Mailing Profs

In this, we will be discussing the frequently asked questions on "Contacting Professors" or "Pre-applying" as it is popularly known.

Why should I contact Profs while applying for grad school?

When you make an application to grad school, in most cases, your application will be reviewed by a panel of professors. In the sea of applications that they will assess, if they notice a favourable familiar name that happens to be yours, it can work for you. This is where contacting Profs is helpful. If you are able to establish contact and impress them through intelligent discussion or your genuine interests in their research, the Prof can support your case. Hence, it can be a good idea that a graduate student applicant contacts PIs (Principal Investigators aka Profs) while applying to Grad Schools.

But? There's a but that follows, right?

Of course! In the United States, most graduate programs will make it clear to PIs that they need not entertain any such external communications. Many professors explicitly mention this fact on their web pages. In order for an application to be reviewed by a PI, the application gets forwarded only by the Admissions Committee of the Graduate School. Hence, invariably however wonderful you may think your e-mail is, the chances that you won't receive a reply are rather high. Be mentally prepared for that.

In Europe, however, the scenario is very different. Here, it is often required that a PI sponsors your application. This means it becomes essential to establish contact with Profs if you're applying to programs in Europe. This however is not essential for applying to grad school in the United States.

So should I contact Profs or not?

If you are applying in the US for a Masters, the process is unnecessary. In fact, even a PhD application doesn't necessarily require you to establish contact. Scores of students have been accepted in the past for MS and PhD without any faculty contacts. If you're unable to do a satisfactory job in drafting your e-mail, there is a possibility that this may well work against you! The following scenarios are possible, in the increasing order of damage:

1. Your mail gets ridiculed in the department! (Profs are humans and they too love a good laugh)

2. Your mail annoys the Prof enough to make him give a negative recommendation to the admissions committee.

3. Your mail is so bad that Prof decides to disregard any applicant from BITS-Pilani in the future!

So don't write to profs for the heck of it. Only if your interests are genuine and you know what you're saying attempt it.

No, but I still want to give it a shot!

You absolutely must. But be warned that drafting an intelligent e-mail is as time-consuming as working on an SOP (read on, to learn why). So if you're falling short of time, we strongly recommend that you work on drafting your SOP over these e-mails.

What is the effort that must go into drafting these e-mails?

On average, a PI receives several such e-mails from potential grad students. In order for you to stand out, the e-mail must convey your genuine understanding and interest in this PI's field of research. This is the most part of the effort. You will have to pull out papers from their labs, read them well, and think about them enough to be able to discuss them. Merely skimming through their webpage will just not do! This will require time and thought.

Then comes the actual effort of physically drafting this "power email". It has to be short! How to introduce yourself, talk about your past experiences and discuss this PI's work in 2 paragraphs is indeed a million-dollar question. Much effort is needed to optimize the final draft of this short e-mail.

I'm willing to make the effort! What are the dos and don'ts?

1. DO NOT SPAM! You absolutely cannot have the same mail sent out to 300 Profs. You must necessarily personalize each email that you send out. So it obviously makes sense to pick a few Profs whose work interests you the most and draft highly specific emails for each of them instead of a bulk bcc!

2. Use a formal e-mail ID to establish contact.

3. Keep it extremely short and to the point.

4. Introduce yourself, your educational qualification, and your motivation to write to this PI.

5. Discuss your relevant past projects. Keep this very brief and to the point. Bring out the techniques and skills that you developed through these projects (this is what PIs are looking out for the most. They are interested in knowing your skillset)

6. Then, discuss your interest in this PI's work. Which findings of his/her work motivated you the most? What would you like to work on? Can you provide any interesting insights based on your understanding? Do you have any intelligent questions? PIs want students who can be critical. Can you display that?

7. Finally, clearly state that you're applying to the grad school program of this university where the PI works due to your interest in his work.

8. Rather than attaching your CV, host it on some website and send that link.

9. Spell and grammar check and double-check and double-double check. Typos are repulsive. They show that you are not serious enough.

10. It is okay to be interested in the work of multiple people. In fact, it is also okay to write to two people in the same department (yes, even though PIs do talk to each other). Just don't make fake claims of loyalty.

11. Finally, don't sound needy. Be confident of yourself and your interests. PIs need students as much as we need them.

We hope that this helps you experience the thrill of receiving a reply from the abc@xyz.edu in your life!