<p>I am applying to PhD programs in public health. These programs typically involve one or two years of full time course loads (depending on the qualifications you already have).</p>
<p>Now, I refrained from contacting professors before my applications were submitted, but I did list in my SOP a couple of faculty that I would like to work with. Also, to add another dimension to my question, I found out today that the admissions committee for a school I'm applying to includes a professor that I named in my SOP.</p>
<p>Would not contacting profs hurt me? I know it's important in biosciences, etc., but public health? (epidemiology)</p>
<p>Generally, in any Ph.D. program, contacting profs will be helpful. I wouldn’t exactly say it ever “hurts” to not contact them – it’s just that if someone else DOES contact them, they start out with the upper hand, usually resulting in your loss! (That results in more competitive programs, such as biosciences, psychological sciences, etc., being places you would especially want to do everything to give yourself the best chance possible.)</p>
<p>If contacting a professor is considered beneficial, exactly what do you say? Just ask questions about their work, express interest in working with them (or see if they’re even taking on new students)? There are several professors I’ve seen bios for and thought their current research work (in the humanities) sounded interesting, but wasn’t sure what if anything having a shared interest would accomplish.</p>
<p>This is a great question! I usually contact the Director of Graduate Studies first, because from what I’ve experienced, departments’ preferences differ from school to school. That is to say that some departments / professors prefer to be contacted directly whereas others prefer that prospective students contact the DGS or someone else first. </p>
<p>In any case, I usually say that I am an undergraduate senior at ___<strong><em>University, and that I am applying to their university’s PhD program in </em></strong><strong><em>. Then I say that I’m particularly interested in _</em></strong><strong><em>, and it seems that based on their work on _</em></strong>, they might be interested in working with me. I usually imply that I’m trying to measure how well I will “fit” with their department, and I proceed to ask if they (or any of their colleagues) would indeed be interested, to please respond at their earliest convenience, and I thank them in advance. </p>
<p>So far I’ve received positive and encouraging responses; who knows if that will carry on when the decision process comes along. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses! Would you think it’s too late to write to them now as I have already submitted applications? Or should I just leave it be and leave it to fate, lol.</p>
<p>If the apps are already submitted, it just doesn’t make you look good because it basically says that you were too busy with your own applications not to think about them first where they could’ve been valuable resources for your process…</p>
<p>Be careful, it’s not always helpful and I’ve seen a lot of professors’ and grad admissions web sites, especially at top American universities, saying “it is not necessary for you to contact the faculty in advance” and “I do not have time for reading emails of prospective grad students. Put whatever you have to say in your application”.</p>
<p>Yes, contacting professors can sometimes backfire on you. You don’t want to contact them simply to ask questions about the school or to introduce yourself. They’re extremely busy.</p>
<p>The best way to contact professors is if you are reading their work/know what their research is about, and are genuinely interested in it, and you want to ask them a question about it. If you want to contact a professor, first find a couple of his published work and read it (well), then if you have any questions you can ask them about it. They may give you some valuable insight and it’s a good way to show what you know.</p>
<p>In public health we don’t really do the whole “are you taking students” thing, since you’re usually not working in someone’s lab (some epidemiologists are a bit different, especially if they have large grants. But it’s unlikely you’ll get written into an epidemiologist’s grant sight unseen). I didn’t contact any professors before I applied (but I’m in sociomedical sciences). There really wasn’t much reason to; the departmental secretary knows everything.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback everyone! “Suck mail”? lol, never heard that term before. I won’t be contacting profs and hopefully the names I identified on my SOPs are enough. I’ll let the board know what becomes of my applications. :)</p>
<p>I did not contact professors when I applied, on the advice of my undergrad PI, who said he doesn’t respond to or deeply consider emails from prospective students unless the students really have something interesting to say to him.</p>
<p>I didn’t have any problems getting into the programs to which I applied.</p>
<p>ditto with mollie. No problems getting in anywhere, and didn’t bother mentioning names in my SOP for engineering Ph.D programs. Was also told NOT to contact profs beforehand as they don’t take you seriously until you get in.</p>