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How to email a prospective supervisor for a masters application?

I am applying for a masters and they have requested a research proposal for the application (most likely because my degree is somewhat unrelated) and I found the uni's page on how to write one. The guide is for a masters/phd research proposal and suggests contacting a prospective supervisor. When I look up email structures it only seems to suggest how to contact a supervisor as a potential PHD student with references to previous research papers, due to my degree ending during covid the modules where changed so my dissertation isn't really something I want to reference- does anyone have any hints and tips? Should I be contacting multiple supervisors at a time? Ive also seen some saying to include a 'academic CV', is this necessary? TIA
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by ntscrt
I am applying for a masters and they have requested a research proposal for the application (most likely because my degree is somewhat unrelated) and I found the uni's page on how to write one. The guide is for a masters/phd research proposal and suggests contacting a prospective supervisor. When I look up email structures it only seems to suggest how to contact a supervisor as a potential PHD student with references to previous research papers, due to my degree ending during covid the modules where changed so my dissertation isn't really something I want to reference- does anyone have any hints and tips? Should I be contacting multiple supervisors at a time? Ive also seen some saying to include a 'academic CV', is this necessary? TIA

Just to clarify, are you applying for a taught masters course (MA/MSc etc.) or a research masters course (MRes)?
Original post by ntscrt
I am applying for a masters and they have requested a research proposal for the application (most likely because my degree is somewhat unrelated) and I found the uni's page on how to write one. The guide is for a masters/phd research proposal and suggests contacting a prospective supervisor. When I look up email structures it only seems to suggest how to contact a supervisor as a potential PHD student with references to previous research papers, due to my degree ending during covid the modules where changed so my dissertation isn't really something I want to reference- does anyone have any hints and tips? Should I be contacting multiple supervisors at a time? Ive also seen some saying to include a 'academic CV', is this necessary? TIA


Generally you only contact a Supervisor for a PhD application. There are too many Masters students and the requirements for the much shorter masters dissertation make it impractical for Supervisors to deal with multiple, pre-application contacts.

So only contact a potential Supervisor if you have a very specific, academic question you really can't find the answer to elsewhere. The exception is for MRes degrees, where pre-application contact is more common.
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Original post by PhoenixFortune
Just to clarify, are you applying for a taught masters course (MA/MSc etc.) or a research masters course (MRes)?


Sorry, it's a taught masters!
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Original post by threeportdrift
Generally you only contact a Supervisor for a PhD application. There are too many Masters students and the requirements for the much shorter masters dissertation make it impractical for Supervisors to deal with multiple, pre-application contacts.

So only contact a potential Supervisor if you have a very specific, academic question you really can't find the answer to elsewhere. The exception is for MRes degrees, where pre-application contact is more common.

Thank you, it's a taught masters so I'll hold off on contacting them!

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