<p>I have been told that you need to contact professors in graduate programs that you are interested in as well as include them in your Statement of Purpose such as Professor Smiths research in whatever is really interesting. Two of the applications that I have or am filling out actually want the names of professors that I have contacted.</p>
<p>If the professors that I have tried to contact do any of the following : (A) they do not respond back, (B) they respond back but tell me they are on sabbatical, or (C) they tell you that they themselves are not taking on any new students, have my or anyone elses chances of getting into that particular grad program gone down significantly? </p>
<p>Also should I still list them on the application or the SOP if I have not heard back from them?</p>
<p>Not the end of the world for each scenario:</p>
<p>A) It's not their nature to respond to potential applicants' e-mails, they might prefer to read the applications first themselves and get in touch if they're interested. Some profs just aren't the "e-mailing" types.</p>
<p>B) Sabbatical: You don't <em>actually</em> need them until your 3rd year when you start putting together your dissertation committee. They'd be overworked if they never took sabbaticals simply because grad students want them there in their first year.</p>
<p>C) They'll probably just assign you to another match. If you don't like who you got at the end, and you're only there for that prof, then don't go to that program. If the program really wants you, but don't try to get that prof to take you on, then you don't want them at the end. </p>
<p>In all, you're not screwed. Relax. Say what you want in the SOP.</p>
<p>My advisor gets about 100 emails an hour. He does not respond to emails unless he has a specific reason to do so. I have no doubt this is a common state among academics.</p>
<p>Yes, it's absolutely impossible to respond to all the e-mails that professors get. If it's any consolation, I got an e-mail about 4 months after I arrived at grad school by a professor who was interested in working with me and had sifted through the applications once he found out he had some new funding. It turned out his work was really interesting to me so I got an advisor that way.</p>
<p>Also, I'm sure it's like this at other universities but for the PhD program here it's mandatory to take a seminar class that highlights all the research being done in the department. Many professors use that class as a recruiting opportunity.</p>
<p>One aspect of contacting professors that can be awkward is- when you run into these people after they blew off your email. I sent out an email to a professor that I was interested in this summer and he never responded. About a month later, I received an email from him because he wanted to collaborate with me and my supervisor. His samples will sit in the freezer until I am good and ready to take care of it.</p>