So, I emailed a potential POI...

[danzgymn86]

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So, first, I made a hugeeee mistake. She is listed as a prof at one school's website but apparently she isn't there anymore, yikes!!! Anyway, I said something to the effect of:
Dear Dr. x:
I am currently an undergraduate Psychology major at x with an expected graduation date of May 2008. Over the course of the summer, I am busy writing my IRB proposal for my senior thesis which I will be conducting over the course of next year. I have also begun researching potential graduate schools and have become familiar with and interested in your research, specifically research on z. My thesis will center around the topics of x and y and I hope to expand this research in the future in order to include theories on z. With that said, I am wondering if you will be accepting a student for fall 2008 admissions?
Thank you for your time,
me"

She replied and said, "
"Hi x-

Thank you for your inquiry. First off, you should know that I am now working at u and am no longer with v. I do not yet know whether or not I will be accepting students but I encourage you to apply if you have any interest in my more recent work on w. I still am interested in x but I do most of my work on w. Take a look at this recent grant proposal for an idea of how I've merged these two areas of interest in a program of research focused on c.

Best-
Dr. x"

She sounded nice enough and replied within hours. However, is it NORMAL for profs to include their grant proposals for you to read? It's a HUGE attachment and it does look interesting. She also attached a PDF of one of her publications on topic "w" as opposed to "x."
Ummmmm so now what do I do after I read the entire publication and grant proposal? I wasn't expecting like a 40 page grant proposal attachment!!! I was expecting a yes or no answer and I didn't even get that! lol

 

[Ollie123]

First off, don't worry about it - in fact I don't even consider what you did a "mistake". I did the same thing last year. People move, you had no way of knowing. She probably knows the website hasn't been updated yet. Don't worry about that.

RE: Grant proposal - I also had a prof do something similar (recent bookchapter on her current and future research plans - not quite the same but close enough). This is where I f'd up. I read it and incorporated that info into my personal statement but didn't do anything beyond that. If she's sending you all this info, she is open to generating discussion. Read that grant, come up with interesting questions, maybe even suggest an additional area that isn't included that you might want to look at.

She's basically giving you an opening to start a conversation with her and get to know her better. Don't bombard her with 10 emails a day, but I think a few exchanges between now and the application time are quite reasonable and would show her you are very interested in her lab.

 

[JockNerd]

e-mailing a program to ask about a prof who died two years ago is a "mistake." Ollie is right that you should think nothing of it.

That is a GREAT response to a POI e-mail. I think the big questions now are: Are YOU interested w? Do you want to go to wherever she is now?

 

[danzgymn86]

e-mailing a program to ask about a prof who died two years ago is a "mistake." Ollie is right that you should think nothing of it.

That is a GREAT response to a POI e-mail. I think the big questions now are: Are YOU interested w? Do you want to go to wherever she is now?

I will have a chance to read the entire proposal later in the week. But "w" does interest me. It is actually basically the same thing she was studying anyway, just from a slightlyyy different angle...

And as for her new school, they are both within a state or 2 of my home and I think the new one might be slightly closer. I don't really care where I go to grad school but if I am going to go, I would prefer that it be in a state closer to my home - and she would have been close no matter what.

 

[nononora]

She seemed uncertain about whether she was accepting new students, but if you find yourself interested in her current work, it wouldn't be out of line to ask her again a few months later when she's (hopefully) a little more certain. I feel that these "uncertain" replies but still encouraging you to apply if you're interested, mean that the professor doesn't necessarily NEED to take in students but can and will if an amazing one comes along. What do the rest of you think?

Yours isn't a HUGEEEE mistake though! When I was emailing POIs during UG, I was dead-set on not applying to my UG school mainly because I wanted a change in scenery. Imagine my surprise when I emailed a professor who was on the faculty listing at a school far far away, and it turned out that he was just hired at my UG school a few weeks earlier. Needless to say, I kept a low fro-pile for the rest of the semester, hoping that he never asked any of the other professors about me.

Welcome to the "I got screwed by inaccurate faculty listings" club!

 

[danzgymn86]

About her inaccurate faculty listing...I have been doing some looking around and I really think she might have just moved there at the end of this past spring semester. All of her most recent research (even the one she sent me) says to address correspondence to her at her old school. So I feel less bad about that. Heck, this might increase my chances; I wonder if any people will try applying to her at her old school, haha!
I am going to read the grant proposal tonight/tomorrow, but I am nervous as to what to say about it in a reply! (What I have read so far does sound interesting though.)