Still working on an
I just got a "I wanna go to grad school letter".
These are always interesting, sometimes scary, and generally require serious work, like thoughtful and prompt (hah!) responses.
The Female Science Professor Explains.
READ IT!
There are, of course, type I, type II and type III letters (I knew she wasn't an astronomer, everyone knows it is type Ia, Ib and II); think about which one you are right now, and strive to become type III!
The primary reason for wanting to spend ~ 5-10% of your life in pursuit of a PhD, ought to be that it is something you really, really want to do with your life.
That means you ought to think about what sort stuff you'd like to study.
It is ok to not know what it is you really want to study, for one thing undergrads typically have only vague notions of what research opportunities there are out there, but it is your job to do the ground work and look up and read about things.
It is easy, there is this "web" thing, and research faculty typically push-out their interests.
It is ok to not know, or be vague about your interests also, the US system typically gives people 2+-1 year to figure out their actual interests, at most institutions.
If you're not sure, say so, but try to give some sort of indication of having thought about it and considered options, and how they relate to the person you are writing to.
Do not ask about funding on first contact, it is gauche and, in my opinion, counterproductive. Ask later, or the faculty will raise it if it is an issue, or figure the funding will magically appear if the research is interesting enough (sometime, eventually).
Education & Careers
Comments
Thanks for posting this after I've already submitted half my applications and contacted pretty much everyone I'm going to contact! ;)
I pretty much did what the post says, tailoring my e-mail to the individual professors and their work. One thing that puzzled me, though, was this one response I got. I sent her a pretty similarly styled e-mail as everyone else, and she replied saying "I don't accept graduate students directly. You'll have to apply through such-and-such programs." Erm... duh. I'm not quite sure how to respond to that; I thought it was pretty standard to express interest in the program this way.
Posted by: Renee | December 12, 2007 12:13 PM
You're welcome ;-)
If I had to guess, the reply you got is a "I'm not on admissions this year, go bug them!"
It would not be anything personal, just a symptom of frazzled faculty.
It is standard to express interest that way, and it probably got your name into someone's subconscious and gets your application folder a second look. The reply is a over-succinct way of telling you to go apply, and that you need to figure out what the hoops are this year, since wotsername is not on admissions this year (if she were, I'd expect a more detailed and instructive reply)
Posted by: Steinn Sigurdsson | December 12, 2007 3:05 PM
Actually this type of response can arise because of the different ways that admissions to grad programs work. In my field, for example, one of the more classical types of department often operates on the Professor-bid system. Various versions of how this works in practice but a professor can reach into the entire pool or a screened shortened list of applicants and say "I want that student admitted". I trained in a department with this practice. At the time, the student was not supposed to know exactly who picked them, was not obligated to work with them and this practice was most certainly not made obvious to the applicants. Nevertheless, anyone familiar with the departmental practices would have advised their undergraduates accordingly.
so, when I get the letters I am inclined to suspect that the student may be under the impression that I can do a little something extra for their chances. So I will return some version of the reply described by renee...
Posted by: Drugmonkey | December 12, 2007 8:54 PM
Amazing how different things work. Usual way to become a graduate student with us was to do your undergraduate or master's project under supervision from a department member and then just sort of never leave. I did a project, then got an phone call from the professor basically stating that it was a fun project I'd done, they had some extra funds and would I be interested in doing a PhD?
Posted by: Janne | December 12, 2007 8:56 PM
I sent in type 3 letters when I applied (and did pretty well with them--found out which profs had great exciting research, and which profs would soon be leaving for STScI positions). I hadn't really realized that people sent in letters like FSP's example for type 2 until I got one. Such letters don't leave me enthusiastic.
Even if a prof is not on admissions, if they know a student is applying who is eager to work on their project, and they need students, they may have some leverage on the admissions committee (especially if they're senior faculty). A good type 3 letter is a Good Thing, at any stage.
Posted by: Craig Heinke | December 13, 2007 9:10 AM
Drugmonkey's right that application procedures vary widely among disciplines.
In Astronomy, my impression is that such letters are irrelevant, since grad students are admitted by the department, and find advisors later. What did matter, on the personalization front, was mentioning in the Statement of Purpose some ongoing research in the department that the student found interesting, and perhaps a few faculty members that the student considers potential advisors. Something to show that the student read the departmental website, and actually does see a good match to their interests.
By contrast, my sibling found that grad programs in ecology operate on the "professor bid" system -- students are admitted because an individual professor is interested in them and has money. Thus, the pre-application email is all-important. Professors will often respond that they're not accepting new students, or don't have money --- implying it wasn't gauche, in that discipline, to talk about money right off the bat. (Though with more class than the Type 2 example letter.)
My sibling was only accepted at departments knew hir personally. Seems old-boys' network to me.
Posted by: The Astrodyke | December 13, 2007 11:41 AM
Various versions of how this works in practice but a professor can reach into the entire pool or a screened shortened list of applicants and say "I want that student admitted". I trained in a department with this practice. At the time, the student was not supposed to know exactly who picked them, was not obligated to work with them and this practice was most certainly not made obvious to the applicants.
Posted by: kozmetik | December 23, 2007 4:14 PM