--- In fall_2002@y..., "Vineet Mokashi" wrote: > Dear Umamaheshwaran, > > I will go into some detail about contacting profies, 'cos I have done it A LOT. > > I started contacting profies even before I shortlisted universities. I sent a mail, including a brief intro and resume, to those profies in the mechanical engineering who were working in my field of interest (cad/cam/cae). having appropriate work experience and kind-of-ok credentials, most of the mails fetched replies. the tone of the replies was anything between admiration, interest to utter disinterest. I had contacted profies from univs ranging from stanford and UC-berkeley to vanderbilt and wyoming state univ, 75 in all. more than 400 mails, just for the statistics. I waited for 2 weeks before sending them a second mail, incase they did not reply for the first. > > One thing to keep in mind is that do mention your specific interests and contact the only the profies working in that field. otherwise their is a lot of criticism. > > Depending on the replies I was getting, I started shortlisting my univs. that was the 2nd round of shortlisting, the first being the 75 0f 250+ univs for mailing. I had come down to 18-20 univs for my final applications. from these I had chose 7-9 for applying. then came the phase when I was judging the possiblities of getting admits and aid. I knew that though a profie from stanford was gonna recommend me for fellowship and was truely impressed by my profile, I had no standing their. A guy from a low ranked university turned to be a Puneri and was here for the X-mas vacation. He invited me to meet him so that we can discuss the plans and timelines. Be sure to apply to a couple of high ranked univs from where u have got positive replies and also to 2/3 low ranked univs where the profies are dead impressed by ur profile. > > When I had finalised my univs, I had mailed most of the profies whom I had contacted about it. For the univs I was not gonna apply, I had sent an apology e-mail and most of the appreciated it. I had forgotten to send a mail to Prof Rachel Knapp from UC-Boulder. Prof Knapp, whom I had contacted earlier, mailed me asking my application details and whether I had dropped the plan to apply. Apologies Mr Knapp. > > Some strategies to follow with replies: > > - show GENUINE interest in the profies research field and try to have a closer look at his profile. do not let him have the feeling that u are just a "window shopper" but an interested buyer. > - If a professor replies that he is interested in your profile, ask him whether he has any position available in his research group. DO NOT mention about funds explicitly in your mails at the first. only when he has developed a rapport with you, bring up the question in a subtle way. like asking him who is funding his research, how long is the funding, blah-blah-blah.... > - If a professor replies that he is impressed by your profile but has no positions for the sem u are applying, ask him to forward your mail to someone else in the department who might have a opening (in most of the cases, I did not have to tell them explicitly, since they had done it already). Also ask him to keep u considered for the next semester. contact the profies he asks you to contact and do not forget to give the first ones reference. > - If a professor sends a one liner "I have no funds for any extra graduate student", try to convince him that you are not in for funds !!!! you are really very very keen on working in the field he is in and would be happy just to be in his group. > - If a professor replies that you lack certain requirements or dont have knowledge of certain subject, be sure to assure him that you will be prepared before you being research in his group. ask him for books / articles / theses to read or any software to learn before u can start graduate education. > - If a profie does not reply even after a couple of mails, better forget him. dont try to dig too deep. > > After this initial stages of mailings, try not to loose contact with them. Contact them at every stage in your application process. On completing your online application, on sending documents, on hearing that application is being reviewed, on getting admit. > > The strategy has to be different when you have been offered an admit in that university. You have a vanguard at this stage. Now you can delve into money matters. Update YOUR profies with your latest acheivements or exam results. At his stage, the profie starts looking at you as a person joining his group for sure. You can be more free in talk at this stage. > > > Now since you are gonna contact the profies after you have recieved your admit, you are at an advantage. Keep in mind not to contact profies not working in your area of interest. If you mail everyone in your dept, with an individual mail, such that you match ur research interests with his, it is harmful. If you contact prof X saying you are dead interested in working in some ABCD field and contact prof Y stating your interest in EFGH field and they happen to occupy neighboring offices or are buddies, then you may land up in trouble. If you were able to create an impression on one or both of them, he will remember your name if the other one tells him casually about you. Avoid this temptation. > > I have also sent you the format which I had used for contacting profies and use it (slightly modified) currently too. > > Hope this helps, > Regards, > Vineet. > > PS: I have referred to the professors with a masculine pronoun, but I am not a male chauvinist. > > My profile: GRE:2180, TOEFL:643, Acads:70.7% aggr, 22 months work- ex as a software engineer. Applied in mechanical engineering, specifically, CAD/ CAE. > Admits: UW-Madison, U-Cincinnati (tution waiver), Oregon State Univ, UT-Arlington, North Carolina A&T State univ, Univ of south carolina. > Awaiting: Utah state univ. > Rejects: Univ of Central florida - misplaced TOEFL score. -------