Don't Confuse the Professor

I feel like a lot of people misunderstood my previous post about searching for a Ph.D. scholarship in Canada.

The purpose of contacting a supervisor is to ask them to supervise your Ph.D. thesis. When someone asks a professor for a Ph.D admission instead of supervision it not just confuses the professor but also their response is generic i.e. Apply directly to the university.

If you asked a professor for admission and they advised you to apply directly to the department that doesn’t mean in any sense that the professor is willing to support your application. There is nothing wrong at the professor’s end. The issue is that you had to ask him for supervision not admission.

Once a professor agrees upon supervising your Ph.D, you have to formally apply for admission through the university website and mention that supervisor’s name in your application.

Please don’t ping professors asking them about admission requirements or admission procedure. It pisses ‘em off!

Go to the university department’s website all the information is there. Once you feel like you meet the eligibility criteria only then ask a professor to supervise you.

Note: When a professor says he is willing to supervise you it means he will secretly endorse your application once it reaches the admission office. But he probably won’t tell you.

• Summary:
• For admission queries email department.
• For supervision email Professor.

Like this post or have questions? Drop your words in comments and I’ll get right back to you.