<p>So, I talked to my biology advisor today and she said I should be contacting professors whose research interests me at the schools I am applying to. I also spoke on the phone today with department heads from Loyola and Northwestern who both advised me against contacting professors at their schools, because if I am accepted, I will have 3 or 4 lab rotations before I have to pick who I want to work with. I don't want to not get into grad school b/c I didn't make the effort to get to know any of the professors before hand.. but it seems that it's not necessary for me to try and contact any of them right now.. what should I do?</p>
<p>Search the forums, there are a few posts on this topic.</p>
<p>IMHO, it boils down to a subtle difference in programs. In Ecology type programs where you pick an advisor before you start working it is helpful to contact potential PIs before hand (ie, when there are no rotations).</p>
<p>In any program where there are rotations (more molecular types) it is almost not in your best interest to contact professors first, especially if you are only interested in one PI at the school. There are a lot of variables in picking a lab after rotations and some schools might consider the fact that you are dead set on one PI as a negative. Basically, they might wonder if for whatever reason you could not work with that PI if you would still be committed to their school.</p>
<p>If you are doing rotations, only apply to schools where you think you might be happy working with 3-5 PIs. Indicate in your SOP how these 3-5 PIs fit your research interests, but don't worry about contacting any of them directly (after all, if you are applying to only 6 schools that would amount to 18-30 e-mails). </p>
<p>Most importantly, if the department heads from the schools you are applying to tell you not to worry about contacting professors, by all means...don't worry about contacting professors. I think in Molecular Bio it is very rare that a personal connection with one PI is what gets you accepted to the program. They are more interested in if they think you would fit well with a number of their professors.</p>
<p>Good luck in your process!</p>
<p>hi.. a very relevant topic.. and a very useful answer.. i found it just at the right time.. i've been looking thru university research pages and shortlisting profs i wud like to work with.. I didn't know that it wasn't necessary for students in Mol Bio to not contact professors. I was thinking of doing that but I'm having second thoughts now. </p>
<p>I was under the impression that if you've some idea who u want to work with and u state the same in ur SOP, it might come across as that u've made the effort of doing that and hvnt just applied. I thought that it shows ur focused on where u want to take ur research career. Please do correct me if I'm wrong. Its just what I thought not something I have heard or read anywhere. </p>
<p>Also, should I or should I not contact the profs i was planning to initially??? Any suggestions would be really welcome. I'm a bit befuddled about this whole thing right now..</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>