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Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:21 pm
by dfeld31
Is it still useful to email professors very near to or even after you've submitted your application? Basically just to make them aware of my application, because at this point it seems silly to ask if they have open spots when I'm already applying.

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:03 pm
by midwestphysics
dfeld31 wrote:Is it still useful to email professors very near to or even after you've submitted your application? Basically just to make them aware of my application, because at this point it seems silly to ask if they have open spots when I'm already applying.
At this time most will tell you to contact them after (if) you've been admitted. They're aware of your app, and if there is anything extra they feel they need to get from you they'll contact you. My guess if that you'd be lucky to get any response now with unsolicited emails, you've got finals going on, and year end prep. So, time is even more precious right now more than usual.

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:51 am
by bfollinprm
I would contact after christmas, but before February (sometime mid-January). They still haven't looked at your application, so there's a chance the email will do some good; but you have to be creative in how to phrase it. Asking about potentially joining their research group is often a good reason to open contact--some profs will tell you to wait until after you've been admitted, others I've found start the conversation and work to get you admitted if they think you're a good fit. I think it depends on the prestige of the school.

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:34 pm
by CarlBrannen
I'm in grad school now, largely because of contacting a professor by email around late February of 2011. This was after I figured out that my 1st set of applications weren't going to get anything.

So no, I don't think it's too late for anything.

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:38 am
by dfeld31
CarlBrannen wrote:I'm in grad school now, largely because of contacting a professor by email around late February of 2011. This was after I figured out that my 1st set of applications weren't going to get anything.

So no, I don't think it's too late for anything.

For this professor you contacted.... did you contact him after you submitted your application to his university and after the deadline had passed?

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:23 am
by bfollinprm
I contacted profs at every one of the universities I applied to after the deadline had passed.

See http://www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php ... ail#p37901

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:41 am
by InquilineKea
It can be useful, but compared with earlier emails, it's more likely to *only* be useful if you're doing work that is probably highly interesting to the professor (and that helps you stand out from most people who write more generic emails). Updating your research results, for example, is something that is worth contacting a professor about.

You can even continue to correspond with the professor over email if you're already doing research on the same lines as a professor there.

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:35 pm
by CarlBrannen
dfeld31 wrote:For this professor you contacted.... did you contact him after you submitted your application to his university and after the deadline had passed?
It was after the deadline and before I submitted an application.

I've been having a blast here. Better than sex.