Recently, I got relatively many questions from Tokyo Tech’s prospective students (probably because they saw this article) on how to write application email (to get prospective supervisor’s consent). Interestingly, there was actually a session (in Tokyo Tech’s career development class) discussing this matter. Writing an academic email is essential, yet it is not (or mostly not) taught in undergraduate (as far as I know). As a consequence, it is probably that there are many (arguably) good prospective applicants who got ignored because they wrote the spam-like emails. This is clearly a waste of talent.
…there are many (arguably) good prospective applicants who got ignored because they wrote the spam-like emails…
As a background why it is important to write a good email…
Professors get many emails everyday. They need to apply some “filter” to navigate through spams and junks. Of course, emails from unknown senders would be placed at the end of the priority queue. Now, among these spams and junks, there are many emails from prospective students asking to join their lab, without any information about who are they. These emails are highly probable to be ignored since they write general-purpose emails that can be sent to many professors. This demonstrates that the senders have not done their homework, thus, instantly ignored since they couldn’t show any effort. By reading your email, the prospective supervisor should be able to assess your academic excellence and what you want to do, even more, your possible contribution to the lab. Your email should also show what differentiates you from other candidates, i.e., your strong points.
In my experience, an academic email should contain two pieces of information:
- Your information (CV, transcript)
- Research proposal
Very simple, but the question is, how to write them properly.
CV
Academia usually doesn’t care whether your CV is well designed or not. Rather than pleasing to the eye, we want something that is tidy, concise and informative.
As far as I know, Japanese universities accept students based on academic merits. So, you should demonstrate your academic excellence + relevant experience. This might means the social-related experiences (like participating in NGOs) might not be so important (as opposed to Western Universities). However, internships (in companies) are highly regarded. You need to make your CV as short as possible, yet contains as much information as possible. It needs to be specific.
Everybody can write that they are motivated, curious, fast learner, etc. This statement doesn’t help, period. It is very easy to make this statement but what we want to know is the specific cases/events/relevant experiences that support the argument that you are motivated!
For each item you mention in your CV, give a short description; e.g., the goal of the project and how do you contribute to the project. Unless it is self-explanatory, e.g., World Finalist of ACM-ICPC, you need to include a short description. For example, saying that you applied machine learning techniques in education is very vague. Maybe, you can add what is the goal of the project: e.g., essay scoring; and what you contributed: e.g., preparing the dataset.
Research Proposal
- Background/Introduction: what this research has to be pursued, why it is important
- State of the art and current problem: describe the possible state-of-the-art system (preliminary review of related works) and why it is still problematic
- Research Goal: This is where you contribute to science, addressing the problem of the current system so it can achieve the desired ideal outcome (background)
- Challenges: In order to address the gap, i.e., achieving your goal, what are the challenges ahead. This shows you already did your homework
- Conclusion
- References
Language
I think this is rather a cultural problem. While you should be confident (you are the prize), you shouldn’t look down on the professors (rude). You language should be rather humble.
You also should think of the subject of the email. Writing “request for consent” is so vague. Rather, write “Application for <uni name> Master Program – Inquiry to Prospective Supervisor Consent“, just to mention an example.
Email Example
Now, let’s take a look at an example and we’ll analyse it later.
Dear Professor <full_name>,
I am sorry to disturb your busy schedule. My name is <name>, a computer science student from <University>. I am writing to show my interest to join your lab under MEXT scholarship for the upcoming fall 2019 entrance.
<Story about how you know the professor>. I am interested to join your lab because I read your paper <title>, and I believe we have a common interest in studying … <Story about your research experience, demonstrating you have a common interest>. I have conducted several studies on…
<Humble bragging part> Up until now, I secured 90/100 GPA in my university … achievements … etc.
As your reference, I also attached my CV, scan of academic transcript and research proposal. Should our interests and my qualifications match, I would like to request your prospective supervisor consent in order to proceed with my application to <university’s name>. I wish to hear from you soon.
Best Wishes,
<Email signature: name, affiliation, contact>
Firstly, you are humbling yourself and appreciate the professor’s time, since he/she take his/her time to read an email from an unknown sender. Second, you demonstrated that you have done some research on the lab by providing the reasons why your research interest met with the professor’s. Thirdly, the professor can assess your academic excellence (humble bragging section), provided CV, transcript and research proposal. Finally, you are saying “should our interests and my qualifications match, I would like to request your ..” instead of “I would like you to give me the prospective supervisor consent in order to proceed with my application”; both are basically saying the same thing while the former one is written more appropriately, instead of the later one in which you act like you are the boss.
Ok, so this is all about the tips on writing email. Yes, this post is very general, but you need to keep all the points in mind when writing your application email. Good luck!
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