hi,

for some of the applications i made, i did write to professor in the department before applying - introducing myself and my interests and asking whether these match their research interests... i got some positive replies...

for two applications, I didn't write to anybody in the department although I had few possible faculty members in mind. however, I now read some of their publications and find more information that links their work to my interests - a link that i didn't make clear in my SOP.

my question is if it is ok to write to these professors after i already submitted my application... or will it be considered as a mere attempt to draw attention to my application?

any opinions/advice will be much appreciated.

thanks,

amit.

It would be fine to write if you are finding a related link to your interests. If there is a genuine match, it may be advantageous to your app. You can mention that you have applied (otherwise the prof won't even know )

How about this case:
There is a paper co-published by Prof A and Prof B. These 2 profs are in different Universities but they have some collaborations going on. I have an on-going correspondence with Prof A. Is it ok that I write to Prof B with more or less the same thing that I said to Prof A - e.g. "I'm interested in attending your school... I read your paper... How about extending your research in this way...."?

Any impact if both the Profs find out that I'm communicating the same thing with both of them? Sounds like I'm a two-timer

I have done the same thing and got all replies from three professors at different schools. I think it's all right for you to email professors (at different schools) working on the same project and paper. Rephrasing the sentences in the different emails to make them sound more sincere and specific. I didn't open a dialogue with a suggestion about extending the prof's research in another way because doing so may be kinda risky, I guess.