<p>for Upenn's which professor you want to work with question, do you just randomly choose a professor who's done research in a field you're interested in? Do they expect you to go into detail what exactly the professor's research is and what his teaching style is like if you've never met the professor before? Should I email the professor?</p>
<p>You don't need to email the professor. This essay is just a way to show your academic interests.</p>
<p>pick something that you're interested in, then go to the faculty profiles to figure out who has published papers, done research etc. on that area.</p>
<p>and don't email the professor. they'll never answer you. they don't answer me and i'm in their classes.</p>
<p>I live not too far from the campus, so I was able to observe a class in my prospective major. I contacted the professor beforehand, and she emailed me back to suggest an alternate date - she was giving an exam on the day that I originally intended to visit.</p>
<p>I wouldn't pick it randomly. I would look for professors in research areas that interest me, then go to their web sites, and see if one of them has researched a particularly interesting topic. I wouldn't suggest you contact them by email, since this is not required and chances are you'll just annoy them, but you may get some replies depending on the professor.</p>
<p>How about writing it on Rafael Robb or Scott Ward? :D</p>
<p>I never understood why this essay was on the application. I mentioned that I wanted to study conducting with the orchestra director there, but I knew just about zilch about him other than what I could find online. Just look up their credentials, publications, and major contributions in their field and you're golden.</p>
<p>I sent out emails to a lot of the chemical engineering department as that is my intended major.
About half of them answered back and I was able to ask some specific questions that I had.
I think that the professors may read your application or parts of it because one mentioned he would look forward to seeing my application.
I ended up getting in and I felt emailing was helpful. Besides, I don't think it can hurt.</p>
<p>MC99, what sort of questions did you ask?</p>
<p>I had done research at a previous university, so I found a professor who was doing so on my same topic and spoke of how I would like to continue to do so.</p>
<p>Basically what he felt was the most exciting research or project they were working on. Also if they had tried out certain types of methods. I read there profile pages or w/e on them.</p>
<p>Does it really matter if the professor you want to conduct research is in a different department? I stated in Why Penn that I wanted to concentrate in Business and Public Policy, but the professor I want to write about is in management. Is this a big deal?</p>
<p>“and don’t email the professor. they’ll never answer you. they don’t answer me and i’m in their classes.”</p>
<p>haha</p>