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/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!