Is it too late to contact faculty after submitting application?

[NeuroKat111]

So I've submitted all the apps this week for Phd programs in neuroscience and have come to a bit of dilemma whether I should contact faculty I'm interested in working with. I meant to email them much earlier, but have been so focused on the applications and school that I've never come down to actually sending the emails. Would now be too late for me to ask about the direction of their research and/or if they're admitting students for next year? I have read conflicting information about it being a nuisance or a desperate, so I don't want the email to jeopardize my chances. Also, some of the faculty I'm interested in have been recommended by my PIs as they have been mutual collaborators, so I also was wondering if that information could help when contacting them. 

To provide some more context about myself, I've applied to UCSD, UCLA, USC, NYU, BU, MIT, UW, and UPenn. My overall GPA is 3.78 and my GRE is 162Q, 162V and 4.5AW. I have three years of research experience with 1 paper under review as 2nd author and another one in preparation. 

Thanks for all the help, and good luck to everyone applying this cycle! 

[fuzzylogician]

4 hours ago, NeuroKat111 said:

Would now be too late for me to ask about the direction of their research and/or if they're admitting students for next year?

.. 

Also, some of the faculty I'm interested in have been recommended by my PIs as they have been mutual collaborators, so I also was wondering if that information could help when contacting them. 

If all you want to ask is the above information, in my opinion it's too late. You've submitted your application, so nothing they say can change how you act next. What would be the point in emailing them, then? 

Re: your recommenders, one hopes that they will use their influence to help your application along, either through influential letters (because we tend to take our friends' opinions more seriously than strangers' opinions) or by e.g. calling or emailing their friends to talk you up. You could mention to the faculty that you are contacting that they were recommended by your PIs, but I don't think that's really going to carry all that much weight. You might have already done that in your SOP, too, and again, this is one of those places where your words won't carry half as much weight as your PIs' actions. 

[NeuroKat111]

Ah I see, ya its definitely one of those I regret not doing...

Anyways, thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it!

[ChallengerSwimmer23]

I am one who thinks that I should not contact faculty members until after acceptance into a program. I personally do not like to bother faculty members when faculty members are so busy writing grants, supporting their grad students and labs, and teaching. Believe me. I am in graduate school as a masters student and am currently applying to Ph.D. programs. I see behind the scenes all the time. Often times faculty members will ignore those emails if it's someone who is only an applicant.

Now, if you are accepted into the program and you are trying to make a decision between Program A versus Program B, then YES, you may contact faculty members that you are interested in to see if they are accepting grad students next year. At that point, before committing to a program, I would even make another visit to the lab if possible if I am torn about two programs but only after you are accepted to those two programs. I just think there's a right time to contact them. Contacting them before submitting your application won't help too much. If the program feels you are qualified,  fit into the program, and are interested in you, they'll take you. Contacting faculty members is not going to decide that. That's my take but opinions vary a lot with this.

[camth]

Hello, while I agree with some stuff said I think it depends on the program. I'm not sure of your due dates or how your programs admissions works but I've seen some programs that offer expedited admission decisions should you have a professor willing to accept you in their lab. So it could possibly help them speed along your 

[TLNCP]

This summer I participated in the Amgen Scholars Program and both the Director of Undergraduate Research at Harvard and the Provost of Research at UCLA advised against emailing faculty. They both explained that faculty get so many emails and that it is more appropriate to email faculty after being accepted into the program.

[NeuroKat111]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I can definitely see how contacting faculty now can be counterproductive. One of the applications for BU, which is due later in Dec 15th, did however ask for faculty that I've contacted so I proceeded to email a few professors that I was interested in. I'll see whether they reply or not...haha

 

[NeuroKat111]

I just wanted to give an update for anyone else currently applying that I received a couple of encouraging replies from faculty that I contacted. I think emailing someone is dependent on the context of the program and the personality of the person, so it might be worth to take the risk. I'm not sure how much the contact helps in the long run, but at least its gives some support to your app