Yes, it is very appropriate. Be sure to ask them some good questions, though. And do not be surprised if they do not answer at once. If there is no answer it may mean that your letter was stopped by their spam filter. So if in two weeks there is no answer you can send another letter asking if he/she has received the first one. Good luck!
ok but sometimes its kinda clear they dont wanna talk to you even if 2 weeks passed and nothing. like this one time I wrote to a prof and she never replied back so i thought like what u said and it was put in spam, so i wrote another one and she never wrote back. and then what happened was I had another question entirely so i wrote again and got nothing back. by then i was like um ok for sure i can take a hint! lol
True. I am glad to know this is acceptable; but I have no idea what question I would ask at this point so if I do contact any prof. I will wait until I'm accepted into the program and am trying to select which school to go to. At that point I'm sure I'll have more specific questions.
I just feel a little funny about the writing sample I would probably submit since I quote this professor extensively. I'm sure they are used to this but I still have the impulse to introduce myself first and acknowledge that I used her books for this paper.
I am in your position, so I don't speak from experience, but what I've gleaned from numerous threads here, on gradcafe, and on various whogotins is that it won't hurt you (unless you really screw up and seem rude, demanding, presumptuous, desperate, clueless or whatever) nor will it help you unless it seems like you have a substantive reason for getting in touch. Make sure you have good, specific questions about the prof's work and the program. Whatever you do, it will still be obvious that what's really going on here is you trying to get a foot in the door, but it will only work if you do a good job of looking like it ain't so. You need to demonstrate knowledge, the ability to ask the right questions, and professionalism, else it's not worth the time spent writing the email.
Very true. You summed up my concerns very well here:) The risk of looking rude or presumptuous to me isn't worth contacting the prof just yet...but perhaps after I apply.
Among other things, it really depends on how well you carry yourself in an email conversation...and whether or not you can "naturalize" that contact. Personally, I did not contact professors--I'm awkward when it come to writing emails, and know academic culture well enough to realize that it's a delicate, potentially disastrous procedure. Not contacting professors absolutely didn't hurt me in the application process: I was accepted over applicants went to great effort (one of them flew from abroad just to meet with a prof!) to make their name known in advance
( ... )
THANKS for passing this along! I just registered and am halfway through that thread and it is extremely helpful detailing both sides of the issue. Thanks again!
as in 4 schools took me in and offered me funding. just to clarify, NOT showing off, just that i really think u may stand a good chance if you estb some kind of contact with the faculty :)))
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Good luck!
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I just feel a little funny about the writing sample I would probably submit since I quote this professor extensively. I'm sure they are used to this but I still have the impulse to introduce myself first and acknowledge that I used her books for this paper.
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just to clarify, NOT showing off, just that i really think u may stand a good chance if you estb some kind of contact with the faculty :)))
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