Is this the very time to contact professors?

[crabwalker]

I submitted my appilcation now and I want to contact the professors. But there are some schools with early deadlines like Dec 1 or Dec 15. Is it late to contact professors in such schools?

[Ziz]

What do you want to get out of contacting them? Most people contact profs to find out whether the school is a good fit and whether the prof would be interested in supervising their research. They use this info to decide whether to apply or not so contacting profs after the fact seems odd. However, if you just want to get your name out there and hope to influence the decision, it might come across as kind of transparent and work against you.

[mudlark]

I'd say yes, it's too late. Wait to get some offers, and then talk to professors to help you make your decision. At this point, the adcoms have probably either met and done some preliminary sorting, or they're in the frantic process of passing around files and ranking students. Even if you make a great connection, a professor popping his head in to the adcom chair's room and saying "Hey, I've been e-mailing with this student who seems good..." would almost certainly be too late or unwelcome.

[crabwalker]

Thanks, I have contacted some professors via email since I am an international applicant. But some professors never answer me. So I wish I can contact them.

[Akshay]

Thanks, I have contacted some professors via email since I am an international applicant. But some professors never answer me. So I wish I can contact them.

Hi,

I too have tried many times contacting professors but they never gave reply. I have got a M.S. admisssion at Univ. of Minnesota. Now i need assistanship. So i tried emailing them a lot but no replies from them.Suggestions from anybody having experience are welcome.

Akshay

[profound_g]

Well that's just how it goes. Sometimes they don't replay. In any case, now is not the time for this.

[chocker]

some get lucky sometimes and some don't.

I emailed two professors to ask more details about their research. one replied. another didn't ( the website of that particular group didn't have enough information about the ongoing projects. But they mentioned .. there are many interesting ongoing works. feel free to contact any students or faculty. I never found out their interesting projects but the group seemed to be a solid one.).

[crabwalker]

some get lucky sometimes and some don't.

I emailed two professors to ask more details about their research. one replied. another didn't ( the website of that particular group didn't have enough information about the ongoing projects. But they mentioned .. there are many interesting ongoing works. feel free to contact any students or faculty. I never found out their interesting projects but the group seemed to be a solid one.).

I think that is a good news to hear from the professors. I have not receivecd any reply yet. Although I have read their papers and proposed new ideas about their research

[anxiousapplicant]

I think that is a good news to hear from the professors. I have not receivecd any reply yet. Although I have read their papers and proposed new ideas about their research

I had a bit of an "ouch" reaction to that.... Is that an orthodox thing to do, does anyone know?

[solairne]

I had a bit of an "ouch" reaction to that.... Is that an orthodox thing to do, does anyone know?

I think that sort of means by what s/he meant about proposing new ideas. I emailed a professor because I was particularly interested in her work and asked her to extrapolate a little bit on a conclusion as well as what her views are in other areas based on that research. That was met really warmly.

If the poster meant that he suggested the professor do the research differently, then yea... that's probably not a very good idea. But a lot is dependent upon whom you speak with. Some professors are very laid back and open to that kind of thing, others will blackball you. Personally, I'd avoid telling the person who decides my fate what to do.

Edited February 5, 2010 by solairne