Should I ask profs if they're accepting graduate students?

[murmillo]

Hi,

I'm about to apply to math PhD programs and on some of the websites I can't tell whether professors are accepting students or not. Would it be appropriate for me to e-mail them and ask? It seems totally reasonable to me, but I thought I would ask anyway.

 

[Sina]

That is usually done. All of my friends including my self (this statement makes me a schizophrenic) have asked professors such questions. Although in many of the cases it does not greatly help your application it is nice to know in advance if there are no other professors you would like to work with. You may include a 1-2 sentence biograph of yourself and sometimes (rarely to mediocore chance) the prof. is interested and asks for more information. In that case that email might also be useful for your application if the Prof is in the selection comitee or knows someone who is.