What's wrong with my e-mail to potential PhD supervisors?

Question

I recently sent some e-mails to potential supervisors asking information for a PhD with them, I obtained no answers. I share my doubts and then copy the standard mail I sent.

1. I sent it to 5 different professors in different universities, is the sample too small to expect some answers? I know professors are flooded with e-mails so it could be normal not receiving answers.
2. Can you point out something I did wrong in my email such as: too long, too short, harsh, too many details, not many details, grammar mistakes (I'm not a native speaker), anything, to help me improve for future e-mails?
3. How do I have to take these silences? Should I solicit an answer or simply accept that they are not interested in answering?
4. I sent them on a sunday night, is this a bad moment to send such e-mails? if it is what are the best days and time to send them?
5. Feel free to give me any kind of advice you think could be helpful.

Here's a copy of my e-mail

Dear professor XXX, I'm a student of XXX at the university of XXX thinking about applying for PhD in FIELD X, therefore your group at the university of YYY attracted my attention. I'd like to ask two questions about the possibility of being admitted at your university:

1) Is there a good chance your group is going to look for PhD students in 2019/2020?

2) Is the topic of the master's degree thesis fundamental for a strong application? For example, what are the chances that a student with a thesis in TOPIC Y would have his application taken very seriously into consideration by a group like yours?

This is a very important question for me as it will have a great impact in my application strategy and maybe in the selection of the advisor for the thesis.

Thank you in advance for your time and help if you decide to answer me.

Best regards,

ZZZZ

Addendum 1: as suggested by iayork I have to be more precise and state that I'm European writing to professor in Europe and that I wasn't trying to bypass the application system by writing to them but instead following. As suggested I share the example of a professor I didn't write to: https://www.ics.uzh.ch/~jyoo/home.htm In the section jobs he says he has to be contacted for information by possible PhD students. Another example from a university I didn't write to: http://www.en.physik.lmu.de/promotion/berechtigung/index.html The point 1 is to find an advisor getting in touch with him/her

Addendum 2: Since it's creating a bit of confusion I have to precise that Topic Y in the letter is far from the research interests of the group contacted, I should have been more explicit in the mail and here explaining that the point of that question was to know if I had a chance even with such a thesis, and in case of negative answer I would change my master thesis advisor and topic to produce a thesis that allows me to have a chance to be taken in consideration by the group.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Answer 1

The statements

what are the chances that a student with a thesis in TOPIC Y would have his application taken very seriously into consideration by a group like yours?

and

it will have a great impact in (sic) my application strategy and maybe in the selection of the advisor for the thesis

tell me you are not specifically interested in applying here.

Are you interested in working with this prof or just shopping around? Giving general application advice to strangers isn't high on the list of the average professor's priorities.

(My direct experience is with German and Austrian universities. Programms with centralized admissions are becoming more frequent in continental Europe as well, but in general professors have more leeway here over whom to hire or take on as PhD students than in the US.)

Answer 2

[This answer is relevant mainly for North American universities. In other systems, professors may be more easily able to staff their own labs without requiring admission beforehand.]

For many universities, this letter is pointless and the professor can't offer any useful or helpful advice. In the US and Canada (and probably elsewhere but I'm familiar with those) students are admitted, not to a professor's group, but to the overall departmental pool of graduate students. After admission, the students are expected to identify faculty with whom to do their PhDs.

Individual professors typically have nothing to do with the admissions process. They can't promise admission, they don't know who will be admitted, they can't bypass the normal admissions process, and therefore they can't make any statements about openings in their groups.

No matter how compelling your letter to them is, it's a waste of your time and theirs. The only answer they can give you is, "Go through the usual admission process, and if you're admitted we can talk then."

Typically professors with any kind of profile will get literally dozens of letters like this each month, or each week. Some professors are kind enough to have a standard copy-and-paste reply, telling the writer to look at the admissions page.

Of course, the fact that someone sends this kind of letter indicates that they haven't done any background research and have no understanding of the admissions process. Someone who is willing to waste a professor's time without bothering to do any background research is probably not a good candidate for their lab, so most such letters are deleted after a quick glance.

If you absolutely must send letters to individual professors, it's critical to indicate that you are aware of the admissions process. Perhaps you could say something like "I have already started the admissions process, and am trying to learn about my options if and when I am admitted."

But in general, writing to a professor at this stage is like writing to Beyonce saying you might be interested in her latest music, could she advise you on the contents and where it could be purchased? There's very little incentive for her to write back to you.

Answer 3

[I'm answering from a US perspective. In many European PhD programs, advisors advertise funded PhD positions directly, only after funding is approved, and they have complete control over admission into their group. My advice may not apply in that setting.]

1. I sent it to 5 different professors in different universities, is the sample too small to expect some answers? I know professors are flooded with e-mails so it could be normal not receiving answers.

As others have pointed out, professors are busy. In particular, we get a lot of emails like this, mostly from students who are poor fits for our groups and who appear to be spamming every professor they can think of. ("After looking at your research record, especially your paper [random paper title], I think I would be a great match for your group; I am also interested in high-temperature ceramics!") And there is little advice we can give other than "I can't judge your chances without seeing your complete application, I won't know for months whether I'll have funding, and admission isn't up to me anyway. Just apply." So many of us simply find it easier to ignore almost all emails from prospective graduate students. No, it's not friendly, but we don't have time to be friendly to everyone who asks.

On the other hand, if a colleague introduces me to a prospective applicant, I'm much more likely to pay attention and respond. In particular, if a prospective PhD student writes with a substantive technical question about my research area (not just a copy-pasted paper title), that question marks them as a colleague, and I'm much more likely to pay attention and respond.

2. Can you point out something I did wrong in my email such as: too long, too short, harsh, too many details, not many details, grammar mistakes (I'm not a native speaker), anything, to help me improve for future e-mails?

Remember that by requesting this information you are asking a stranger to do work on your behalf. Don't be surprised or disappointed if they decline.

3. How do I have to take these silences? Should I solicit an answer or simply accept that they are not interested in answering?

You should interpret the silence as "They must be busy". Nothing more. Contacting them again will not help; they'll still be busy. If you are interested in working with them, apply.

4. I sent them on a sunday night, is this a bad moment to send such e-mails? if it is what are the best days and time to send them?

Email is asynchronous. It doesn't matter when you send it. On the other hand, even under the best of circumstances, from a professor who thinks you're a perfect match for their group, you should not expect a reply in less than a week.

5. Feel free to give me any kind of advice you think could be helpful.

Figure out where you want to go. Apply there.

Answer 4

A professor at the University of Victoria in BC has written a post about how to write convincing emails to potential applicants, although this is more targeted at undergraduates:

So you want to go to grad school but can’t figure out why no one is answering your emails….

Additionally, because professors can literally get hundreds of emails a day, you might want to make yours short and more 'to-the-point' while still keeping it polite.

Hello Dr. Professor,

My name is Student, I am an undergraduate at Masters University, and I would like to join your research group for a PhD. I have research experience in XXX and have studied YYY, and my Master's thesis topic is in ZZZ. I want to do research in QQQ and your group's research aligns with my interests. My CV and transcript are attached to this email.

Thank you, Student

...CV and transcript Attachments...

The short email should be the 'hook' that catches their attention and the CV is there to fill in the details if they are interested in looking further. The transcript may or may not matter depending on where you apply. Sometimes you need decent grades for scholarships.

Answer 5

The concern that you indicate in your email, whether you intend to or not, is that you are asking for your own benefit rather than theirs. You are cold-calling someone and asking them for advice and to save you time. You probably aren't going to get a response unless they are really desperate for a student and know for sure they will have funding, and even then you might get ignored.

1) Make sure you understand the admissions process at these institutions: how do you apply, who makes admissions decisions, etc.

2) Assuming that applications are managed through a program rather than individual professors, just apply to the program you are interested in, and then when you contact a professor tell them that you are applying/intending to apply and let them know you are interested in their research if you are accepted.

3) "Is the topic of the master's degree thesis fundamental for a strong application?" is a question for your current mentors (and maybe even StackExchange), not for professors you haven't met. Asking them if they'd accept someone who did a master's degree in Y sounds silly to me. It makes you sound insecure and clueless about admissions decisions. Tell them what your master's thesis is on and what you are interested in doing in a PhD. You aren't asking about some mythical person who might possibly exist who has maybe done work in a certain area, you should be advocating for yourself.

Asking about your chances is just asking for them to save you the time of submitting an application. If you submit an application it will get reviewed by the same process as everyone else and what matters is not your chances but whether or not you are accepted.

Answer 6

Asking

1) Is there a good chance your group is going to look for PhD students in 2019/2020?

might show that you haven't done your research, since professors usually advertise whether they are hiring. Do the professors you've contacted have positions advertised? Are they actively advertising that they aren't hiring?

Also, you're asking a subjective, probabilistic question "is there a good chance," which isn't trivial to answer, and "in 2019/2020" is ill-defined (what does it mean?).

Show you've done you're research and ask a straightforward, more-direct question, e.g.,

a) I see that you are currently advertising for X, will a similar offer be available in MONTH YYYY?

Many professors simply won't know the answer if MONTH YYYY is too far ahead, but at least they are then informed about what you are looking for.

Asking

2) Is the topic of the master's degree thesis fundamental for a strong application? For example, what are the chances that a student with a thesis in TOPIC Y would have his application taken very seriously into consideration by a group like yours?

might also show that you haven't done your research, because you should know whether TOPIC Y is interesting to the group.

The question is again rather indirect and non-trivial to answer. It may possibly reflect negatively on you, because the topic is fundamentally important, but there's lots of leeway and you needn't be focusing on the professor's area of interest to be taken on as a student.

Show that you've done your research into the group's topics, explain why your TOPIC Y will help you be a successful PhD student, and ask if you could visit or talk by phone.

Answer 7

There may be several reasons that you didn't get a response. But your email is just very bad.

Dear professor XXX, I'm a student of XXX at the university of XXX thinking about applying for PhD in FIELD X, therefore your group at the university of YYY attracted my attention.

This sentence alone would make your email be ignored.

What is an ideal PhD student for a professor: someone who shares research interests, who is interested in research in his/her group, and who really wants to work with him/her.

That sentence alone showed that you have none of the above.

• "FIELD X" ? Terms such as Machine Learning, Software Engineering, etc are too broad that they mean nothing, while PhD is about working on a very narrow topic.
• The fact that his/her group attracts your attention because they work on the general FIELD X means you know nothing about research in his/her group. You just want to be admitted in a PhD on FIELD X, and not really want to work with him/her.
• I'm not a native English speaker, so my feeling can be wrong. Somehow this sentence sounds very arrogant to me.

If this sentence doesn't stop a professor from reading the rest of the email, other parts are just very weird.

what are the chances that a student with a thesis in TOPIC Y would have his application taken very seriously into consideration by a group like yours?

Why would you want to do a PhD when you are not able to do your own homework? Why would the professor should waste his/her time answering your basic questions.

This is a very important question for me as it will have a great impact in my application strategy and maybe in the selection of the advisor for the thesis.

This also sounds very arrogant. It implies the professor needs (to try his best) to explain so you can select him as advisor.

Thank you in advance for your time and help if you decide to answer me.

This sentence is really weird. It shows that you have poor communication skills.

In summary, this email alone shows many evidences that you are an incompetent candidate for his/her group, and that's why you are ignored.

---

I guess, just guess, you would have higher chance to be responded if you wrote something like:

Dear Prof. XXX,

I'm a ... I'm really interested NARROW-FIELD and, I'm very impressed with your recent work published in WELL-KNOWN-CONFERENCE (2 or 3 papers), in which you discovered/improved blah blah.

During my Master, I worked on TOPIC Y, which is also very related (or NOT?). So I believe my background will be a good fit with your research. ...

Answer 8

If an email like this came to me, I might reply, but it would not be a priority. I would assume that you meant to email Graduate Studies. What would work better for me, is if you emailed to introduce yourself, and asked if I had any time to have a phone call or video conference in the next 3 weeks etc. This would be more intriguing, and the email is very formulaic. I also think your instinct is good about the timing. I often miss emails that come in on Sundays, because Monday starts off with a bang and they just get forgotten about. Good luck with your applications!!

Answer 9

1. I sent it to 5 different professors in different universities, is the sample too small to expect some answers? I know professors are flooded with e-mails so it could be normal not receiving answers.

No, if you ask a simple question, you would likely get a response.

2. Can you point out something I did wrong in my email such as: too long, too short, harsh, too many details, not many details, grammar mistakes (I'm not a native speaker), anything, to help me improve for future e-mails?

In my opinion, it is not direct enough, and not clear what you are asking, or why you are asking it.

3. How do I have to take these silences? Should I solicit an answer or simply accept that they are not interested in answering?

It's not clear to me how these answers will impact the decision making process, so I would not push it.

4. I sent them on a sunday night, is this a bad moment to send such e-mails? if it is what are the best days and time to send them?

It shouldn't matter. Trying to guess the optimal time to send emails likely isn't worth your time. A simplistic message is more important.

5. Feel free to give me any kind of advice you think could be helpful.

The questions should be more direct. If you want to work with the professor, ask them that. Keep in mind they can't speak for other professors and that they don't know who you are.

For your second point in the email, asking if your thesis work will get you admitted shouldn't be asked to a professor, it should be included as part of the application process.

I would suggest rewording into something simple to answer, such as:

Dear professor XXX, I'm a student of XXX at the university of XXX interested in working towards a PhD in FIELD X.

I am attracted to your research group.

Are you (or other professors in the group) accepting new PhD students? My master's thesis work was on TOPIC Y.

Thank you in advance for your time. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Best regards,

Run Like Hell.

Answer 10

As many have pointed out, this just isn't the work flow for PhD admission. We get dozens of mails like this a year, and many are from students sending out what seems to be hundreds of messages hoping for a hit-- because their research interests have nothing to do with mine. We ignore them.

If you're really interested, officially apply to the department. If you're offered a visit, send a message to the prof stating that you've applied, you'll be visiting, and you hope you can schedule an on site interview.

Answer 11

I see many emails like yours. I appreciate many applicants are sincere, but not realistic. PhD students are a source of income to our School. Their fees are paid for by their governments, institutions, or themselves.

If you have no funding, a random application is pointless as you could not be admitted. When funded PhD places are rarely available, they must be advertised openly. Preference then goes to students who have already studied with us, or published, or both.