Useful to email professors this late?

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dfeld31
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:04 pm

Useful to email professors this late?

Post by dfeld31 » Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:21 pm

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.

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midwestphysics
Posts: 444
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:37 am

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Post by midwestphysics » Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:03 pm

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.

bfollinprm
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Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Post by bfollinprm » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:51 am

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.

CarlBrannen
Posts: 381
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Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Post by CarlBrannen » Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:34 pm

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.

dfeld31
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:04 pm

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Post by dfeld31 » Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:38 am

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?

bfollinprm
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Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Post by bfollinprm » Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:23 am

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

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InquilineKea
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Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Post by InquilineKea » Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:41 am

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.

CarlBrannen
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon May 24, 2010 11:34 pm

Re: Useful to email professors this late?

Post by CarlBrannen » Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:35 pm

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.



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