I am always looking for graduate students who share similar research interests. When I was looking for a graduate program back in the day, my number one criterion was whether my future potential supervisor had a research agenda compatible with mine. You are about to spend the next five years of your life studying and doing research. Therefore, make sure you love the field you are getting into.

In practical terms, this means:

• When you contact me through email, make sure you explain why you think I am a potential good supervisor for your graduate studies. Explain why your research interests match mine. Show evidence.
• This means you have to know a little bit about my work. Look at the papers I wrote and see if I am a good fit for what you want to do.
• We expect PhD applicants to have a pretty good idea of what they want to do for their dissertation research. Briefly explain your overall research idea.
• As of 2024, our department moved from an MA/PhD to a PhD-only program. Therefore, if you already have an MA/MS, your chances of being accepted are higher, particularly if you demostrate that you are ready for the PhD journey (e.g., have published or publishable manuscripts, have solid research ideas)
• I usually reply to emails from prospective students reasonably quickly. If I do not, it means you wrote a general email and did not pay attention the bullet points above.