How soon to start contacting POI's?

[SpoiledKiwi]

I'm curious when is the right time to start contacting my POI's. I'll be applying this coming fall. Is this summer (july-aug) too soon? I'm pretty anxious to figure out where I'll definitely be applying.

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[Ollie123]

Many POIs will be unable to give you a definitive answer that early. I'd say shoot for September. Many may not even know at that point, but they should be closer at that point

 

[EquestriAnn]

I did in October and that seemed just about right. I agree summer is too early. Even in the fall they might not know what's going on- for exampe, I was e-mailing with a prof who I really liked and he seemed totally interested, I applied, and then I got an email that they actually didn't have funding for a new student In any case, I am pretty sure I am going to be working with one of the other profs I contacted last October so it all worked out!

 

[shock-me-sane]

I started at the end of august. I got quite a few replies and it really helped me narrow my list down.

 

[PsychappA]

I think end of Sept., beginning of Oct. seems about right. That's when I sent mine. I was super eager to start emailing profs, too, but I figured it would be less useful at that point. I got a response from I think everyone I contacted at that point & everyone seemed to know whether or not they were taking students at that point.

I might take the extra time to sure up my list of schools. It took me a much longer time to narrow down schools than I thought. The school I will be attending in the fall actually got added to my list at the last second, due to the suggestion of one of my recommenders. It had never made it to any of my first lists & now that I am going there I can't believe I originally passed over a program that was such a good fit for me!