A recent flood of unsolicited generic emails (often addressed to "respected sir/madam") from prospective students regarding admission to CU Boulder's graduate program or summer internship requests from undergraduate students currently not enrolled at CU Boulder, has caused me some concern. Please read this before contacting me regarding graduate admissions. Thanks!

Q: I have a GPA of xxxx.xxxx from yyyy University. Is CU Boulder an appropriate place for me to apply?

Thank you for your kind email expressing your interest in our (MS|ME|PhD) program at CU Boulder. Also, thank you for your interest in our research. At CU Boulder, we value our students who come from a diverse set of backgrounds, many countries and continents. It is hard to say outright if your resume is appropriate for our graduate program. But, the application process is intended to make this precise determination. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to apply to our CS program .

Q: I am a top flight undergraduate student from a university ABCD (not CU Boulder), and I have done all these research projects in the past. I would like to do a summer internship with you.

I do not have any internship opportunities for students who are not enrolled in CU Boulder currently. I do not offer summer internships to international students. Spamming me is not going to help.

Q: Can you help me obtain admission at CU Boulder?

(MS|ME) applications are handled by our admissions committees. I cannot personally do much to help you. The committee meets many times to review applications, and make decisions. We take every application seriously and try to be comprehensive in our review. Our department has a competitive graduate program: we get a large number of applications, and we are limited on how many students we can accomodate.

PhD applications are decided based on your educational experience, grades, evidence of research aptitude, letters and statement of purpose, among other things. We take our PhD applicant review very seriously. Your application will be given consideration by our committee and prospective faculty advisors in your area of choice. Emailing us about your application is unnecessary . If you are interested in our PhD program, please apply and write down your areas of interest and the names of your potential advisers on your application. Unless there are special circumstances, a generic "respected sir/madam" email to me or any of my colleagues does not help.

Q: I have past research experience in the field of ZZZZ and would like to work with you?

I work with MS|ME students in my research group. However, most of my MS|ME students take one of my classes and perform well; or come recommended by one of my colleagues. I prefer to observe MS|ME students for a semester before committing to take them on as research students.

PhD applicants interested in the CUPLV research group are welcome to email me, and contact me directly if they have specific questions about my research, or our PhD program . A generic "respected sir/madam" email does not help your chances at all.

If you are responding to a call for PhD students sent out by the CUPLV group , please feel free to email any of us anytime.

Q: How do I apply to CU Boulder?

You will find our application process detailed here: http://www.colorado.edu/cs/admissions/how-apply

Just emailing me your materials does not constitute an application.

A: I would like to know more about your department and your graduate program?

Always happy to help you. But did you look at our departmental webpage and this page . They have a wealth of information there.

Q: I have read all of this information you have gathered here. But I still have a specific question. Can I email you?

By all means, if you think it is worth emailing me about.

Q: I sent you an email two days ago and you did not respond. Should I resend?

Please do not. I get a lot of correspondence these days and my schedule is busy. I will try to respond to your email. If I did not, it simply means I may be out of town or terribly busy. I apologize, in advance, for such lapses.

Q: I am interested in a post-doctoral position in your group ?

Please email me directly, or ask your mentor to introduce you to me. But before you fire off an email: am I a fit post-doctoral mentor for you? Are you really interested in our research? A personalized email with specifics of how your research is related to work that I am currently doing will definitely capture my attention and interest.