Q:

What should I do with requests to be my PhD student?

Putting aside the issue of obviously automated inquiries, what should I do with personalized emails I receive from students asking to be my PhD student?  Assume that I know the student is not going to become my PhD student any time soon, possibly because there are no vacancies currently. In particular, I am interested in departments where PhD admissions are not centralized.

A:

If your department or institution has an established centralized procedure for admitting graduate students, I would prepare a template that says:

All interested students must apply through (insert method here). I do not respond to direct unsolicited requests for PhD positions.

A:

If the local culture is to apply to professors and then to the department, school, college, or university, then you might respond that you're full, not accepting students right now, or don't see a fit or whatever else is true. If the local procedure is to apply to the large organization first, then you could pass along that information and a link to the instructions. I just ignore them since I only post GRA position openings when I have them open and expect interested students to be able to find relevant postings for jobs when we have them just like other applicants do. 

