<p>I'm planning a long weekend to visit some friends who happen to live near one of the schools to which I applied. Decisions are not expected until several weeks after the trip. Is there any particular advantage or harm to scheduling a tour of the school prior to receiving a decision? Are there any school officials I should to meet (or avoid meeting)?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>It sort of depends on your field.</p>
<p>If you are in the humanities, for example, scheduling a visit would be a great idea. Contact the Director of Graduate Studies for the department to which you applied, and let them know you'll be nearby. A good DGS will then help you to set up appointments with various faculty in the department, and figure out a way for you to meet with current grad students.</p>
<p>There's really no reason for you to meet with anyone outside the department. But I'd advise a trip to check out the library. :)</p>
<p>International Relations.</p>
<p>I'll make sure to schedule the appointment. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Gopher, if you are admitted to the school, you will probably be flown out, housed, and fed free of charge for a visiting weekend in March. That recruitment weekend has a lot of elements that would be almost impossible for the DGS to replicate for you personally, so I don't recommend trying to design a substitute weekend.</p>
<p>First, the interaction with current students would be poor compared to the official weekend. There are a lot of activities like sightseeing, tours, meals out, presentations on the program, etc. that allow you to speak freely with these students that just couldn't be set up for you personally.</p>
<p>Second, the DGS might be willing/able to arrange appointments for you with faculty members, but since you aren't an admitted student, you're effectively scheduling interviews that will affect your admissions decision. You may not get the warm welcome that admitted students (or invited interviewees) experience. Since you aren't being specifically recruited at this point, you could be "felt out," "grilled," or even "ripped apart," depending on how well you present yourself, your fit for the program, and whether the prof perceives that you're wasting his time.</p>
<p>Third, if you have this visit arranged for you, you can't go on the real trip, which will probably be a lot more fun and educational. You won't meet your cohort, see your housing options, get lots of attention, etc. You'll also miss out on time with your friend on this trip.</p>
<p>Interesting. During law school admissions I had to buy my own boots to admitted schools. Will I really receive such wonderful treatment from grad schools?</p>
<p>The idea that I would be excluded from the acceptance weekend is a little disturbing, but the second point gets closer to what I was after. How likely is it that faculty during the visit would be auditioning me?</p>
<p>Frankly, I might want to audition. I think I come across better in person than on paper, and I'm afraid my application is pretty average. If I get ripped up, so be it. I'll know where I don't belong, for sure.</p>
<p>As for enjoying the time with my friends, the idea was to extend the trip a day to see the school. Lord knows I've never been one to let academics interfere with real life.</p>
<p>You need to inquire about interview practices IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. Only then can your questions be properly answered.</p>
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Third, if you have this visit arranged for you, you can't go on the real trip, which will probably be a lot more fun and educational. You won't meet your cohort, see your housing options, get lots of attention, etc. You'll also miss out on time with your friend on this trip.
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<p>I don't know why this would be true if you're going out there on your own dime in the first place and you just want to drop by to get a better feel for the school.</p>
<p>If it comes down to it and you're deciding between their school and another which you've been admitted to, I'd imagine they'd be willing to drop a few hundred bucks try woo you one last time.</p>
<p>Thanks RR. I suppose it's a risk, but I guess between the chances that they weren't planning to pick up my tab to travel out (in which case I probably couldn't afford it) and the chances they would pay anyway, extending my trip a day to visit seemed totally economical. I just wanted to get a feel as to whether it was likely to help or prejudice my application. To that end:</p>
<p>Prof X, I'm not sure what you're saying. Is there an IR branch here where I could get more specialized answers? I must be missing it. </p>
<p>In any event, none of the schools to which I applied interview candidates as part of admissions. So my question(s) is (are) more general and procedural. I'm not really concerned with interview PRACTICES as much as whether grad schools in general attempt to feel out visiting candidates at all. That doesn't seem to me an IR specific question at all, more about how admission at non-interview schools are organized.</p>
<p>I'm sure if you impress a professor you talk to, it'll be seen as a good mark on your record. If the handful you talk to are nonplussed, then it shouldn't be that huge of a deal.</p>
<p>Of the three schools I visited while deciding on grad school, only Caltech made us actually interview. Even then, it wasn't so much of an interview process as they just wanted to find if students actually had an interest aligning with any of the professors. From what I heard they accepted just about everyone they invited to visit (perhaps 20-25 people, and 5-10 accepted).</p>
<p>Second, the DGS might be willing/able to arrange appointments for you with faculty members, but since you aren't an admitted student, you're effectively scheduling interviews that will affect your admissions decision. You may not get the warm welcome that admitted students (or invited interviewees) experience. Since you aren't being specifically recruited at this point, you could be "felt out," "grilled," or even "ripped apart," depending on how well you present yourself, your fit for the program, and whether the prof perceives that you're wasting his time.</p>
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<p>I absolutely agree. I visited a school back in November and MAN! I got grilled despite having very friendly e-mail conversations. I'm usually very good in interviews especially about something that I love but... I was shot on the spot. One of my professors claimed it's just being professional while I heard other things from other students who believe this grilling professor to be very friendly and super-smart. All I knew was that I save my application fee and time for that school that went into another school that I added on the list after dropping it. Even now I still need... to get over the shock LOL No matter how good you are, you might want to just hold off meeting the faculty. For one, if you get grilled and just can't get yourself together, they'll be sure to reject you on the basis of being "unprepared." (the professor explicitly told me that he'd take me for the MA program instead of PhD based on a 20 minute judgement). Two, like my situation, you might get a wrong impression of the faculty members, you might not even really get to "know"them and you'll have to visit again if successfully admit to confirm your impressions.</p>
<p>Besides, they are probably reviewing applications at the moment and trying to meet with them at this point isn't as important as say... the period between sending in the application and the application review period. That's the statement that I got from one of my top choice schools while trying to re-schedule my visit due to an emergency situation (they were extremely understanding, thank goodness).</p>
<p>So my overall answer is... don't bother. Just enjoy your friends! :)</p>
<p>GopherGrad,</p>
<p>Since none of the schools to which you are applying do formal invited interviews, it is absolutely TO YOUR ADVANTAGE to visit. Many programs will even defray the cost of travel and lodging if you apprise the Director of Graduate Studies of your visit, and ask for his/her help in arranging appointments with appropriate professors. S/he should also be happy to set up some kind of opportunity to meet with current graduate students in that program. Personally, I set up (and the department pays for) dinner with as many current grad students as are available on that day. (That's the best way for prospective students to get solid information about the program, IMHO.)</p>
<p>I encourage you to make an inquiry. Most professors and DGSs don't "grill" prospective students. On the contrary, they see it as an opportunity for the prospective applicant to make some judgment about his or her "fit" with the program. I personally also see it as an opportunity for my department to show off a bit. :)</p>
<p>It depends a lot on the field and the school. I am applying to MIT EECS, and they made it very clear that they do not want people showing up pre-admission. My wife was looking at Harvard for Celtic Studies and they offered her all sorts of meetings and interviews.</p>
<p>My son had a chance over Christmas break to visit a school he applied to. Of course, he did not ask to speak to any of the profs just the ad com. He was very helpful & it just confirmed that it was a school he very much wanted to attend. Now if any school mentioned that they wanted no communications with students then I would not recommend it!</p>