Weird to contact POI applied to if have not heard?

[HopefulGal]

Hey everyone!

I applied to Ph.D. programs in Social Psychology. I applied at Northwestern and really wanted to work with this one professor. We had been emailing over the summer and throughout the fall semester. Our research interested matched nearly perfectly, and I feel that I have relatively good stats for the program. I am pretty sure that the program has sent out interview invitations, and I am really sad and kind of shocked that I did not hear from the researcher.

I was thinking about emailing him (since we've emailed before) and just asking about it - telling him that I was really looking forward to possibly working with him and loved the program at Northwestern. I just wanted to ask him if he had sent out interview invitations.. etc.

Is it weird to do this?? Should I not email him or is it okay to do that?

Thanks!

[LaurenA]

My MA advisor told me multiple times to NOT contact people after the apps are in. It creates a really awkward situation for them, and if they are reviewing applications currently, it will probably hurt you. My advisor said someone she would have normally taken kept contacting her during the review, and annoyed her enough to toss the application in the No pile. These people are busy, and if you send them an email when you're not hearing back from them, that's just another awkward email they have to spend time on.

[blah0016]

Hey everyone!

I applied to Ph.D. programs in Social Psychology. I applied at Northwestern and really wanted to work with this one professor. We had been emailing over the summer and throughout the fall semester. Our research interested matched nearly perfectly, and I feel that I have relatively good stats for the program. I am pretty sure that the program has sent out interview invitations, and I am really sad and kind of shocked that I did not hear from the researcher.

I was thinking about emailing him (since we've emailed before) and just asking about it - telling him that I was really looking forward to possibly working with him and loved the program at Northwestern. I just wanted to ask him if he had sent out interview invitations.. etc.

Is it weird to do this?? Should I not email him or is it okay to do that?

Thanks!

It might be better to contact instead the director of admissions for your program. You can find this person's name by asking the admissions secretary. My friend was in a similar situation recently--he really wanted to work with a particular professor at a certain university, and had emailed back and forth, etc., but did not get accepted in the first round of admits. He contacted the director of admissions for the program by phone, saying he had not heard from the program but was interested in the program, and was wondering the status of his application. Emphasize in the phone call that it is your TOP CHOICE and you would definitely come if admitted (only if this is true). He ended up getting admitted to that program shortly after. Contacting the director of admissions is actually fine, they don't mind and it shows interest in their program. But the POI could be awkward, unless you just want to update them on your research and reaffirm your interest in their research (to remind them you exist).

Edited January 30, 2010 by blah0016