How to Email a Professor and Actually Get a Response About PhD Programs

from someone who gets hundreds of emails about admissions

I searched for a long time for a not corny photo for this blog. I decided that I liked their nail polish and nail ring. Photo by Vardan Papikyan on Unsplash

I’m a first-generation college student, and I didn’t have a lot of advice about how to do college or graduate school. This included how to write professional emails to introduce myself to new professors. So when I applied to PhD programs the first time, I had no idea how to email professors.

Now, I’m a computer science professor. I get hundreds of emails from students who want to work together. Many copy/paste from my most recent abstract on Google Scholar, claiming the research is exactly what they want to do for a PhD, and that they find the work "resonating" or "intriguing". Or they are so heavily edited by ChatGPT that I can’t tell what ideas were the students’ versus the AI.

Ugh. These emails all get an equally generic copy/paste response or go straight to the trash.

Let me be clear – there are some surefire strategies to annoy professors with emails, but there are also ways to make these emails more effective and more likely to receive a response.

This post will guide you through writing an email about PhD programs and applications that will likely spark a conversation about your potential PhD journey.

Step 1: Fix Your Mindset Before You Email.

Connection is valuable even if you don’t get the PhD position.

Reframe how you approach people - instead of transactional ways of communicating information, first emails should be treated like lightweight relationship-building opportunities. Your goal is to initiate a professional relationship with a professor by introducing yourself to a potential new colleague and a PhD advisor.

PhDs are about research training. But, many students don’t realize that, beyond the research training, science is built on networking and human relationships. People become collaborators, your dissertation committee, and the colleagues who may give you your first job. Only one person will become your PhD advisor.

From this perspective, these emails become extra cringe. Emails compliment me for my “innovative research and guidance” (I copied that straight from ChatGPT). This is the equivalent of networking with someone who only parrots their resume and nothing more.

Look, I’m not saying make things artificially “deep” or try to be best friends. Keep it lightweight and professional, like you would in a meeting with new colleagues and earnestly getting to know them. In fact, lightweight connections are essential to human relationships - sociology calls them “weak ties” and they’re crucial to success.

Step 2: Do Your Homework

Now that you’re in the right headspace of how to approach a professor, you can start to research more about their interests.

Start with the basics

I like to start with the department website and admissions information to get basic questions answered. When is the deadline? How much do the fees cost? Please don’t ask these questions in an email if it’s obvious.

Then, do some basic research about the person and the program. See if they have any preferences about how to be contacted — and respect that! Email may be an insufficient way to meet them. And let’s be honest, no one is obligated to respond to your email, even if professors are in public-facing positions.

Identify your research alignment

Next, identify your connection and alignment with the professor’s research interests. Why this professor in particular? Sure, they do research in Machine Learning, HCI, or underwater robotics, but why them over all the other research professors? Get more specific than “you do work in an area I like”. What is the intellectual reason you’re pinging them?

It’s also helpful to look at and skim what they’re working on - reverse chronological sorting of Google Scholar is a good platform. If available, evaluate what their students are working on - this is often a sign of their current interest.

But be careful to not overdo the research. Some people take this advice to the extreme of reading multiple papers, becoming deeply enmeshed in the professor’s work, then demonstrating deep familiarity. If that knowledge is there already, great, but I wouldn’t do that for each potential email. One or two recent papers that seem to align with the professor’s primary interest, and then, get to writing!

Before you email – a word of caution. Understand that most of us don’t decide who to interview or admit until after all applications are in. First, it’s not fair to students who, for whatever reason, chose not to email. They should be considered as well as any others. Second, applications are actually what we have to evaluate you on. Third, your email will miss crucial details, like confidential recommendation letters, that do not let me assess an application until the complete material is received.

So any emails should not be a dump of your materials, requests to skip the line, or anything like that.

Got some notes jotted down? Great. Let’s talk about effectively emailing people.

Step 3: The Anatomy of an Effective Email

While AI has killed the market for good email templates, I still think the structure and explanation of a good email for PhD admissions is worth recommending. Here’s an email template that is to-the-point and communicates your seriousness and intentions well — initiating a collegial relationship with a new colleague and a potential advisor.

Subject: PhD Admissions for [XXX school, program, etc.] (please be clear and don’t stuff your title with accomplishments)

Dear Professor/Dr. LASTNAME, (in the US, addressing someone as “Dr. Lastname” is always correct but formal. I think Professor LASTNAME is fine too)

1^st paragraph – Introduction

who you are briefly (current year in school, affiliation), your research interests in 2-3 sentences, and why you’re emailing them with clear intentions, e.g., “I am planning to apply for PhD programs in 2026”.

This paragraph sets up the email. Note that we are not burying our agenda or purpose of emailing — it’s clear why you’re emailing them from the start.

Example: Hi, I’m Stevie, a 2nd year Master’s student at the University of Minnesota. I have been doing research for the last 2 years on adversarial AI architectures, and am applying to PhD programs this year.

2nd paragraph -research alignment/fit

This paragraph is essential. Be specific about why the connection makes sense. And please make it personal or earnest. This must be more than “I like your latest paper”, “your keywords match my target words”, or “here is a summary of a recent paper you wrote”.

Please be specific, clear, and personal about overlap. Be clear about how you think the alignment makes sense. Don’t belabor it with more than 3-5 sentences - here is where the research you did before comes into play.

3rd paragraph - the ask

What are you specifically hoping to get from the professor? Be specific about what the action should be. Do your best to align with what you know about them from their public website, and something that could be done beforehand.

• Want to know if they’re taking students because their website hasn’t been updated since 2013?

• Want them to assess fit and overlap?

• Want to ask about admissions to their program?

Example: “I’m applying for PhD programs in December, and wanted to know if you’re accepting students that may align with my interests. Your website says to email in October, and that you may be open to a quick discussion. Do you have virtual office hours I could join to quickly introduce myself, or is email better?”

Attachments, timing, and hitting send

What should you attach? A CV or resume, possibly a relevant publication you’ve worked on, nothing else.

Now proofread it for grammatical errors, double-check that it sounds like you, and hit send. I recommend emailing at least 6-8 weeks before the deadline. Too close, and it seems rushed. Too far, and it risks that you’re not serious about applying.

Red Flags That Send Emails to the Trash

Finally, a few hazards to avoid:

• Getting basic details wrong. Check the spelling of their name, institution/university, and department.

• Don’t misgender the professor or use weird honorifics. Professor or Doctor [lastname] is fine.

• Spell-check and correct grammatical errors.

• Each email has to be sent individually. Don’t CC me and 100 other people, hoping one sticks.

• I know you’re nervous, but please don’t copy-paste from AI. Please write with your own voice. AI buries the authentic student underneath.

Takeaways and Conclusion

Professors are busy, overworked humans trying to juggle many things at once. Put in the effort to write a genuine email, and you'll stand out immediately from the hundreds of emails with excessive flattery and surface-level engagement. Give the email a week or so, and follow up gently.

If this guide was helpful, my main content explores the intersection of AI, mental health, and what it means to live a good life, like why chatbots are bad therapists. I also publish about being a professor and about the research and science enterprise. Subscribe to get more on the topic.

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This post is a longer follow-up/guide for one of my LinkedIn posts that went viral. If you found me through LinkedIn, hi! Most of the time I talk about mental health and AI, but this week I felt like sharing brass tacks of applying to PhD programs. ‘Tis the season.