Favorite student emails

[marshwiggle]

OK, I  see your point about students' being pests.  That said, if the potential PhD  student looked interesting enough to be potentially considered, why didn't you spend ten seconds to email him back on his first contact, telling him that you would be considering him further asap?

That could initiate exactly the kind of pestering we're talking about. "When will you read it?" "Have you read it?" etc.

[kaysixteen]

Sure, it could, but it would also be polite and professional behavior.

[bio-nonymous]

(paraphrasing) "Dear Dr. Bio-nonymous,

On question number "x" on the exam I knew how to do the problem, but I divided by the wrong units and multiplied by an obscure extra factor that you mentioned in lecture but that had nothing to do with the problem. Can I get full credit for the problem?"

This is email 4 of 9 on the day asking for more points, arguing obscure minutia (always wrong) in the questions, and just general grade grubbing. She got a 94% on the exam.

UGGG!

[FishProf]

This email, today, Saturday.  Background: Assignment was a lab write-up dues last Wednesday.  only 4 of 13 students managed to submit on-time in the correct place, with a proper name and formatting.  On Thursday,  I posted an announcment saying that i had graded the asignment and anyone who had a zero in the gradebook should confirm that they submitted it properly (name, place, format).  This student sent me the assignment, correctly, last night at 8:30pm.

Hi Fishprof,

I noticed that I still got a 0 for the [basket handles] quiz [it isn't a guiz] and I was wondering if I could get some feedback on why, I can set up a virtual meeting during your office hours if that is easier, but I submitted it the right correct way, my name and the name of the lab was on both the document and the email I had sent you. If I received a 0 for the work I would like to know how to can improve my writing or if I just completely did not understand the directions, which I thought I did. I worked really hard on that lab and in this class in general and I am wondering if there is anything I can do to help my overall grade in this course.

thank you,
[Overly worried student]

My response:  It is Saturday.  I haven't graded it yet.

[science.expat]

OK, I  see your point about students' being pests.  That said, if the potential PhD  student looked interesting enough to be potentially considered, why didn't you spend ten seconds to email him back on his first contact, telling him that you would be considering him further asap?

Because my response would likely be no and I didn't want to provide false hope. In addition, I don't feel obligated to respond quickly to unsolicited emails from strangers external to my university.

[smallcleanrat]

OK, I  see your point about students' being pests.  That said, if the potential PhD  student looked interesting enough to be potentially considered, why didn't you spend ten seconds to email him back on his first contact, telling him that you would be considering him further asap?

Because my response would likely be no and I didn't want to provide false hope. In addition, I don't feel obligated to respond quickly to unsolicited emails from strangers external to my university.

If the student had waited say 2-4 weeks, instead of just a few days, before sending a single follow-up email, would you have found this more reasonable or still annoying?

[kaysixteen]

Even a 'no' response, sent immediately and summarily, would have been more polite and professional than what you did.   Sadly, the polite art of the rejection letter seems to be more or less a lost one.   BTW, what is your policy for handling details wrt recruiting new grad students?

[marshwiggle]

Even a 'no' response, sent immediately and summarily, would have been more polite and professional than what you did.   Sadly, the polite art of the rejection letter seems to be more or less a lost one.   BTW, what is your policy for handling details wrt recruiting new grad students?

I don't have a PhD. I don't have a research program. And yet I periodically gets emails from prospective grad students looking for "opportunities". Clearly, they aren't looking very carefully at who they target, since I'm not listed as full-time faculty, and I don't have a single research publication, conference talk, etc. by which they would have found me.

I don't respond to those, becuase I am probably one of dozens (hundreds?) who probably got the same email, with my email mindlessly scraped from the department web page.

[Caracal]

OK, I  see your point about students' being pests.  That said, if the potential PhD  student looked interesting enough to be potentially considered, why didn't you spend ten seconds to email him back on his first contact, telling him that you would be considering him further asap?

Because my response would likely be no and I didn't want to provide false hope. In addition, I don't feel obligated to respond quickly to unsolicited emails from strangers external to my university.

Probably this is a disciplinary thing, but wouldn't you just direct this person to apply? Individual faculty sometimes have a lot of discretion on who they admit in the humanities, but you still have to submit an application through the school. People sometimes contact faculty members at places they are applying or considering applying, but you wouldn't be asking the potential advisor to admit you outside of the normal application process.

[jerseyjay]

OK, I  see your point about students' being pests.  That said, if the potential PhD  student looked interesting enough to be potentially considered, why didn't you spend ten seconds to email him back on his first contact, telling him that you would be considering him further asap?

Because my response would likely be no and I didn't want to provide false hope. In addition, I don't feel obligated to respond quickly to unsolicited emails from strangers external to my university.

Probably this is a disciplinary thing, but wouldn't you just direct this person to apply? Individual faculty sometimes have a lot of discretion on who they admit in the humanities, but you still have to submit an application through the school. People sometimes contact faculty members at places they are applying or considering applying, but you wouldn't be asking the potential advisor to admit you outside of the normal application process.

When I was looking to do a graduate degree in history in Britain, I remember the process was to look at a department's faculty listings and find one who was open to supervising PhDs in a particularly field, and write an application. I sent various emails of application materials, got a response from one professor, and enrolled in the PhD program the next fall. There really was not a "normal application process" and I cannot really remember if I actually applied to the school itself.

I get that a very quick follow up email is not a good idea. However, it would have been courteous to have sent an acknowledgment email, because otherwise the student has no idea if the original email has been received,  was sent to the spam folder, got lost in the ether, etc.

I disagree with the sentiment that a professor does should not respond to an unsolicited email from outside his or her university. Of course, there is no legal or contractual obligation. And there are many emails I get (especially those trying to sell me something) that go to the bin. But if somebody writes to me because I am an expert in my field and they want some advice, me to look at a master's thesis,  to speak at an event, do an interview, review an article, etc., I generally feel that I should at least respond, even if the answer is no.

Part of my job is to represent the school in a good light, generally speaking. If somebody wants to study at my faculty, it would probably be polite to at least write a short reply directing them where to apply, or to say that you are not taking graduate students at this time.

[polly_mer]

It's easier to find the time to respond to everyone when everyone is one to three emails per month.  When I was at Super Dinky, I could indeed write a personalized email to everyone who sought my expertise because that was only the occasional email.

Now that I'm back into a significant research position as a woman in engineering, I have so many requests for my time and energy that I can't respond to everything immediately.

I continue to take note that the people who are the loudest about professional standards generally aren't those who are at the level to know what the professional realities are and are instead operating more from an idealized projection.

[kaysixteen]

It is perhaps difficult to comprehend how someone who brags constantly about her own importance and brilliance cannot see the difference between a professor's need to respond to inquiries from potential students, vs. a senior business muckety-muck's need to respond to unsolicited job applications or requests for professional assistance.  But being as I am a lowly flunky, I guess it is probably my problem.

[polly_mer]

Are they really prospective students who would be fabulous additions or are they aspiring students who are just more entries in the pool of possibly OK enough when we get desperate enough?

When one gets the emails regularly, it's pretty easy to determine the difference on a quick skim.  Someone who would be a fabulous addition to the group is pretty rare and would be worth a response within a couple days.  There would not need to be any indecision.

As someone who spends a ton of time trying to find good enough recruits, the problem is not that I'm far too important to be bothered.  The problem is the very low signal-to-noise ratio in the unsolicited (and sometimes even solicited) materials.  The pressure here, even without courses, is to get as many excellent students as possible (we pay for grad school while folks work here) in the pipeline.

People who haven't been in that position don't have the necessary perspective on the effort involved.  One does not have to be a professor to be heavily involved in graduate education.  The trends in my fields is to do much less coursework on campus and much more research so that folks get jobs based on experience.  Future academic employment is pretty low on the prestige scale and there's some stigma in having a graduate experience background that is only on one academic campus, unless that campus is very elite.

[science.expat]

I average 150 emails / day of which about 75% require my attention. On a good day I respond to all of these within a few hours but it can take a couple of days.

Of the remaining 25%, several per month are asking about PhD opportunities - often in the wrong field or with a generic salutation. These are ignored. Occasionally one is of interest and I respond with a link to the university's application process. I have yet to get a student from this route.

I do not agree with the assertion that it is unprofessional to not respond to every email I receive. Should I also respond to all physical mail I receive, or carefully consider the offers in every unsolicited phone call?

Regardless, a person who sends an unsolicited email and two follow ups within one week is a pest, and would likely be a nightmare to supervise.

[polly_mer]

As an example, for those who haven't been in the position of recruiting grad students and yet sighing heavily about what unsolicited materials look like:

Email A:
Dear esteemed professor Polly X. Mer,

I am seeking a position with your research group.  I am an A student and have many letters of recommendation.  Please allow me to work with you in the area of <current buzzword that the institution does indeed do, but I do not and we are inundated with students requesting to work on the most bleeding edge of the bleeding edge technology>

My LinkedIn page is <blah>.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,

Not a Chance

Email B:

Dear Dr. Mer,

I am writing to you because I want to do more research in <something Polly recently published/presented>.  Professor Name-Familiar-to-Polly suggested I write asking if I could join your research group.

<brief paragraph on undergraduate research in a related area that ends with "I presented a poster on this work at <Appropriate National/International Conference> and we have a paper in the process of being written.">

Even if you don't have a position right now, I ask for an hour of your time via phone so I can ask some questions regarding <recent work>.

Sincerely,

Excellent Prospect

Email C:

Dear Dr. Mer,

I am writing because I would like a position in your research group contributing to <area in which Polly has done work>.  I read your recent paper in <outlet> and was sorry that the <National Conference> this year was cancelled because I wanted to speak with you in person after your planned talk on <related subject>.

<brief paragraph outlining overlapping research interests that ends with references to their 2-4 published papers and posters in this area>

I realize you are a very busy person and may not be looking for new students at this time.  However, I had to give it a shot in case you have an opening in this area.

Sincerely,

Very Likely to Get a Call

Twenty years ago when I was applying to grad school in my fields, it was unusual for undergrad students to even have had a regional poster.  At this point, someone who has zero undergraduate research experience is very unlikely to get anything because so many students have presentations and even peer-reviewed publications in the relevant outlets.  First-year college students don't always have prior research experience, but anyone in my fields with a good shot at getting into a name-brand graduate program will have at least a couple summers of undergraduate research experience, if not their names on a couple of group papers.

Grad school in my fields have almost nothing to do with courses and practically everything to do with research.  Not having done any technical research prior to applying indicates a lack of knowledge about the field and going to an institution that is not up on current best pedagogical practices.  Not having done any background research on who does what to be able to write to an audience of one is a very bad sign indeed of how much time and energy I'll have to spend in mentoring in the basics.