<p>I contacted one of the PIs I potentially want to work with, two weeks ago. He's a young and rising star, and our research interests match well. He replied promptly indicating he had spots in the lab, and that he'd contact me in a day or two (He was traveling then).</p>
<p>It's been over a week, so I sent him a follow-up email two days back. I haven't heard back since. I don't know what to make of it; is this admissions code for "I'm not willing to commit now"?</p>
<p>I've been working with a well known researcher in the field, and am aware of some of the PIs papers - so it wasn't one of those "How can I get admitted?" emails.</p>
<p>Don’t make anything of it and don’t take it personally. Send another email and start it by saying; "I emailed you a couple of days ago and didn’t hear a response: " That gets their attention and always works for me.</p>
<p>It may just be that he is very busy. If he is a rising star, then that means he’s working hard to get there. Faculty can be just as forgetful as any of us, so maybe just wait another week or so. Anymore emails after that with no response would probably seem annoying. But if he was that excited about you, I suspect he’s just been busy and will get back to you when he can.</p>
<p>I have learned very quickly that some of the best PIs/faculty are absolute crap at responding to non-essential emails. Give them a solid week, then send one reminder note like Denizen mentioned. They may be forgetful, but somehow people always seem to remember when someone annoys them, so don’t give them any excuse to think you’re a pest! Good luck!</p>
<p>Many faculties ARE forgetful about stuff that are not their main interest at that moment. Even their grad students’ email are ignored but luckily we can meet and tell them “I emailed you” which they say something in the line of “oh I saw it but forgot thx for reminding” in which they will proceed to forget again and you need to remind again, or reply you. <experience with 3/3 PIs (and many more stories from other grads). I guess it’s especially more so to people that they don’t really know.</p>
<p>So just email them if they didn’t reply after 5 days and keep chasing.</p>
<p>I sent a reminder last week. No reply yet. I’ll probably wait for a couple of days and send a final reminder. It would be nice if they replied - even if it’s a short one liner.</p>
<p>Even if he does not, seeing your name on an application in the spring might boost his memory? If your research interests were a solid fit, he might remember receiving e-mails from you that he <em>meant</em> to respond to. And even if he doesn’t, I think having a solid fit should still give you a good chance at admission, especially with solid recommendations from known researchers and good essays explaining your fit within that program.</p>
<p>Never mind. Guy was traveling. All sorted out. Relieved!</p>
<p>My adviser’s forgotten entire assignments that I e-mailed him. Stuff happens ;)</p>