How to cold email professors as an applicant.
Part of applying to PhD programs in most fields is emailing professors at the institutions that interest you in advance of sending your application. Some programs explicitly state this as a required part of the application process, some places programs implicitly assume you will do to this, and a few will explicitly state that itâs not necessary or even suggested on the admissions websites. Pay attention to these guidelines.Â
Why should you consider emailing them? PhD programs are more job-like than school-like. You want to make sure you and you and your future PI (aka professor who will be overseeing your research/progress aka boss) have strong potential to have a positive, sustainable working relationship. These introductory emails can help do the following:
introduce you to the professor so theyâve seen your name (and perhaps CV) before seeing your application
determine whether the professor is actually working on projects related to your research interestsâ you should have a good idea of what theyâve done in the past from their faculty profile/CV/publications, but those arenât always the most up to date
determine whether the professor is taking on PhD students or whether they solely work with undergrads or Masterâs students, donât mentor students at all, have a full lab, etc.
determine if the professor actually works there! Sometimes profiles fail to mention that the professor is based in another country/institution. Sometimes professors know they will be moving to another university or position and therefore unable to commit to mentoring a new researcher for 4+ years.Â
start to gauge the fit between you and the professorâs personalities, research interests/methods, learning/teaching styles, etc.
But what do you say? In the first email, Iâd recommend saying very little and then, should you get a reply, follow their lead in terms of what and how you should share. The professor (or the department, school, research center) should be the focus of your conversations as your goal is to learn about them rather than give them lots of detail about yourself or your academic background. Send if from a school or alumni account if you have one. Hereâs the general template Iâve been using: Â
I am writing to introduce my self and ask for your advice in applying to [school]âs PhD program in [discipline].
My name is @phd-one-day, and I am a current student/recent graduate/[insert job title] at [school/company]. My primary research interests are in [concrete but concise few words preferably lifted from their faculty profile]. Your research on [description referencing some recent studies theyâve published] was one of the factors that attracted me to [school].Â
I will be applying for [fall/spring year] admissions and was wondering if you know yet whether you will be available to mentor PhD students. If not, are there other researchers at [school] that you would recommend I contact? If so, I would sincerely appreciate the opportunity to ask you a few questions about your work and [school]âs program.Â
Should you send attachments? If you have a CV with extensive relevant experience, send it. If you donât, Iâd think about holding off until they ask for it and letting your conversation be your first impression. Theyâll see it in your application eventually.
But what if they donât respond? Walk it off, kid. No but seriously, researchers are very busy people, and any attention they give to students should first go to ones already attending their institution. You are the least of their concerns. If itâs a couple weeks out and you havenât heard from someone who you are very interested in, send another email basically saying, âHey, reaching out again, hereâs my CV, btw Iâm mentioning you in my statement of purpose because Iâm very interested in working with you should I get admitted to [school].â If you actually have a pressing question that impacts your decision to apply to the school or the content of your application, email the program coordinator. If they canât answer, they will connect you with someone (maybe even the elusive professor!) who can.
