Toni, I found it useful in my grad school search to email professors asking if they have heard of someone with an opening in their lab that matched my interests and background, and then email those referrals, and so on. If someone has funding/space in their lab they will generally jump in on their own and say "Why _I_ happen to have a space that seems to match your interests!". But this also gives them a way to be helpful (and most scientists WANT to help) if they don't happen to have funding support themselves. I think I went through three or four 'links' in the referral chain before someone suggested I apply to their lab. Be patient and have someone (preferably an academic) you trust read over an email draft to make sure you are setting the right tone.
I had a somewhat unusual situation; I was looking to change fields from my undergrad and grad program, a low undergrad GPA, and had a very specific idea of what I wanted to do. The standard application pipeline had not worked for me at all (I sent out 2 years of applications prior), and I knew I needed someone to pull my application out of the pile and say "Pick THIS one". Good luck! -Kathe On Thu, Nov 15, 2018 at 8:31 AM Emily Moran <emor...@ucmerced.edu> wrote: > Hi Toni. > > From a faculty member’s point of view, the “Sounds great. If you get your > own funding for that, I’d love to have you in my lab” response means “I > don’t currently have a grant that would support a student doing that kind > of work”. When I say something like this, it is to give the student a > heads-up that I might not say yes - even if there application is good - > because I would find it unethical to accept a student if I didn’t think > there would be financial resources available to support them through the > whole graduate program (though I usually try to explain that more clearly). > > Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t apply. Many (though not > all) graduate schools will give admitted students a guarantee of 4-6 years > of funding from a combination of teaching, grant-funded research > assistantships, and individual fellowships. If that support guarantee is > forthcoming, especially if you are offered a fellowship by the school, the > faculty member is more likely to ultimately say yes. > > Also, they may be trying to encourage you to apply for a predoctoral > fellowship. There are a number of opportunities out there for a student to > secure some funding at the time they are applying to graduate schools, and > having such a fellowship of course makes you a much more attractive > candidate. What you could do is tell the faculty member that you are > working on a proposal for such a fellowship that links up with their > research area, and ask if they would be willing to take a look at it. > > Emily Moran > UC Merced > > > On Nov 13, 2018, at 4:31 PM, Heiler Christian Meek <hm...@vols.utk.edu> > wrote: > > > > Hi, Toni, > > > > I'm also applying to graduate schools and am not a PI, but I will tell > you what has worked for me. I emailed a lot of professors, and many did not > reply. However, some did and seem very serious about having me in their > labs. I ended up with four very good prospects after emailing at least 15 > PIs. You just have to keep emailing and not be too hard on yourself when > you don't get a reply. The professors who do not email back may simply not > need a student for this term. > > > > Rather than being specific, I gave several general interest topics that > I would like to pursue in my emails, tailored to the professors' research > interests. I am open to studying several different areas, but I only > mentioned the areas in each email that pertained to that particular > professor's research interests. Like I said, I am in the same position that > you are in, but I wanted to try and help by offering the best advice I > have. I wish you all the best in your graduate school search, and I hope > you have a wonderful rest of the day! > > > > -- Heiler > >
