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- Apr 11, 2012
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Hi everyone, just thought I'd put out a little Public Service Announcement for those of you applying this year. I know it's common practice for prospective clinical students to email their prospective PI but I thought I'd provide some guidance on this practice.
1. Check the program website and the particular PI website (if they have one) to see if your PI is taking a student for next year. If they have said clearly either way with updated information (i.e., with the year posted clearly), DO NOT EMAIL THEM TO ASK. Seriously. Don't do it. Because as a faculty member, these emails are super duper annoying. I took the time to update my website and put the info clearly on my site, so if you email me to ask me a question that I've already answered, I do *not* think highly of you. In fact, I feel extremely irritated to the point that I come over to this forum to post about why this practice is seriously annoying.
2. If it's not clear if your particular PI is taking a student (like if is not clear if the information posted is up to date or if nothing is out there at all), then feel free to email to ask. Use their professional name (i.e., Send the email to "Dr. EmotRegulation," don't just say "Dear Professor," because some students literally send the same email to every faculty member in the program and trust me--we know when you do this.), indicate your interest in their work in a way that demonstrates you've been to the website and have a sense of what they study, or you've read a paper they wrote, and ask a brief question that can be answered quickly. You don't need to send your CV--that's just something else for the PI to open and look at.
3. Lets say you want to get your name on the PI's radar, but they say they are taking a student already, so you can't ask them that per #1. What should you do? The best solution here is to send a brief email introducing yourself to the PI, stating that you are interested in their work (here again--make it clear you've done your homework) and that you see on their website that they plan to take a student. Then tell them you are intending to apply. That's it! Hit send. Do not expect a response from this kind of email. This is, in my opinion, the BEST kind of email because it shows interest (we love it when people have actually read our stuff!) and requires nothing from us in response. I take to these kind of emails very kindly.
4. Lets say you want to get your name on the PI's radar, but you can't handle the thought of sending an email and getting no response. What should you do? Find a question to ask that is not answered on the program or PI website (like a question about a paper). This question should be easy to answer in a few sentences or less. A question like "what kind of research projects do you anticipate doing in the next five years?" is not an easy question. Something like, "You said in the discussion of your ZYX paper that a next step might be ZYA. I would be interested in doing that kind of project for a masters thesis, is anyone from your lab doing that study yet?" would be reasonable because it's a short response. Basically any kind of question that is not answered elsewhere online and that doesn't take much time to respond to is a good question.
In any of these emails, it is not necessary to send a CV (though I will sometimes open them just to see). And definitely do NOT ask to set up a time to talk on the phone--that conveys a lack of knowledge about clinical faculty time commitments and availability.
Hope this is helpful for current applicants! And for the record, I don't meant to sound snarky in any of this--my intention is to help applicants engage in practices that will be beneficial to them while applying AND benefit the mentors to whom they would like to spend 4+ years working with.
1. Check the program website and the particular PI website (if they have one) to see if your PI is taking a student for next year. If they have said clearly either way with updated information (i.e., with the year posted clearly), DO NOT EMAIL THEM TO ASK. Seriously. Don't do it. Because as a faculty member, these emails are super duper annoying. I took the time to update my website and put the info clearly on my site, so if you email me to ask me a question that I've already answered, I do *not* think highly of you. In fact, I feel extremely irritated to the point that I come over to this forum to post about why this practice is seriously annoying.
2. If it's not clear if your particular PI is taking a student (like if is not clear if the information posted is up to date or if nothing is out there at all), then feel free to email to ask. Use their professional name (i.e., Send the email to "Dr. EmotRegulation," don't just say "Dear Professor," because some students literally send the same email to every faculty member in the program and trust me--we know when you do this.), indicate your interest in their work in a way that demonstrates you've been to the website and have a sense of what they study, or you've read a paper they wrote, and ask a brief question that can be answered quickly. You don't need to send your CV--that's just something else for the PI to open and look at.
3. Lets say you want to get your name on the PI's radar, but they say they are taking a student already, so you can't ask them that per #1. What should you do? The best solution here is to send a brief email introducing yourself to the PI, stating that you are interested in their work (here again--make it clear you've done your homework) and that you see on their website that they plan to take a student. Then tell them you are intending to apply. That's it! Hit send. Do not expect a response from this kind of email. This is, in my opinion, the BEST kind of email because it shows interest (we love it when people have actually read our stuff!) and requires nothing from us in response. I take to these kind of emails very kindly.
4. Lets say you want to get your name on the PI's radar, but you can't handle the thought of sending an email and getting no response. What should you do? Find a question to ask that is not answered on the program or PI website (like a question about a paper). This question should be easy to answer in a few sentences or less. A question like "what kind of research projects do you anticipate doing in the next five years?" is not an easy question. Something like, "You said in the discussion of your ZYX paper that a next step might be ZYA. I would be interested in doing that kind of project for a masters thesis, is anyone from your lab doing that study yet?" would be reasonable because it's a short response. Basically any kind of question that is not answered elsewhere online and that doesn't take much time to respond to is a good question.
In any of these emails, it is not necessary to send a CV (though I will sometimes open them just to see). And definitely do NOT ask to set up a time to talk on the phone--that conveys a lack of knowledge about clinical faculty time commitments and availability.
Hope this is helpful for current applicants! And for the record, I don't meant to sound snarky in any of this--my intention is to help applicants engage in practices that will be beneficial to them while applying AND benefit the mentors to whom they would like to spend 4+ years working with.