First off -- I'm guilty too -- not very - but still, guilty enough.

What am I talking about? The applications we are all sending these days to get that dream foreign intern. Have a look here: http://www.phdcomics.com/proceedings/viewtopic.php?t=7671&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 .

A few key highlights from the 8 page long conversation:

Once to twice per week I get an application for an internship from an undergraduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. I used to reply to them politely, then caustically, then I wrote to the bloody university asking them to pass something round the students telling them to stop, now I just delete them.

Put simply...

(1) IIT in Mumbai is a much more highly rated university than mine so why on earth would they want to come here?

(2) We don't offer internships anyway

(3) Why would a student want to do an engineering internship in another university, surely they should be looking at engineering companies.

(4) The blighters never bother to actually read my personal webpage and tailor what they write to my actual research work anyway.

I get a few, fairly regularly, and my area is Physics. They ask for a summer internship (generally about 3 months) and they always begin "Dear Respected Sir". They include an attachment that purports to be their CV, but I have never opened one because I fear a virus. I delete them without replying.

Nice reading? Let's move on  to advice to IIT Guwahati from an alumnus:

Dear current ______ students,

In past few weeks I was struck by a string of emails that motivated me to write back to you. If you are someone who is applying for internships/ research positions/ MS in various schools or companies (in India or abroad) , then hang on and listen to some important stuff that I have to say. I think, this will really help you in being more succesful in your search for whatever you are looking for, and will also help in maintaining reputation of the school that you are graduating from:

First some unarguable facts:

1) All of us have a stake in maintaining reputation of the Department of _________.If due to any reason, reputation of our school/program goes down, it means less opportunities for all of us (alumnis and current students combined).

2) When we send out "mails" the response rate is only 10-20%.
Each one of us have mastered the "Art" (you know what I mean). All of us come to IIT, learn from our seniors about how they got that cool internship in Europe or that coveted GA/TA/RA position in a US univ. Obedient and smart people we are, we formulate our own mails, "customized and tailormade for our situations", and the competition then is who sends out the most sucks in a night. Correct? The news is that every prof I know personally, knows about this process. Because guess what, this is the same prof who received a barrage of such emails every previous year. And over time, they too have gotten smarter, and a lot of them now ignore such emails. Ever wondered, why only 10-20% people reply to your "mails"? This is the reason why.

3) Should we stop sending these mails out? Short answer is Yes. Well then how do I get those cool internships and GA/TA/RA positions? Start sending out real and genuine emails.

As the saying goes: "Practise what you Preach (and vice versa)". I too am guilty of the same. Maybe because no one told me the correct way. We were the second batch of the program, and there was just no precedance before us. No alumni ever told us that when ordinary people receive a standard IIT "Suck" they are left speechless, astonished and dumbfounded (Okay, maybe not all three together, but one at a time). But having grown wiser over all these years I feel that its my duty to tell the current students that the standard method of sending "sucks" is so 1990's. We are now in 2008. The rats (read profs) have learnt to skip our mousetraps (read sucks). We need a better designed mousetrap (do they still teach such stuff in DO* Wink.

So lets do a critical analysis of some sentences from standard sucks that I received (I won't tell who sent that to me. Ever. And it is not even my remotest intention to embarrass anyone. So don't get disheartened if I used your email. You can still count me as a friend.)
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Dear Sir,

I am a Pre-final Year undergraduate student (3rd year) pursuing Bachelor of ****** in ****** Department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati - one of the premier institutes of technology in India and among the most prestigious undergraduate schools in the world.
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I have a fervid desire to do my summer internship under your able guidance during the period May-July,2008.
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I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere interest in pursuing my summer internship during the period May - July 2008, under your esteemed guidance. It would be a rewarding experience for me to expand my knowledge boundary under a person of your stature.
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Sir, I am writing this mail in order to explore the possibility of doing a summer project/internship in your company during May-July 2008. I am inclined to do a summer internship in the field of "Human Computer Interaction, Usability Engineering, Interface Design" to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for a future career as a professional. I am a highly motivated and hard-working student and am willing to take on any available project that would be relevant to my area of study.
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I have been a hard working student right from my schooling days and I assure you the best effort from my side.I have an inherent curiosity which drives me to the fathom of the subject and has thereby helped me to develop a strong conceptual foundation.
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I would be extremely fortunate to get an opportunity to work in a distinguished company as your's and gain practical knowledge in the field of design which will help me shaping my future.
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Please give some time to evaluate my chances of getting an opportunity to do a project under your company as this would really play a significant role for shaping my future.

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Dude and Dudettes, I'm embarrassed. I am not God. And I definitely don't have a "stature" of Abhraham Lincoln (if that's what you meant). I am sure you are a hard working person, but so is everyone else. And I absolutely do not care about your "fervid desires". And most of all, I don't have a "distinguished company" nor do I have any role whatsoever in defining "your future". You future entirely depends on you and you alone. When you send out an email, that is what defines your future. No-one I know in industry will give a call back to someone who sent such an email. Now when I think about my own history, maybe that's why I myself could never get an internship in Europe. You need to learn from your senior's experiences.

A professor from my grad school told me last year (and this is a fact too btw). He said "I think I am fed up with students from your undergrad college. They seem to have these illusions that by sending out such emails they will suddenly get a windfall of assistantship. It just don't happen that way. And what is it with everyone sending similar sounding emails? Do they have essay classes in India where they are taught to write in a specific way?"

Friends, this is killing the reputation of our school and reducing the chances of your future success. You and you alone can get this back on track. The season of sending out "sucks" is coming rapidly. This time (just for a change), write a simple, concise, short email.
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Believe it or not, small emails will firstly ensure that your email is read. Secondly, It will leave the reader with the feeling that he received an email from an actual human being (and not a robot). Thirdly, it will leave a door open to ping back with minimum effort, if someone did not respond back. Address people by their name, not "Sir".

Think in this way. It is fair for you to think of your emails as something that is very important to you. Because your career is at stake. So you tend to fill up the email with details about your projects, past internships, profs with whom you have worked for. But for a second stop and think from the perspective of the reader. They don't care about any of the stuff you will write (unless of course you won a Nobel Prize). Your email is just another one in their busy inbox. Stand out by writing short email, and easy to read crisp resumes and portfolio websites. And as always, ask your alumni or seniors if you have any questions. Don't address your professor as Sir. We have not yet gotten that "Order of the British Empire".

Hope some of these things will make sense to you.

Good luck with your search.

Just going through the full thread would be best. Have a look. See our (alright - it's focussed more on IIT B, but they can replace B by D anyday) excellent reputation.

And just stop and think before clicking send. I know I will.

P.S. Also have a look here for another perspective.