Quote:
|
Originally Posted by mercadia
I don't necessarily agree with contacting professors beforehand--I've been told that it's not unheard of but is never entirely productive. You can contact them, but I'm not sure of what you would say that you couldn't say in your statement of purpose that would be equally effective. Unless you have specific research-based questions, an email saying "Hi, you're great, i want to study with you" would be ineffective. |
It doesn't guarantee anything, of course, and I didn't say to just send them an empty e-mail to tell them that you want to work with them, it needs to be better than that. I do know, however, that my contacting the professor I wanted to work with at Brown increased my chances. 5 students out of 200 applicants were admitted and at that point, the department's guess of whether you're really going to join is worth something. They want to know that you are particularly interested in their program and it's not just one of the many universities you applied to and for which you recycled
SOPs saying the same thing about different universities. This doesn't mean that you should just contact everyone when you have nothing to say to them. I certainly didn't contact a professor at every university, but only those who had written something about my specific subfield. I just think it's worth considering if you find a professor who is a perfect match. It's a choice and it worked for me, but of course, everything depends on your particular situation and character. If you've just finished undergrad and have done very little research, there is really no need to contact anyone. If instead you have done some conference presentations, have published something, etc., you have a better idea of what you want to work on and you also have some work to show them. It's not for everyone, but it's worth considering.
