this may be a dumb question...

[KieBelle]

I'm in the middle of filling out an online application and I've come across a question in which they want to know if I've contacted any faculty or staff and if so, who. I had to laugh, because OF COURSE this is the ONLY school that I haven't contacted anyone at, and the only one who's asked. Ugh! in whiny obnoxious voice: Do I really have to contact someone now? Most professors take forever to respond, or never respond at all, and I was hoping to submit this thing tomorrow. It's a master's program, and I really hadn't gotten the impression from the website that MA students work closely with advisors. Will it hurt my chances of being accepted if I just click "No" and submit it anyway? I've mentioned 3 profs in my SOP that I'd like to work with-- good enough?

[fuzzylogician]

I'd venture a guess that it won't help you any to submit without contacting any faculty but probably won't hurt too much either. But if the application in not due in a while, why not try and contact someone and possibly improve your admittance chances? You've got nothing to lose - you already have everything ready for this app and you're just waiting for some profs to reply. If it get close to the deadline and you haven't gotten any replies, then you can go ahead and submit. You lose nothing by sending an email and waiting a few days (except some loose nerves, but you didn't need those anyway ).

[rising_star]

It's a master's program, and I really hadn't gotten the impression from the website that MA students work closely with advisors. Will it hurt my chances of being accepted if I just click "No" and submit it anyway? I've mentioned 3 profs in my SOP that I'd like to work with-- good enough?

Hmmmm... I worked pretty closely with my advisor when I was in a MA program. It was especially important to coordinate things like when I would submit drafts, when she would return them, when I would defend, etc. Plus, we worked pretty closely ont he content of my thesis. In other words, I think it's a mistake to say that MA students don't work closely with their advisors.

I second everything fuzzylogician said about making contact and delaying application submission.

[Sparky]

Hm...I went 3/3 on MA program acceptances without contacting faculty, although I did talk to someone at the admissions office at one of the schools. Got funding at two of them. But I don't know what kind of selectivity you are talking about. I'm in religion, which has a very screwy system, so it's hard to compare.

I haven't worked all that closely with my advisor. I think it depends to some extent on the subject and to a large extent on the specific program.

[socialpsych]

You don't have to contact somebody, no.

I didn't contact anyone at most of my schools last year and I did pretty well. Most people here on GC seem to say it is a good idea to contact profs beforehand, but most of the people I talked to IRL when I was applying said it was a bad idea. So know that there is a difference of opinion at least.