Programs PhD Applications - Worry about email replies

AI Thread Summary
In the UK, individuals seeking to start a PhD often face challenges in receiving responses from potential supervisors after sending emails with cover letters and CVs. It is common for professors to be overwhelmed with emails, particularly during peak application times, leading to delays in replies. Many professors receive numerous inquiries, which can result in candidates feeling ignored, especially when they have previously received prompt responses. To increase the chances of getting a reply, some suggest including multiple recipients in the email, as this may prompt a quicker response due to the visibility of others being involved. Overall, the lack of immediate feedback is a typical experience in the PhD application process.
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I live in the UK and I am hoping to start a PhD next October, so currently I am emailing potential supervisors about projects which I usually start off with a cover letter and a CV, however I don't seem to be getting any replies back! This includes some professors who I have emailed before sending them the CV email and they always seem quick to get back to me and it has been nearly a week (I wrote a big batch last mon/tues).

So people who have been through PhD applications, is this normal or do I need to start thinking of tactful ways of following these up without being too annoying :)
 
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It is pretty normal. Most professors have a lot on their plate, and get many e-mails (some spurious or from candidates who don't have a shot at getting into their school) this time of year.
 
a professor told me he gets 100 emails about phd postition or postdoc from India and iran per week.
 
Man, I can't even get my professors to respond to me, let alone ones from other unis.

Undergrads are something less than human.

try CCing a lot of people into the email. They might answer if they think oter people are watching.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

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