Writing Emails to Professor; Important tips & Samples for y…

Your opening statement; Here, please briefly introduce yourself & connect your interest with the Prof's own (refer to sample attached). Mention one or two of the Prof's research areas that you've checked and find interesting.

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Following this, let them know what you've done in the past: Demonstrate your experiences & tools you use (this is important for them to gauge your fit). E.g: I have good experience working with neural networks, ensemble forecasting & published a paper in ABC Journal.

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Lastly, quickly summarize what you'd like to research & state again the skills you've got that will be a good addition to their lab. E.g: I'm interested in conducting research on improving model prediction in AI (the Profs interests). I use Python, ArcGIS & R for modeling.

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SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER

1. Your email should not be verbose. Ideally, I'd keep within 3 paragraphs (something one can read in 2minutes)

2. You can attach CV & Transcript, but not in a drive or folder. Have it there as an attachment, they decide to open it or not

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3. You can have a Professional website when contacting Profs; this way, attach your sample projects, portfolio, writing samples, etc.

4. Ensure you have a signature (you can set it up in your email). If I ever sent you an email, you'd have seen mine- use something like that.
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5. Don't bore the Prof repeating their work, show connection & why you'd make a good addition for their lab.

6. Be sure all your claims (either about their work or yours) are accurate. DON'T GIVE THE WRONG IMPRESSION.

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7. Verify the Prof is active; if you can't find their page or pubs, they're either not doing any research again or retired- try to verify even on Twitter or LinkedIn.

8. Don't appear too desperate to join, show you have a value to add & convince them to believe in you.

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9. You can use technical terms not generic like: "Request for supervision"- Reason is simple, if the Prof isn't interested in taking students, S/he will thrash your email not checking if you've got good skills. But if they open, they can be motivated & provide pointers.

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