Right time to contact professors

[Wiki]

Hi,

I am an experienced (8+ years) person, now want to do PHD in CS and switch from software development to teaching & research.

My question is when should I proflet:

- Before taking standardized tests (GRE etc)
- After taking standardised tests, before applying
- After applying, before getting admission
- After acceptance

If I missed any prospective time/period please add.

Thanks,
Wiki

[CalmLogic]

None of the above It's just a waste of time.

[oldprogrammer]

I have a silly question: what does 'proflet' mean? From the context, I'm fairly sure it means contacting professors in some regard, but what is the more subtle/specific distinction?

[CalmLogic]

- After acceptance

Oh, I forgot about that one. Yes, that's the only one I would even consider.

I know at Edulix they are more in favor about profletting, but I don't see the evidence. All I see are professors writing on their web pages that they don't want to be contacted until the student has been admitted. Most CS professors are very busy, after all.

BTW:
PHD Comics: The F-1 Process Explained

[Wiki]

Is it a myth? so well established :O

[cooldude41]

One article will explain to you in detail, if you need to write to professor or not. In fact that article in written by an Indian Professor.

Write email to professor?

and its my understanding that - for PhD - yes you can contact the professor, but you need to do the ground work. Selecting school witout talking to professor for PhD is not good thing to do.

for masters, they usually don't respond.

[CalmLogic]

Interesting link, thanks for sharing. That same link also says this, though:

So, the process of becoming my student is the following: apply to the graduate program in general, get accepted, perform well in your first year classes and exams, and at some point in your first year, discuss what you’re interested in doing. As I’ve written above, do not send me your application and resume right now. Doing so proves that you’re capable of ignoring the instructions written several times in this single page.

I think we all agree it's okay to ask professors legitimate questions, but the OP is asking about profletting, which is a form of solicitation that is done in the hopes of increasing one's chances for admission and/or funding. I don't think it's harmful to do such profletting, but I think it's a waste of time until one has at least been accepted, as shown in the excerpt above.

[Ancalagon The Black]

I wonder, is it possible for say, students looking to do a PhD, to collaborate with a professor (at his intended school of admission) on some research work and publish it?

Theoretically, would that be a boost to the admissions probability?

[CalmLogic]

Theoretically, would that be a boost to the admissions probability?

Certainly, it would, though no one seems to have posted about actually being able to collaborate with a professor at a far-off university.

[Ancalagon The Black]

Hmm... that would be an interested method to boost admissions chances... if one were to pull it off. I know of and have read in a magazine of one guy from a non IIT CS major from an Indian school (top 20 in rankings) who did 2 summer internships in the MIT Media Lab and then got in when he applied for his PhD the following summer.

I reckon that getting the first internship was difficult. If he performed well, then he would would have a greater chance of the second. And if he performed well on that, then there is no reason why he wouldn't be admitted.