Did I just screw up my applications?

[AbaNader]

I emailed all the departments I applied to asking for when they make their decisions. All of the departments replied except one so I emailed a professor I wanted to work with in this department and asked him when to expect a decision. This was the first time I was emailing him and basically told him I am applying to his department for the chance to work with him and that I mentioned his name in my SOP for that school. This is what he replied:

"Dear -----------, thank you for your inquiry.

Graduate admission to our department is HEAVILY based upon having a professor agree to take on a student. We want students to already have a professor assigned BEFORE they get here, so it is highly unusual to admit a student without one.

I myself am not taking any new students this entire year, because I have 10 already and that is too many to work with effectively.

Therefore, you will need to find another professor here to accept you as a new student.

Admission decisions will be made shortly, so you should be hearing from the department soon.

Sincerely,

Dr. -------------"

This really freaked me out and I replied to him asking if there was anyone else I can work with. The thing is, I chose the places I applied to based on the professors I want to work with and didn't end up applying to many places (only four). I already got rejected by my top choice and this one is counting in as a reject as well. I'm panicking now, should I have contacted professors I mentioned in my SOP before I applied? What should I do now? I quickly sent out emails to some of them, but haven't gotten a response yet.

I feel like a rotten tomato.

Edited February 20, 2010 by AbaNader

[mitzydoodle]

I emailed all the departments I applied to asking for when they make their decisions. All of the departments replied except one so I emailed a professor I wanted to work with in this department and asked him when to expect a decision. This was the first time I was emailing him and basically told him I am applying to his department for the chance to work with him and that I mentioned his name in my SOP for that school. This is what he replied:

"Dear -----------, thank you for your inquiry.

Graduate admission to our department is HEAVILY based upon having a professor agree to take on a student. We want students to already have a professor assigned BEFORE they get here, so it is highly unusual to admit a student without one.

I myself am not taking any new students this entire year, because I have 10 already and that is too many to work with effectively.

Therefore, you will need to find another professor here to accept you as a new student.

Admission decisions will be made shortly, so you should be hearing from the department soon.

Sincerely,

Dr. -------------"

This really freaked me out and I replied to him asking if there was anyone else I can work with. The thing is, I chose the places I applied to based on the professors I want to work with and didn't end up applying to many places (only four). I already got rejected by my top choice and this one is counting in as a reject as well. I'm panicking now, should I have contacted professors I mentioned in my SOP before I applied? What should I do now? I quickly sent out emails to some of them, but haven't gotten a response yet.

I feel like a rotten tomato.

Keep in mind that I am in a completely different discipline- but from the way you have described it, it does seem like you should have made contact sooner. There is nothing that can be done now about that. At this point in the game, I don't know how much contacting will help, but I doubt it would hurt much to bring a little more visibility to your application, even if it is at the risk of causing some annoyance.

Best of luck to you.

[RNadine21]

Yes, many programs (especially in the sciences I imagine - though I'm only speaking from the POV of biological sciences) require a faculty member to accept you into their lab before the program as a whole accepts you. I do know of people who contacted faculty members after applying, but I imagine that was right after applying. Just do all that you can for now and keep contacting people. Are there other programs with later dates that you can look into to give yourself some peace of mind?

[DJLamar]

I know how you feel. I realized this in about the same way -- emailed a prof at Berkeley whom I had mentioned in my SOP asking if he would be taking new students next year, and he replied saying he had 13 already so he wouldn't take any students at all. The 13 students were listed on his website too, so I knew beforehand that his group was that big. So then I realized that the other prof I had mentioned in my SOP for that school had 12 students already. Those were the only two I mentioned in the SOP... I feel like I really sabotaged my chances at basically my top choice school (and yes, I already received a rejection from them). There were a few other cases where I mentioned professors in my SOP who already had big groups or who I have already found out through other means are not taking new students next year.

I also feel like I conversely could have really helped my chances of admission at some of these places if I would have been more careful to look around for new hires who have very small groups and whose research interests were at least vaguely related to mine. These professors would almost certainly be looking for new students, so the admissions committee at any school would probably be more likely to admit students that wanted to work with those profs.

Too late now though. Besides, my indiscretion didn't kill me completely. I still got into one exceptional school for a PhD regardless which is a very good fit for me academically and probably one of the best choices I could have had anyway.

[solairne]

Granted I have not been accepted to this school yet, but I got some very very positive feedback from 2 professors and pretty good feedback from a third. The application due date was January 15th, and I made contact with one in July of 2009, and the other two in December and January (09 and 10, respectively).

I'm hoping that this becomes a formal acceptance in the next few days, but we'll see.

I'd say that now is too late to contact professors, but you should do so regardless because it can only help you. If you weren't going to be accepted anyway and you send an email that ticks them off irrationally, it really doesn't matter in the long run.

Don't despair totally, if the schools you applied to are good fits, it might not be 100% about professor preference. You might get a surprise. You shouldn't give into depression until you have solid rejections from all 4.

[AbaNader]

There aren't any programs with deadlines this late. I contacted a few professors but haven't gotten a response from them yet. I wish I looked at the students these professors had before applying.

Gosh, I'm screwed...

[AbaNader]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The professor that sent me the above email was from my safety school. You can imagine how I feel about the rest now...

[someDay]

You shouldn't panic just yet. Sometimes this is more about the department than the particular field you're in (*), though finding an advisor prior to submitting the application *appears* to be more common in applied sciences.

sD.

(*) It certainly is in my field (Mathematics) - a few departments require you to find an advisor before you submit the application, others at some point in the third year. I would imagine it also depends whether the department prefers to accepts student who already have a master's degree or prior lab experience; or more those with tremendous potential but perhaps very little lab/research experience.

Edited February 20, 2010 by someDay

[dzk]

Yes, many programs (especially in the sciences I imagine - though I'm only speaking from the POV of biological sciences) require a faculty member to accept you into their lab before the program as a whole accepts you. I do know of people who contacted faculty members after applying, but I imagine that was right after applying. Just do all that you can for now and keep contacting people. Are there other programs with later dates that you can look into to give yourself some peace of mind?

This isn't necessarily true for biology programs, actually... umbrella programs and neuroscience programs (the only ones I'm especially familiar with) almost invariably require rotations.

[Marshall]

Don't count yourself out now. To be honest, I never spoke to any professors before hand- I did however just get an interview with a professor who saw my application and was interested in me.

I worry about that too-that I didn't screw myself by trying to sell myself to a professor before hand but I'm hoping it works out well.

[jacib]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The professor that sent me the above email was from my safety school. You can imagine how I feel about the rest now...

I emailed professors at about half the schools I considered. The ones that I didn't email were the better fits--I felt I didn't have to confirm anything with them! I already knew we were a good match, so why should I ask them? The one admit I got was from a professor who I thought I was a particularly good fit with, and when she called me on the phone to admit me, she jokingly chided me, "I saw your application and thought, 'He's perfect for me... why didn't he email me!'" (I did put her name first in my SoP) It seems these days emailing is expected for many programs, but I mean, what did I know before the application? Now, if a professor isn't taking anymore students, that obviously is the kiss of death. However, not emailing does not guarantee rejection. If they are taking students, and you are a good match, hopeful your application will make it on to their desk (my PoI by chance was head of the adcomm). But let this be a lesson for the future for all of us as we write papers and network in our respective fields--communicate!

[jeanne]

I didn't contact any of the professors I mentioned in my SOP before hand. I didn't realize it was common to do so and I didn't want to appear needy or something.

At two of the schools that I applied to I had different professors than those I mentioned in my SOP state that they thought I'd be a good match with them and contact me. I've also talked with the professors that I mentioned in my SOP after the application was submitted, but they initiated that contact. One of them is going on sabbatical next year, but I think she's still interested in me working with her after that.

So based off my experience, I don't think you necessary hurt yourself, if there's another professor with a related research interest.

[Medievalmaniac]

I think this is a great learning opportunity for you and for anyone else applying to graduate school...it's one thing to know the names of people in your field, and where they are teaching. That demonstrates that you have "done your homework". But emailing them specifically and asking them directly about their work and whether they think you will be a good fit is proactive and also gives them a name and some contact to work with.

When I was trying to choose schools, I emailed every professor in my field at all of the schools I was looking at. Then, based on their responses (and my refusal to take the GRE subject test), I narrowed down my search to the five I ultimately chose. It took about two months to get through the whole process. But, for example - as a medievalist, I would have thought Duke would be a GREAT fit for me, because they have 4 medievalists on staff in the English department. Plus, they are located where I need to be for my family....but, when I emailed those professors, two of them responded with great alacrity that I should most certainly NOT apply there because no one in their department did anything in terms of what I want to work in, they're much more engaged with hagiographic/religious and "nonfiction" works than I would ever want to be. I'm thankful for not having wasted that application fee money, and I'm sure they're thankful for not having to read through another inappropriately applied application - not inappropriate for credentials, or even for field interests, but for specific research goals that originally seemed congruous with the department but ultimately, on personal contact, were not.

Likewise, I was NOT going to apply to Catholic at first, because when I took a course there awhile back the department did not have anything I wanted to work in - but then I spoke directly with one of their newer professors, and found out that she (like me) is VERY into dragons, folklore, and so forth....we would work extremely well together. They've really shifted focus, and the new focus....I like it!

I was also not all that serious about UVA, but was thinking of applying because of its proximity in terms of location. When I emailed the department graduate coordinator (who happens to be a medievalist! lol) she was VERY interested in my ideas and encouraged me to apply, which swayed my thinking a great deal.

Now, like everyone else, though, despite all those emails and all of that "face time" - I'm waiting, waiting, waiting. And no, I might not get in anywhere despite all of that legwork...things happen. But I'll know where to start for next year.

So - yes, it is a good idea to email anyone you would potentially work with - it can only sway them in your favor if they are interested, and help to prevent you from wasting time and money if they aren't.

But - in the long run, no, I don't think "everybody" does this, and I don't think it will REALLY hurt your chances of acceptance at a program....if there is a fit, they'll take you. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

[AbaNader]

Thanks for all the input everyone. One of the professors I emailed replied to me. I had communicated with him around an year ago about something not related to me applying to his school. He said he remembered me and he said the graduate committee will respond soon. He didn't say anything about whether he wanted me to work with him or not nor anything about my admission. What am I to make of this??