问题：﻿申请国外 PhD 的时候如何与教授套磁？ 所谓套磁，就是和国外教授主动通过书信往来建立联系和彼此印象，从而加大录取和拿奖学金可能性的一种行为。
话题：﻿生活方式、留学、博士、留学申请、套磁
回答：﻿I’veadvisedalotofcandidatesonthispoint.WhatNOTtodoisprobablythemosteffectivewaytostart(becausealotofpeoplemaketheseerrors,theglaringnatureofwhichwill/wouldbecomecleartothemastheybecomemorefamiliarwiththeworldofwork).Therelationshipwithapotentialsupervisorisreallyimportant.Whattheycanpotentiallyofferyouisreallyvaluable.Andyet,atpresent,theydon’tknowwhoyouareandhavemicroscopicincentivetoevaluateyou.Therefore—itshouldbeano-brainerthat—youshouldnotseektobeginthisrelationshipbymeansofwhatamountstospam(垃圾邮件).Evenifyoudidonlysendyouremailto5professors(infact,particularlyifyouonlysendyouremailto5professors!)sendinganemailthatis‘cookiecutter’—bywhichImean…proforma…generic…un-tailored…impersonal…could-have-been-sent-by-anyone-to-anyone—is,well…let’sjustsayit’sunwise!AbiscuitcaseI’veseenpeoplesendingthesewithoutevenaddressingtheprofessorbynameinthesalutation.Ifyou’regoingtomake‘senderofspam’yourcallingcardinthischallenging,confounding,andcompetitiveworld,thenatleastlearnhowtodoamailmerge!Ifyou’regoingtotellsomeonethatyou’refascinatedtoworkwiththemandyouthinkitwouldbeanamazingopportunityandyou’veobservedthatyourinterestsareanincrediblematch,butyouthensenda‘cookiecutter’email,then(inthemindoftherecipient)you’rebeggingquestionslikethese:Areyoulying?orIfyoudomeanitandI’mreally,trulysuchabigdealtoyou,whyonearthhaven’tyouwrittentomepersonally?More,Iamnotsuggestingthesolutionistospendafewminutestrawlingtheprogram’swebsite.Repeatingbackafewkeyphrases,orthenameofacoupleofprojectslistedagainsttheprofessor’sname,isalmostasbad.Let’scalltheseefforts‘cookie-cutterplus’.Thisisalsounwise.Yourmessagemightgetdeleted.Youmightgetacopied+pastedcookie-cutteremailsentrightbackatyou!DearStudent,Thankyouforyouremail.Yourbackgroundsoundspotentiallysuitableforourprogram.Youwillfindalltheinformationyouneedtoapplyonourschoolwebsite.Ifyou’dliketojoinmyresearchgroup,you’llfindallthatinformationonthegroupwebsite.Sincerely,Prof.UnderWhelmedFierierindividuals—whoareperhapsalsohavingabadday—mightjustblockyouremailaddress.Whoknows?!AseniorprofessorIknow—whoImustemphasizeheisreallyquitenice,usually—usestheword“loser”todescribetheseemails.Mostofthetimeinthisworld,wegetbackwhatweputin.Thatdoesn’tmeanlifehastobeonerous.Itdoesmeanlifeisbetterwhenwelearntogiveabitofourselvesawaywithoutnecessarilyobtainingcast-ironguaranteesinadvanceaboutwhatwe’llgetinreturn.Here'swhatyoushoulddo:1.Findoutwhatkindofresearchtheprofessordoes.2.Ifyouhavenoexperienceorpreparationintheirareayouneedto:Getsome;orNotemailthatprofessor.3.Readsomeoftheirworkanddevelopanopinionaboutsomethingthey’vewritten.4.Beabletoprovideaconciseandmeaningfulanswerto—whatIoftendescribetomyclientsas—themagicquestion:WhatbenefitandimprovementcanyoubringtowhatI’mcurrentlydoingalready?Ifyou’rewritingtopeople,andtheydon’tknowyou,theyalwayswantananswertothisquestion.5.Alotofprofessorshaveblogsorpersonalwebsites.Lookatthem.Trytogetanevenbettersenseofwhetheryouactuallywanttoworkwiththem.Willyouprosperundertheirguidance?6.Writeabriefemailthatevokesallofthatand…whoknows?!You’llknow.Because,truly—thisisalsoimportant—Idon’twantyoutothinkmyadviceisonlyaboutnotannoyingprofessors.It’snotevenallaboutingratiatingyourselfwithprofessorseither!No.Myadviceistotakeresponsibilityforyourownfuture.Ifyouactonmysuggestions,you’llknowthatnoprofessor,noanyone,isgoingtothinkpoorlyofyou.You’llknowthesky’sthelimit.Opportunitiesmightjustarise.Mostimportantly,youwillhavemadeyourselfanactorinyourownlife,adecision-maker.Keepdoingthat.Don'tstop.Andgraduallyyou’llstartfiguringouthowtosucceed.It’syourfuture.Ditchtheshortcuts!Stepup!Itworks.