Contacted by professor who is not my POI at Oregon State University for PhD Fall 2016 in Computer Science

[Nirvik]

Hello,

I have applied for PhD in Oregon State University and on Feb 16th I was contacted by a professor who was not in my list of POI. The professor said that she is looking for a graduate student in her lab and if I am interested, I need to let her know of my research interests. I responded with my research interests on machine learning and cancer research and she immediately responded by asking for my CV/Resume and inquiring if I am interested in graph theory. When I agreed with her on that, she talked about her own current research work and said that since her project goals and my intended research goals were in sync, although our work had different approaches, she would like my help with the project, esp. with graph theory. She said that I also needed to "teach" her students on machine learning and she thinks that I am interested in joining her group. I am very much interested in working with her in her research group and I have responded accordingly by letting her know that I am interested in working with her research group.

Upon this, she said that she is currently evaluating other applications and will get back to me as soon as I can. What should I expect of this? Is it a good sign? I am still unaware if our email correspondence was an informal interview or was it the actual interview. Can someone enlighten me on this?

[kseeful]

So. I just had my first interview, and I was contacted by a professor who was not someone that I had mentioned in my SOP. Like a dummy, I still expressed interest in another lab but after meeting with 11 other professors (agh, so exhausting) during my visit, it became clear that the only way that I was getting into the program was through this professor... which was uncomfortable for me because I didn't know anything about her research when I met her and I didn't want to show immediate enthusiasm without actually understanding her research.

I'd say - evaluate the program and decide whether or not you can get what you want out of it, and if yes, show full enthusiasm for the professor who is expressing interest in you. Since you've done that - yeah, I think that's a great sign. I don't think the professors usually overwhelm themselves with contacting toooo many potential applicants. And I doubt it would be considered any kind of interview. The interview process is also so that you can get to know the program and voice all your own questions to determine if you are a good fit. That takes more than a couple casual email exchanges.

I'm anxiously waiting for a decision post-interview because I feel like an idiot for not focusing on the professor who was showing interest in me until halfway through my visit when I realized no other professors were interested in my application. Oops 

[Nirvik]

4 hours ago, kseeful said:

So. I just had my first interview, and I was contacted by a professor who was not someone that I had mentioned in my SOP. Like a dummy, I still expressed interest in another lab but after meeting with 11 other professors (agh, so exhausting) during my visit, it became clear that the only way that I was getting into the program was through this professor... which was uncomfortable for me because I didn't know anything about her research when I met her and I didn't want to show immediate enthusiasm without actually understanding her research.

I'd say - evaluate the program and decide whether or not you can get what you want out of it, and if yes, show full enthusiasm for the professor who is expressing interest in you. Since you've done that - yeah, I think that's a great sign. I don't think the professors usually overwhelm themselves with contacting toooo many potential applicants. And I doubt it would be considered any kind of interview. The interview process is also so that you can get to know the program and voice all your own questions to determine if you are a good fit. That takes more than a couple casual email exchanges.

I'm anxiously waiting for a decision post-interview because I feel like an idiot for not focusing on the professor who was showing interest in me until halfway through my visit when I realized no other professors were interested in my application. Oops 

Once again, I am in the same boat as you - anxious to the point that I started bombarding the grad school coordinators with emails. They did respond with the usual email stating "Your application is under review by the department and hopefully a decision will be made by April 15, or until support is available." Until then, gotta live with the anxiety, I guess.

Anyways, do professors go for an interview after email correspondences are made? I mean since I and the professor are basically in sync regarding the research interests, which she acknowledged of, do you think I should be expecting for an interview? Because, so far the professor hasn't mentioned anything about the interview. Plus the follow up email is not bearing any responses from her.

[kseeful]

Wish I had more for you 

It was nice though that when I showed up for the visiting weekend, all the other applicants seemed as clueless and lost and anxious as I was, so there was that.

Good luck!

[Nirvik]

16 minutes ago, kseeful said:

Wish I had more for you 

It was nice though that when I showed up for the visiting weekend, all the other applicants seemed as clueless and lost and anxious as I was, so there was that.

Good luck!

Thanks! I hope the visiting weekend went well and I hope you get in. Good luck to you too