Contacting a possible graduate adviser with this email

[Drokrath]

Below is an email that I am planning to send to someone that I would very much like to work for as a graduate student. Are there any red flags I should avoid? Anything else in particular I should mention? Thanks in advance.

Hello Dr. [REDACTED],
I am an undergraduate physics major (junior) at [REDACTED]. I plan to graduate on time in May 2021 and attend grad school seeking a PhD the following fall. I've been looking at your research for a few days and I would like to express an extreme interest in working with you. If possible, I would like a few pointers on specific things that I can do to make myself more competitive whenever grad school applications come around. Things like which math/physics classes to prioritize, skills to develop independently, etc.
Thank you for any help you can provide.PS: I've also applied to the summer REU, with your project listed as one of my top choices, though I realize the decision process for that program is likely wrapping up and my fate is more or less decided, one way or another.

 

[Vanadium 50]

That looks suitable for spamming hundreds of professors. Is that what you want?

 

[Drokrath]

That looks suitable for spamming hundreds of professors. Is that what you want?

No, definitely not. I would really like to work with this specific professor and want to send an email like this to maybe 5 professors at the absolute maximum. Do you have any advice to make it more personalized?

 

[klotza]

Overall I think your letter is good, although I'd move the PS into the main text, in case people stop reading after the signature. Professors get a looooot of emails and sometimes have to get through them quickly.

Similar to what Vanadium 50 said, the letter is much more likely to get remembered if it contains an explanation of why you want to work with that professor. Is it because their research ties into something you found really interesting in class? Is it because they're working towards solving a problem that you are passionate about? Did you see an article about them in the news and your curiosity was triggered? Does the lab do experimental or theoretical techniques that you think it would be beneficial for you to learn? These are all valid reasons, and they help the reader understand why it is you want to work with them, rather than just someone who's looking for a job or to get into grad school. Even if you just think it's cool (a totally valid reason to want to work with someone), say that you think it's cool because of some specific reason. It doesn't even have to be a unique or even logical reason ("I think gravitational waves are cool because colliding black holes millions of light years away can jostle mirrors at distances smaller than an atom and we can see it!"), but it helps psychologically to persuade someone if a request is followed by a justification.

An addendum to this is that if the prof does quantum gravity or a current hot topic, have a better reason than "quantum gravity is the physicsiest part of physics and I like physics" or "graphene is the hot topic this year and I want to do the hot topic so I want to do graphene."

 

[Vanadium 50]

Do you have any advice to make it more personalized?

I can't even tell the field this professor works in. It could be sent to any of thousands of professors. Also, it asks the professor to tell you something at best you should be finding out on your own, and at worst is tacitly asking the professor to intervene on your behalf at admissions time. I would be less likely, rather than more, to have someone who wrote me such a letter in my lab.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I recommend students I mentor always attach a resume or CV and also include something in the email to stand out from other students and catch their attention.

Some possibilities:
1. Something to show you've actually read at least one of their published papers.
2. An accomplishment of your own: good GPA, research experience, programming talent, something.
3. Something to show that you've figured out which projects in their group are ongoing and how you might contribute to them.

Remember, it's easy for students to pretend interest in their research, and just about every student who contacts them will act interested. They don't care about YOUR interest. They care about how you can CONTRIBUTE.

How have you stood out from everyone else in what you can CONTRIBUTE?

 

[CrysPhys]

I've been looking at your research for a few days and I would like to express an extreme interest in working with you.

In addition to others' comments, I would rephrase this sentence. You develop an "extreme interest" in working with someone after just spending "a few days" "looking at his research"? Doesn't make a good impression on me. I'd expect a more prolonged, committed connection.