Should You Email That Professor Before You Apply?

Why PhD faculty disagree, how to check before you reach out, and what to do if you don’t hear back.

In my years advising graduate applicants, one question would always come up more than any other: should I email a potential faculty advisor? Even now in my practice, this is still the most frequently asked question. The stress around it makes sense. Applicants want to stand out and make a good impression. They also don’t want to overstep or go against what the program asks for. Or worse, they decide to send an email that never gets a reply. As graduate admissions become more competitive, applicants are navigating a process that must be approached in a more strategic way, and how they handle this question can make a real difference.

Unfortunately, there is no single “right way” to answer this question. In fact, faculty disagree on whether sending a cold email is a good idea. Some faculty welcome them, while others ignore them or explicitly ask students not to email. Over the years, I’ve heard faculty perspectives on the subject and all have a valid reason for their position. There are some who like to engage with prospective students and are always on the lookout for new potential advisees, whether or not it’s an admissions year for them. If it happens to be a year where a substantial grant may come in and admitting a new student seems possible, they may be open to talking to applicants. I’ve also heard from others who simply do not reply to cold emails because they want to remain fair and only view application materials after the application deadline. This allows for a more holistic process and enables the committee to do the first pass before they view applicant files.

My initial advice is to check the program website and/or the professor’s lab or research group website. Before you ask yourself whether or not to email a professor, make sure you understand these preferences. If the program or faculty strictly asks you not to email, respect that. This beats any general rule. You don’t want to give the impression that you don’t know how to follow instructions or that you didn’t bother reading the admissions website. It’s also especially challenging when there is no mention of an email to faculty. You may be left wondering what that means, which pulls you back to your original conundrum. This is just one of the many ways that applying to a PhD is different from other degrees. Asking the programs graduate coordinator or advisor is usually the best way to find out, and it’s a question they often answer.

If a program discourages you from emailing a professor, I suggest you consider building rapport by using the channels you do have available. For instance, consider following them on platforms like LinkedIn or X. There are large academic communities in these networks that you can become part of pretty easily. Many faculty will use their online presence to share whether they will be recruiting PhD students any given cycle, what their current projects are, or if they will be speaking at an upcoming conference. These are all opportunities to connect by replying to a post about their research with genuine interest or a question. Or, perhaps you will also be attending that conference and find yourself in a position to meet them in person. Thinking outside the box is your best bet if the email door closes early.

There are programs that actually encourage prospective applicants to reach out to faculty. However, before you draft the email, consider what your reason to email is in the first place. In my time at UC Berkeley, I read hundreds of emails directed to faculty. Many of them were just long descriptions of the applicant’s CV along with a closing similar to, “I would welcome the opportunity to learn more about your work.”

Once, a faculty member who was looking to take on new students the following year specifically asked me to advise applicants interested in their lab not to email them until they had read at least two of their papers. They strongly believed that an applicant genuinely interested in joining their lab should learn about their work before reaching out. Given how busy professors are, especially in the fall with admissions, conferences, teaching, and their own research and administrative duties, why should they also help applicants learn about their work via email or call when it’s something that they can do themselves? If you think about it, reading a couple of their papers to understand their work first will do two things: 1) it will give more value to any email exchange or call because you’ll know how your own interests align and have informed questions to ask; 2) it will give you an opportunity to determine whether that faculty member is actually the right fit for you, not just in research interests, but also in their expectations of grad students and lab culture.

So, remember to do your homework before you start drafting emails to faculty. You should be able to name a specific paper and connect it to your own research interests, and explain why their lab and not any other is the best place to do the work you want to do. Professor Damian O. Elias of UC Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management shared this with me about fit in his lab: “I assess academic fit to my laboratory by seeing if the prospective student’s research interests align with my labs and more specifically, if the student can demonstrate how my lab is in a unique position to explore those interests whether they be because of the specific questions, techniques, and/or systems that my lab is actively using. Being specific here through addressing past research is helpful at messaging.” Your email should show how that lab is uniquely positioned for your work and demonstrate true alignment, not just admiration. Before your draft, ask yourself: Why this professor and not another, and where would I take the research next?

Another thing that many applicants don’t consider when applying to PhD programs is faculty capacity. The amount of time and effort that you put into your application materials is enormous. You spend countless hours trying to figure out how to make the most impact in your SOP, deciding who to ask for recommendations, drafting a CV that showcases all of your past accomplishments, and studying for the GRE. You carefully review the admissions requirements for the program and start checking off boxes. Most programs don’t actually make it a habit to announce how decisions will be made in any given year. They don’t publish on their website that cohort size depends on program funding availability and faculty capacity.

Then, when you don’t receive an offer, it’s easy to assume that you did something wrong or were not good enough for that program, when really, it could have come down to program or faculty capacity. That’s why, before you take on the massive undertaking of applying to a PhD program, my question is always: Do you know if that professor is taking new students this year? Is there funding available for their lab?

But what if you email a professor to confirm research alignment or to find out if they’re taking students and you still don’t hear back? Silence is not a no, but it’s also not a yes. A lot of the time, it may come down to things that are out of your control. A follow-up email is a couple of weeks later is fine, and if you still hear nothing, that’s okay. The best advice I can give you is to focus on aligning your research interest with the professor you want to work with. After all, the committee will still be reviewing your SOP and looking for that research fit.

If you’re unsure whether your SOP demonstrates research fit, the PhD-Ready Diagnostic tool,will help you see where you stand. More info: biviconsulting.com