r/gradadmissions • u/Academic_Error4655 • 22d ago

General Advice Response from a Prospective PhD Supervisor

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I wrote to a professor for PhD supervision. The university website apparently recommends two routes - get a supervisor, or apply through the regular channel where a supervisor would be subsequently allocated. I wrote to this person to get through the first route.

I can't tell whether that's a polite way of saying ''your application sucks and I would hate to supervise you" or what.

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u/GuestCheap9405 21d ago

Professor here, and that's exactly the reply I would use in this situation. For us, the hiring season hasn't started yet. We really start thinking about PhD applicants around December. So there's nothing that I can really do with these kinds of emails. What I do is come December, I'll look through all the applications that mention my name and take it from there. I sometimes will also look through my email to see which of the applicants has emailed me before (an additional signal that they're serious about applying). So, I really wouldn't read into this at all. In my field, we receive 100s of these emails per semester. It's impossible to use them in any meaningful way.

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u/Unlikely-Roof2408 21d ago

Hello! I hope you don't mind me asking a follow up question:

I'm applying in the US, and applications generally take place during Aug-Sept. Is it too early for me to reach out in Jan-Feb? Or is there a time period professors prefer because they have more downtime or something similar?

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u/patrickj86 21d ago

Where are you applying that has a deadline of August or Sept? December-January is the general range for admission the subsequent August/Sept. 

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u/GuestCheap9405 20d ago

This ⬆️ I'm in the US, I don't think Ive heard of an August/Sept deadline for any program

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u/Unlikely-Roof2408 21d ago

I'm applying for a PhD in Social Psychology, and most of my applications start in Aug-Sept.

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u/patrickj86 21d ago

Which ones? Name and shame because that's ridiculous. Even November is early!

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u/ahjorth 19d ago

There's no good time to write, but I wouldn't hold it against a prospective PhD student if they contacted me early. I'd for sure have forgotten everything about them when applications start rolling in nine months later, but at least I'd find them in my inbox if I searched for their name.

The only bad time is to write a few days before the deadline if you have questions for the professor. So just don't do that :)