Does it help to send email to a professor asking for an evaluation?
In general, sending a generic form letter to hundreds of professors is unlikely to help at all. If you do send such a letter, make sure that you proofread it and that you get the professor’s name and area of research correct. A poorly written note or one that cites a different professor’s papers can leave a bad impression. However, if you have something intelligent to say about a professor’s research, beyond a simple “I found your paper on X to be very interesting and in line with my own interests,” then it could be worthwhile. And, of course, if you have an exceptionally strong record where you might be a clear admit, then it could be worthwhile to get yourself on a particular faculty member’s radar. But note that the bar for “clear admit” is quite high. At UC San Diego, we get many strong applications where the line between accept and reject is very fine and impossible to predict ahead of time. Clear admit says essentially: independent of available funding, current research focus, th
