Emailing Potential Advisors
Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 4:24 pm
Is it considered standard practice to email potential advisors? I know that in other sciences it's absolutely important but I'm wondering if math programs expect this or not
for current and prospective graduate students in mathematics
https://mathematicsgre.com/
Based on your advice, would you say that it's ok to not really have a super-defined research interest like in the other sciences? So instead of giving a very detailed research plan, I just write something like "I want to work in algebraic geometry in connection to number theory" in my SOP? Generally, emailing profs in other fields requires that we actually have some sort of plan but if in math we don't really do that then I'm assuming it's ok to be a little vague in our SOPs?Happenstance wrote: ↑Tue Dec 27, 2022 5:41 pmTake this with a grain of salt, but I've asked a few professors about this and they have unanimously agreed that there is very rarely value in contacting potential advisors while applying to graduate school.
The niche case where it's useful to do so is when they are the only person at the university you're applying to that works in your field and you want to know if they are accepting students (for example, if you write your application about how much you want to do combinatorics and the university only has one professor working in combinatorics, it would be valuable to know if they are going to be on sabbatical or retiring, etc.).
In my case, the professors I talked to at my university already knew the status of the professors I wanted to work with, so there was no reason to send any emails.
On the other hand, from what I understand, emailing a potential advisor after you have been accepted to their department is very helpful.
You can give a broad idea of what you've worked on and what you would like to work on, in general terms, but do not be too vague about it.Scathrules wrote: ↑Tue Dec 27, 2022 6:05 pmBased on your advice, would you say that it's ok to not really have a super-defined research interest like in the other sciences? So instead of giving a very detailed research plan, I just write something like "I want to work in algebraic geometry in connection to number theory" in my SOP? Generally, emailing profs in other fields requires that we actually have some sort of plan but if in math we don't really do that then I'm assuming it's ok to be a little vague in our SOPs?
I also emailed to a lot of professors, and most of them replied positively. 2 professors (out of 15?) invited me to have a meeting via zoom, and we talked about the programs and their research topics. I enjoyed the meeting and they are all nice, I think the experience is valuable even if it does not help your application.gzero wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:05 amI disagree that it's a niche case, I emailed every prof that I put as a potential advisor on my statement of purpose and the majority of them replied. 3 or 4 of them (out of about 20something) told me to tell them when I applied so that they could look at my file. (though they are not the ones making the decision, having a prof that's excited about your application can't hurt) Those who were unavailable with no-one else in the department in the same area typically gave me other schools that I could apply to or names of profs to get in touch with. One professor sent me a quite detailed opinion of the future of his field.
It's probably far from essential but for me it's been very useful, especially as there's no-one who could advise well on my specific area at my current university.
My first drafts asked profs if they'd be able to have a chat on Zoom, but I worried that I'd be expected to guide the conversation and I doubted that I had enough to ask + know enough about their research to do that. Only did it for my UK options in the end since you go straight into a research project over here. Would defo recommend to anyone if they don't have those doubts, if they're reasonably sure what area they want to go into and can speak confidently on the subject. (probably quite few people, but still)crepant wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 11:21 amI also emailed to a lot of professors, and most of them replied positively. 2 professors (out of 15?) invited me to have a meeting via zoom, and we talked about the programs and their research topics. I enjoyed the meeting and they are all nice, I think the experience is valuable even if it does not help your application.gzero wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:05 amI disagree that it's a niche case, I emailed every prof that I put as a potential advisor on my statement of purpose and the majority of them replied. 3 or 4 of them (out of about 20something) told me to tell them when I applied so that they could look at my file. (though they are not the ones making the decision, having a prof that's excited about your application can't hurt) Those who were unavailable with no-one else in the department in the same area typically gave me other schools that I could apply to or names of profs to get in touch with. One professor sent me a quite detailed opinion of the future of his field.
It's probably far from essential but for me it's been very useful, especially as there's no-one who could advise well on my specific area at my current university.
It actually depends on the program mostly. In most math programs, the selection is done by a committee so it hardly is helpful to email a professor. That of course is not always the case. Some programs have professors picking people in which case you would typically get a response. Also I doubt that if you email a professor at Harvard or Berkeley that you would get a response (maybe if the person is really thoughtful and nice) rather than say, UCSB in which case maybe the number of applications is fewer.gzero wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:05 amI disagree that it's a niche case, I emailed every prof that I put as a potential advisor on my statement of purpose and the majority of them replied. 3 or 4 of them (out of about 20something) told me to tell them when I applied so that they could look at my file. (though they are not the ones making the decision, having a prof that's excited about your application can't hurt) Those who were unavailable with no-one else in the department in the same area typically gave me other schools that I could apply to or names of profs to get in touch with. One professor sent me a quite detailed opinion of the future of his field.
It's probably far from essential but for me it's been very useful, especially as there's no-one who could advise well on my specific area at my current university.
I emailed to professors in Harvard and Princeton, and they all replied. I think it depends more on the personality of the professors. Still you are right that for top programs, this does not really benefit the applications. (I emailed them in summer, maybe they had more time then.)Dragan wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 3:00 pmIt actually depends on the program mostly. In most math programs, the selection is done by a committee so it hardly is helpful to email a professor. That of course is not always the case. Some programs have professors picking people in which case you would typically get a response. Also I doubt that if you email a professor at Harvard or Berkeley that you would get a response (maybe if the person is really thoughtful and nice) rather than say, UCSB in which case maybe the number of applications is fewer.gzero wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:05 amI disagree that it's a niche case, I emailed every prof that I put as a potential advisor on my statement of purpose and the majority of them replied. 3 or 4 of them (out of about 20something) told me to tell them when I applied so that they could look at my file. (though they are not the ones making the decision, having a prof that's excited about your application can't hurt) Those who were unavailable with no-one else in the department in the same area typically gave me other schools that I could apply to or names of profs to get in touch with. One professor sent me a quite detailed opinion of the future of his field.
It's probably far from essential but for me it's been very useful, especially as there's no-one who could advise well on my specific area at my current university.
My view is that it takes like 30 seconds to send off an email (you can just use a template), they can tell you if they're not taking on students or retiring (or in one case already retired but the website hadn't updated yet) and might give some interesting/useful info, and doesn't really have any negatives apart from time cost. Nowhere near essential, but for me it's been useful and for people who know a lot about their desired research area, they can probably get some good dialogue going. Surprisingly I had fairly well-known profs at Princeton/Berkeley get back to me pretty quickly while I didn't receive a reply from some profs at A&M or GA Tech. Just depends on the timing of your email I guess.Dragan wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 3:00 pmIt actually depends on the program mostly. In most math programs, the selection is done by a committee so it hardly is helpful to email a professor. That of course is not always the case. Some programs have professors picking people in which case you would typically get a response. Also I doubt that if you email a professor at Harvard or Berkeley that you would get a response (maybe if the person is really thoughtful and nice) rather than say, UCSB in which case maybe the number of applications is fewer.gzero wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:05 amI disagree that it's a niche case, I emailed every prof that I put as a potential advisor on my statement of purpose and the majority of them replied. 3 or 4 of them (out of about 20something) told me to tell them when I applied so that they could look at my file. (though they are not the ones making the decision, having a prof that's excited about your application can't hurt) Those who were unavailable with no-one else in the department in the same area typically gave me other schools that I could apply to or names of profs to get in touch with. One professor sent me a quite detailed opinion of the future of his field.
It's probably far from essential but for me it's been very useful, especially as there's no-one who could advise well on my specific area at my current university.
"doesn't really have any negatives apart from time cost" I don't think this is the case. For one, I would definitely feel bad if I get ignored (yea i am sensitive he he), also based on conversations with several math professors and also reading some professors' thoughts, some really hate getting such emails no matter what. They say if you have a good application and specific interest why not just write it in your SOP and just apply!!gzero wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 8:40 amMy view is that it takes like 30 seconds to send off an email (you can just use a template), they can tell you if they're not taking on students or retiring (or in one case already retired but the website hadn't updated yet) and might give some interesting/useful info, and doesn't really have any negatives apart from time cost. Nowhere near essential, but for me it's been useful and for people who know a lot about their desired research area, they can probably get some good dialogue going. Surprisingly I had fairly well-known profs at Princeton/Berkeley get back to me pretty quickly while I didn't receive a reply from some profs at A&M or GA Tech. Just depends on the timing of your email I guess.Dragan wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 3:00 pmIt actually depends on the program mostly. In most math programs, the selection is done by a committee so it hardly is helpful to email a professor. That of course is not always the case. Some programs have professors picking people in which case you would typically get a response. Also I doubt that if you email a professor at Harvard or Berkeley that you would get a response (maybe if the person is really thoughtful and nice) rather than say, UCSB in which case maybe the number of applications is fewer.gzero wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:05 amI disagree that it's a niche case, I emailed every prof that I put as a potential advisor on my statement of purpose and the majority of them replied. 3 or 4 of them (out of about 20something) told me to tell them when I applied so that they could look at my file. (though they are not the ones making the decision, having a prof that's excited about your application can't hurt) Those who were unavailable with no-one else in the department in the same area typically gave me other schools that I could apply to or names of profs to get in touch with. One professor sent me a quite detailed opinion of the future of his field.
It's probably far from essential but for me it's been very useful, especially as there's no-one who could advise well on my specific area at my current university.