I've emailed several professors who are in my field (Japanese literature) and they've all been incredibly helpful. I'd suggest three or so paragraphs - one an introduction of yourself and your university (and who you're working with at your uni), the second a description of your research (and maybe a short list of particular works/criticism/etc that you think is meaningful to you and possibly a short reason why), and the third ask them questions / ask for guidance.
Just don't expect a totally fast response - the good part is for most places the school year has started so they'll be checking, but for the most part it's taken profs several weeks to as long as a month to get back to me.
I ask professors program questions when it's relevant to their own work, ie "I'm so glad to see you on the faculty, as I'm very interested in X. How feasible would you say it is to pursue X in your department?" Otherwise I'd feel better asking the program director, since it's more their job to answer my incessant questions.
I agree with the above person about introducing yourself and your interests and relating that to the prof- but I personally wouldn't write 3 whole paragraphs. I tend to do a brief maybe 6 sentence email so I don't overwhelm them. But who knows- this could be more personal style than anything else. Good luck with the whole process...
Do it. When I was writing my senior thesis I (somewhat timidly) e-mailed two professors whose scales I was using and asked for their assistance. One professor in particular was very friendly and asked to see a copy of my thesis when I was finished. I forwarded it to him after completion, thanking him for his help, and he told me that I should publish my thesis and gave me some suggestions for cleaning it up and getting it ready! Unsolicited comments. I had a pocketful of sunshine that day :D
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Just don't expect a totally fast response - the good part is for most places the school year has started so they'll be checking, but for the most part it's taken profs several weeks to as long as a month to get back to me.
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I agree with the above person about introducing yourself and your interests and relating that to the prof- but I personally wouldn't write 3 whole paragraphs. I tend to do a brief maybe 6 sentence email so I don't overwhelm them. But who knows- this could be more personal style than anything else. Good luck with the whole process...
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