9/6/2015

Advice for Prospective Students

Advice for Prospective Research Students

Like most professors, I get several hundred emails a year from prospective students
interested in coming to UVa for graduate school and joining my research group. I try to reply
to all messages that are not obviously spam, but find most messages I receive make me less
likely to want to accept the students sending them. This page provides some advice for
prospective grad school applicants considering emailing me, but most of it probably applies
to any other professor you want to contact also.

Who To Contact
Its a really bad idea to send spam emails to long lists of professors. These emails will never
help you, and some professors will maintain blacklists of applicants who do this to make sure
their application is rejected without consideration.
Your goal in sending email is not to contact as many professors as you can, but to identify a
few professors who you might want as your research advisor and then to find which of those
seem most promising as advisors and convince them that you would be a worthwhile
student.
You should only contact professors with whom you have a genuine interest in working based
on knowing something about them and what they do. You can find out about professors'
research by looking at their web pages (professors who don't have web pages about their
research are either not interested in recruiting students, not doing any research, or so
famous they probably have someone to filter their email for them).

Do Your Homework
Before contacting a potential advisor, do your homework: read the advisor's home page
(mine is http://www.cs.virginia.edu/evans/, and our group blog is www.jeffersonswheel.org) and
at least one recent paper (links to my papers are available at
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/evans/pubs/).
If doing this doesn't give you any interesting ideas, this is probably not someone with whom
you want to do research so you shouldn't waste time contacting her or him. If it does, send a
short introductory email.

First Email
A typical message should go something like this:
From: Flipper Wordsfish <flipper@adou.edu>
Subject: Student Interested in TSU Problem

Make sure your from address and subje

lines are useful

Dear Professor Nemo,

Greeting: its safest to be a bit formal

here.

I will be finishing a BS degree in Underwater

Briefly introduce yourself in at most tw
Mathematics at the Atlantis Deep Ocean University
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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this year. I am considering applying to UVa's PhD sentences. Don't tell your whole life
program and would be interested joining your
story. Be direct and clear about applyin
Octople Cryptology research group.
to grad school.
I found your paper, "A Linear-Time Solution to
the Travelling Sea Urchin Problem", on your
website (http://www.smith.org/urchin.html). I was
fascinated by your result, especially as I have
spent several summers studying the similar
travelling sea cucumber problem as an intern at
Microshifty Corp in the Attle Sea. You can find a
paper about my work on this at
http://www.flipper.com/research/tscp.html.

Explain specifically what you read and

where you found it (people sometimes
publish several papers with similar nam
and forget which is which). A touch of
flattery never hurts, but don't go
overboard. If appropriate, relate it to
your background and interests and brie
plug your work.

I believe your result is even more important than

your paper implies, since it can be extended to
Concisely describe your insight or why
solve the Travelling Salescritter Problem and
you are interested in the work.
thus to prove P = NP.
Do you think it would be worthwhile to pursue
this line of research? If you are interested, I
can send you a proof sketch.

End with a clear, simple question.

Offer a suggestion on how to proceed.

Regards,
Flipper Wordsfish (flipper@adou.edu)

Closing make sure to include your

name and email address.

Of course, your insight isn't likely to be so significant as Flipper's. But, you should make an
effort to raise an interesting question about the work described in the paper, to suggest
extensions or applications of the work, or to relate it directly to something you have done.
It is definitely worth taking time to write clearly and consisely using correct spelling and
grammar. As with all emails, the message should be broken into short paragraphs, the
sentences should be simple and straightforward.

What Not To Do
Never do any of these:
Don't send information about your GRE scores, GPA, class rank, cholesterol levels,
favorite movies, etc. and ask what your chances of admission are. Standardized tests
and grades have minimal influence on your chances of admission and reveal very little
about your potential as a researcher. No one can or should tell you anything about your
chances of admission based on an email (other than that you are more likely to be
rejected now since you sent an annoying email).
Don't send a first email longer than a typical screenful. You should be able to get across
everything you need in a first email concisely and use longer emails if technical depth is
required in follow ups.
Don't waste space and time telling me how hard-working, creative and smart you are
demonstrate it with the contents of your message.
Don't waste space and time telling me how brilliant I am. The fact that you are
interested in joining my research group is flattery enough.
Don't make generic statements about being interested in my work or how well it
relates to your interests. Most professors have projects in several different areas and
can't figure out what you mean unless you describe a specific connection or interest.
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Don't attach anything to your email. If you want to provide additional content, you
should do this by sending a URL (as plain text, not a link). If you are not able to create a
web page, you probably shouldn't be applying to CS graduate programs.
Don't use HTML encoded email or non-standard character sets.
If you are a non-native English speaker, make sure your "From:" address appears using
the English alphabet. If you have a name that is difficult for English speakers to
pronounce or distinguish, it is to your advantage to use a name that English speakers
can pronounce and remember. I do realize it is very unfair for us to expect you to
change your name for our convenience and cultural ignorance! But, once you get
admitted you can and should tell people what you want them to call you.
Note that for your formal application it is necessary to use your legal name, so if you
use another name in your email communications with faculty, it is important to also
provide the name you use in your application so they can identify the corresponding
application. This is probably not necessary in a first email, but is a good opportunity to
refresh the relationship after you send in your application by informing your contact to
the formal name used in your application.
Don't use any fancy formatting in your email (including your message signature).

Follow Up
Since most professors get lots of email, there is some chance that even if you do everything
right, your message will get lost in my inbox and you won't get a reply. If you don't get a reply
after about a week, send a follow up email that politely asks if the message was received and
includes the previous message. If you still don't get a response, that's a pretty good sign that
the potential professor you are contacting either has an overly-agressive spam filter, or is
not someone you want as your advisor.

Conclusion
Getting into a good PhD program is extremely competitive and professors are strongly
motivated to identify and attract the best possible research students to their group. At any
department you would want to go to (including UVa), the acceptance rate is usually in the
single digit percentages. At the most competitive departments, only a few slots every year
are awarded to students without recommendation letters from people the faculty know
well.
It takes work to find the right PhD program and advisor, but contacting potential advisors
directly is your best way to find a research group that matches your interests and goals well
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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and possibly to improve your chances of being admitted.

Once you've read and followed these directions, please feel free to contact me about
coming to UVa to do a PhD in Computer Science. Your goal is to start an interesting email
conversation about research ideas.
If you find that my research does not fit well with your interests, feel free to contact me for
general advice and suggestions on other professors to contact.

Links
Michael Locasto's advice for prospective students
My Advice Collection on other topics

Discussion
262 Comments

David Evans

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David Evans

Mod 2 years ago

I'm happy to answer any personal questions directly by email, but if you have a question that can be
stated publicly, its best if you post a comment here so I (and others) can respond for others to see
also.
30

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Nilanchal > David Evans

7 months ago

Sir i am Nilanchal from india .

Thank you sir for those helpful advices . i have one question , i have completed my M.sc
(physics ) from 2013 and i have 8 month teaching experiance and after that i am working as a
project assistant in indian institute of science science Aug-2014 .But i dont have any papers ,
so with these experience can i start mailing to professors for ph.d ?
Thanks

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David Evans

Mod > Nilanchal 7 months ago

There are no rules about this, but you shouldn't send emails unless you can say
something worthwhile in them. If you are able to read their papers and say something
relevant about them and connect it to your background and interests, that would be
helpful.

tivay

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8 months ago

Dear Dr. Evans,

I don't know how to say thank you to you and how helpful
your page was.
You have answered most of my questions and gaps.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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I have a bachelor degree in civil engineering (graduated last

year) and studying master in physics. My bachelors GPA is 14 out of 20(or 2.8
out of 4). I got rank first among 20,000 students for master entrance exam. and
also my position in class is top 1%.
I am working on 2 papers (publication) with my advisor (in
authentic journals). I mean 2 great publications.
I am also a TA for 2 classes and my GPA will be 4/4 when I
am graduated.
I am working on a project in a creditable research
organization.
see more

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Student > tivay

8 months ago

As you are currently a Masters student and have no time more than a year to get prepared for
application, you need to work really hard to do all those you mentioned, especially about your
English tests!
2

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tivay > Student

8 months ago

sure,I will do my best... but my question is,does it guarantee that I will be admitted by at
least one of the top 10 university in the U.S?!.
Thanks
3

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David Evans

Mod > tivay 8 months ago

I agree with "Student"'s comments. The other thing I would add is you shouldn't
be so focused on "top 10". Rankings, especially for PhD programs, are not very
meaningful and its more important to find the right group for what you are
interested in than overall rankings. Often the best research groups in particular
areas are no at top-10 or even top-20 departments, and many of the top PhD
graduates come from top groups at lower-ranked departments.
5

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tivay > David Evans

8 months ago

Thank you doctor, it's Ok for me to be in a professional group rather than a top
university , but I am afraid of find a good job or I should say be authentic person
in academic society. I wanna be a great scientist not a person with a phd and
wandering to find a way through. I don't know find a job in some Creditable
organization like NASA etc... needs a big name like HARVARD ? or not.
according to:
http://www.topuniversities.com...
rankings/2013/physics#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=
the best department in physics are often the best in overall.
I am afraid of future. ..
3

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David Evans

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

Mod > tivay 8 months ago

Having a degree from a highly-regarded institution can help you get in the door
and gives you assumed credibility, but there are many great scientists who
came from lowly-regarded institutions and many incompetents from the topranked ones. You ultimately prove yourself by what you are able to do; being at

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ranked ones. You ultimately prove yourself by what you are able to do; being at
a top-ranked place can give you better access to resources that are helpful
(mostly people), but is not a guarantee of success.
I would suggest looking at the backgrounds of people doing what you aspire to. I
don't know enough about physics to be sure what you will find, but in fields I
know about, you'll find that there are many top people who indeed did go to top
institutions, but also many from more varied backgrounds and lower-regarded
institutions.
2

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Student > tivay

8 months ago

When applying for a PhD, research experience is the most important thing, but
since the educational records are also a sign of your academic capability, you
should somehow prove that your undergrad GPA does not reflect your abilities,
basically by doing well on other educational parts of your application. So a very
high Masters GPA or/and GRE scores and your excellent rank in a nationwide
exam will certainly compensate that low undergrad GPA.
But again, really strong research experience and having as many as
publications possible, which will certainly result in a strong statement of
purpose and letters of recommendation, may even get you admitted without
having a good educational part in your application.
Briefly: members of the admission committees are human beings; they look for
someone who can succeed in their program and get involved in research as
soon as possible, and you should convince them. Thats why SoP is usually the
most important part.
2

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tivay > Student

8 months ago

Thank you again, are you sure they won't reject me jyst because of
undergraduate gpa?. some people say admission committee will ignore your
application as they went through your document and looking at your gpa and
then smash the papers in a trash bin just because I am not the thing...
2

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Student > tivay

8 months ago

Since the same happens for many other applicants, many universities have a
mechanism for dealing with such cases. You can just email the admissions
office and explain your concerns. Also, you can email your advisor of choice
and explain this to him/her too.
1

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tivay > Student

8 months ago

Okay that's a good idea, I did it before ,otherwise, they won't tell me directly...
What is your suggestion ? do I have to send send my resume then ask whether
or not I'll be accepted ?
What is the best way to get the clear answer ?
1
Salma

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a year ago

I have been trying to find something that says anything about how to write to the professors, until i
came across this blog. I can never thank you enough :) It has been a huge help. I have a question, If i
am an international student with a Bachelor from a joint program with a US university. To be honest, i
am from a developing country. Do i take a risk and apply for PhD if my aim is eventually PhD, or
should i take Masters because i am not from US and i am competing with graduates from MIT,

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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should i take Masters because i am not from US and i am competing with graduates from MIT,
Harvard... etc. ?? Or contacting the professors and applying will be of no use. since, I am going to
apply to a top university. Although there is no MA required for the admission. Thank you :)
5

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David Evans

Mod > Salma a year ago

Thanks, Salma! Glad it is helpful.

I'm not sure I can answer this definitively without knowing more about your situation and the
area you are interested in, but I can say a few general things (which are at least true in
computer science, but may not be true in other areas):
- Other than the time/money it costs to submit the applications, there isn't any other risk in
applying to PhD programs. Most of the time hopefully is well spent even if you don't end up
getting into the programs you want, and the cost of applying can be quite high at most schools
these days but some will waive their application fees for students who can't afford them. The
real risk is psychological risk, if you would interpret rejection personally. Don't! Getting rejected
from PhD programs doesn't mean you can't be a successful researcher, and many of the
most successful researchers I know were rejected by many PhD programs. Admissions
committees try to make the best decisions they can, but they have very limited information to
go on, and often have other factors that influence decisions, so don't take it personally if you're
not accepted.
- At least in CS, if your goal is to become a researcher and get a PhD, then you are much
better off applying directly to PhD programs. There's no need to have a master's before doing
see more

1
Joules

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a year ago

Dear Dr Evans,
Thanks
for your advice. But I have a few questions regarding these. Before I shoot my
questions I want to tell you that I
am an International student, completed my undergrad recently in my native
country and now looking forward
to get admitted in a PhD program in Fall- 2015 in the US universities.
Much to my chagrin, I have not an incredible result
in the undergrad and also I had hardly a research experience except a small
academic project-cum-thesis on Image Processing done in the final
semester. But now I want to get myself involved in Machine Learning research activities. What bothers
me most that you have advised to read at least one recent paper of the professor
and contact the professor with some insightful statements. But being a novice
how could I be expected to find
some directives (I wonder if I am writing the appropriate word) in a paper of a
renowned scholar? I am not considering the exceptions, the extra
ordinary ones.
In this situation, what
will be my strategy if I want to get myself admitted in a PhD program in one of
the top 50 universities in
US and I have no other shimmering armor than a decent GRE score and some fuzzy
words like 'highly interested'?
Your cordial response will
be highly helpful. Thanks in advance.
3 Reply Share
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David Evans

Advice for Prospective Students

Mod > Joules a year ago

> In this situation, what will be my strategy if I want to get myself admitted in a PhD
> program in one of the top 50 universities in US and I have no other shimmering
> armor than a decent GRE score and some fuzzy words like 'highly interested'?
To be a good candidate for a top PhD program, you've got to be able to convince the
professors there that you would have a good chance of succeeding and becoming a valuable
contributor to their research group. GRE scores, no matter how good they are, and
declarations of interest, even sincere ones, are not enough.
Its reasonable to expect that you wouldn't understand everything in a recent research paper,
but if you feel like you couldn't read a paper from the group you want to join and get something
out of it, then its hard to be convinced that you are really interested or qualified for this. Reading
research papers isn't easy, but if you put sufficient effort into it you should be able to
understand enough of a paper to know if it is interesting to you and to be able to initiate a
conversation.
"Sufficient effort" means that you don't just read the paper and give up on parts you don't
understand. It means you read reference material on things you don't understand in the paper
to get enough background, and you follow the references in the paper to find more background
see more

6
Raj Sinha

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a year ago

Dear Prof. David Evans,

I had contacted a potential PhD supervisor, he found my research experience good. He told me to
apply to the university ASAP, which I did.
I think I should keep in touch with him. But I don't know how to keep in touch with him, I mean shall I
read his research papers and share my opinion on those papers with him or start preparing research
proposal with him ??? (When I had contacted other professors and told them about my opinions on
their papers, I did not get any reply. May be they found me rude.) I really don't want to waste this
chance. Could please suggest how shall keep in touch with him ??? Or do you suggest anything else
???
I appreciate any guidance you can give me. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Raj Sinha
2

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David Evans

Mod > Raj Sinha a year ago

Hi Raj,
Sounds like you are doing the right things and have found a good potential PhD supervisor. I
don't think you need to send him lots of emails, but an occasional update is probably a good
idea. You should definitely read some of his recent papers, but hopefully the main reason for
doing this is that they are interesting to you. If you have questions about them and ideas for
work that builds on them, it would be worthwhile to send a short email, but keep it direct and to
the point. It is also good to send a brief note mentioning that you've applied and hope to join his
group.
Best wishes,
Dave
3 Reply Share
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Raj Sinha > David Evans

a year ago

Dear Prof. David Evans,

Thanks !
Raj Sinha

Adesoye 'Gee Bee'

Reply Share

2 years ago

Thank you for the advice. Is it proper to contact a professor after submitting application?
2

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David Evans

Mod > Adesoye 'Gee Bee' 2 years ago

Yes, it is. It is very good to mention that you've already applied, and explain why you are
interested in that professor's research group. If other departments run on a schedule similar to
what we do, probably best to do this in late January/early February (after the applications have
mostly been processed, but enough before any decisions are made).
12
Connoisseur

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2 months ago

Dear prof Evans;

I am asking this question on behalf of all students who are enrolled at their respective universities
during the time of application.
Cutting it short, I am currently a master's student and RA at a university (out of the US) and I will be
graduating in Early Aug 2016 and I am considering applying to PhD program for fall 2016 in a couple of
US universities. I hope you don't mind giving me some tips and hints to go about it. Please tell me that
wont affect my application in any way and if there is something I need to do about it earlier.
Thanks.
1

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David Evans

Mod > Connoisseur 2 months ago

I'm not sure I understand your question. The most common path is students apply to grad
school the fall the year before they want to start, and it is normal for students applying to phd
programs to be in the final year of either a bachelor's or master's program when they are
applying. There's no disadvantage to this, its normal for applicants to be enrolled in other
programs when they apply, and admission is typically contingent on finishing the degree you
are near completion of when you apply.

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Connoisseur > David Evans

a month ago

Dear prof. Evans.

Thank you for your comments on it.
Also be notified that I want to get in contact with one of the students in your group
(Simon). Could it be possible, please let me know how I could do it.
Thank you...

Reply Share

David Evans

Mod > Connoisseur a month ago

Sure, if you can't find his contact information yourself (which is pretty easy if you
search on his full name), send me a direct email and I'll send it to you.

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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Kunal Kakade

2 months ago

Sir,
Myself Kunal Kakade currently in the 2nd year of my BS-MS dual degree in an Indian institute.I'm
studying Cryptography for 1 year and have a good knowledge about the topic I completed the 24
lecture series of Christ ofpaar and your course at Udacity which was very much helpful and motivated
me to do research in this field but no one in my institute works in cryptography do you think with this
knowledge I'm ready for research project in it,well I'm ready to work hard with the prof and I'm highly
motivated to do research in it.
Special thanks to your course which is very helpful to the students and also inspired me a lot,well I
strongly recommend anyone to take your course for the beginners.
Thanks and Regards,
Kunal Kakade
1

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David Evans

Mod > Kunal Kakade 2 months ago

Thanks a bunch, that's great!

There are plenty of areas of applied cryptography research where you've got plenty of
background already to get started doing interesting things, and perhaps some ideas from the
two courses about areas you are interested in going in more depth on.
There's nothing magic that turns a fun, interesting project into a "research" project, other than
now your goals include discovering something new and generalizable, not just building
something cool. In most applied crypto areas, starting out with the goal of building something
new, though, quickly leads to open research problems.
1

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Kunal Kakade > David Evans

2 months ago

Sir,
What's the procedure for doing summer internship under you? I'm eligible for working
under you?
Thanks and Regards,
Kunal Kakade
1

Reply Share

David Evans

Mod > Kunal Kakade 2 months ago

There's no set procedure (or rather, the "procedure" is to email me and

convince me it would be worthwhile and likely successful), but nearly all the
summer students in my research group are UVa undergraduates although I've
occasionally hosted students from other universities.
The challenges for a non-UVa student are that (1) the summer is short - only 23 months is rarely enough time to complete a substantial research project,
especially with time needed for transition and adjusting to a new environment;
for UVa students, it is often possible to start at least a small amount of time
during the prior semester, and at least start coming to research group meetings
and learning background, but also much easier to continue the project after the
summer ends, and this is what happens with most successful summer
research projects. It usually takes time in the fall semester to get a "summer"
project to the point where it is releasable/publishable, but by the time the
summer ends students are involved enough in their projects to keep working on
them productively even after they have a heavy class load in the fall; (2) the UVa
students are exceptionally strong, and I can recruit students that I've already
seen do well in classes; and (3) the logistics are a lot easier for UVa students
than for outside students, especially international ones where visas can pose
and additional challenge.
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and additional challenge.

That said, those are just challenges, and there are ways for external students to
overcome them by suggesting and developing a project idea beforehand, and by
having a lot of self-motivation and initiative to learn background and get started
on their own. There are also a lot of benefits to having students visit from other
universities and cultures, where they may bring different backgrounds, interests,
and experiences to the research group.

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Kunal Kakade > David Evans

2 months ago

Thank you,sir, for the reply. I'll come up with an idea and discuss with you.I'll
surely contact you for my Master's thesis or PhD

Xuxiao

Reply Share

a year ago

Thank you for your tips about contacting professors! I am a junior major in mechanical engineering
and am considering graduate school; since I love research and exploring I think I'm gonna pursue a
PhD. Yet I heard that PhD has the following drawbacks:
PhD's research is usually front-edge so no companies would apply the result of your research to
production; companies would use mature technologies to get money. So basically your research cant
bring immediate benefit and a PhD can hardly find job in companies, so you end up stay in university
and do your research in a narrow field for your entire life.
However, I always want to use things I learn to benefit people; I thought the more front-edge your
research is, the more benefit you would bring.
So I want to ask, how is the chance of a PhD becoming an engineer, and how is the chance of a PhD
applying what he or she learns to solve real-life problems?
1

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David Evans

Mod > Xuxiao a year ago

As a researcher, you have the freedom to work on both long-term problems which may not
have immediate practical impact and short-term problems which aim to have immediate
impact. I've enjoyed working on both types of problems --- e.g., http://www.ssoscan.org/ is
targeting a pressing problem and constrained by the goal of providing a tool that works on
current websites; our secure computation work is somewhat longer range, e.g.,
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~ev.... One of the advantages academics have over industrial work
is that we don't need to justify every project with immediate expected value in the next quarter.
But, much of the best research has aspects of both long-term vision and short-term problems,
and seeks to make immediate impact while also making steps toward a larger, longer-term
vision.
Good research is always motivated by real-life problems, just as an academic researcher you
have the luxury to target hard problems with big, high-risk approaches that may take many
years before they have practical impact. I would expect that you'll be able to find groups in
mechanical engineering that are targeting the kinds of real-life problems you are interested in,
but you should be careful to investigate what the group is doing since there is a tendency for
academic groups to end up going down long and narrow paths that end up far-removed from
real problems.
1

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Xuxiao > David Evans

a year ago

Thank you for answering me, Dr. Evans. Your reply really has a soothing effect on me
because in China PhD is viewed by many as useless, if you know what I mean. But
from your reply I see a whole different possibility of PhD.
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I also want to ask about what PhDs would do after they get their degree, can they find a
job in a company as an engineer? (I heard that many companies have their own
research department) Or they just stay in universities. What is the difference of the two
choices?

Reply Share
Mod > Xuxiao a year ago

David Evans

The main purpose of doing a PhD should be to develop the skills, knowledge,
and taste needed to successfully lead and execute research in your area. If your
goal is to be a top-level engineer, then you don't need a PhD, and are much
better off getting experience working with experienced engineers in industry.
Successful PhDs should go on to positions where they are leading research
efforts to expand human knowledge and to build things most people think are
impossible. This could be as professors at universities, as founders of
research-oriented companies, or (rarely) as leaders of research projects in
industry.
For typical jobs in industry, a PhD is not necessary (or usually even desirable);
PhDs are trained and have a desire to push the boundaries of knowledge and
solve problems where there is no known solution. The majority of work done by
successful companies avoids such problems and endeavors to use what is
already known for maximum advantage, rather than to develop new knowledge.
There are only a few places in industry that can afford to have a long-range view
and support the type of work successful PhDs should do.
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Anudeep Palanki > David Evans

10 months ago

Very well said! Thank you for taking your time and sharing your insights
Professor.

harry

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2 years ago

Thanks for the advice! Just want to know if the professor has not replied to my email for some
time(e.g. more than two weeks), what should I do then?
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David Evans

Mod > harry 2 years ago

Sometimes even if you do everything right you still won't get a response. Its possible your
email got caught in a spam filter, or more likely, arrived during a time when the receiver was
busy and they missed it or forgot to respond. Its worth trying again, but don't be impolite. It is
okay to mention the you tried email previously and wanted to be sure they received it, and that
you've had a few more thoughts since then.
If you send a well crafted email and polite follow-up, but still don't get a response, it could mean
the recipient doesn't do email (e.g., Donald Knuth), has a very strong spam filter, or is rude to
students. Until you have more evidence, try to assume it is one of the former, but in case its
the latter, it may be best to focus your energies on other potential advisors.
3

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harry > David Evans

2 years ago

Thanks for the prompt reply! If the professor replied things such as "I will also look and
provide my input, but the final decision is really up to the admission committee."; does
the professor mean that contacting him(her) is useless? Should I continue to send the
professor emails?
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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Advice for Prospective Students

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David Evans

Mod > harry 2 years ago

Most professors are useless in general, but that's a good response and you
shouldn't view it negatively.
Most departments (including ours) have a committee that is responsible for
looking at all the graduate student applications and making the final decisions.
They have to balance things like desired class size, finding enough students in
a variety of areas and finding students for new faculty, and departmental funding
issues, so it is usually the case that individual professors do not have absolute
power to admit a student, but may be able to have some influence on the
committee to admit the students they want.
5
Hayley S.

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2 years ago

Good advice! My follow-up question is if you think it is appropriate to contact professors (or other
scientists) to ask for advice. Sometimes I come across a lab that is in my field, but that may not be
quite what I am looking for. Is it okay to send out an email to express interest and possibly to be
"pointed in the right direction" ?
1

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David Evans

Mod > Hayley S. 2 years ago

[sorry for the delay, didn't realize I don't get notifications when comments are posted]
Its certainly appropriate to do so, but try to do it in ways that are respectful of the recipients
time.
I think nearly all professors are happy to have opportunities to mentor ambitious and promising
young students. But, they also get a lot of email, so might ignore your message. Try to write
your message in a way that is concise, and makes it very clear and obvious that it was written
personally to contact them (not a mass mailing to all professor's email addresses you can find,
which some people do) and that you have a clear question for them.
3
Sajawal

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2 days ago

Thank you so much david

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Sajawal

2 days ago

Hello David,
I am two month away from my Bs in chemical engineering. I have a confusion that if I I mail any
professor I should ask for PhD or master? Because we both know I have to be do masters first I order
to get into PhD.
Another question is asking for masters lowers my chances of acceptance by the professor as a
research advisor ?

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David Evans

Mod > Sajawal 2 days ago

You should make it clear that your ultimate goal is to get a PhD. For most programs (at least
that I know about, which is mostly Computer Science), this means you apply to the PhD
program and can get a Masters along the way.

Junhao Gu

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5 days ago

Dear Dr. Evans,

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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Advice for Prospective Students

Dear Dr. Evans,

Thank you for suggestions written above. It is very helpful.

If you have some more time to answer my question, that would be great.
I am a chemical engineering student in University of Toronto,considering applying for PhD program in
the States.
I have some research experience as research assistant in two different labs over this summer, and
internship experience in the past. I am planning to do a fourth-year thesis in this academic year, and it
is very much related my one of my research interests at my desire university. I have good academic
performance and rank 15 out of peers. However, my GRE and language testing score is not so good,
and not so much time left to make it better, since I will have my final year plant design to be finished in
Fall semester and my thesis project ongoing simultaneously.
Do you recommend me applying and/or contacting professors at this stage?
How likely will the admission committee reject my application because of my "adequate" GRE and
language testing score?
Thank you for your guidance and time in advance.
Best regards.

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David Evans

Mod > Junhao Gu 5 days ago

Most faculty have little understanding of or interest in GRE scores, I don't think you should
worry about this. Having successful experience in research is much more important. The
language scores may be an issue at some institutions, but I would think your English language
communication should be very good from being in Toronto, compared with students that are
coming directly from non-English speaking countries, so I wouldn't be too worried about the
scores. The main danger is that for some of the places where you apply, your application may
not get past the first filter if the scores are too low; this is the case where if you have had
positive contacts with a target professor, they may be able to still save your application.

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Junhao Gu > David Evans

5 days ago

Thank you for your quick response.

The first filter you mention above, if my score is right on the minimum application
requirement, would it likely filter out my application purely by that? If the chances of not
getting pass because of that, I should probably squeeze some time to try it again.
Also, you said "little understand of or interest in GRE", what is the minimum that the
admission committee expects? Since there is no information regarding to that.
Thank you

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David Evans

Mod > Junhao Gu 4 days ago

I can only speak about what I know from Computer Science, so things may well
be different in Chemical Engineering. But, the way phd admissions works in
many CS departments is there is a pre-committee that does a first pass on the
applications, filtering out ones that do not meet basic qualifications, and then
distributes interesting applications to relevant faculty looking for students for
their research groups. For the second group, GRE scores don't matter at all,
but they do matter for the first group.

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Junhao Gu > David Evans

3 days ago

I see. Do you know anything about the threshold limit for the GRE test in your
department, like a must-meet score so that the application can pass the first
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

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Advice for Prospective Students

filter? I understand that there will be difference between disciplines and

universities, I just want to know a rough estimate.
Thank you

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David Evans - Advice

University of Virginia
Department of Computer Science

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

David Evans
evans@cs.virginia.edu

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