<p>I certainly don't want to show off, but it is going to be important if I want to be honest.</p>
<p>Basically, I'm visiting Yale+Brown, and UChicago just gave me a really amazing offer (with a fellowship for top applicants) - I also know the UChicago professors quite well. I'm very open to learning more about Yale and Brown, and the research done at those places, but I don't want to disappoint the profs I'm talking to by getting their hopes too high. I do want to make it clear, though, that I'd be perfectly happy everywhere, and I do want them to gain something by talking to me too.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to brag, and you shouldn’t, simply bring it up if they ask. They are interested in you, not who else is interested in you (though they secretly are if you are an excellent candidate).</p>
<p>Do you have any strong preferences at this point? I see no harm in letting them know that you have been offered fellowships elsewhere, though I would not mention the amount unless asked, or unless you find during your visit that you are now more interested in going to Brown or Yale than Chicago. </p>
<p>DS did let the Dept chair know that he also had been accepted at Cal Tech when he visited Stanford . I think he wanted them to know, as a courtesy, that it was unlikely that he would go to Stanford instead of Cal Tech [ which was the case]</p>
<p>UChicago is a fairly strong preference at this point, but a lot of this is because the UChicago professors have courted me <em>really</em> well. I am open to being courted by the others though, although I’m not sure how likely that is.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should pick a school based on how well they court you. Going on fit with research interests and a mentor that excites you is a better approach. Also going on the realities of financial package is wise.</p>
<p>Yale and Brown will assume you have other offers in hand. That’s just how it works. When my daughter went to accepted student day, some profs just asked where else you were accepted. I suppose it may help to match to let them know you have a fellowship offer, but it sounds like really bad form to attend and make it clear that you aren’t very interested in them and that CHI is pretty much a done deal.</p>
<p>I isn’t important for anyone to know that you need to show off you admits. No one will be any more disappointed than any other year if you don’t come. They’d like you to, clearly, because you got the admit, but this is the usual thing year in year out. Just go with an open mind and don’t make it up until after all your visits. Focus on talking about their programs, not your admits. Congrats on all and sounds like you are set.</p>
<p>Why do you know the CHI profs so well? If you went to undergrad there, try to go to another Uni instead.</p>
<p>"If you went to undergrad there, try to go to another Uni instead. "</p>
<p>IN theory this is often a good idea, but in this case since Chicago is one of the tip top U’s for graduate education, I beg to differ.
The important point is what kind of FIT there is with your PI and your program in grad school. Is he working on areas that really interest you? Or are they only somewhat interesting? Grad school is more like having a job than going to college- you really need to like the profs you will be working closely with over the next 4-5 years and be stimulated by the research he is doing or you could be miserable.</p>
<p>I’m still very interested in both Yale and Brown, and they do both have research topics that I also find exciting (I’d be happy attending either of them as well). Good point about going with an open mind though - I’ll try that. There is a risk that one of them might encourage me to commit though - if that happens, should I say “I’ll have to make a very difficult decision between several great programs” or something along the lines of that?</p>
<p>In terms of research interests+mentor fit, it does seem like Chicago is still the best fit. As for how I know the Chicago professors - I was introduced through connections with the professors at my school - and we later interacted with each other a lot at the American Geophysical Union.</p>
<p>“I’ll have to make a very difficult decision between several great programs” or something along the lines of that?
perfectly fine . just let them know asap as they may want to extend the offer to another student.</p>
<p>"we later interacted with each other a lot at the American Geophysical Union. "
This caught my eye- what area of geophysics [?] are you going to study?
DS started his PHD in Geophysics at CalTech in Sept- with a focus on seismology.</p>
<p>Ah okay I see. One issue: what if I get accepted into another school, and that school’s visiting date is after the visiting date of whatever happens to be my top choice? Should I let them know immediately, or should I wait for a few days to announce it? Maybe I need a couple of days to mull it over. It kind of feels sudden to immediately decline after visiting, especially if I had close interactions with the professors.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wow - that’s cool. I’m most likely going to study the dynamics of planetary atmospheres.</p>
<p>And I definitely happen to be in a small field, so that’s why I’m concerned. There are professors in at least two institutions who seem to <em>really</em> want me (and I’m kind of scared that it could increase if I visit and/or get into another school)…</p>
<p>“dynamics of planetary atmosphere”.
imho you should go to CHICAGO! there should be no question as to that choice. just my 2 cents. </p>
<p>“Should I let them know immediately, or should I wait for a few days to announce it? Maybe I need a couple of days to mull it over. It kind of feels sudden to immediately decline after visiting, especially if I had close interactions with the professors.”</p>
<p>This has to be your choice. And you may have to 'go with your gut" on this one. It is not a good idea to keep them waiting. A few days after you have visited should be enough time to decide.
You can only go to ONE graduate school, so dont worry about “disappointing profs”. If you are really worried about that you can always say you “hope to have the opportunity to work with them in the future if you are lucky enough to be offered a postdoc” at _______ U. That should help soothe their disappointment.</p>
<p>Hahaha thanks. Yeah - it’s just that even the Chicago profs have advised me to keep my mind open until I’ve visited each and every one of the other schools. After all, there are a lot of things in each school that I can’t find via the website.</p>
<p>Columbia is also pretty strong in this, although the profs aren’t as into the exact combination of things I’m interested in as a couple of profs at chicago. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes - thanks for the advice. I’m just scared since one of the Brown profs seems to be really courting me too, and he’s even arranging all sorts of things for my visit. And I am eager to learn about them (it’s such a large field that I may find newfound interest in things I never heard about before, too). At least the visit will come in February.</p>
<p>Brown is definitely trying to grow its department (I think this is pretty much the case for all of its grad schools), but it still seems to have some issues with attracting very talented applicants. And I really wish I could do something in return for its generosity to me.</p>
<p>Maybe try to set up connections with the Chicago profs? I’m sure there might be some avenues for that. Chicago also seems to be aggressively expanding its physical science division too.</p>
<p>“Maybe try to set up connections with the Chicago profs? I’m sure there might be some avenues for that. Chicago also seems to be aggressively expanding its physical science division too”</p>
<p>I dont think that will be necessary or even wise to attempt. Believe me, in a small field, the profs at those 2 U’s already know each other.
Go to Chicago. The saying is, the last U on your CV should be the one with the best dept in your field [as well as the most prestigious] Chicago fills the bill.</p>
<p>You should also be using your visits to talk to other grad students in those depts. They may be able to give you a better sense of the programs, profs, etc.</p>
<p>What should I do if they discuss potential projects then? I mean, they are interesting to learn about, and comparative climate modelling stuff can always be potentially relevant to something I’d do in the future. I simply can’t back out of an pre-arranged visit, and the connections are always helpful.</p>
<p>The Chicago profs, at least, are very broad in their interests, so it could always interest them too (more than it would interest most others).</p>
<p>I’ll say this: there is <em>one</em> principal disadvantage of Chicago: and that it’s isolated.</p>
<p>I like getting help from professors of all types, and one of my favorite things to do is to randomly drop into someone’s office and to discuss things with them (in fact, this has been an excellent way for me to get somewhere with my current research [1]). This would be far easier to do in the Northeast than it would be in Chicago (and even in Chicago itself, the grad student I know does have issues with getting support for his CCSM modelling project, simply because no one in Chicago is sufficiently familiar with CCSM).</p>
<p>In the Northeast for example, I could literally be a single Amtrak ride away from MIT, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, and other schools too. </p>
<p>Surprisingly enough, while I’m almost decided on Chicago, there could still be a small network effect that arises at the other schools (which could become stronger with the more schools I visit - first Yale and Brown, and then possibly Columbia and MIT if they give me offers).</p>
<p>This may not matter as much now (thanks to the Internet), but I still matters somewhat, since people often tend to be bad at replying to emails after a while.</p>
<p>[1] I’m currently at Washington, which is also isolated. But Chicago is even smaller than Washington, so I can’t really count on as much support at Chicago. Of course there will be other models, and Chicago has other sources of support in its other physical science departments.</p>
<p>"In the Northeast for example, I could literally be a single Amtrak ride away from MIT, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, and other schools too.<br>
“This may not matter as much now (thanks to the Internet), but I still matters somewhat, since people often tend to be bad at replying to emails after a while.”</p>
<p>Hmmmm. I’m not so sure how “welcome” you would be as a visiting graduate student at other colleges, with the exception of if you were at MIT and popped over to Harvard, since those 2 colleges do allow students to cross register and some graduate programs have cross collaborated. That is something to ask about during visits. It may not be as feasible as you hope it would be. I could be wrong. I also doubt you will find it necessary and would caution you against using that as a reason to turn down Chicago. If you dont accept a position at a particular U, it is likely that another will be offered the position, and the profs may not have a much time for consulting with outside students as you think. And you probably will be busier than you think you will too! Classes, research, the day to day activities, finding new friends- all take time to do well.</p>
<p>Oh okay - good advice. I just want to go into my visits with the feeling that I’m open to what each school has to offer to me - not with the feeling that I’ve already decided on my top choice.</p>
</p>