<p>I contacted professors in the computer science and math departments, trying to figure out what I’d do given my considerable background knowledge. It was very reassuring to talk frankly with them, and they were very responsive.</p>
<p>I have contacted professors at my local State U and a few colleges in VA. I have been very happy to say that most professors, although swamped with emails, are happy to talk to prospective freshmen about their university. Specifically it was my sophomore year of high school, and I wanted to learn about the history department and internship opportunities offered at these schools. No automated forms for me, I simply looked up the e-mail addresses of faculty and sent each a courteous question about their research and classes instructed.</p>
<p>The responses were lengthy, enthusiastic and encouraging toward anyone who might be willing to study at their campus. The professors gave frank review of their “typical student” in class, and seemed honest in their evaluation of their school. Otherwise, there were a few (1-3) people who didn’t respond, but I can’t say whether they were busy or simply uninterested in answering my inquiries. </p>
<p>I prefer contacting professors and students from campus organizations for their opinions. Whenever I used a block form as a last resort, the answer I would get would be a cookie-cutter, all-is-well, promotion of how “great” one school is. These student ambassadors who reply may love their school too much…that they aren’t always willing to say what they don’t like about being there.</p>
<p>A couple of times I helped my son find a prof to contact, and I helped him compose the email. (He would have been fairly clueless…I can see the big picture and know what questions he had in mind and how the prof can help. It’s like writing a business letter for the first time. Not the same as texting your friend for a quick answer!)</p>
<p>He did get answers and one contact (after he was accepted) even led to a summer internship.</p>
<p>I thought I was the only one who felt that Teh Kidz maybe couldn’t see the big picture. :)</p>
<p>I don’t want to be the Dread Helicopter Mom, but my son is really, really busy with a rigorous senior-year program that absorbs much of his time.</p>
<p>Oops–somehow the comment above posted before I was through writing it. Here goes again…</p>
<p>I thought I was the only one who felt that Teh Kidz maybe couldn’t see the big picture.</p>
<p>I don’t want to be the Dread Helicopter Mom, but my son is really, really busy with a rigorous senior-year program that absorbs much of his time. Tomorrow he is taking two subject SATs (Math II and Physics), and that’s absorbing all his time and energy. The poor kid does not have time to look into all this college stuff right now–he’s too busy prepping for it.</p>
<p>Moms certainly cannot do everything for their kids, but they can help and support. :)</p>
<p>In my view, there is a difference between supporting kids and doing it for them. As a parent, I was very involved in my kids’ lives and supporting and guiding and assisting them. They led (and still lead) extremely busy lives scheduled seven days per week and every night. If they want me to look something up for them, I certainly have done that. If they write a professor, I may discuss with them the kinds of things to include and will proofread their letter (they want me to). But I did not write professors for them. They were about to become college students and in college, I had no contact ever with their professors or administrators and they did everything themselves but continued to ask for advice when needed. There is help and support behind the scenes but that is not the same as the direct contact for the student that the student needs to make to faculty in college. At that level, professors are not expecting to have the conversation so much with the parents but rather with the student. Guiding a young adult behind the scenes doesn’t mean never helping, but it is different than doing the tasks for them that are appropriate for them to do, such as contact with faculty. A secretarial task, like addressing envelopes is different. By helping a senior in HS learn what kinds of things to put in a letter and proofreading their draft, is a good step to help them transition into college when the parent won’t be there and they are doing such things on their own.</p>
<p>Also, since a student is the one who selects and attends college, exploring that college is really serving a purpose in helping them figure out which schools fit them and so the student should genuinely want to look into their schools. Selecting a college is one of the first major decisions of their life. In my work as a college counselor, I find that the kids who haven’t truly explored their colleges themselves, have a difficult time articulating why they want to attend X college for the essays that have such prompts and in interviews (I also interview candidates for my alma mater).</p>
<p>@LadyDianeski As a sophomore at MIT who hosts students as part of the MIT overnight visit program, I must say that I am very annoyed when parents try to make arrangements for their students. It is the student who is attending the school, and it is their decision about where to attend.</p>
<p>Also I do not like the “student is too busy” argument. I am very busy as well and I am taking time out of my schedule to host students because I like the give prefrosh a taste of MIT. But if I can take the time to email the students and set up meetings, etc, then they can at least take the time to respond. They will have to learn to manage their time at MIT.</p>
<p>I had posted earlier that my son had tried contacting multiple profs and dept. heads at one school without success. We attended a tour and info session at that school this past week, and one of the students working in admissions turned out to be majoring in my son’s area of interest. The student encouraged him to go to the dept. building and ask around to find a professor to talk to. So after the tour, he did so, and the prof who sat down with him was very friendly, answering his questions and asking a few of her own. </p>
<p>So while it was frustrating for him to have made all those fruitless attempts to call and e-mail, at least once we arrived someone was happy to talk to him.</p>
<p>I have had contact with professors at multiple LACs. One briefly answered - but just regarding my visiting a class. Another did not answer until the day I was visiting her class, but was kind nonetheless and was very happy that I came, not just to visit but to participate. The third and final professor I contacted was most helpful. Not only did she allow me to visit her class and participate, but she also helped me with my research. Over the past half year, we have sent about 10 emails to each other. Every time, she responds with about double the amount that I sent, and within a day! I appreciate meeting her, and it definitely makes me want to go to the college. </p>
<p>In contrast to Ivy/Top University professors I have contacted, LAC professors are kind and quite responsive!</p>
<p>I became interested in the college I’m applying ED to because of a favorite poet of mine. I read in her bio that she taught at that college, and so became interested in the college. Turns out it’s a perfect match for me, and in my interview I mentioned that I became interested in the school because of that professor.</p>
<p>The interviewer was lovely and introduced me to the professor through email, and I met the her a week later. It was really amazing, the prof was really kind and it was pretty surreal being able to meet the woman whose poetry I’d read obsessively since ninth grade.</p>
<p>I don’t know how often professors entertain students like that, but I really did appreciate that, and it solidified my ED decision even more. But I don’t know, I didn’t want to meet the professor to “display interest,” I was honestly interested in her work and how she saw the poetry program at the college. I wouldn’t recommend asking to see a professor just to do that. I mean they’re intelligent people, you can’t really pull a cloak over their eyes in that matter.</p>
<p>Also, after reading through this thread, I’m really just… not liking the idea of PARENTS making the arrangements. That just reeks of a lack of responsibility, and something about it really bothers me. I’m very happy that my mom’s taking a passive role in this process and is just helping me with transportation.</p>
<p>From the professor’s or department chair’s POV, responding to prospective students is time-consuming and takes one’s attention away from current students. Unless the prospective student has done his research about the department and its offerings, and thus has an intelligent set of relevant and specific questions, it’s also a waste of time. When I have received emails from prospectives asking “what can you tell me” about our department offerings, I refer them to the department website and the online course catalog. I don’t have time to rephrase or repackage information they could get for themselves, and I’m not part of the marketing arm of my university. Furthermore, professors and department chairs usually have nothing to do with admissions and can’t help you get in.</p>
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<p>Yes, I have faculty friends who tell me they get queries like this all the time. (e.g, “Can you tell me about the English department at ________ College?”). Similarly, I receive College Confidential “Ask the Dean” questions that are equally and inappropriately broad. Many are along the lines of “What do I need to do to get into an Ivy League college?” I’m always tempted to respond with something snide like, “If you’re asking that question, don’t waste your time because you won’t get into an Ivy.” (But I’m really not that nasty.)</p>
<p>High school students need to realize that, if they’re asking college profs for information (or anyone else for that matter), they should research the topic themselves first and only ask the questions that they feel are critical and which still remain after they’ve completed their own fact-finding mission.</p>
<p>^^^I think that point is so crucial. I see the same thing here on CC’s forums. A high school student will post, “what can you tell me about X college or Y program?” and sometimes even multiple “what you can you tell me about X college, Y college, and Z college??” (!!) Even as a volunteer, I don’t feel compelled to respond because it is not only so broad, but comes across as if the prospective student has done NO research on his/her own…be it the college’s website or even existing threads on CC. When someone asks specific questions in context or about personal experiences (that can’t be found on the college’s site), I’m more compelled to respond. </p>
<p>Likewise, an inquiry to a professor shouldn’t be “tell me all about your program.” It should involve specific questions that arise out of having explored the program or college first. </p>
<p>Also, the purpose in contacting professors or dept. heads should not be a “leg up” in admissions and “showing interest,” but rather genuine desire to explore the school in more depth. It is also helpful to try to get the names of current students to ask specific questions to garner their perspective. If a visit is upcoming, one can ask the professor if it is possible to sit in on the class too.</p>
<p>i think i am lucky one because i got message from several colleges but i am hurry to write back</p>
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<p>Yes, I contacted a professor at Stanford University roughly a month and a half prior to visiting the school. He was the assistant head of a department, so I thought he wouldn’t have the time to respond, however he did via email.</p>
<p>His name was not given to me. I took the time to research professors and as I wanted to study his department’s major(s), I chose him.</p>
<p>He responded within I’d say two days. He was very encouraging to me. Said I could observe one of his popular intro classes immediately. Only con was that he didn’t remember me the day that I attended the class. He said that he gets a few of those types of emails every so often. That was fine though because I was happy for the attention he did give me in his original reply to my email.</p>
<p>I think that it depends on the school. Stanford just has a reputation for kind and respectable faculty. I was pleased though.</p>
<p>I’m wondering: What is actually said when contacting professors? I should think that it is something you “should” do in graduate school…but what is there to really ask a professor in undergrad (unless, of course, like mentioned above, you’re just trying to “show interest”)? “What’s your class like?” “How do you like it there?” I’m thinking of asking to sit in on a class, and then speak to the professor afterward—but I really have no idea what kinds of things are discussed in an email.</p>
<p>EDIT: More importantly, should you MENTION this discourse when applying?? “I was talking to Dr. Pain about my thesis the other day, and he said I should apply…”</p>
<p>As a professor, let me add another perspective. </p>
<p>If you do not get a response, it probably should not be viewed as a ‘snub’ or at all an indication of anything about the university or even necessarily about a particular faculty member. It really can be luck of the draw, catching the right prof at the right time with the right email.</p>
<p>I get at least 200 emails a day. Today is a Sunday and I just counted: 54. Everything from my graduate students, my current students in three classes I am teaching right now, media requests, graduate students or faculty I don’t know from other parts of the world, departmental issues, publishers, coauthors, faculty recruiting issues, conference information, other committee news, various outside organizations, different staff queries, lab issues. It is an endless barrage, and I could literally spend all my day (and evening) just answering email. Many in professional occupations feel that way. The level of email we get now in 2010 has gotten entirely out of control in recent years. It is easy for people to email so they do, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get a response anymore. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, given existing obligations to my current students, my research lab, my teaching preparation and committee work, my coauthors, I can’t also make all my emails of equal priority and sometimes things have to give. I used to answer ALL my email- it just seemed like the right thing to do and I felt bad not doing so. But now it is so much it simply makes no sense anymore. I am trying to free myself from feeling obligated to respond just because you wrote me. I have no choice. </p>
<p>Having said that, I most likely would respond to a highschool student, since I have several highschoolers myself, and some faculty have been extremely generous to my kids so I try to pay it forward. But it also depends on the nature of the email and how much I’m the right person to answer it and how long it would require me to craft a useful response. I get a lot of what reads like ‘spammy’ email from prospective students worldwide-- it reads so general it could be sent to a 100 random faculty. Or I get requests for answers that are readily available with a little bit of google and effort on the other person’s part. </p>
<p>So I can understand why for many faculty, such a request just might never get to the radar screen.</p>
<p>I would like to add that I think if prospective undergrads are genuinely interested in finding out about a school, department or program, they would get way better insights by emailing students rather than faculty. Faculty are biased, and busy and far less likely to know what it is really like for students. </p>
<p>Look up and email the executive members of the X club on campus (X being a major you are interested in). You are likely to get a very enthusiastic response via email and one that is probably more honest and realistic of the program and experience from a student’s point of view.</p>
<p>“Starbright” has a great point. The problem is that at some schools, letters are sent out under professors’ names ENCOURAGING kids to contact them with questions. Then a prospective student who really does have questions, as mine did, feels let down not to get a response. (He has already read the dept. website exhaustively, BTW, and did not ask anything like “Can you tell me about your program?”)</p>
<p>There is obviously a disconnect b/t the marketing arm of admissions and the profs in this case, which is not the profs’ fault but does not reflect well on the school.</p>
<p>Well, apparently, I did everything wrong, yet I still received a very full, gracious, thoughtful, and HELPFUL response from the classics prof whom I contacted. Go figure. ;)</p>