How many professors should I contact before applying to Graduate School? I'm in the process of developing my academic profile and am starting to create a shortlist of programs to apply for. I plan on applying to 8 Grad schools (although I do not know which they will be yet.) From what I've read so far many of you recommend undergrads seeking to attend post graduate programs first contact a professor to see if they are taking on any new students. Now I obviously won't go with the buckshot approach and submit an email to everyone. However, I've also read most professors do not apply. If I plan on applying to 8 programs, and most professors don't reply,or are not available to take on students. How many professors should I contact? Like I said I won't just randomly send emails,  I will get to know them and their work first,  to see if I would be a good fit. I'm currently down to 40 possible programs of which I'm certain I can find at least 20-30 individual professors who would fit well with me. Would it be wise to find, assess,  and contact as many as 30, in the hopes that maybe 10 or so reply? Thank you.
I didn’t contact any faculty, and I got into the programs where I was an obvious fit. I didn’t get into any others. Honestly, it did not even occur to me to contact professors. I am not sure this is particularly common in the social sciences and humanities in the US. In my program, only the international students pre-contacted professors.

To check, I would recommend reading “The Professor is In” to lean more about the graduate admissions and hiring process for the humanities.