Comments | applyingtograd: Question about Contacting Professors

frozendry in applyingtograd

Question about Contacting Professors

Oct 18, 2010 18:19

I'm currently pursuing a Masters in Comparative Lit & Cultural Studies and planning to apply to phd. programs in the same area (well, in Literature, English, Lit Theory and Cultural Studies). I've been advised by a couple of people to write to the professors at the schools in which I'm interested ( Read more... )

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beckalex October 18 2010, 23:26:43 UTC

I'm applying to programs in history, but I'm guessing the procedures are probably the same.

1. It's really best to apply to places where the professor(s) ARE working in your area of interest. However, there's nothing wrong with emailing more than one professor at a school. I've had a couple of cases where the professors I've emailed have forwarded my emails to other profs that they think would be good for me.

2. For history it's YES YES YES so I would say YES to emailing professors before applying. What if the person you want to work with is retiring? What if they're leaving? What if they're just not taking students? You can get denied just because your desired professor cannot or will not take you. Do your research ahead of time!

A good thing to do if you're not sure who to contact is to email the graduate coordinator and he/she can put you in touch with the right professors.

Good luck! I hope this was a help. :)

i_like_snow October 19 2010, 00:07:00 UTC

hi beckalex
what did u tell them in the email? cause like i mentioned below, I tried that and they didnt respond. do u have some tips for us on what to write pls? k thanks!!!! :)

xvx_dagda_xvx October 19 2010, 00:09:04 UTC

don't write like that, for starters.

i_like_snow October 19 2010, 00:11:48 UTC

I know don't worry

beckalex October 19 2010, 00:25:10 UTC

My email was short and sweet. It sort of went like this:

Dear Dr. ___
My name is _____ and I'm an MA student at ___________. I'm currently working on my thesis, entitled _______, which is about ____________.

I am writing because I am applying to Ph.D. programs this fall and ___________ is one of my top choices because of ______ and ________. I am interested in researching __________ and ___________. I have read your work and based on your scholarship I would like to work with you. Will you be accepting Ph.D. students for the 2011 - 2012 school year?

Sincerely,
_________

By the way, ALWAYS send the emails from your school email addresses otherwise it can look like spam.

beckalex October 19 2010, 00:26:48 UTC

Also, not everyone is going to respond. I was very lucky and got fairly quick responses from everyone I emailed. But expect a delay of a couple of weeks. If you don't hear back from them in a month, try again. After that, stay put.

i_like_snow October 19 2010, 00:27:07 UTC

this is so helpful!!! Thanks for the tip about spam too

circumfession October 19 2010, 03:14:41 UTC

I'm sure that this a really helpful template, but I'd be very wary of sending it to English PhD programs. No program that I know of (which isn't to say that this doesn't exist--it's just not the norm) pairs up professor with grad students right off the bat. Professors in this field simply don't "accept" students. We apply with our own projects, not to sign up to work on those of others. The applicant might seem naive or misinformed if he or she suggested otherwise.

beckalex October 19 2010, 03:34:07 UTC

Yeah, I have no idea how the English departments do it. It's advised to history students to email potential advisors ahead of time. Some schools are really receptive to that, other schools basically say "thanks for emailing me, but no one gets assigned an advisor until after they're admitted and they've started the program." I figure it can't hurt just to get your name out there.

circumfession October 19 2010, 03:43:23 UTC

I'm not quite sure why this approach is often badly received in my field. I think we're all so hyper-aware of rhetoric, motivations, agency that it's virtually impossible to "veil" one's intentions, and many professionals in this field would be annoyed at a badly veiled attempt to get one's name out there. It does vary from professor to professor, but as a general rule, it's regarded as a risk.

beckalex October 19 2010, 03:50:18 UTC

What's your field? I personally don't see anything wrong with trying to get one's name out there. I find it odd that professors would frown upon it.

circumfession October 19 2010, 04:57:17 UTC

English literature, same as the OP's. I'm not stating my personal opinion on this matter. As a third-year graduate student who knows the application process well, I'm just pointing out how this move is frequently viewed by professors and graduate students (because we get these emails too!) on the other side. If you're curious exactly how these emails are sometimes read by graduate students (and from what we can tell, by our advisers and professors on the ad-comm) in English, I'd recommend looking at the three gradcafe links that I posted for the OP ( ... )

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