What should I include in my first email to a potential PhD advisor?

Question

I am applying for Ph.D program, and I need to find an advisor to accept me in his group. I want to send to him a perfect email and get his attention to me. I would like some opinion on this matter.

Do I include my CV and recondition letter in the first email?
Do I mention my GPA?
Do I straight-up ask them if they are accepting students? Or, do I first attempt to establish a relationship?

The field is renewable energy.

Welcome to Academia SE. In the future, please [edit] your question to improve it instead of asking a new question. Also please be aware of this question. — Wrzlprmft, May 04 '19 at 09:25
Also, what is a “recondition letter”? Do you mean a recommendation letter by any chance? — Wrzlprmft, May 04 '19 at 09:26
This and this question seem to address most of what you are asking. If you have any remaining questions, please [edit] yours to focus on them and to clarify why the aforementioned questions do not help. — Wrzlprmft, May 04 '19 at 09:53

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered May 04 '19 at 17:03

First of all, do not write a generic email to 50 faculty members. You need to focus on a few that you think are a good fit. For example, many faculty members won’t take you because they don’t have funding.

Next, try to make a personal connection: read their papers before, see how you could contribute, and tell them.

If you have a connection to them (you took a class/worked with a colleague of theirs, mentioning them will be a massive bonus (in terms of likelihood of receiving a reply).

Good luck!

What should I include in my first email to a potential PhD advisor?

1 Answers1