to applying to their school it really does give you a good impressions of the program you are appyling to if you can get a good response back from a professor who tells you a lot. You should contact professors when you are ready to apply. For example, I'm applying to Cinema Studies programs and deadlines are December 1st. In late August/early-late September I briefly emailed professors telling them how I was looking forward to applyling to their school, what my reasearch interests were and a few other specific questions about the department that could not be answered by the website. My emails were very short and to the point. I was overwhelmingly pleased with the positive responses I recieved. Also, the professors you contact should be ones who are working on subjects related to your interests. Read some for their stuff and mention that in your short email.

I sent in all my applications by the end of October. I made sure to mention in my SOPs and on my app-where permitted- that I contacted these professors. Now, when an admin looks over my app they will see I made contact. Most professors actually save an archive of these types of emails and if need be can rummage it up as a reference during ap descision time.

I think if you are to contact professors now it will be fine. Just tell them you are finishing your apps or already sent it in and are glad you applied to the school and tell them about yourself and ask a few good questions and you're set. I think they are too busy to think you are contacting them at the last minute. They don't read that far into the stuff so don't worry. To do it later would be bad timing because they would be too busy going through all the apps. Do it now to make them remember you and "look" for your app.

Contacting profesors before sending out your stuff is ideal because if you have a really good conversation with them you can add some of the stuff they told you into your SOP. Some profesors told me really unique things about their program that is not on the website and adding this to the SOP made it seem like I really knew the school, had a great conversation with a prof there and was genrally helpful in helping me decided if I'd want to go to this program.

I think most of the time profs are annoyed by applicants emailing them but that's only because I bet those who are emailing them aren't sincere and ask dumb questions. Again, short, simple and intelligent emails are worth while. I did it and I don't regret it at all.

[greenpointgrad]

Thanks for the advice! After careful consideration (read: obsession), I've decided to take the plunge and contact a few profs. I"ll let you know how it works out for me.

[cherylfoster]

According to me this is best idea for study. You go to good way. In the future this may be your best step of your life. This field has many scope. We all know that media is most powerful communication way and movies are also popular in people. So in this field production will never stop.

[JCoe Wants to Go to School]

Hi Greenpoint,

how did emailing professors work out for you? Did you only email professors that were in your particular research area?

thanks!